Bonnie Little Irish Lass

Kearney is the only little girl that we fostered, though there were three others in the litter. It's just shocking to me that she is the last of our crew. Bailey and Seamus went home on Tuesday to their new families. Kearney is so playful and funny. She definitely has a sense of humor.
She has always been the most independent of the puppies. She has been well socialized and romps with people and puppies alike, but is just fine on her own as well. She loves her "me time" lounging in the sun.
Smart and thoughtful, she listens well for a pup of her age. She responds to gentle correction already which makes me believe that with a little attention, she will grown into a well trained dog. And to top it all off... she's so photogenic! If you are interested in darling little Kearney or any of her other siblings go to http://www.pethelpers.org/ to find out how you can be her new family.

The Results Please...

So when the blog began I posed the poll question, "Since they were found with no mommy and looked much like rats when we got them, we don't know what breed of dog they are.... any guesses?"

The options were:
Boxer, Pug, Shar Pei, Brown Dog, Mastiff and Poodle.

We only had a few clues like, their smooshy-wooshy faces and their rate of growth. Googling images of different puppies helped to narrow the options down, but we were always fairly certain that they're a Mastiff/something mix.

'Bailey'

Bailey kept us guessing because he hasn't grown as fast (in size) but a quick lift of his solid frame will confirm that he is right in step in the weight department. His gorgeous markings always betrayed that a Boxer was probably somewhere along his family tree.

'Kearney'

Kearney has always been the most Mastiff-like. Super chill personality, steady as The Rock of Gibraltar and skin folds that just keep growing and growing and growing...

'Seamus'

And then there's Seamus.... sweet crazy Seamus. He's always been handsome, but he's so conservative looking that he's not been much help in determining his ancestry. Our only indication is that he sprouts a new feature each week. It's like he has radioactive growth serum spilled on him at birth so that only one feature (legs, ears, skin) grows at a time... tiny to huge in a matter of days, then on to the next.

The votes are in!

Boxer 8 (32%)
Pug 1 (4%)
Shar Pei 4 (16%)
Brown Dog 2 (8%)
Mastiff 10 (40%)
Poodle 0 (0%)

Really? No one voted Poodle? Not even for a joke?

B and I are pretty sure that they are some sort of Mastiff /Boxer mix, which was sort of confirmed when we saw their four other siblings, except little Beartesta. She might be the mailman's child. Not sure about that one.

Now I have to concoct another poll. Check in tomorrow for another mind blowing puzzler!

'a shadow of things to come'

Six Weeks… It’s GROW Time!

First things first: the weigh in.
Bailey & Kearney tied at 8 lbs. 4 oz.
Seamus is our weekly weight gain record breaker coming in at a hefty 9 lbs. 6 oz.

They got to go on the big dog scale today!

A little lovein' before getting their jab-jabs. Six weeks is a milestone to be marked with shots. They had their first round of immunizations today. Even with their immune systems growing stronger they must still stay protected in our back yard. They’ll get round two of their Parvo/ Distemper shots at eight weeks. Their rabies shot will come along when they are older. Becky was super quick on the draw, so they never saw it coming. They each took it like a champ.

After the vet visit it was back to the ranch for a bit of playtime in the backyard. But today this simple everyday occurance took on a whole new dimension:

After romping in mud it was time for a romp in the tub:

It's a hard life.

Back to their room (a.k.a. the kitchen) for a well deserved afternoon nap.

Backyard Schenanigans

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

This week has been so fun! Now that they are older and their personalities are developing it is such fun to play. They are learning boundaries how to expect and respect them. It all can sound so mean, but they are learning. They really do listen to each others request for play and for space. I only step in occasionally, like their mama would if somepuppy gets outta hand.

Enjoy their fight scene montage!

5 Weeks Old! Pretty as a Picture...

Little Miss Kearney

Bailey Boy

Mr. Seamus

So here we are at five weeks old! Each day they look and act a little more like dogs and less like little infants. Don't they look so grown up?!

They went to Pet Helpers yesterday for their weekly weigh in...

Drum roll please!

• Seamus is leading the pack at 7 lbs. 1 oz!
• Kearney is not far behind him at 6 lbs. 14 oz.
• Bailey a respectable 6 lbs. 10 oz.

I am sure that weening off of formula and moving to puppy food (Good bye midnight feedings! I won't miss you!) is responsible for much of the gain this week. They are up to a full 13oz. can of soft food per day per puppy. The evolution of their eating continues with incorporating solid food. Oh, and let's not forget the daily baths in the water bowl. With big dog food come big dog water bowl. Fun stuff.

Speaking of baths, they get a dunk in the sink just about every other day now. Keeping them on a schedule has been key. We feed outside on the patio to keep the mess to a minimum and then they can go straight into play and potty time. House training has been very successful. with strict adherence to the schedule, we have had only one or two poops in their puppy den and them mainly going outside. They use puppy pads when inside and that equals cleaner, less stinky puppies and puppy house and a happier puppy mama.

Feeding takes a bit longer now that they each have big dog bowls. They manage to get in a quick game of musical bowls while eating... so ambitious. I am happy to report that they show no signs of food aggression to people or each other. In fact most of the meal is spent trying to get them to focus on eating instead of seeing if the food is tastier in the next bowl.

After grub, a quick game of bite a tail. They play so hard that 20 minutes of game time and they are exhausted. They let me know when they want to go in, because they toddle up the stairs to the back door. It's really something - they actually tumble UP the stairs.

After four hours of nap and quiet time we get to do it all over!

It's amazing to watch their personalities develop. They see and respond to their world in very distinct ways. I want to tell you all about each one, but the little idiosyncrasies of all three would be too much for one blog post, so I'll let you get to know them separately in days to come.

Public Service Announcement

Take a few moments out of your stress filled day to goo-goo gaa-gaa over some seriously cute puppy pictures. I have a theory: the world would be a much better place if puppy picture viewing was mandatory for five minutes each day. So think of your time here as a public service... view before driving to mitigate road rage or before disciplining your teenager. Enjoy.

P.S. these pics are all little girl Kearney.

Side note: B and I are as tired as these puppies look after the feedings and the outside romping and the baths and the feedings and the outside romping and the baths.... did I say the outside romping? But I don't feel as tired after looking at these sweet faces and knowing that they are alive and safe because I am giving them my time and love for a few weeks. Makes me well up to think that if we hadn't said yes, these sweet little paws might not have had a chance to grow.

If you think you might want to save a few cuddly, snuggly-wuggly, smooshy ... (clearing throat) I mean, if you have any questions about becoming a foster go to www.pethelpers.org to find out how you can save a few sets of paws yourself.

4 Weeks Old! Time to Eat...Play...Potty Train!

Today was a major milestone.... RECESS!
Now that these little sluggers are four weeks old they are big enough to venture outside the walls of their little puppy den. Their immune systems have finally caught up with their desire for lots of space to play. Our fenced in back yard is a safe place for them because only our dog Peanut has access, so we know they won't be exposed to anything dangerous for puppies. Dog parks and other public places are still out until they have had all of their vaccinations. I am going to have to be a little faster on the shutter from now on. They can really get up some speed!

It was sooooo adorable to see how they reacted to having space to really get up some speed running. At first they stayed pretty close to us and would immediately come to our voices.

Clearly Kearney thinks that this new 'running' business is exhausting.

FEEDING

The pups are now lapping from a bowl and got introduced to a mix of canned puppy food and formula today (AKA Gruel). It took about 3 feedings for them to get used to eating from a bowl and now they run right to it and lap away. Feeding now takes place on the kitchen floor and is followed by play and potty time.

Potty training has started and we have successes and failures, but routine is key. Making sure they are placed on the puppy pads after naps and before meals begins the connection of a time and a plce for 'going'. They usually go before and after meal time, so you must be prepared or clean the consequences. As they grow their play den is being used more for play and sleep than for potty. And I am happy to report that they are more on a potty schedule.

WEEKLY WEIGH IN

Another weekly adventure to Pet Helpers for their weekly weigh in. Here are the results:

• Kearney 5 lbs 4 oz


• Seamus 5 lbs 4 oz


• Bailey 4 lbs 14 oz

That's 1.25 lb gain this week. With gruel being introduced, we fear they will take over our little kingdom Godzilla-style within the week.

Dinnertime will now include a bath as a necessity to keep these little tykes from gnawing on each other for tasty leftover morsels from their last meal. Seamus for one is not happy about this, but complies quietly.

Good night from three happy, full and played out pups.