Sunshine is Returning to Dogville
It has been an interesting week. With Emma involuntarily sidelined from the care of her pups with her breast abscess, Barb and I have had to put most of the week’s plans on hold and just do puppy care. Due to the excellent veterinary care of Dr. Steve Feldman and his associate Dr. Dolan, Emma is thankfully on the mend. Her abscess is resolving and her energy and spirit have returned. She still doesn’t understand why we won’t let her go down to her pups. She mournfully cries every so often and listens for sounds of her puppies at the basement landing. We thought hard how to help her. My idea of bringing up a pup for her to smell and lick didn’t work. So I gave her a towel that we used to wipe off the pups after their milk bath ( see later in blog). She walks around the house with this, and sleeps with it on the bed or in a crate. She still cries but this makes me at least feel a little better.
It’s hard to know if the pups miss her constant attention of licks and nudges. With their needs satisfied by Barb and myself, they are growing nicely and taking more of an interest in the outside world. Their howls continue at night, but don’t worry to our waiting family clients, this is just pack behavior.
The need of a golden to bond and share your personal space is apparent the way the litter behaves. When they are not eating or drinking, they group together whether in the whelping box or the smaller white transfer box.
It is very amusing to see them crowd together for a nap. One by one they group together until there are 4 or 5 bodies on the ground floor. Then the rest climb aboard with the last few trying to get to the very top of the pile before they run out of energy and just settle where they are.
Barb is an avid Red Sox fan and the pups were introduced to a little commercial brainwashing today. They were let out of the box to romp around the little attached porch area. While I favor NY pinstripes myself, they made themselves right at home on the blue and red blanket.
Of course the puppies are not the only dogs needing their daily dose of attention. The bigger girls know something is different in our household because we are spending an extraordinary amount of time in the basement. They still demand their daily run, and fun activities. The recent sunny weather made for a nice afternoon watching them frolick in the backyard pool.
Recently Berna sent us some photos of Mulder having some water fun with his golden family. Last year he couldn’t swim because of the preparations for the National Show competition. Now that he is the ultimate champion and is retired from the show ring, he can have fun like his siblings. He is the one swimming with the white bumper. Not a bad life he has earned, studding and playing.
It certainly is a “Dog’s Life” for these lucky goldens.
As far as the pups go, with the early cool weather upon us, I doubt they will be able to enjoy the kiddie pool before they leave us at 8 weeks. That doesn’t stop them though from enjoying a little frolick in their milk dishes.
Thank god the pups have the same drip and dry coat their older brethren are blessed with. With a little toweling and a little grooming with a puppy brush, they have that so cute look again..
We are open for visitors again. Please call and schedule with Barbara.