"Grow, develop, and PLAY pretty much sums up week 7. The puppies continue to grow, adding about a half pound per day.... each ! Picking them up to weigh them is getting to be a real chore, and it is tiring.
It is sort of like picking up 7 bags of food.
Suddenly one evening one puppy, who was among the most active, started NOT playing. He would just lie there. "Ok," we figured, he is tired. Then by the next morning he was running a slight fever and limping. A quick trip back from work and off to the vet we go. After examination the vet's first impression was a "greenstick" fracture of the femur, apparently quite common in active puppies who play "crash" a lot, as does this group. The fever was 103 degrees F, consistent with the inflamation of a fracture. However, the x-ray showed no abnormality.
A much closer skin inspection revealed a small puncture wound (puppy teeth are sharp !) just over the knee joint. The vet's 2nd impression was, "infection, possibly of the outer lining of the femur. Well, that means more picking up the puppy to give him antibiotics twice a day.
The next morning he was back to playing "crash" with his littermates, even though still limping. By the next day he was not limping. Puppies sure do heal quickly.
As the weather go warmer, this week's challenge was to learn how to go in and out of the dog doors. We use two styles, the Hale door with the two urethane flaps that are hinged at the top:
and the EZ-Matic door with the overlapping rubber flaps (here held partially open with duct tape):
Each requires it's own style of opening, although hitting it hard with one's paws and crashing into it will work in either case. By the 2nd day they were proficient with the Hale but need to gain a little weight to work the EZ-Matic well.
With the warmer weather Myrna started running and becoming reacquainted with the horse that lives behind us. The horse will come to the fence to see if the dogs are out and can play. We still have yet to get a picture of it, but the horse will "play bow" to the dogs and they will "play bow" back to the horse.
And, this week William got well and Deborah got sick.
Tune in next week.