Shandy
Born 3/9/12
AVAILA
Jelly Beans Now Jumping Beans!
I have had many litters here at my house, but this one
seems to have a unique characteristic.
Instead of trying to climb out of enclosures, they scoot back and attempt
a flying leap out of the enclosure. They think they are high jumpers.
Of course, this fails as they don’t have much lift in their stumpy
little legs yet, especially with their fat little puppy bellies, but they are
not discouraged by their attempts. I
am sure they will be good climbers soon, but for now, their preferred method is
attempting to jump over things.
They are nearly ready for the agility course jump bar!
There is such a variety of coat type, color and size of
puppy in this group. It will be
interesting to see what type of temperaments emerge over the next 2 weeks.
So far, they are all very social and come bustling up eagerly when a
person approaches. They are all
excited at first but calm down when held, which are good features. This is a
really nice litter. I have a new favorite every day!
The pups are growing
fast and now look more like dogs and less like fat little guinea pigs. Their
little puppy faces are getting so cute! There is a definite difference in the
coats on some of the puppies. A few of them are now showing off a longer coat
type (rough coated) but several still have the shorter coats (smooth coated).
The past week has
seen lots of firsts:
1. First real look at the
world – their eyes are open now. Shamrock was the first to open her eyes and the
other pups followed right along behind. Right now their eyes are black or a deep
midnight blue, but that may change. As a side note, we’re kind of hoping that
Galway Girl’s eyes stay blue, so that she matches the song she was named for!
then we can sing:
“And I ask you
friend, what’s a fella to do,
‘Cause her fur is
black and her eyes are blue.
So I took her paw,
and I gave her a twirl,
And I lost my heart
to the Galway Girl!”
2. First bark!
Shamrock (again! She is definitely the leader of the pack in her way) was
unhappy about something and instead of the usual cry/whine, she attempted a
high-pitched squeaky bark. Aww…cute.
3. First attempts to
play with each other. This past
weekend, a few of them attempted to wrestle with each other a tiny bit, but just
kind of rolled over and then went their separate ways.
They will mainly “commando crawl” around—but they are trying to get their
bellies off on the ground, though they mostly just push forward and fall on
their faces. Funny. In another week we’ll probably be able to report that they
are starting to waddle on their short little legs.
In short – we have
eight healthy pups developing just
exactly the way they ought to!
It was March 7
when the owner appeared at a small animal shelter with a female Golden in tow.
“She’s pregnant again and we don’t want any more pups.” One glance at
Daizy was
enough to confirm the “pregnant” comment: the young redhead was clearly bursting
with pups, so round and fat she looked like a super-size watermelon! Further
questioning revealed that Dad was almost certainly the family’s other dog, a
black Border Collie. Now the shelter was in a tight spot. They just didn’t have
a way to deal with a litter of pups. They put in an immediate emergency call to
a local GRR volunteer: “Please can you take her? Otherwise we will have to put
her down before the puppies come. She is a sweet girl, wants to get into
everyone’s lap.”
Daizy was whisked
out of the shelter within a few hours & zoomed into the vet’s for a speedy
check-up (underweight, and heartworm positive, darn it) and X-rays of her giant
tummy. Talk about “just in the nick of time” -- the vet saw seven pups all lined
up and ready to make their debut at any moment. By that afternoon, Daizy had
arrived at her foster home, where a super-deluxe padded, fleece-carpeted
whelping box was waiting for her. And all along the road, she lived up to early
reports, proving herself to be a true sugar cube where people are concerned,
leaning up against anyone and everyone for pets and attention. “Still acts
pretty puppylike,” reported her foster mom, “likes to pull things off counters &
pounces around on toys as best she
can, given her big belly.”
Daizy took one
more day to settle in—and then, at around 4:30 PM on March 9, she went into
labor. The pups appeared as if on an efficient conveyor belt, one every twenty
minutes, and throughout the proceedings Miss Daizy had a happy, self-satisfied
look on her little face—and why not? Such plush surroundings sure beat a cold,
damp, muddy yard somewhere! We figured it was close enough to St Patrick’s Day
to give the little family Irish names: first-born
Seamus (Mr Blue); then
O’Reilly (Mr Green) and
Galway Girl (Miss Pink); then
Shamrock (Miss Purple),
Emerald (Miss White),
Jig (Miss Yellow), and
On closer look,
the pups DO differ a bit in coloration, and as they get bigger the differences
will show up more. They all have white blazes of various shapes & sizes on their
chests, and most have white socks on one or two or all paws. O’Reilly and
Emerald also have patches of gold fur (at last, a trace of Mom!) on chins,
chests, forelegs, and bottoms. In about 2 weeks, their eyes will open, and we’re
hoping to get individual pictures. For now, Daizy doesn’t like to let them out
of her sight for more than a minute or so for their daily weigh-ins. And they’re
just doing what tiny puppies do, namely eating, sleeping, squeaking, piling on
top of each other or Mom, and growing fast.
Around May 1,
eight fuzzy Golden Retriever/Border Collie mixes will be ready for adoption. Let
us know if you’re interested! Daizy will be available, too, though she will need
heartworm treatment. If you are willing to take this sweet girl through the
treatment, please let us know and we’ll tell you all about it.
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Hotline: (512) 659-GOLD |
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