Little Moments, Big Successes

As I was sitting here thinking about what to write, I realized that the puppies have only very small accomplishments or changes to report. And that made me think about how those small things are actually wonderful, interesting, big things, and from there I thought about how easy it is to overlook all those things in our own lives -- those seemingly insignificant achievements that make up our daily lives. When we are kind to someone for that brief moment in time that we connect in a line, or when we are patient with a child or co-worker, or even when we manage to eat a good breakfast or walk our dog -- those are things to be proud of in our lives. The Big Successes are far and few between, but our days are made up of many small successes that deserve recognition.

And so let me tell you that Jamaica is an explorer! She likes to scoot around the box, and when you are just three days old I think that is something to cheer! And the boys -- well, they are serious tanks. They belly up to that Dairy Bar that appears to be serving out straight cream and they are gaining weight like nobody's business. In a 24 hour period ending last evening, Hudson, Toronto and Whitby all gained about four ounces! Now, I would have no trouble gaining four ounces in one day but pretend you weigh 150 pounds -- in order to equal Hudson's accomplishment of gaining 18% of his weight in 24 hours you would need to gain 27 pounds!!! Isn't that just incredible to think about?!

The biggest puppy in the litter right now is Toronto. He is a big, solid boy weighing just under 30 ounces. Hudson is a couple of ounces behind him, and at the other end, three girls are in the 20 ounce range: Ireland, Jamaica and Geneva. They seem so small next to those big boys but they are growing well and doing just fine. Geneva does continue to blow bubbles but I have decided to just watch her and not give her antibiotics for an infection that she does not have. She is gaining weight and seems fine so we will just hope she outgrows this.

Cadi is settling down nicely. She seems more careful and is more relaxed. I still have to feed her next to her whelping box or else she will not eat, and getting her to even go outside to potty is a chore and I have to stay with her to remind her why we are outside. But I am feeling hopeful that soon we will not need to be awake all the time, which would be very nice because getting up at 2 a.m. is a bit early even for me!

Someone asked about Cadi's collar -- it says, "Always Nice, Never Naughty". Someone else asked about how we are managing everyone -- it is a challenge but we are trying hard. Zoey and Faith are in an x-pen close by (in the Great Room) and we make sure they are getting walks, play time, things to chew, and go outside for potty breaks. They actually seem to be doing quite well with all this. The older dogs are also doing okay. I have a gate up between the Great Room and whelping box room, and Cadi is okay with them on the other side of the gate. So I sit here and Asia -- my shadow -- sits next to me on the other side of the gate. I am managing to get daily walks in with all of them, even if the walks are shorter than normal, and I also try to do a little training with them as well. I am trying to focus on the small successes/accomplishments of my days or else I would feel terrible at not getting enough done!

Today at 2 p.m. the vet is coming to remove the rear dewclaws. I hate this but it is one of those unpleasant things that must be done -- our breed standard calls for it. In Halo's litter there were just two puppies who had rear dewclaws but all eight in this litter have them -- bummer :( They are loosely attached and so removal is easy and fast, and they will be numb but that numbing injection still hurts. I hate that I have to allow something painful or bad to happen to them when everything we are doing is about making sure they are getting the very best start in life.

Pictures! The puppy draped over Cadi's paw is Sydney -- remember that she has that big white left paw. The close-up profile is Hudson. The puppy on his back is Toronto. The puppy sleeping on Cadi's neck is Jamaica. The close-ups let you see how fast that pigment is coming in and yes, as Marti noted we have dark rust! I did not even see that until Marti mentioned it -- thanks! Don't forget that clicking on a picture enlarges it.

As most of you already know, we do not mark puppies but rather learn to recognize them -- and you will also! When Cali came up to visit Halo's puppies when they were just three weeks old, she could correctly identify them all just from pictures!! Will you be up for the Cali Challenge??? Start studying!

Thanks for visiting us and I hope your day is filled with little moments that you recognize as big successes!