in a rare moment of peace

BB sleeps happily, using her food dish as a pillow

I must take this rare quiet moment, between grad school assignments, while the puppies are playing quietly and don't seem to be chewing on anything they're not supposed to be chewing on, or jumping off anything they're not supposed to be jumping off, to share an update. 

Both puppies have amazingly passed the 3 lbs. mark.  In fact, Mo, the tiny runt who I was afraid wouldn't even make it through one night less than 2 weeks ago when we brought her home, is just 2 oz. away from 4 lbs.  We're guessing the tapeworm she was hosting had something to do with her tininess, but now that it has been taken care of (sorry, I don't have any pictures of that to share; it was pretty shocking) she's doing so, so much better.

I have some video that I haven't had a chance to upload yet, but expect that to be coming soon.

settling in

BB

The puppies have been settling in very well, and I'm really amazed at how well they're doing.  At first, we had some trouble getting them to eat-- they seemed hungry and would try to eat it but the puppy kibble was too hard for them to chew and too big for them to swallow.  They'd hold it in their mouth a while but then it would eventually fall out. So we started grinding up their food, which seemed to help a lot.  In fact, this morning, when I brought them food, they both chowed down pretty hard.

They've both gained a couple ounces.  When they first arrived, Barbara Bush puppy (I would like to point out again that I did not choose their names) weighed 2 pounds, and now she weighs 2 lbs. 2 oz.  Michelle Obama puppy weighed just 1 lbs 14 oz when she arrived, and now she weighs 2 lbs. 5 oz.!  Tiny differences, I know, but this is only their second full day with us, so any progress is good progress.

This morning we had playtime outside.  It was just slightly raining, and there was a little bit of thunder, which I think gave them an opportunity to get used to that.

Mo with Bryan

It's incredible to see what distinct personalities they have already.  Mo is much more energetic and extroverted, and way more talkative.  BB is a lot more laid back and takes things in stride.  She loves to sleep, but handles new experiences a little more confidently.  Both of them, however, seem to equally love the opportunity to chew on earlobes.

the babies are here

Ooooh, dear.  I was not prepared for this level of cute.

It's surprising to me that any dog could make Harriet look big, but they've done it.  Mo and BB appear to be some sort of lab mix. Their official names are Michelle and Barbara; all the puppies of the litter were named after presidents or first ladies.  But it felt really awkward calling a dog Barbara.  So we're going with their initials.

Mo (Michelle)

BB (Barbara)

They are supposedly 6 weeks old, but oh my goodness they are tiny and skinny. You can particularly see it in the photo of BB, how boney she is in the hips and ribs.


We were originally supposed to get two puppies from a different litter last week, but that group turned out to possibly have ringworm, so they have to recover before they can be fostered.  Though I'm worried about the fate of those puppies, for our sake these girls were worth the wait.  They're eating a little bit at a time.  Mo can't figure out how to eat puppy kibble so we've been crushing it up and mixing it with water so she'll eat.  They are playful and talkative.

But most of all, they are sleepy. 

The toughest part is keeping them isolated from our other dogs for the first 2 weeks.  Truman wants to sniff them SO badly!

the babies are coming!

Truman is way, crazy excited.  His excitement is because we have laid down vinyl flooring on the wood floor of my home office, and we've put up a playpen with some dog toys, and two stuffed puppies in it.  Truman loves stuffed animals.

He's kind of been freaking out, actually.  But he's getting used to it, which was exactly the point.  Because this week-- hopefully this afternoon-- we are going to be adding two real, live puppies to that playpen.  And Truman will freak out all over again with excitement, but at least he's getting use to the playpen itself before then.

This will be our first fostering experience.  This summer I became a volunteer at SICSA, and through my volunteering I offered to become a foster home (with B's support, of course).  Within a day or two of applying to foster, I was contacted about 11 lab mix puppies (9 weeks old) that are in need of foster homes willing to care for them at least in pairs.  We expect to be meeting them later today.  Let the adventures commence!