Molly and Gunner were bred November 1-3. Our reproductive vet, Dr. Janice Cain, confirmed 8-10 puppies by ultrasound and gave us an anticipated delivery date of January 1/2. As described below, Molly went into labor a few days early and the puppies were born on December 30.
Both parents are well-bred and have been succssful show dogs. Molly was the #3-ranked Rhodesian Ridgeback show dog in 2012 and 2013 and received Award of Merit at the Westminster KC show in February, 2014. Gunner was the #9-ranked Rhodesian Ridgeback show dog in 2014.
The puppies from this litter have all been committed. If you are interested in being considered for a puppy from a breeding we plan for the coming summer, please use download our questionaire and return the completed questionaire by email.
The Peanuts Puppies are ranging farther afield now. When it is sunny outside I am leaving the kennel gate open so they can explore the greater yard. Here is a photo of one trying out one of the dog beds, and mom who is taking the sun and thinking "my work is done."
When I am feeding the adult dogs the pups are usually not happy being confined
After morning weigh-in I leave the pups with the large kennel room and both small inside runs and Molly spends the day with them. They have pretty much given up the idea that she is a source of food, although every now and then one or two try to return to the milk bar.
The photos below are Linus and Pigpen taking a sunbath on the puppy porch, the whole pack having lunch in their outside patio, and the puppies taking an after-lunch siesta in their inside kennel room.
Busy, busy day. This morning we had our trip to Bishop Ranch Veterinary Clinic for our wellness exam with Dr. Michelle Dodd. Here are a few photos.
Linus was so stressed while waiting his turn that he took a little (uncomfortable) nap.
With everyone weighed, poked, probed, and listened too, we got back in our chariot and headed home.
Snoopy never misses an opportunity for a little affection.
This weekend has been full of visitors for the Peanuts Pack. There were visitors from 10 am until 6 pm on Saturday (yesterday) and again for three hours today (Super Bowl Sunday). The pups are getting a lot of invaluable socialization, being held and cuddled by all of the visitors. Here are some photos:
Over the last few days we noticed that a couple of the smaller girls were not steadily gaining weight like the rest of the pack. We watched them eat and saw that Sally and Lucy, in particular, did not put their heads in the bowls and just keep eating until the food was all gone, like most of the rest. In particular, we saw that the larger boys, Pigpen in particular, were eating like vacuum cleaners. They would keep their heads down in the pan until it was licked clean and then move over to another pan and polish it off. In comparison, Sally and Lucy would eat a few bites, then run off and play, then come back to a different bowl and eat a few bits more, etc. Finally all the food would be gone and these two had eaten enough to keep them going, but they were not putting on weight. When we were trying to take stack photos, using a piece of string cheese as bait, we found that Sally was crazy for it. So we thought maybe they just don't like the taste of the kibble we are feeding. So we went to the store and bought a few cans of Ensure, the high-calorie nutritional shake, and gave Sally and Lucy some kibble in a bowl of Ensure. Sure enough, they loved it and pretty much polished off the bowl. Since then we are giving these two a shot of Ensure-kibble a couple of times a day and their appetites have improved. Both are now gaining steadily and they both seem to have more focus when eating with theother puppies. So we may be able to stop the Ensure supplement in a few more days.
Terri King and Theresa Bowermaster came to help us stack and photograph the puppies. This is an important step in the show-potential evaluation process as it allows us to get a good idea of bone structure. We were able to get decent stack photos of Frieda and Marcie but the others were pretty unruly. It is not common that 5-week old puppies can be stacked successfully so we aren't especially surprised. We expect to be able to get our first set of really serious audition photos next weekend and hopefully our friend David Bueno will come over and help stack.
Here are Frieda's 5 1/2 week stack photos:
Although we weren't able to get a decent stack photo of any of the other puppies, we did get this charming head shot of Sally.
Here are Marcie's 5 1/2 week stack photos:
One of the things we always do with puppies is "de-worm". Puppies often have intestinal round worms and this can be a cause of diarrhea or soft stool in general, which has been an issue with the Peanuts Puppies. So we gave Panacur, an anthelminic that comes as a white suspension. The prescription was 1 cc per 5 pounds, three consecutive days. So Monday-Wednesday of this week we measured out the right quantity of the suspension and gave each puppy their dose as we did the morning weigh-in. After weigh-in we had a play time on the patio.
But the age of innocence is coming to an end as the pups have now learned that there is a dog door from the patio into the house, through the laundry room. So we are being repeatedly invaded. For the moment we have the door blocked on the inside by its insert panel, which means we have to let the adult dogs go into the yard manually. So the pups just pile up outside the door and hope the situation will improve.
Things are getting interesting around here. The puppies have the full run of the yard from about 9 am until about 5 or 6 pm, when they get locked back up in their dual kennel run. The runs and soft stools are over now and their little poops are a lot easier to pick up. The weights range from 7 pounds for Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Sally and Woodstock up to 10 1/2 for Pigpen. The problem is that the small ones are still able to squeeze through an opening in the kennel gates and get out into the yard even when the kennel is closed. Actually, only Sally and Peppermint Patty have figured out how to do that--it requires turning the head sideways, putting it outside, then turning the body sideways while slithering through. So we have installed x-pens inside the kennel runs at each gate. Which makes it a real pain for us to get inside to pick up. Hopefully the small Houdinis will grow enough over the next few days so that they won't be able to squeeze out and we can dispense with the x-pen insurance.
Yesterday afternoon we tried stack photos using ice cream cups as bait. Sally was very good at it. Marcie was not so good about standing (and she had a bigger belly when we did the photo.)
For comparison, here is a photo of mom Molly at the same exact age:
Here is a little video of Pigpen at morning weigh-in. When I posted this on my Facebook page someone commented "how did you ever get him to sit still like that?" The answer is practice--he has sat on a scale every morning of his 6-week life.
Big, big day. It started with everyone getting their very first bath. Following are a few photos of several of the Peanuts Puppies during bath time and here is a little video of Linus getting his bath.
Next we had first vaccination, for DHPP.
Then we had a visit from Doug and Joelle Lumish and their daughters Alexandra and Samantha.
Gunner's owners, Martha and Erin Prendergrast, are visiting today and helped us pose the ten pups for their first real audition photos. You can see them here. And here are some cute candids that Martha took.
Lots has happened in the last week, during which I was away for three full days on business. I will catch up with some of the great photos that Martha Prendergast took but for now here are some new stack photos of the show puppies, Sally, Marcie, Frieda, Peppermint Patty, Pigpen and Linus:
Sally:
Marcie:
Frieda:
Peppermint Patty:
Pigpen:
Linus:
