Just returned home from the Vet with Tan and as expected, a scraping reveals a fungal infection of the skin on his snout. When reviewing his photos of the 18th, if you look closely, knowing what we know now, the outline might be slightly visible. What's amazing is how quickly it took hold from there. Essentially invisible one day... Saturday and fully visible the next! Our Vet wasn't concerned though and felt with proper treatment he will most likely be able to receive his certificate in a weeks time. We shall see. For now I'll continue the topical I've been using which is a greater than fabulous non-medicated lotion for horses designed to treat various skin ailments and promote hair regrowth. Dr Rea also prescribed a low dose oral anti fungal and I expect to see rapid improvement. I'll snap some photos of him and his progress on a regular basis.
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Real honest to goodness rain! Music to my ears and a sight to behold!
Feeling thankful!!! Phew! Finally got a breather! Last week was a busy one and then straight in to my workweek which went pretty smoothly but never the less late nights and early mornings continued with getting the pups fed and settled in addition to providing for my own crew. Simply wasn't able to gain the time or energy I'd hoped to put together the slide show of extras or put the past week in word format.
Better late than never as they say... Will start with the words. First I want to bring to everyone's attention the Facebook "litter page" Adelle started up. Some of you discovered it by reading comments to the previous post but in the event not everyone read them I'm posting the FB address here too. She set it up as a private page as a place for each of you to post photos and updates of your pups to share with each other. While I've got my own FB page and a page dedicated to my dogs and all things Doberman there was interest expressed within the group to find a means to stay in contact with each other. The page address is. https://www.facebook.com/groups/635968246597030/ Unfortunately Weebly doesn't support links to address within the body of text but a simple copy and paste of the link to your browser should take you right to the page. Many of you have already found the it. I hope the rest of you do too. So... last week! A total of five visits and 5 pups selected, some which stuck and some in the end didn't. Hence the title to my post. More on that later... Regarding the visits though it was obvious the pups enjoyed the extra attention and just as obvious everyone who visited enjoyed giving it to them. Last week was a period of rapid growth and especially growth of ears. It seems the ears remain small for quite a while and then all the sudden I look at them and wonder "wow, when did that happen". Hard to believe a week from today a select group of four will go in for the final step of breed specific beautification. Their crop! The rest two days later. In groups the pups spent quite a bit of time outside throughout the week with visitors and with me alone as I finished up their weekly photos. They also spent a couple hours a day each day in the smaller dog run off the back of my house. It's good for them to understand confinement in different settings can be fun and as a group, whether it be small or large, they think nothing of it. They enjoy their time with each other and the toys provided and eventually discover the doghouse. To them the dog house is more of a play station than shelter but it's the discovery of what it offers that's important. And finally, mid-week, they experienced their first little storm including some light rain and mild thunder. They happened to be dining on the deck when the rain started and neither the rain nor the distant thunder phased them. I've been fortunate enough that each of my litters has had an opportunity to weather a storm preparing them for storms of the future. I was hopeful this one would too. None of my dogs have a fear of weather and I attribute that to my lack of fear and to proper socialization when storms occur. No coddling allowed. Past litters and past storms have required my presence for reassurance but in general I know the best thing to do is to let them wonder what it's all about, gain a sense of safety in numbers, realize they're fine and then enjoy a fun romp through the wet grass when the skies clear. Since we were spared lightning last week, the pups were simply allowed the choice of finishing up their meal in the light rain or to seek shelter in the dog house or under the canopy of the run. They chose to continue on with their meal. I broke down and advertised Purple. I've had some interest but she's still in search of a proper home. Kind of surprising actually. She may end up being the first pup since my first litter that remains homeless at the 8 week mark. Not sure what to think of that. But as I always say, everything happens for a reason. One of these days the reason will become apparent. Now... on to the subject I touched on earlier and the title of the post. Some of you noticed, Adelle and her hubby originally chose Black but then after talking things over in the car, called within a half hour or so of leaving to inform me they wanted to go with Tan. Since no selections had been made since they'd driven off it was an easy switch. Now the monkey wrench I mentioned. Sunday night when I got home, I walked through the pup room greeting the pups and then carried on with my chores by first letting Majestic and Galtero out for a romp before dinner. It's not unusual for the pups to have a few flakes of shavings on their coats when I get home but by the time I return to them they've generally done a great job of shaking themselves clean. For that reason, I found it odd to see Tan still had a flake stuck on his snout. Unfortunately, on closer inspection it wasn't a flake of shavings but a crusty lesion thought at this point to be some form of fungal infection. While I don't think it's an issue that will be ongoing, I called to let Adelle know what was going on with her chosen boy and that I would be treating it as a fungal infection with what I had on hand until I could get to the Vet for verification. A short time later, she called back to let me know they were uncomfortable with the new development and requested to instead choose a pup from those remaining. They chose Blue. As a result Tan is once again thrown back into the pot for selection and Blue is no longer available. I suppose under the current set of circumstances Suzie and Ashley would have an opportunity to re-select but I think they're both happy with their current picks. I considered calling -just now as I'm typing this but after looking at the clock decided it was too late in the evening. Maybe, if I don't receive comments by mid day tomorrow, I'll make the calls to let them know what's going on. As for the rest of you, as far as Tan is concerned, he will need a clean bill of health in order to gain his certificate of health which I generally get during their cropping appointment. The blemish on his snout I'm thinking already looks somewhat better... different anyway. The crusties gone but a hairless area remains as a result of the topical I've applied. We've got an appointment to see the Vet at 10am tomorrow. I've got just over a week to continue what ever course of treatment is recommended before his scheduled crop and hopefully enough time will pass and enough healing will occur that he'll receive his certificate on schedule. I know no one wants to hear of any issues but as per our agreement if I can't produce a pup with a valid health certificate our contract essentially becomes null and void and deposit returned. Honestly, I don't believe Tan's condition is much of a problem but I can't guarantee there won't be a slight delay in the issuance of certificate. That being said, I'm a fair woman of my word and the ball's in your court as far as "Tan The Man" is concerned. Gotta love a monkey wrench! Tomorrow I'll begin the process of weekly photos once again and will try and get some to show what's going on with Tan. When speaking with Adelle she said she noticed a bit of a raised area on his snout when they were here to select. I actually recall her mentioning something but there was so much going on and since I hadn't noticed anything unusual I guess I'm guilty of not really paying close enough attention to what she said. In hindsight, I wish I had. I'd be that much farther ahead of the game. :-( FYI... the little "f" directly below will take you to the Facebook page mentioned earlier in the post. I learned something new today... It seems like it's been forever since I've been on here but when I look at the date it's only been two days. Hmmm... guess there's just been so much going on that there's lots of updates to do and I'm only half way there! But, unfortunately it's late and duty calls in the morning.
I think I've got everyones page updated for the week however at this point I'm afraid to look. I'll check for completeness tomorrow. And maybe, just maybe I'll have a chance to write some lengthy and wordy post about the happenin's of the week. Maybe a slide show of extras too and you all can try and find your kids in the mix... sometimes easy -sometimes not. No promises though. Will see how my work days go. For now my bed is waiting. GN Well another busy day was had here on the range. As expected, the selection process wasn’t easy. It rarely is! Watching people consider and ultimately select their pup though is one of my favorite parts of breeding. Generally, people are here for quite a while… the more pups to choose from the longer it seems. I love it though. It gives me a chance to interact with the people my babes will soon call family. It was a pleasure to finally meet Adelle and her family followed by Ashley. And I think we did a good job of wearing the boys out!!! They should sleep well tonight.
Following the selection of Tan by Adelle and White by Ashley, I took the girls out for their romp and attempted to get their weekly photos done. I’m still missing Pink and Orange was a bit short changed as well so maybe I can snap a few of them tomorrow while I get to work on the boys. They are at the age of being difficult; their Velcro-ness taking hold. Next week I expect even more of a challenge! Some, or maybe all of you have noticed my name now appears at the top of the list for a female. A week or so back when I began making calls to arrange dates for people to come see the pups, I was informed my buyer for pick of the litter female had unexpectedly lost her job. Being in-between jobs, she felt there was too much up in the air at this time to purchase a puppy. I struggled with what to do… haven’t really been in this situation before. Not so close to the process of selection anyway. I've had a couple calls inquiring but didn't feel either was a good fit. And I've had a couple calls inquiring about males... I decided to assume the pick position despite the fact that I’m not exactly ready to take on the needs of a pup. I will do my best not to fall in love with her and for that reason, I hope a buyer comes quickly. I’m one though that believes everything happens for a reason. I had always kind of assumed I would keep one of Majestic’s pups but then Skye was returned to me, Ritz a planned purchase joined my crew and Getka came along as an opportunity I felt I couldn’t pass up. Then Galtero who was purchased for a bloodline to match that of Ritz and Getka. So… obviously, I don't need another youngster. When it comes down to it though, if there’s even the most remote possibility I end up keeping a pup from Majestic’s planned last litter, I need it to be the pup of my choosing. And like the others I find the task of selecting nearly impossible. Hopefully I can decide before Will gets here tomorrow. If not, I guess I’ll become number two on the list. Or maybe… just maybe someone will read this and scoop up the last pup of the litter. Hard to believe my vacation is sadly over and I've already put in a week of work. Time is flying by! It's always good to get my work week behind me but as for the rest I'd be ok with it if things would slow down a little. Our first cropping appointment is a short two weeks away from tomorrow. I guess it's a good time for some basic info that might be helpful. I know some of you have already asked. I don't really recommend any particular dog food for your pups but I do recommend each of you study the various dog foods available and find one that fits your budget and has a decent rating based on it's ingredients. There are so many foods out there and several sites available to compare ingredients and ratings. I personally like dogfoodadvisor.com As an added bonus, they offer a link allowing you to sign up for email notifications of dog food recalls as they're announced. Most of you have probably heard me mention Chewy.com for various products from toys to crates to baby gates. They also sell and deliver many brands of food and treats. I find them reasonably priced but it's always a good idea to do some price checking and comparing with sites such as Amazon. Chewy is often lower -but not always. Their customer service though is unmatched. For now the pups are eating IAMS large breed puppy kibble. I've tried a few different brands over the years but my litters have done well on IAMS. It's not necessary to stick with IAMS but it is important to transition your pups to a new food gradually. For those of you who'd like to bypass buying a bag I can provide a small amount of it for the weaning process. As far as collars go, I generally start them out with the adjustable nylon collars. Most of them will fit a size 10-12 with room to grow. For those of you who plan to crate train, I recommend going all the way right off the bat. One crate for puppy through adult. The larger crates generally have dividers that can be used the first few nights to help your pup learn to sleep through the night and to keep his or her crate clean and dry. The females can usually get away with a 42 inch but I recommend the 48 inch crate for all. I also prefer the wire rather than the airline variety to prevent a feeling of isolation of claustrophobia. For those of you who plan to follow up with Dr McBride for taping or at least for cup removal and the first tape and post, I encourage you, with your mind on the future, to check out the fabric covered prong collars she sells. They come from Lola Limited and although they're a few dollars more than on the website it's a wash when factoring in shipping charges. Prong collars in the proper hands are great training tools for Dobermans despite the belief held by some that they are inhumane. I personally find them invaluable for young dogs in training. Young -but not too young. You will also find some pretty good buys on Elk Antler at McBrides office if you go. They're expensive but very competitively priced and last forever! Most importantly, they're safe. Lola Limited Collar and Elk
Well, I tried but my bed is calling in serious ways. Two days of work down and one more to go! I managed to complete seven of ten pup pages this evening and will get to the last three tomorrow night. Some are better than others as is usually the case. Some are simply more cooperative than others depending on the day. And no, Black is not the only pup known to howl so please don't discount him for his photo this week. I'm pretty sure each has learned the art of howling by now. My own dogs get going in unison on occasion and it's actually quite musical. I wouldn't want them to do it on a regular basis but as frequently as they do, I consider it a treat of sorts. I think they, together, hit just about every note there is.
So, some of us will meet this coming week and the rest who choose to will meet their pups the following week. I'll attempt to get round two of the girls done before our first visitors arrive so each of you will have a variety of photos to study in addition to playing with and cuddling the pups themselves. In total there will be at least two more rounds of photos... week six which I'll begin working on Tuesday morning and week seven when it arrives. I like to get a few shots of the pups in their head gear as well but depending on scheduling and pick ups, it's not usually possible to get to all of them. I hope you enjoy what I've got so far. Sorry I wasn't able to get them all done tonight. UGH! Well, I've got them on my Mac. Throughout the week I managed to get enough photos of each pup to open their individual pup pages but work calls tomorrow and now, shortly past midnight I've got no time to post. Hopefully I'll get everyone settled early enough in the evenings over the course of the next few nights to get them uploaded. Tuesday I'll work on taking their week six photos... Next week though starts the beginning of selections. I'm hoping to get last weeks photos up before anyone arrives. We shall see. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Time is ticking!
Majestic's new found friend.
Thought she had a ball at first but a closer look tells a different story. Although I'm not crazy about them and their digging in the horse pasture and into the bank that lines my pit, I'm aware Gopher Tortoise are protected. I allowed her to investigate and since she seemed to be treating the creature gently I grabbed my camera for a few morning shots of nature at it's finest. As you can see at one point Majestic appears prepared to settle in for a nap with it. |
The First
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