Anyone had Puppies? Part 1

[veggiechicken]

My next door neighbour has been to see the pups and asked to have the 2 girls - one for them and one for her sister-in-law. It will be good to see them growing up, but it feels a bit strange even thinking about them going.
I'll definitely keep one - don't know which yet - so that leaves 2 little boys

[mothhawk]

Nooooooo..... don't talk about them going to other homes yet.

We all want to enjoy them for a while longer first.

[veggiechicken]

It'll be at least 8 weeks MH. They'll be around until February

[mothhawk]

Don't say another word about new homes till then, pleeaase!

Will you be following the royal theme name wise - you already have Mary and Elizabeth (Bessie). That leaves Anne and Victoria for the girls, and more of a choice for the boys...Edward, Charles, James, William, Henry.....

[veggiechicken]

My first Cavalier was Robert, then Elizabeth, Dotty, Henry, Rosie, Mary, Lily and now Bessie. As most of them were "pre-loved", they came with those names, I've only named Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Henry and tweaked Rosemary and Elizabeth into Rosie and Mary.
The naming of pets - always challenging

[Thelma Sanders]

Where did you get them preloved? Were they ex-puppy farm, moved on after a few litters?

There appear to be quite a few from Wales, when I've been looking on-line, or am I jumping to the wrong conclusions from the adverts?

[Glutton4...]

Slightly off topic, but I have a friend looking for a yellow Lab pup at the moment...

[veggiechicken]

Dotty, Rosie, Mary and probably Lily were all ex-puppy farm, passed to Lizzie's Barn Sanctuary for rehoming. None of them were house trained or used to walking on a lead etc. A couple of them were very nervous. Its so rewarding when you gain their confidence and they settle to a life of comfort.

[Jeanied]

I so agree VC - my Rosie and Petal were both puppies passed to Lizzie's Barn by the breeder - Petal clearly has been well socialised and loves people - Rosie was scared of people and hid in the corner when I first got her.

I have just had an old work colleague pop in on me and she took a look at Petal and said 'oooh we are getting a Cavalier in February' - a good small companion dog that will encourage some daily walks

[Thelma Sanders]

- a good small companion dog that will encourage some daily walks

That's what I thought, but I'll wait til the cat lets me know that she's had enough..... She's eating well at the moment, and all the time she is, I don't think I need to consider the other option

[veggiechicken]

You look after your cat, Thelma, there will always be more dogs looking for homes, whenever the time is right.

[chris]

When the dust has settled can I pop over and have a look please?

[veggiechicken]

Dust, what dust? You know I keep a spotlessly clean home
Wait a couple of weeks until the pups are walking and playing and you can bring the girls to see them

[nellie-m]

Good morning, little family!
Now that the babies are already several days old, it is time to start thinking about worming them and their mum for the first time. It is a joy to see them thrive - worming will make sure that they can keep thriving
If you haven't spoken with your vet about it yet, it would be good to ring them and find out what wormers are suitable and available for puppies, and what the schedule will be for them. (I have added the ESCCAP recommendations below). In addition to that, I would advise to give Bessie a shot of Dectomax at the same time so that she won't re-infect the puppies via her milk (oral wormers won't stop that).
And just to be on the safe side and eliminate as many sources as possible, I'd include Mary in the treatment, too.

ESCCAP guidelines
"Roundworm (Toxocara spp.)
Puppies can be heavily infected by T. canisworms in utero or via nursing and these may cause serious illness before diagnosis is possible by faecal examination. For this reason, puppies should be treated with appropriate anthelmintics normally starting when they are 2 weeks of age, continuing at fortnightly intervals until two weeks after weaning and then monthly treatments to six months of age.
Nursing bitches... should be treated concurrently with the first treatment of their offspring, since they may have patent infections."
http://www.esccap.org/uploads/docs/n...guidelines.pdf

[Jay22]

That old saying 'you learn something everyday' comes to mind here. I've certainly learned a lot about dogs having puppies and what it takes to look after them recently. Didn't know you had to worm them so young! Thanks Nellie, you have taught me a lot these past few weeks. Not that I ever intend having a dog having puppies but interesting just the sameM