Smudge's pups today are now 12 days old and I managed to take the video of them as they had just woke up and were wibble wobbling around the whelping box. They are getting more active by the day and we are just starting to see their eyes opening. The slideshow are photos from yesterday and today, so the pups at 11 and 12 days old. We still have a couple boys available. If interested in this cross between the Cavalier and Brittany Spaniel, you can contact me by email at howarthmurch@btinternet.com or call me for a chat, my number is 01769 560969. Yesterday Charlie visited us, with what has become an annual pilgrimage for him. Charlie is the father of Smudge and Primrose, so Granddad to Smudge's litter of pups and the pups hopefully Primrose is carrying. At just over 5 years old Charlie when being examined by a cardiologist vet was found to have a very subtle murmur, so we had him neutered and Sheila and her son, Vincent took him in to their home and hearts. He is now 9 years old and still fit and well, and thankfully the murmur has not progressed to cause Charlie any health problems, so far. Sheila and Vincent took Charlie on having had Cavaliers before and under the understanding that I would want to be kept informed of how is was getting along. Sheila and Vincent have more than kept their word on letting me know how Charlie is and every year since having him, Vincent drives his Mum Sheila and Charlie all the way down from Kent to visit and have supper with us. Our children really look forward to the visits, especially seeing Vincent, sorry Sheila. The children really enjoy catching up with Vincent and his encyclopedic knowledge of Doctor Who, Star Trek and Star Wars. Vincent was diagnosed as a young adult with Asperger syndrome which for us makes him a joy to have as a friend and also his mum, Sheila who I enjoy having our very look chat with every year. The photos are of Charlie's visit, including Charlie meeting one of his Grandchildren and Vincent seeing pups at this young age for the first time ever. Many people do not realise that pups are born with their eyes and ears closed and are then often fascinated to see them before their eyes and ears are open. So that's Charlie's visit done for 2015 and the children are already counting the days to the next one. Smudge's pups are now ten days old and doing really well. They are very active and when not suckling or sleeping they can be found wobbling around the whelping box, trying to figure out how to use their legs. They have yet to start opening their eyes or ears, as when born not only are their eyes closed but also their ears are closed over. You can now see more definition to the eyelids which means in a day or two, we should start to see the eyes opening. The slideshow are the pups over the last three days since I last blogged. Saturday I went to Mole Valley Farmers which is a local town and country store to stock up on Panacur worming paste for the pups, as I start worming them from two weeks old, every two weeks until leaving us. Panacur I have found one of the best wormers for pups, as easy to give to them, gentle on their stomachs and it also does the job of killing internal parasites, especially gastrointestinal nematodes and protozoa. Nematodes and protozoa can mulitiple rapidly in very young pups and can cause serious health issues to a pup if not regularly wormed from around two weeks from being born. Whilst I was in Mole Valley Farmers I remembered that the Puppy Toy Box was looking a bit bare and it won't be long now before I will start putting toys in with them to explore and start playing with. The Puppy Toy Box is a little wooden box I keep toys in specially for the litters we have and I keep it under my bed, when the toys are not in use. The reason it has got a bit bare is because it has been receiving regular visits from Henry and Treacle since our last litter back in the summer of 2014. Someone would not quite shut the hall way door properly, that leads up to the bedrooms and Henry and Treacle would sneak into my bedroom and then the first I would know about their visit to the Puppy Toy Box would be finding a trail of bits of the toy they had removed. Slowly a box full of puppy toys had got down to only around four toys. As luck would have it, Mole Valley Farmers had a sale on of puppy toys. Old lines and what looks like Christmas themed toys. I'm sure the pups won't be confused playing with Christmas themed toys in the summertime. Lol Today here in the UK has been May Day Bank Holiday Monday, so the children home. At lunchtime our son, Bert decided he might like a scone, but to his horror when looking for one in the freezer, it was discovered that the last batch I had baked and had put in the freezer had all been eaten. He was annoyed that the person who had eaten the last scone, had not thought to inform me of its passing. I told Bert, "Rather than stand there moaning about no scones. I want to do some baking this afternoon, so whack the oven on and why don't you go and make some ? They only take about twenty minutes or so." So he did and the photos are of him doing just that, with a very patient Henry(who is the father to Smudge's pups above), watching him. And here are Bert's scones and yes, Henry's patience paid off. He got the little piece of scone mixture you always have left over, that is not quite big enough to make a whole scone. Going to stick my neck out again and say before scanning Primrose, "That I'm pretty sure she is in pups." I can feel on palpating her stomach little bead like shapes, around three maybe four. Will ring the vet tomorrow to get her booked in near the end of the week to be scanned, to hopefully confirm my findings are that of a pregnancy and to give me an idea of how many she is carrying. The photo below is of Primrose asleep with Jessica who is the one who lost her left back leg last year. These two do look very much alike and seem to hang out a lot together as well. They say, 'Like attracts like.' Now to end tonight on a little anecdote. Today I did something very grownup. I went grocery shopping this morning with a list. Now don't be rude and say, "You getting old Jane, the old grey matter not working so well," because I will have to reply, "Of course I'm getting old, but I've always been bloody useless at remembering shopping and today I was doing a mega shop, which means remembering things I don't get regularly, so cut me some slack."
Now what follows is roughly the conversation between my husband David and me, whilst compiling the list. My husband said, "You know some people write the list, as the things you need appear in the shop." My reply was, "Some people take a pen and tick the things off as they find them, so it does not matter where they are on the list." David asked, "Will you be taking a pen ?" "No !" I reply, "Where would the fun be in that ?" David laughs and I follow on with, "You know some people have an app on their phone or whatever and do a list on that and if you really become efficient you could go online and get the stuff delivered, but you know me I need to touch and smell when I go shopping and that's before I even get in the store." Lol Now don't think I go around touching and smelling people randomly, the people I touch and smell are always consenting. I've always been tactile and having a keen sense of smell, I consider touching and smelling food before purchasing it is part of the process of buying tasty healthy good food and also a good way of acquiring a good husband. It seems to of worked, thus far. Lol Wow, it's May. The year is flying along and today Smudge's pups are seven days old, clocking up their first week. So time for a little video of Super Mum, Smudge and her nine Cavalier/Brittany pups. I took the video just now. I must admit to watching them waking and wobbling about to find mum and then suddenly thought to film and missed that bit. You will hear my husband in the background say, "I'm full up now." after he had come home for lunch telling me he was starving (It is chilly here at the moment with a North Easterly wind, which if working out doors gives you an appetite just keeping yourself warm) and had just finished eating a plate of homemade spaghetti bolognese left over from the night before. I will blow my own trumpet and must admit it was very nice, as I had run out of Worcester sauce, so used some balsamic vinegar which I prefer. I'm a bit of a vinegar connoisseur, having started early, when my mother found me in the cafe she had when I was a baby, sat on a table at around the age of two, drinking vinegar from the vinegar bottle on the table. I had already polished off the vinegar on the other half a dozen tables when she found me, apparently. I do like vinegar. Smudge in the video you notice is panting, as it is warm in the whelping box for the pups and with her milk bars full, her stomach and chest at the moment are almost insulated with the heat from her milk production, so this also makes her feel a bit uncomfortably warm. Smudge though is a clever mum and knows when her pups need tending and when they are sleeping she happily rests away from them on the cool wooden floor, but in ear shot. And a few photos to end on of Smudge's nine pups at one week old. |
“The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you,but he will make a fool of himself, too.”
― Samuel Butler Me (Jane) with Puddin' and Teagol, waiting patiently to flush a patch of kale, December 2019
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March 2022
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