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Zeus at Seven Months

Zeus - Bullmarket Absolut Notorious

Zeus - Bullmarket Absolut Notorious

I spent the morning at the Bullmastiff Fancier’s of Canada Specialty (photo link coming) this morning, and got a special treat – a visit from Zeus (formerly Simon) and his owner, Tamika.

Zeus looks fabulous, and best of all, he’s an utter darling of a boy. He loved everyone he met, adult, child or dog, and everyone loved him back. I can completely believe Tamika when she tells me that “people rush across the street just to be able to meet him!”.

Thanks for coming out, Tamika, and I can’t wait to see Zeus in the ring this fall!

Pug hits ‘rock’ bottom

This spring, just before Simon and Teddy went to their new homes, they developed a favorite game. One of them would go outside, get a piece of pea gravel, and bring it back into the house, and then they’d both take turns batting it all over the floor and then pouncing on it like it was prey.

As you can imagine, this was not my favorite game, although I did like it somewhat better than their other game, which was called “You go under that chair and I’ll pull you out by digging my teeth into your thigh while you scream”.

Every time I saw Simon or Teddy bringing a rock into their house (they looked like little kids trying to hide the illicit gum they were chewing – “rock im my mouf? whad rock im my mouf? Deres no rock im here”), I’d grab them and wrestle the rock away from them. Teddy one day saw me coming towards him, blinked a few times, and swallowed his rock with an audible ‘gulp’ sound. I had a worried day and change after that, picturing a rock just sitting in his stomach, wearing a hole in his lining while it calcified into the size of a brick. Of course, he handily pooped it out, and the next day he and Simon were once again trying to bring rocks inside the house.

If I was worried, you can only imagine how the family of a five month old Pug puppy named Alfie felt when they realized he’d eaten not just one stone, but a full half pound of pebbles!

From the UK Daily Mail:

…Owner Nicola Loizides, 43, spotted something was amiss when she picked him up and noticed he was ‘substantially heavier’.

She put two and two together after feeling his stomach – which she said felt more like a Beanie Baby – and noticed him chewing a stone outside.

The worried mother-of-two rushed Harrods-bought Alfie to the vets, where he went under the knife for an emergency operation.

Vets pulled out half a pound of stones from his stomach just in the nick of time. Had it been left for longer the shingle could have perforated his intestines which would have potentially been fatal.

Here’s an xray of Alfie’s tummy –

Xray of pug puppy who ate stones

Alfie’s vet, Mark Collins, said:

‘Alfie is a very lucky dog indeed. He must have been very sore but when he first came into the surgery he looked remarkably well – he was running about and wagging his tail.

‘His owner had seen him eating the stones, so we sent him in for an X-ray and it showed he had an entire stomach full. I couldn’t believe it. We sometimes have animals in who have swallowed the odd stone, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this.

‘We managed to operate to remove the stones and within half an hour Alfie was up and about again.
‘If his owner hadn’t caught it, the stones would have passed into his small intestine which could have been perforated.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294609/Puppy-wolfs-stomach-stones–thinking-dog-biscuits.html#ixzz0uKqUsccX

Litter Box Training Puppies

French Bulldog puppy with litter box

Simon sitting outside his litter box

I just realized that I haven’t mentioned our little (litter?) experiment – we litter box trained the puppies. Doing so was incredibly easy – easier than I’d imagined it could be, and I am unbelievably pleased with the results.

We started from the minute that the pups were ready to move from their pool into their ex pen, which was right about when I started to wean them.

The supplies we used were as follows:

– ex pen made up of modular panels, connected with clips
– standard plastic litter box pan, with a rectangular door cut in the side to make access easier
– absorbent re usable puppy pad
– litter

That’s it! No fancy equipment or two hundred dollar indoor potty areas required, and our set up was clean smelling and easy to maintain.

We set the ex pen up to be as small as possible for the first stage of training. The puppies essentially had only two areas – a sleeping area, and their litter box. This forced the puppies to leave their bed when they wanted to eliminate, and left them with no choice but to use the litter box. We first placed the litter pan inside the ex pen with no door cut into it, but the side was too high for them to get over top of easily. Cutting a door into it, with still a lip underneath to contain the litter, solved that issue.

Initially, we used wood shavings for litter. This was an unqualified disaster. The shavings get everyplace – stuck in bedding, stuck on puppy paws, scattered on the floor, under the cushions of their bed. In fact, there were so many shaving stuck to their bedding that they clogged the sink in our laundry room. So much for that idea.

Our next attempt was with pressed pine litter, which is what we use for our cat. Like the wood shavings, it smelled nice and clean, even when wet, but it also was messy. The pine pellets break down into sawdust when wet, and we ended up dealing with the same issues we had with shavings, in that the sawdust ended up everyplace.

Our final product was compressed newspaper pellets, the same kind that veterinary clinics prescribe for cats who’ve had surgery, and for the same reason. It does not break down, even when wet, so it doesn’t track everyplace, and it doesn’t stick to bedding or to the puppies. It is neutral smelling, and the wet litter expands and darkens, making it easy to see the soiled litter when you go to clean out the box. Best of all, it’s easy to shake off of bedding, and can be swept up off of the floor without scattering everyplace.

As the puppies matured, and began consistently using the litter box, we expanded the size of the ex pen.

In our first expansion, we gave them a sleeping area, an area with their water dish and space for their food dish, and their litter box. The litter box is placed on top of an absorbent puppy pad, to catch spills, poopy foot prints or the occasional ‘out of the box’ pee (the pups sometimes pee on the edge of the box, rather than inside it – sort of like human males, come to think of it). We use a second, smaller absorbent pad underneath the water dish, since there’s nothing puppies like more than splashing in their water.

how to litter box train puppies

Another view of the litter box inside the whelping pen

8 weeks on, and the puppies’ ex pen is incredibly clean and tidy. When the pups have play time in the living room, I bring their litter box out with them. A few gentle pushes in the right direction, and they’ve all gotten into the habit of using it when they’re ready to eliminate.

Other than the occasional lazy pee I mentioned above, I have never yet seen a mess outside of the litter box. Through the day, I scoop out any poop or soiled litter, and once every other day I clean the box out completely, sanitizing it with warm water and soap. Instead of the nightmare mess of dirty newspapers that used to greet me in the morning, I have a clean ex pen with a soiled litter box. The space is now full sized, with the litter box in one corner, and a large sleeping and play area taking up the rest of the pen. I’ve also added a small crate inside the pen, with the door removed, which the puppies can go in and out of as they wish. Teddy, who is now the only puppy here, likes sleeping inside his crate, and in a day or so I’ll add the door and see how that goes over.

Simon and Alvin’s mom and dads have said that they might continue to use the litter box – Simon’s parents in particular, since they’re living in a condo right now. I’ll be interested to see if this early training pays off with puppies who are easier to housebreak.

I always laughed at the idea of litter box trained dogs, but after this litter I’m no longer laughing. Instead, I’m an enthusiastic convert!

Weekend End Frenchie Photos

Tula's 3 French Bulldog puppies

The boys, their last weekend together

Here are some photos from the last day or two – and can I just ask, completely without any prejudice, aren’t these boys growing into the most handsome fellows?

Teddy’s markings are so eye catching – his mask may have faded, but his “eyeliner and mascara” are still in place, giving his a sort of doe eyed prettiness that’s hard to look away from. Simon – now Zeus – is in his awkward phase. His head, while still gorgeous, looks too small for his body. It will all even up in a month or so, and in the meantime he’s just a gloriously gallumphing little guy. He’s growing into quite the snuggle monkey, too.

Alvin still looks like Alvin – round, cartoon eyes and that adorable little grin. He’s just to cute to be anything other than a muppet, I swear.

And speaking of little Alvin, he left today, back to Paula’s first, and from there on Sunday he’s on to his new home. Paula tells me he was NOT happy about the solo car ride home, but he’s settled in well at her place, and is behaving like the little gentleman we know he is. I know he’s on his way to a FABULOUS new home, but I just can’t help missing his little tiny muppet face. His brothers, on the other hand, have been gleefully cackling “More food for US, sucka!”. Hellions, I tell you. Cute hellions, but hellions none the less 😉

You can see the photos over on Flickr, or check out our iPhoto slideshow below.

Breaking what isn’t broke

Teddy eating his first meal of raw dog food mixed with goats milk.

I’ve been raw feeding my dogs off and on for almost twenty years now. Back when I started, raw feeding was something that you turned to in desperation, when all the other diets had failed you. It was also something you didn’t advertise to most people, as you were almost assured of being considered a ‘kook’. I remember several potential puppy buyers who balked when informed that my pups were raised on raw food. A few thought it meant that they’d be walking salmonella farms, and one or two actually believed the old myth about ‘raw meat making dogs savage’! Times sure have changed – you can now buy raw diets commercially, some puppy buyers specifically come looking for pups who’ve been raised on raw and lists for raw feeders abound on Yahoo Groups.

No matter how long you feed raw for, it’s still possible to have the occasional crisis of faith. Mine came when it was time to wean the chipmunks. As always, I started them on a slurry of raw dog food mixed with goats milk. I then gradually reduce the milk, until they’re eating just raw. This time around, a week or so in and the little hellions all went on a hunger strike. In an adult dog, this would be time for a case of tough love – eat or go hungry, is generally my motto. With babies, it’s a little bit more worrisome – they can’t afford to skip meals, and they don’t have the energy reserves to make fasting practical.

And so, I admit it – I panicked. I picked up a bag of premium quality, grain free kibble, I soaked it in some goats milk, and I offered it to the kids. And, of course, they loved it. Like sucky, over indulgent moms the world over, instead of just insisting that the kids eat their damned broccoli, I gave in and fed them the canine equivalent of a trip to McDonalds. Initially, it seemed a simple solution – give in, feed them dry and say ‘so be it’. It wasn’t quite that simple, however.

As soon as the pups went on to the dry food, they had constant diarrhea. This wasn’t the truly frightening, dehydrating diarrhea, either. Excuse the crudeness, but their poop looked like pudding, and poor Alvin was suffering from a wicked case of diaper rash as a result. Not life threatening, but not pleasant, either, and I was desperate to get it under control.

First attempt? Re worming. I use Safe Guard, which covers the widest variety of intestinal worms, and also addresses any potential Giardia. Nothing. Next attempt, a precautionary dose of Baycox, an  almost impossible to get wonder drug that knocks out Coccidia in one dose. Still no change. Alvin’s bottom was so sore I was applying zinc oxide cream four times daily, and the poor little guy still looked miserable. Next up, we tried a course of Flagyl (aka metronidazole), surefire cure all for all mystery cases of runny poop. No improvement. Final attempt, a pricey box of FortiFlora, which my repro vet swears by. Still runny poop, still scooting their little bums, and still a sore bottom on Alvin.

On Friday, I’d had it.

I decided to switch them back to raw, whether they liked it or not, and put down a dish of raw lamb dog food. Picky as always, they sniffed at it and said ‘no thanks’, until I sprinkled a remaining packet of FortiFlora over top of it, after which they scarfed it down like they were starving.

End results? By Saturday morning, their poop was fifty percent better, and by Saturday night, their poop was 100% normal, for the first time since I switched them to dry.

Lesson learned! I’ll be sticking to raw from now on, and if another batch of puppies get picky, I’ll ride it out and use tough love until they get their appetites back, instead of feeding them junk food. As Sean said “If you know raw works, why were you messing around with their food?”. It was a simple case of breaking what wasn’t broke, and I’m not going to make that mistake again!