Cheers' Doggie Bloggie

Bath Time!

2010-05-14T14:49:00.003-05:00

Today is "Puppy Go" day, meaning that the puppies transistion to their foster home. We want them to look their best and make a good first impression in their new homes. We owe a special debt to the wonderful volunteers who came over today and made bath time so easy.

Possibly the cutest pictures yet

2010-05-02T16:31:00.003-05:00

While my staff was at work on Friday, some folks from Helping Paws and their entourage (including two of my former staff members) stopped by to see the puppies. As I think I mentioned before, Helping Paws employs a fantastic photographer.

The results of the photo shoot are here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/103659597131701239748/CheersXTrumanLitter43010?feat=embedwebsite#

My staff and I greatly appreciate having these pictures to link to as we have been very busy this weekend with all the people that have come to visit the puppies this weekend (one even brought chocolate chip cookies, not that I got to have any) and staff has neglected to take any pictures. But these are better anyway :)

Maybe we should have saved one of those chocolate chip cookies for the Helping Paws photographer after all............

An eventful weekend

2010-04-25T16:52:00.006-05:00

As the pups continue to grow and change and become more entertaining, I have found that I need to increase the activities that I plan for them. Today I told them I would take them on a field trip. What I was really going to do was take them outside for their first romp in the puppy pen. Above you see us having a "team meeting" before we go out.

Next I attempted to pick up Callaghan to take her outside. Fortunately for me, staff picked up the clue (they missed the team meeting) and took the puppies out for me.

This one is pointing-not sure what he thinks he sees. I took him aside and informed him that we were Golden RETRIEVERS, not Golden Pointers.

This being the first time outside for the puppies, there were of course lots and lots of new smells to take in. One is checking the wind, while the others investigate the scents on the ground.

Roisin stalks a dandelion while another puppy looks on.

Roison nears her prey.

Limerick runs to see what Roison has.

Sorry, no punch line-just a cute puppy face.

Here you see them demonstrating their pack behaviour as they fan out.

Callaghan posing nicely.

I have no idea what's going on her, but don't they look cute?

Bono goes off on his own to explore the wilds of the flower bed.

And of course if you are a puppy, being outside for 15 minutes is pretty heady (and tiring) stuff. So staff brought them in, and they passed out promptly, as shown below.

Splash opted for the laundry basket.

Two more passed out under the couch.

And this just about sums it up.

(NOTE-In acuality, after playing outside, the pups were placed back in the pen. However, I decided to use my artistic license and embellish the sleeping part of today's tale. The pups are never allowed to be unsupervised when they are out of the pen. The last 3 pictures are actually from the day before)

"Official" Portraits

2010-04-21T19:45:00.005-05:00

Declan-he appears to be wondering if that's how is name is really spelled. When we told him he was looking upside down he was OK with it.

Bono, who thinks he can smell food. Somewhere.

Callaghan, who as already mastered the art of the pose.

Roisin, who ultimately finds the whole portrait taking thing a huge bore.

Dara, she looks bored, but she's actually calling for her makeup assistant.

Limerick practices his wise look.

Brennan refused to have his picture taken without his friend "Hedgie" in the background on the left.

Splash looks guilty of something, doesn't he? He's not-I can assure you that he a very good puppy

Finnegan wanted to make sure that everyone saw his tongue.

Maeve with the "Are we done, cuz I'm stepping out of here" look

Moving on Up

2010-04-20T19:06:00.003-05:00

This weekend we bid goodbye to the whelping box. I directed my staff to take it down and install the X-Pen. As the above picture demonstrates, it was a tiring experience for all.

Having the X-pen up allows room for more toys and other gadgets. As you can see, the puppies also like sleeping on the puppy platform.

Here's a picture of the puppies first meal in the X-pen. They are growing quickly and have had their mush ration doubled twice in the last week or so. And they continue to lap it up.

Here's one last view of the whelping box. When the puppies can rest their chins on it, its time for it to go.

And yet one more picture of sleeping puppies. They love passing out on the big yellow duckie

Solid food (sort of)

2010-04-13T20:24:00.002-05:00

Tonight my staff mixed up the first batch of what they affectionately call "Mush" to see if the puppies were ready to try something besides their mother's milk. As the pictures demonstrate, "mush" was a big hit with the puppies.

Bono decided to jump in and circumnavigate the dish

Here's a view from the blimp (yes, I know I used that joke last year, but I still think its funny)

I think this one is passed out in the pan

The aftermath-messy passed out puppies

Some of the staff suggested that the puppies were making the "Recycle" sign

Another passed out puppy

Almost Ambulatory

2010-04-08T20:29:00.005-05:00

In the last day or two, the puppies eyes and legs have started to work, albeit slowly. Some of the puppies are now able to see me and my staff, albeit blearily, and they have also started to pick their bellies up off the floor when they move. Its not quite walking, but more like "wobbling". You can judge for yourself by watching the video at the bottom of this post. But you will have to scroll through a bunch of pictures.

Did I mention that they still sleep most of the time?

Here's a couple that are trying to walk

More sleeing

Here's Roisin (R0-Sheen) walking, with me giving intstruction.

Spring Break

2010-04-04T17:53:00.004-05:00

Some of you have asked that why I haven't updated the blog lately. And the answer is that we have been busy. Like much of the rest of the state of Minnesota, we have been on spring break.

And what do puppies do on spring break you ask? Well, they don't need to go anywhere warm as the whelping box is plenty warm thanks to the heat lamp. And they don't know what a beach is yet, so they have had to make do with beach towels. (Besides, I do enough cleaning without having to deal with sand.) So we spent the whole weekend practicing sleeping in piles. I think the photos will demonstrate that we have had some success.

First we start with cuddling and encouragement.

Then we try to get them to line up. This didn't go so well.

So we resorted to remedial practice in the laundry basket-the sides of the basket help them with stacking techniques, and provide confidence and safety. After the remedial practice, we were ready to try again.

Here you see the first row (aka "the Base") fast asleep and awaiting the arrival of the second tier.But the second tier blew it, so it was back to the basket, and this time they seemed to have gained some confidence.

Here we see the puppies moving into position for their next attempt.

And here you see the result of all our practice. The litter is demonstrating the "Triple Sleeping Puppy Stack"with Finnegan providing the top of the pile. Well done kids!

Helping Paws in the Final Four

2010-04-01T20:08:00.003-05:00

The other day the phone rang here, and it was the wonderful folks from Helping Paws. They are involved in the "March Goodness"fundraising tournament, and they wanted to know if they could shoot some video of the puppies to use in their spot for the next round. Of course I said yes, and immediately directed my staff to clean up the whelping box.

The video of the puppies is here www.helpingpawsinc.blogspot.com

Pictures

2010-03-28T19:46:00.003-05:00

Today we worked on "line up for pictures"-this is the best that they could do.

What can I say? It's been a long day. That's me and Donegal (aka "Splash") taking a well deserved nap. Staff was kind enough to take lots of pictures. What follows is some of the highlights.Lunch time!

Here I am observing lunch and naps. Splash (black dot on his tail) seems to be a camera hog.

Above you see Limerick sleeping on my paw.

Here's another shot of lunch time/nap time.

And a close-up

And an extreme close-up

And naps-the boy with the blue marking is Bono. You may have noticed a pattern in the names. When I came to live with my staff, I came with a green collar with shamrocks. Camby/Melvin referred to me as her "Irish" dog. (not sure why) and my current staff is very "Irish identified" plus the last two St. Patrick's Days I have either had puppies of have been expecting puppies, so the theme for this year's litter is Irish names. There will be official portraits later, but the boys are named Limerick, Declan, Donegal (who will always be known as Splash owing to the circumstances of his birth) Brennan, Finnegan, and Bono. The girls are Roisin, Dara, Maeve, and Callaghan

Did you know?

2010-03-28T13:15:00.002-05:00

As I have stated before, the folks from Helping Paws are wonderful. They are extremely knowledgeable about all that I have gone through since January, they are great at whelping puppies and extremely nice to my staff. Honestly, I don't have enough room to list all the good things that they do.

But did you know that they are excellent photographers too? They took these pictures:

http://www.helpingpawsinc.blogspot.com

Honestly, I was going to steal them and post them here, but anybody that can make a girl look that good during a whelping deserves all the credit they can get!

The Big Event

2010-03-25T21:47:00.007-05:00

Finally- today was the day! And it is an auspicious day at it is Brandon's birthday too. (Brandon resides with my former staff member, and he turned 15 today)

I am proud to announce the addition of 10 new puppies to the Helping Paws family. The first puppy ( a boy) arrived at 12:48 this afternoon, and the last puppy (a girl) was delivered at 9:04 PM. In the interrim, and additional 8 puppies arrived for a total of 10 (6 boys, 4 girls). Many thanks to the Helping Paws staff for there usual excellent work. (I think they were happy to have the puppies come during the day and be done a reasonable time.)

I am understandably tired, so this is all for tonight.

The "Before" Picture

2010-03-25T21:39:00.002-05:00

This is Faith (on the left) and I last Friday right after out X-rays. Though I managed to hide our camera from my staff, one of the Helping Paws people was able to take this picture.

Way to go Faith!

2010-03-24T08:32:00.002-05:00

Faith is proud to announce that that she is a new mom as of Monday. Pictures here: www.faithhp.com

Getting Closer

2010-03-23T08:36:00.002-05:00

My staff is on pins and needles this week as my due date approaches. Technically I am due Saturday, but you never know. Last Friday I had my X-ray and the whelping box arrived and was set up. I also received numerous boxes of towels. Sorry no pictures as the camera was full of pictures of the cat and quite honestly, it didn't seem like as big a deal this time. Special thanks to our newest staff member (I call him #5) for help in setting up the whelping box. And a VERY special thanks to the Helping Paws donor that donated the laundry detergent. Puppies are messy and generate lots of laundry. In fact, staff has already been practicing their laundry drills.

You may be wondering about the lack of pictures. Well. quite frankly I am huge and don't want to be photographed. If you want to see pictures of a pregnant dog, head on over to Faith's blog :)

Casting Changes for Season II

2010-03-05T15:35:00.002-06:00

I am pleased to anounce that the (offscreen) role of "puppy-daddy" will be played by Truman this year. You can see him here http://teddybeargoldens.com/?80bf2cd0

Other than that change (and new puppies, of course), there are no further changes contemplated in the cast and crew here at Cheers. My staff will, of course, be back. And I must tell you that they are A LOT calmer this time around. And the excellent folks from Helping Paws will be back, as well as Melvin. (thank goodness for that-with Faith and I due two days apart, its nice to know that my former staff is still willing to help out)

So there you have it. As for me-I am doing fine. Getting lots of regular exercise and sleep. Lots and lots of sleep. Oh, and the best part? Staff has increased my food and I have heard that I get yogurt starting next week. I can't wait!

Renewed for another season!

2010-02-19T19:32:00.004-06:00

I just received word today that the ratings for the first season of "Cheers Puppies" were very good and that the programming executives at Helping Paws have renewed us for another season of exciting fun. So watch this space for developing news.

Its been a year and a day already?

2010-02-02T14:03:00.002-06:00

As I was reminded yesterday, there were 10 puppies (I guess they are not even really puppies anymore) celebrating birthdays. You can see some of the festivities here http://pawls-paws.blogspot.com/ I can't believe how much they have grown, and how well behaved they all are. Congrats to all the foster homes-you are doing excellent work!

Now the real work begins :)

2009-03-29T08:05:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the late report on Friday night's ceremonies. I spent most of yesterday napping, and I sent Team Cheers south to deliver some things to Faith.

Anyway, Friday night's transition event at Helping Paws went very well. The new foster homes are all excellent, and this made it that much easier for myself and Team Cheers to deal with all the emotions involved. So good luck to Hudson (Sam), Boston (Kelly), Becca (Rebecca), Hazel/Angel (Diane) , Sawyer (Woody), Izzy (Vera) and Carla, Norm, Cliff, Lilith(whatever your names end up being). I know that you are loved and treasured in your new homes.

And thanks again to everyone who was wearing a Team Cheers T-shirt on Friday night. You all made my job that much easier.

Last Call!

2009-03-27T07:21:00.006-05:00

As some of you may know, part of my full kennel name includes the phrase "Last Call", hence the call name "Cheers". And "Last Call" seems an appropriate title for this post. Today is the last day here for the puppies. Tonight they go to Helping Paws and are passed on to their new homes to start the next step on their journey in becoming sevice dogs. As you can see by the above picture, they are so excited that they are nearly climbing out of the pen. A couple have even been able to climb up onto the platforms that I use to get in and out.

Its going to be a busy day here. Team Cheers went to work this morning, but they are only working part of the day. I think they want one last romp with puppies. I know I do. Then its baths and naps as the puppies need to be clean and well rested for the their new caretakers. I do want them to make a good first impression at their new homes!

Speaking of which, to all of you that are getting puppies-Good Luck! I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did.

For Tiga

2009-03-25T20:57:00.004-05:00

Yes, those are Tiga's puppies. We've always been inspired by that picture, and staff has been trying hard to get a similiar picture. But 10 puppies don't really fit on any given side of the X-pen, so Team Cheers has been stumped for quite some time. Tonight they finally figured it out.
Tiga-this picture is for you:

Tonight is the second to last night that the puppies will be here. Team Cheers has already been discussing how they will deal with "Puppy Moving On" day on Friday. I suspect that it will be with equal parts sadness and happiness. On one hand, they are very cute and it has been a pleasure to watch them grow and see personalities develop. But on the other hand, they are rapidly approaching the stage where they are needing more attention than they can receive here. And sometimes they can be a lot of work. For example, Team Cheers estimates that it has done between 120 and 150 extra loads of laundry. That's a lot of trips up and down the stairs!

A blast from the past

2009-03-25T20:23:00.002-05:00

A former staff member of mine was kind enough to provide Team Cheers with pictures of me when I was a puppy.

The Great Outdoors

2009-03-22T16:17:00.005-05:00

Everyone here at Team Cheers has been eagerly awaiting this day. Events have conspired to delay it, but FINALLY we got to put the puppies in the puppy pen. Let me explain-when I employed my current staff, I specified that I would need a special outdoor area just for my future litters. Team Cheers, with some help from great neighbor, got it done. Team Cheers has been eager to use it, but between meetings, the weather and other issues, the pups have not been able to utilize the pen. Until today.

Today when the pups got back from their maiden voyage to Helping Paws (hopefully this will be the subject of a future post), they were taken straight from their kennels and placed in the pen. I honestly thought that the puppy testing would have tired them out, but apparently they found the fresh air invigorating.

They loved the room-it gave them more space to chase each other.

Some, of course were curious about the other side of the wire.

They were also provided with familiar toys, which they enjoyed tremendously

Some learned how to chew on sticks.

They explored the corners.....

Hung out in the tunnel...........

Checked out the flower beds

Posed nicely

Occasionally I had to step in and show them how to play properly

Here you see me giving a sniffing lesson

Another corner is explored. Apparently the blond boy is the lookout.

They also worked on their prancing skills

As well as exploring the dark recesses of their play area.

And they ran! Oh my did they run!

At one point it got so silly that I had to step out. The pups all weigh around 9-10 lbs, and when they all get to running is quite a sight to behold.

And they learning picnicking skills.

Taking the show on the road

2009-03-15T17:15:00.007-05:00

As we head into the last few weeks until the puppies take the next step on their journey and transfer to their foster homes, we have been getting lots and lots of requests to "see the puppies". If you count the neighbors that wandered by today, I think we had 20+ visitors. Team Cheers has begun to make jokes about "show times" and "priority seating". Today the puppies put on good shows at 11:00 and the lunch show at 1:30 went really well too, but I must pass along my apologies to the small crowd at the 2:30 matinee. The pups were too pooped after the 1:30 to do much except nap.

But they did manage to rally nicely for the 4:00 show, and being that the weather today was very nice, the show went on the road, or at least onto the driveway. It wasn't much of a show as the puppy pen was too muddy and icy for them to go into. But Team Cheers did manage to take the X-pen onto the driveway in what looked to be a relatively dry area. (boy were they wrong-the puppies will be getting their first non-Mom baths tonight). What follows are more pictures of the puppies outside:

In other news, Team Cheers has been letting the pups out of the X-pen on an individual basis this weekend and giving them chance to explore on their own(under close supervision of course)

Here's Rebecca's first encounter with Kami the cat. Kami dealt with it surprisingly well. She displayed equal parts disdain and curiosity and did not hiss at the puppy. Could it be that Rebecca's charming personality won her over?

Apparently so, because the conversation continued in another room.

One of the advantages of having one or two pups out at a time is that I can actually play with them instead of having the whole herd (you thought they were a pack? Ha!) trying to nurse on me at once.

Here's one of the boys posing nicely.

Sorry no video today-Staff was very busy seeing that all the guest were taken care of today. We hope that they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

Puppies Everywhere!

2009-03-12T20:32:00.006-05:00

First of all, congrats to Faith (I think I'm her aunt) on the birth of nine puppies, and to Rio on the birth of 10 little hunters-all 19 born yesterday. I hope that Crew Rio, Team Faith, and the folks from Helping Paws are enjoying a well deserved rest tonight.

Sometimes it feels like I have 19 puppies here. You may have noticed that the pace of my blogging has slowed down. That is for a variety of reasons. One of the main reasons is that when staff cleans the X-pen, they turn all the puppies loose on the floor of the living room and dining room. That gives me enough space to properly play with the puppies, or at least attempt to teach them how to play properly. Sometimes I have to stick their little heads in my mouth to get them to settle down.

The other reason is that there seems to be lots of people that want to come to see the puppies. Tonight is the first night that I haven't had anybody to show off the puppies to since Saturday Don't get me wrong, guests are great (I saw former staff members on Sunday and Monday) and I LOVE to show off my litter. But they do wear me out too. (Closed circuit to Crew Rio staff # 2-Vera did a real "zoomie" tonight! I am so proud!)

The other reason is that staff is having a hard time getting good pictures. The puppies seem to have 3 speeds; eating, sleeping and GO!. Or in other words, the only time that they stay still long enough to have cute pictures taken is when they are asleep. And though their table manners have improved, their eating behaviour is still not cute.

Here's me patrolling the pen for leftover puppy food and whatever else I can find to eat in the X-pen :)

One of the boys actually sat still long enough to get his picture! I'm not sure which one it is ( I think its a boy because it looks blonde, and all my girls are red, except Diane, and she has a very distinct face) Staff takes tons of pictures and can never remember who is who. I must remember to get them on that portrait thing this weekend.

Here you see puppies plotting there escape from the X-pen. Lucky for me they can't quite get up there yet. Several of them have taken running jumps at my step! All this activity tires them out. Below are several pictures of sleeping puppies

Puppies exploring

Puppies wrestling.

Please Stand By.....................

2009-03-08T20:56:00.004-05:00

We thought we had a substitute blogger for the weekend, but alas, we have not heard from them yet. But we were lazy, so there aren't many pictures, and my thoughts are not in order. And no, the guest is not Rio (like I'd let THAT lab blog here-she can't even count dinnerware) or Merlot (yes, I'm giving her lessons, but she's not ready for prime time yet). So while we wait for our guest, here are some of the latest pictures. Above you see me sitting on my perch and dispensing wisdom to the puppies

This one obviously didn't appreciate what I was telling them and fell asleep.

This picture is from last night. The puppies like to sleep with their heads against the sides of the X-pen, and for some reason this one fell asleep with its teeth bared. The staff was watching TV, and looked over and saw this-I think it startled them a bit. And yes, those teeth are as sharp as they look.

Here I am answering Rebecca's question while the rest of the class debates whether her point is valid or not.

I honestly don't remember what was going on here, but hey, they look cute, don't they?

Here's a short video of puppies wrestling. Its all we've got. I told you that I was not that prepared!

"Funner"

2009-03-04T20:09:00.005-06:00

Today the puppies were introduced to new toys. Faithful readers of Helping Paws puppy blogs will recognize them. As there is not a lot of room in the X-pen, tonight the puppies got to play with some of their new on the floor. Some played with toys, some played with each other and one or two showed their hunting lines (take that Rio!) by tracking down some vicious (and HUGE) dust bunnies. Sorry, no pictures of the dust bunnies though.

Which reminds me: as part of the whole whelping process, I have been shedding TONS of fur. Some think it is because I am under stress, and some have speculated that I'm building a nest. But now the truth can be told. Some of that fur has found its way under couches and chairs and morphed into dust bunnies. It was part of my plan all along to place these dust bunnies around the Team Cheers complex in order to test my puppies hunting ability. I imagine that Rio is starting to do the same thing, but I suspect that I can create way bigger dust bunnies than she can. I guess she will have to rely on her Golden brothers and sisters to create really large dust bunnies.

Anyway-on to more puppy pictures-I shouldn't be giving away any more canine secrets.

Here you see the puppy bed and some of their toys.

Kelly contemplates the puppy walkway. She later was the first to get on (3 of her 4 legs anyway) but she didn't remain on it long enough for Team Cheers to get a picture.

Puppies playing with their favorite toys-Each other!

Puppies in the tunnel. A few managed to crawl through the tunnel into the kennel and back out.

Another view of the walkway-it probably has an official Helping Paws name, but I don't know what it is.

I think that puppy on the right is about to do something naughty.

I think most of you remember that Kelly has a song (See post entitled "The Name Game"

Well, now she has a dance too. It can be viewed below

Behind the scenes at Cheers puppy blog

2009-03-03T20:51:00.004-06:00

One of the things that happens here every night it the weighing of the puppies. For a while they fit in a laundry basket, but lately that has not been an option. The change to solid food has lead to a rapid increase in size. So now instead of the laundry basket, they get put in my kennel. Sorry, these were about the only pictures that were taken tonight.

Prior to tonight's weighing, the pups were handed out of the pen to the puppy carrier, who walked them over to the kennel. But tonight Team Cheers tried something different. The puppy catcher simply placed the puppies outside the X-pen. Then the puppies were called, and being good Helping Paws dogs, they all trooped over the the kennel and walked right in :) Well, about half the pups actually responded to being called, and wandered over in the general direction of the crate.

And if you think its all fun and games and cute puppies here, think again. Below is video taken at 5:30 AM this morning. Turn up the volume if you are really brave. Thankfully staff was already up and prepared for this:

Back in the Saddle

2009-03-03T11:46:00.004-06:00

As reported earlier on Rio's blog, I was "out sick" from early Sunday morning until late yesterday afternoon. Thanks to excellent advice from Helping Paws, and wonderful care at several vet clinics, I am feeling much better. Apparently I just missed seeing Scooter and Merlot or Rio in Inver Grove. While a case of mastitis is not fun, there is an upside. I have convinced Team Cheers that the meds have made my tummy upset and as a result I get to go on the hamburger (or maybe chicken) and rice diet for a few days. YUM YUM!

And the puppies survived just fine without me. They have been on solid food (if you call that goo "solid") for a week and on Sunday they started eating the same food that I was on, except theirs was mushed up and mixed with special puppy food. And this switch to dog food had nothing to do with me going away-it was all part of the plan. On Sunday staff ran out of baby cereal, and this morning they ran out of the powdered special puppy food, so starting later today, the puppies will eating nothing but real dog food, though it will still be mushed and mashed for them. They love it.

The puppies were so happy to see me return that they threw me a party (of sorts) that is best not discussed here :)

Note to Rio-The bar stools have been sent out for repair (Thanks for recommending the extended warranty!) and they should be in full working order by Friday.

A brief update

2009-02-28T22:09:00.002-06:00

Not much to report today. In fact, I'm only blogging in an attempt to keep up with Faith, who posted puppy pictures of herself today, and Rio, who who was very chatty yesterday. It was quiet here-the staff was gone for most of the day Thanks again to today's volunteers-they are the first volunteers that had "change disposable pads in X-pen" on their list. And the staff took the camera with them, so there aren't many pictures today. I have directed staff to remedy that tomorrow and do portraits. And they are also expecting a visit from Team Faith-I hope they don't scare them.

Compare and contrast the above picture with pictures of the puppies nursing during their first week. They is barely enough room on all the bar stools for this crowd.

The puppies are to the point where they can make big messes, so staff has to change out all the bedding in the X pen every night. They used to put the puppies in a laundry basket when they needed to move them, but they no longer fit, so now they are placed in my kennel. Above you see one of the boys on my blanket.

This is one of the big red girls (Vera or Rebecca) napping, or maybe wrestling

Rebecca and Vera at the end of yet another satisfying meal of puppy mush.

PS to Merlot-If Rio won't show you how to blog, I will. We Goldens need to stick together!

"Her name is Rio and she.........."

2009-02-26T19:54:00.003-06:00

............blogs. Maybe she dances on the sand too-I don't know, but she definitely blogs. You can read her here. http://www.riospuppybloggy.blogspot.com/ Make sure you read the first post.

A couple of years ago I lived with Rio. I was one of the five Goldens. And yes, SIX of us shared TWO staff! Can you imagine! Let's just say that we kept Scooter and Melvin VERY busy.

PS-Rio-I think Merlot LIKES being a mother.

A day in the life of a puppy

2009-02-25T20:17:00.011-06:00

Hi.
Even with the all the great support I get from Team Cheers (they were up at 5:30 AM this morning to feed puppies and change bedding) and Helping Paws (they brought puppy pads and dog food today), being a single mom of 10 is not easy, so tonight's post is intentionally lazy. So here's day in the life of a puppy:

Play

Play some more and don't stand still for a picture

Wrestle

Run around, well, actually, its more like waddle around.

In the interest of efficiency, combine eating and sleeping

More sleeping-this is the part where they grow too

Sleep some more

They still sleep a lot-that "growing" thing has been especially evident since they started on solid food. They've all gained more than a pound since Friday

I really have no explanation for this picture.

Sleep some more.

Speaking of which, I need some sleep too, so good night all-here's some video that we hope brings a smile to your face

The Hungry Heifer

2009-02-22T11:19:00.011-06:00

It was a big weekend here. The whelping box is gone (hope its clean enough for you Faith), and it has been replaced by the Exercise Pen, hereafter known as the "X-pen". And the pups have started solid food. All of this change was precipitated by a visit from Helping Paws on Friday. They brought the X-pen, and decided to try them on solid food to see if they were ready. As you can see from the following pictures, they were ready, and their feeding bowl has been christened "The Hungry Heifer"Team Cheers is still working out the exact amount to feed the puppies, so that means lots of leftovers for me. And even though its just mush, it still tastes pretty good to me. But then again, those who know me well know that I have seldom encountered any food that I don't like!

And we have our first official retraction too. In the last post I thought they were becoming dogs. I would like to retract that statement. Given their behavior when solid food is placed in front of them, I can only conclude that that I have given birth to a litter of exceptionally furry (and cute) piglets.

More porcine behavior...................

Above is an aerial view (blimp courtesy Kent Feeds Inc) of their very first feeding. Rebecca, who is the largest of the pups, literally climbed into the pan and slid around the whole pan on her belly, lapping up food and pushing the other pups out of the way as she went. It was quickly concluded that two pans were needed to feed this bunch.

And as the staff at Team Cheers continues to getter better with the camera, expect more video. Here's a few clips from this weekend:

Kelly attacks one of the toys. I think she was protecting the rest of the litter from the menace of the big purple bird.

This clip shows me right after I hopped in to clean up after them (A mother's work is NEVER done). I really thought it was safe to jump in because the pigs were all passed out. But as soon as they heard or smelled me, they arose from their stupor and accompanied me on my rounds. PLEASE NOTE-We used stunt puppies for this shot-do not try it at home.

Pigs in the trough Warning-not for the faint of heart :)

They grow so fast!

2009-02-19T20:29:00.005-06:00

It seems like just last week (in fact I think it was!) that the puppies eyes weren't open and they couldn't stand up. And though they've gone through several stages, they've always looked like puppies, or at least something withe potential to grow into dogs.

And they have definitely begun to fulfill that potential. They have progressed from eat/sleep/GROW to actual puppy behaviour. They bark. They can walk without too much stumbling. They've begun to play with each other and sometimes even wrestle. Some of them have begun to seek out places under the "pig rail" to sleep. And some of them even sniff and circle before, well, this is a G-rated blog, but you know what I'm talking about.

2 1/2 Weeks and Growing

2009-02-18T06:41:00.005-06:00

Portaits

2009-02-15T19:09:00.015-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T16:53:00.006-06:00

Its been a while since I blogged about me. Congrats to Faith again-Her team/owners/staff have no idea how much fun (and laundry) they are in for. But so far its been well worth it. In fact, it gets rather routine at times, as evidenced by the above picture. Yes, that's me at the tail end of a yawn. I climb in the box, give them baths, them let them nurse. After that I am outta there as I am slowly returning to my normal dog duties. For those of you that know my habits really well, you will be glad to know that I have 'relocated' :) some of Team Cheers' gloves and shoes and I have also resumed walking one member of my staff. I have to take it slow with him as I've not had much of a chance to take him out lately. And yes, I've resumed my usual role of maid. Whenever Team Cheers sits down to a meal, I am there to make sure that no food hits the floor. The things I do for these people!

Anyway, you are probably not here to hear about me, but about the pups. They are still in their Eat/Sleep/GROW mode. They are now able to get up on all four legs and stumble a step or two. And some eyes are starting to open. Diane was the first to show a gleam in her eye. And I'm pretty sure that gleam was directed towards Sam. (I must credit that line to someone from Helping Paws.)

As you can see in the pictures below, their nursing behavior has become much more 'disorderly', to put it nicely. Even though they can't see me very well or hear me if I come in the box, they can smell me, and now that they can actually move with their legs and not on their bellies, my entrance is starting to have a 'jailbreak' quality to it. As you can see, they crawl all over me once I get situated.
I think they have realized that if they come at me from multiple directions, I can't get them all bathed as they come in. I think I saw a bunch of wolves exhibit the same pack behavior on a deer the other night on Animal Planet. Come to think of it, I guess the pups are feeding on me too...........

Below are the die-hards. The other five patrons have left their bar stools at Cheers and stumbled off somewhere to sleep it off.

This is where I blog. I thought you might like to see it. I have given Team Cheers the assignment of taking individual portraits of all the pups. Hopefully they will have them ready when I am ready to blog again.

Breaking News

2009-02-11T14:33:00.002-06:00

(Editor's Note-This post has been written by Team Cheers for reasons which will soon become apparent)

This afternoon Cheers received a phone call. As soon as she hung up the phone, she raced to the computer and started blogging. When we checked the computer we were surprised to see that there were no new posts on her blog. Subsequent investigation revealed that the phone call was most likely from Faith, and the last website that Cheers visited was www.faithhp.com We suggest that you look there if you are still curious about her behavior.

Giving the people what they want

2009-02-10T18:11:00.004-06:00

Before we forget, we have added a disclaimer in the profile. Please check it out.

Also , to those that have asked, we are not veterinarians and are not qualified to dispense whelping advice.

Anyway, there seems to be a growing demand for more updates to the blog. Quite frankly, the puppies are not doing much that is 'bloggable' as they simply eat, sleep and grow. Hence the lack of updates. One might say that we are enjoying the calm before the storm. (Eyes and ears and legs will soon be working)Team Cheers maintains that the pups are bigger when the get home at night than they were that same morning. And they are getting more mobile every day. Some are almost able to stand up on their front legs for a few seconds. They have also started doing this thing where they try to get up on their front legs while their back legs are also moving. The end result is that they wobble around in a little circle until they get frustrated and end up exactly where they started. Team Cheers has been placed on full alert to try to capture this on video. FYI, in case you care, most tend to spin to the left. Tails also wag with more frequency, tongues seem to be flattening out and the noises sound more like barks every day.

So, without further ado, here are more puppy pictures. We hope that you can see as much growth as we do.

Below is a typical puppy pile.
Here you see me taking inventory after the bedding had been changed. I am happy to report that all pups are present and accounted for!

This puppy is actually sleeping in this position. That's right; on his back and on top of other puppies. That also means that he is in prime position for a bath, so I administered one. He didn't like it much.

As you can see, he rolled away and onto the ground in his attempts to evade me, but never fear, I prevailed!

Here's another shot of his pre-bath pose. I think he was actually daring me to bathe him.

Up close and personal.

Another shot of me taking inventory. Team Cheers has never lost one, but I always like to take my own personal count.

Here's another shot of a typical day at Cheers. Nursing, napping, and growing.

And after everyone has their fill, its time for a group nap. My favorite part of the day!

Fingers crossed for Faith tomorrow

2009-02-10T08:25:00.002-06:00

Good Luck with your ultrasound tomorrow Faith. Team Cheers is thinking of you and hoping for good news.

Video!

2009-02-07T19:42:00.004-06:00

A lazy Saturday

2009-02-07T18:48:00.003-06:00

Does it get any lazier than ten puppies sleeping in a group? Today we had a very lazy Saturday. I spent most of the day in the whelping box with the puppies. They are at a stage where they seem to sleep (quietly) for long periods of time. I must say that I am enjoying that as it makes it easier for me to hear the cat approach. Below you see me doing my guard dog impression. I know don't look much like a German Shepherd or a Rottweiler, but it fools the cat.

Like I said the puppies are busy sleeping, nursing and most importantly, GROWING. Their legs are getting stronger and I think that I have seen tails wag too

But the opportunities for Team Cheers to take cute pictures of the puppies is pretty limited to mostly "puppies nursing" and "puppies sleeping". In order to keep the staff (and the puppies) interested in photo ops, I ran a little "Fill in the caption on the photo" contest today. Here are the winners:

"Mom-Cliff and Norm are picking on me"

"Woody naps in the strangest places" (what can I say, we only had three entries and welcome your suggestions for this one)

"Cliff attempts to impersonate Gene Simmons"

Many many thanks to the volunteers

2009-02-05T20:13:00.005-06:00

I would like to extend my personal thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who have or are scheduled to puppy sit this week. The members of Team Cheers have obligations during the day. The younger ones go to Obedience School, and the older members have employers who expect them to show up for work if they expect to get paid. But the puppies and I still require supervision. Helping Paws had been kind enough to provide volunteer puppy sitters in the interim. So here's a big Team Cheers "THANKS" to all of you.

And no, the cat is NOT a volunteer puppy sitter.

Anyway, on to what you all seem to want to see-puppy pictures. The puppies are all resting comfortably tonight after their trip to the vet to have their dew claws removed. It was also their first trip in a car, and no, I didn't let them hang their heads out the windows, though Woody and Norm asked. Repeatedly.

And I think they learned a new trick. I'm not sure if its apparent from the picture, but what you see is that the puppies are now able to execute the very difficult maneuver of sleeping in a triple stack. The head of the puppy on top of the pile actually has two layers of puppies below it. This is a very difficult (and sometimes dangerous) maneuver to execute, but my pups have pulled it off.

Here's a a picture that I 'helped with'. I am no longer allowed to help with photography :(

Here's a picture of the puppies in their travelling gear. Its actually a laundry basket lined with towels and and a hot water bottle was added.

Here's me counting them and giving them last minute instructions.And here's Woody yawning.

Or else he's calling for someone else to come and join him in his comfy spot

The puppies seem to be growing up so fast! At the rate they are gaining weight, they should have no trouble being double their birth weight by the end of the week (Rebecca seems determined to double by tomorrow) Their voices and legs are noticeably stronger every . It won't be long before they are running and barking.

Sleep in its many forms

2009-02-03T21:10:00.010-06:00

We here at Team Cheers have received lots of positive feedback on our little enterprise, and we get many, many requests for pictures. So here you go. Also, Team Cheers is taking tomorrow night off, so this is our second post of the night. Team Cheers needs to catch up on its collective sleep. And that is the subject of this post-Sleep. Above is a typical night at Cheers. Some patrons are firmly ensconced at their bar stools, others are napping quietly.

I continue to be amazed at the variety of noises that they make. Sometimes I have to look around to see if R2-D2 is in the whelping box because I hear such a variety of beeps, whistles, grunts and such.

I'm also quite pleased with how quickly they are developing. The pads on their toes have turned black already, and their little legs are getting noticeably stronger. They may even start puppy exercises tomorrow. (Seriously-Helping Paws has some simple puppy exercises they can be doing this early). And as they get bigger, their tummies hold more so they can sleep longer. So without further ado, I present to you the many forms of sleeping puppies. The first is the ever popular "Group Sleep". Its very common here to have 2-6 puppies sleeping close to each other.

Sometimes they sleep on me.

Every once in a while one falls asleep right in front of me, and I sleep on him!

And they're not picky about which leg they sleep on. You already saw one sleeping on my front leg. Below is one sleeping on my back leg. Not sure how that ball got in here. They are obviously too small to fetch it. But someday.............

Sometimes they sleep on each other.

But I can't sleep when I hear the cat's bell jingling. Which way did she go?

And when they wake up, they need baths.

This one has already mastered the "classic" sleeping dog position.

This may look like a wrestling match, but its actually another group nap, albeit a small one.

Goodnight,

Cheers

"Where everybody knows your name"

2009-02-03T20:15:00.010-06:00

That's Sam (Left Hip Boy). He's by far the reddest of the boys, so looks the most like me and therefore, the handsomest.

Before you go any further, you should listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD8ljNobUys to put you in the mood.

Secondly you may have noticed pink and blue spots on the pups. And if you are especially sharp-eyed, you may have noticed a purple mark or two. Those are marks placed there by Team Cheers to keep track of the puppies when they weigh them. I don't know why they don't just sniff them. It works for me.

Anyway, above you see a picture of Right Shoulder Girl, hereafter known as Kelly. She is the second blondest girl of the group. Also, since there are six girls in the litter, I had to dig deep into the cast list to find six girls names. Oh, and Kelly has her own song. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hJjx7jTHA8. Here is another picture of her.
Next up is Right Hip Girl, aka Carla, also the smallest and feistiest of the girls, and always close to a bar stool at Cheers.

Below we have Right Hip Boy. He was by far the biggest boy at birth, so he had to be Norm. He is NEVER very far from his bar stool.

And of course, if you have a Norm, you must have a Cliff, formerly known as Left Shoulder Boy. He was the smallest of the boys and has tended to nurse by crawling under my chest from the front (the rest are content to come at it from the side). Given that he has his own special place with me, I must conclude that he's a momma's boy.

As I mentioned, there is one purple mark as Team Cheers was running out of obvious places to put pink nail polish. Also, in this litter, the boys are generally blonder like their dad, whereas the girls favor me and are redder. But one of the girls is really blonde, so I have been calling Purple Tail Girl Diane.
While we are on the subject of tails, Pink Tail Girl was obviously my Rebecca. Though she is the biggest of the girls, that's not why she was given the name. The reason for her name is related to her nursing habits. The best bar stools at Cheers are in the back, but Rebecca tries to get 'behind' the bar and kiss up. (That's the best way I can relate it in a G-Rated forum :). Please contact me personally if you need further clarification.
Next up is Right Shoulder-Boy, now known as Woody. He seems to like Kelly, and he is the blondest of the two remaining boys.

As I mentioned, we had to dig deep for girls names, so Left Hip Girl is Lillith. She was the second to last girl named, and Lillith was too good not to use for a name.

Lastly, Left Shoulder Girl. I was in a deep quandary about what to name her. I almost when with Robin, in honor of my sire, but Robin was a man on Cheers, and that won't do for me. So I thought some. I noticed that Left Shoulder Girl spent a lot of time under the heat lamp napping when not on her barstool. (Many of the patrons here sleep right at their barstool). That got me to thinking about characters that weren't at Cheers (the show) very much. So I am proud to present Vera.
For those of you too young to remember the show, here's what Wikipedia has to say about her:
Norm has a wife named Vera who is often mentioned but never seen. When she is finally shown, her face is covered in a thrown pie. The only other time she is seen, viewers can see only her legs.

Musings of new mom and some pictures from today

2009-02-02T13:53:00.008-06:00

Above you see me on a typical day. I'm trying to sleep and keep an eye out for the cat (she is very curious about the contents of the whelping box) while the puppies crawl on me to nurse or sleep. Nursing the puppies can be quite the experience as there are only 10 bar stools here at Cheers, and 10 puppies. If one falls off or decides to take a different seat, a process we call 'resource reallocation' takes place and it takes 5-10 minutes for everyone to be reseated to their satisfaction. Or sometimes I shift my position and someone invariably gets left out or pointed in the wrong direction. But my staff is always there to take inventory. (I can't do it, I don't have enough front toes to count to ten!) But I wonder about the staff too. I have heard initial counts ranging from 8-12 puppies (note to staff-my feet are NOT puppies) but they always end up with final count of 10. And they have gotten good at searching my nooks and crannies (I didn't even know I had nooks and crannies til yesterday) and finding all the pups. Among other things, pups have been found hiding under my shoulders, and one likes to hide underneath my tail between my back legs. But like I said, staff always finds them.

While we are the subject of my staff, it reminds me that I should tell them that are now all members of "Team Cheers" and I will try to refer to them as such from now on. It was either that or give them a raise. Hey, even I am not immune from the effects of the economic downturn. But I am not going to give them titles, no matter what!

Below are some pictures of the puppies doing what they do best. They may look like they are sleeping quietly, but I can assure you that at least half of them are making noise. I had no idea that this was going to happen, but they make the most wonderful sounds. Most of the noise is squeaking with an odd whimper and the occasional wail of someone who is far from their bar stool. But I would swear that this morning I heard someone try out a new sound that sounded like a practice bark.

Thanks for reading and looking!

Cheers

Please tune in for our next post tentatively titled "Where Everybody Knows Your Name"

More pictures

2009-02-01T12:56:00.008-06:00

Ten,X, diez, ti, zehn, deich

2009-02-01T06:47:00.005-06:00

So here's the picture that you have all been waiting for. 6 girls, 4 boys. First one born at 10:54 PM, last one born at 6:20 AM. Weights range from 11.4 oz to 13.4 oz. All appear to be very blonde like their father. Mother and puppies are doing quite well. Staff is very tired. Many many many heartfelt thanks to the Helping Paws staff and the volunteers that aided and abetted in the process and stayed up all night.

Its a girl!

2009-01-31T22:57:00.002-06:00

The first puppy was born at 10:54 pm.

In good hands now

2009-01-31T10:07:00.004-06:00

I'm actually dictating this to my staff from the whelping box. One member of the Helping Paws "Team Whelp" is here, and another is on the way. I know I'm in the best of hands now.

The Wait

2009-01-30T10:03:00.006-06:00

Above is a picture of me when I was much skinnier. I'm about 15 lbs heavier now, but no pictures of that will be pulished here. My due date has been calculated by several people. Helping Paws says today, but the vet says Sunday. So that means that I must be on some kind of "watch" list. One of my staff came home early yesterday afternoon, and I have not been left alone since. Someone from Helping Paws came last night at 10 PM to check on me and make sure that I wasn't going to have puppies last night (thanks again to Helping Paws for that-it was truly appreciated) I got to sleep in the whelping box last night, and a staff member slept on the couch to monitor me overnight. And they follow me when I have to go outside. Do they think I'm going to sneak into the woods and give birth?

Right now I am hoping that Helping Paws date is right because I am getting very tired of waiting. And I'm tired of my staff bothering me too. They all ask "Is it time yet Cheers?" or "Ready to have puppies?" My response, if I could talk, would be "They'll come when they're ready-you can't rush these things" But I think the puppies must be ready. Judging by the way that they were moving around this morning, I can only surmise that they were having their own little pre-whelping party in there! They have worn me out and I have spent most of the morning just lying on the floor. I didn't even get up when I heard the bag of snacks being opened in the kitchen!

So there you have it. Waiting is no fun. I figure that I killed 10 minutes updating the blog. But I must go now. My tummy is so big that I can barely reach the keyboard anyway.

A Palace Fit for a Queen

2009-01-25T19:56:00.014-06:00

Today the whelping box arrived. (Somehow this makes the impending birth seem even more real). My staff spent part of the afternoon setting it up, and of course I had to supervise. It was quite a process. This must be a really big deal if they are setting up a separate structure in the living room just for me.

The first step was to put down the tarp. I really like that color of blue. I think it sets off my coloring nicely :) Next up is the rug. You probably can't tell from the pictures, but the pattern on the rug nearly matches my collar. As with the tarp, I need to sniff it thoroughly.

After that it was 'the tray'. It's some sort of contraption made out of wood and linoleum ("vinyl floor covering" actually-thank you for the clarification Carolyn) and is to make sure that the puppies don't damage the floor. Every once in a while I had to provide some close supervision during the assembly process. :)

Voila! The finished tray. Do you know how hard it is to run a drill without an opposable thumb?

After that the whelping box went up so quickly that I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, and the next thing I knew, my pillow was in there and I was being encouraged to jump in and test it. I sent one of my staff in to test the pillow (one can't be too careful!).

The pillow was found to be satisfactory, so next I had to give it my seal of approval

It passes-This space to be filled with puppies next week!

I feel pretty!

2009-01-22T14:30:00.003-06:00

Last night my staff gave me a bath. They thought that they had better get it done before we got too close to the due date. And no, not because I would be too big to fit in the bathtub. I may have gained weight, but I am not THAT big. Its just that once the puppies come, I will not have time for a bath.

Anyway, I was fussed over, pampered and preened. Bathed, brushed out and feet trimmed up. And I got lots of treats while it was going on. I heard one of my staff say I was getting too many treats, but I can assure you that is not possible. I made sure that staff person got extra wet when I shook myself off!

They also mentioned that I need to look good for Monday. Apparently I am going back to the vet so they can determine how many puppies I am carrying. This strikes me as silly as I already know EXACTLY how many there are. Why don't they just ask me ;)

That's all for now. I must get back in my spot before the staff starts arriving home.

The Sounds of Silence

2009-01-20T11:51:00.003-06:00

The three day weekend is over. Everyone but me (and the cat) have gone back to school or work for the day. While I appreciate all the attention I get from my staff, sometimes it's just nice to be alone. The weather was good this weekend and I got out for several long walks. I find that they tire me out more than they used to so I'm enjoying the quiet today while it lasts. I just hope they get home in time to feed me.

Perspective and Ice Cream

2009-01-17T18:31:00.009-06:00

Last night the Helping Paws person came over and we went over the plan. I'll skip most of the details as they will probably bore you (and some might gross you out :), but I learned a couple of interesting things:

1) I knew this already, but the person from from Helping Paws is very knowledgeable and committed to the program and she's been doing this for a long time. What I didn't realize was that she was present at my birth. And my mother's. And her mother's. And her mother's. And maybe even her mother's-I honestly lost track at that point as there was a leftover pizza crust on the table that was distracting me. (FYI, it was gooooooooooood!). Where was I? Oh yes, commitment. There's been a lot of time and energy and thougt that's gone into this, and it's greatly appreciated.

2) Now the really good news. I learned that I can have ice cream during the whelping. I love ice cream! At least I think I do, I'm not sure that I've ever had it, but it sounds really yummy. I love ice cubes, and anything with cream in is really good too, so the combination must be incredible. I can't wait! (Wag, Wag, Wag)

Other than that, not much is new. I continue to get bigger, and have actually started walking up the steps instead of running. In fact, as the pregnancy gets closer, I'm pretty sure that I am going to need one of these ------>

Tomorrow-We go over "The Plan"

2009-01-15T20:29:00.006-06:00

Tonight my staff was busy straightening up the house in anticipation of tommorrow's visit from the Helping Paws Director of Programs. Apparently they are going to discuss "The Plan". I'm not sure what that entails, but they did mention something about pizza, so hopefully they will share a crust or two with me! I'm tired and going to bed now.

ME!

2009-01-14T19:00:00.001-06:00

Brrrrrrr!

2009-01-14T18:42:00.001-06:00

Not much to report today. Nothing to report actually, so, being a Minnesotan, I'll talk about the weather. Its COLD outside, and I find myself making an ever increasing number of trips outside.
I think my staff got the date thing on the camera figured out, so maybe they'll be along to post a new picture or two.

Oh, and a shout out to Faith-I have heard that she is recovering well from yesterday's surgery.

Welcome to my Blog! ! !

2009-01-13T19:50:00.001-06:00

Hi! (my tail is wagging as I type) After much discussion amongst my staff (they think they are my "owners"), I have been given computer access and have been allowed to start a blog.

So here's the deal. I'm a three year old Golden Retriever. I "work" for Helping Paws. My current position is in the breeding program. My litter-mates also 'work' for Helping Paws, but they have positions as Service Dogs. When I was first given the option of going into the breeding program, it was a hard decision, but now that I'm pregnant, I realize that I made the right decision. I have always received much love and attention (my staff is good to me) but now that I'm pregnant, people are even nicer to me. I get extra tummy rubs and, more importantly, MORE FOOD. (wag wag wag)

So anyway, watch this space for updates. My little ones are due February 1st. That's all for now-pregnancy is tiring. And its hard to type with paws.

P.S. My staff is having some issues with the date on the pictures. Sorry! The pics were taken yesterday.