Here is the tale of the tape, with their new names. My business partners kids named most of them and my friends 3 year old named one - Doggo.
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Thursday, July 28, 2011
Quick pupdate
Quick post today... All fine with the pups. They are feeding well, I started giving them Royal Canin Puppy food soaked in warm water and they love it. Mum also loves it and growls at them if they try and eat from her bowl. The naughty one growled back which was quite funny.
Here is the tale of the tape, with their new names. My business partners kids named most of them and my friends 3 year old named one - Doggo.
Here is the tale of the tape, with their new names. My business partners kids named most of them and my friends 3 year old named one - Doggo.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Foster faster
After waving goodbye to Smelly and Shenzi I had intentions of more time running and training at the gym during the week, leisurely holidays and plenty of outdoor sports on the weekends... My break from fostering lasted a whole 6 days and was abruptly halted on Sunday afternoon, by the arrival of an African Tails rescued mum and her 7 puppies.
We have an unoccupied granny flat on our property so the family are in there enjoying peace, quiet, warmth and plenty of food.
The pups are 3 weeks old, they can walk but don't go very far from the bed. Mostly just to their mum when they want to feed. I decided to weigh them so I can track their weight gain and make sure they are all getting plenty of food. I used my housemates posh kitchen weighing scales and a plastic hat to put the dogs in. It wasn't sturdy enough, the fat one squashed it... then one of them wee'd in it.
Deep breath.... and calm... right, back to it.
The mum is very attentive and from my limited knowledge seems like a great mum, it is quite impressive to see her mothering the pups, she checks on them, rolls over to feed them, noses them along and over things, cleans the den, licks their bums clean etc. She gets fed up of them every now and again and has some mummy time in Smelly / Shenzi's old kennel - a bit of peace and quiet from the needy youngsters, seems fair. I have given her plenty of chewy things so she has something to do in-between her duties.
The mum is on Vets Choice small breed puppy food which is also designed for lactating dogs. She has massive boobs which look like they have plenty of milk in them, but just to be sure I am giving the pups some milkopup formula 3 times a day to supplement their intake. I tried bottle feeding one but it was a right pain, they are a week ahead of the vets recommendation and can lap / lick from a shallow dish so thats the chosen delivery method now. They usually get covered in milk and lick it off each other, I dont really care as long as it gets into their mouth.
I didn't realise how much work they were going to be. I get up in the morning and go into the flat armed with cleaning products and a cup of tea, clean all their wee and poo, change the newspaper, feed the mum, put down fresh water, make solution & feed the puppies, clean up some more poo. Shower, change and go to work. Come home, clean poo, feed all, clean more poo. Gym. Come home, clean poo, feed pups again, clean more poo. Go to bed. Repeat. A pattern is emerging...
My business partners 8 & 7 year old girls are going to name them on Thursday so look out for the announcement of their hilariously awesome new names after that! They will be ready for their new homes in about 3-4 weeks. Put the word out. Pure breed township specials, available in black, light brown, dark brown, grey, white or a combination of all colours. Very nice natured mum, absent father/s. Contact African Tails... http://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Tails/115677453449
Later.
We have an unoccupied granny flat on our property so the family are in there enjoying peace, quiet, warmth and plenty of food.
The pups are 3 weeks old, they can walk but don't go very far from the bed. Mostly just to their mum when they want to feed. I decided to weigh them so I can track their weight gain and make sure they are all getting plenty of food. I used my housemates posh kitchen weighing scales and a plastic hat to put the dogs in. It wasn't sturdy enough, the fat one squashed it... then one of them wee'd in it.
I weighed them on day 1 (Sunday) and again last night, here is the tale of the tape: The fat one pictured above is 'Female - White, black stripe'. Due to their quality breeding no two look alike, this makes the weigh-in easier...
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| Argh! The spreadsheet has stuffed up my page editing, I have all of this white space and cant get rid of it. I give in... Enjoy the pictures below, rest of the text at the bottom (f*cking excel!) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deep breath.... and calm... right, back to it.
The mum is very attentive and from my limited knowledge seems like a great mum, it is quite impressive to see her mothering the pups, she checks on them, rolls over to feed them, noses them along and over things, cleans the den, licks their bums clean etc. She gets fed up of them every now and again and has some mummy time in Smelly / Shenzi's old kennel - a bit of peace and quiet from the needy youngsters, seems fair. I have given her plenty of chewy things so she has something to do in-between her duties.
The mum is on Vets Choice small breed puppy food which is also designed for lactating dogs. She has massive boobs which look like they have plenty of milk in them, but just to be sure I am giving the pups some milkopup formula 3 times a day to supplement their intake. I tried bottle feeding one but it was a right pain, they are a week ahead of the vets recommendation and can lap / lick from a shallow dish so thats the chosen delivery method now. They usually get covered in milk and lick it off each other, I dont really care as long as it gets into their mouth.
I didn't realise how much work they were going to be. I get up in the morning and go into the flat armed with cleaning products and a cup of tea, clean all their wee and poo, change the newspaper, feed the mum, put down fresh water, make solution & feed the puppies, clean up some more poo. Shower, change and go to work. Come home, clean poo, feed all, clean more poo. Gym. Come home, clean poo, feed pups again, clean more poo. Go to bed. Repeat. A pattern is emerging...
My business partners 8 & 7 year old girls are going to name them on Thursday so look out for the announcement of their hilariously awesome new names after that! They will be ready for their new homes in about 3-4 weeks. Put the word out. Pure breed township specials, available in black, light brown, dark brown, grey, white or a combination of all colours. Very nice natured mum, absent father/s. Contact African Tails... http://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Tails/115677453449
Later.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Bringing you up to speed (its a long one)
Forgive my slackness, the blog hasn't been updated since April. So much to tell. Where to begin..? Well, for starters Max has gone to a fantastic permanent home in Wilderness. He recovered 99% from the mange and his leg is almost normal, he left a well behaved, obedient, happy and healthy dog. Job done!
To bring you up to speed on the bits in between.... The last post was about the arrival and departure of the big German Shepherd, she moved on, went to a family in the Strand, I believe it didn't work out and she went on to another home, sadly I heard she died of Billary a couple of weeks ago. Shame.
Max enjoyed having some company, so I took in another foster in May, a 2 year old female 'Royal African Hunting Dog' called Shenzi. She was a family pet and for some reason or another was dumped at the SPCA. Here they are chilling in the kitchen.
Shenzi was very nervous when she arrived but settled quickly and got on nicely with Max, they had a bit of an issue about who was going to sleep in the big kennel but Shenzi quickly showed Smelly who was boss. Thats how it stayed.
She had a few bad habits, like getting on the furniture and climbing up in the kitchen to nick food off the counter (including a delicious chorizo pastry from the Biscuit Mill which my housemate was looking forward to eating!). These were resolved quickly. Her digging and barking were not so easily resolved, my garden is trashed and I am in receipt of a letter from a whinging neighbour. Shenzi barked at the builders next door (fair enough) and also barked at the neighbour and her ratty little dog. The builders were terrified of Shenz and wouldn't dare set foot in my garden so she was good for security.
Shenzi was the most unbelievable athlete and it was magnificent to see her running at speed, she was fast and agile and her hunting instinct was incredible. She was happiest chasing birds, squirrels and occasionally small dogs.
She was aloof when she first arrived but became very affectionate. Max and Shenzi absolutely loved each other, here are a few pictures...
Max's skin recovered really well and he had a good coat of fur when he left. He has 3 bald patches, one in the armpit (is it an armpit?) of his front legs and one on his chest, it looks like these will stay bald. Not bad considering how he looked when he first arrived! He had a few follow up appointments and the vets at Hillside were really happy with his progress. I will take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to Duncan, Barry and the rest of the team at Hillside. I will also take this opportunity to wholeheartedly recommend them...
HILLSIDE VETERINARY CLINIC
WYNBERG, CAPE TOWN
021 762 2980
They did a great job!
The dogs had a good life, I walked them everyday after work in Keurboom Park and they got plenty of time on the beach and mountain (which Shenzi enjoyed immensely). Here are a few pictures of their adventures. The last one shows how good Smelly's fur ended up!
I was really happy to hear that a lovely family in Wilderness wanted to take them both. As far as dog homes go it couldn't be better, a big garden full of wildlife for them to chase, access to forest trails, close to the beach and a family who genuinely love dogs. They went last week (Monday 18 July), it was very sad to see them go but I am happy that they have gone to such a nice place together. Their new family phoned me on the weekend and the dogs are having a jol!
So... that wraps up Smelly's story... here is a final picture of me and the mutts on Noordhoek beach.
I decided to take a break from fostering dogs. Which lasted all of 6 days. I now have a mum and her 7 puppies living in my granny flat. I will blog about them too... come back tomorrow for an update.
To bring you up to speed on the bits in between.... The last post was about the arrival and departure of the big German Shepherd, she moved on, went to a family in the Strand, I believe it didn't work out and she went on to another home, sadly I heard she died of Billary a couple of weeks ago. Shame.
Max enjoyed having some company, so I took in another foster in May, a 2 year old female 'Royal African Hunting Dog' called Shenzi. She was a family pet and for some reason or another was dumped at the SPCA. Here they are chilling in the kitchen.
Shenzi was very nervous when she arrived but settled quickly and got on nicely with Max, they had a bit of an issue about who was going to sleep in the big kennel but Shenzi quickly showed Smelly who was boss. Thats how it stayed.
She had a few bad habits, like getting on the furniture and climbing up in the kitchen to nick food off the counter (including a delicious chorizo pastry from the Biscuit Mill which my housemate was looking forward to eating!). These were resolved quickly. Her digging and barking were not so easily resolved, my garden is trashed and I am in receipt of a letter from a whinging neighbour. Shenzi barked at the builders next door (fair enough) and also barked at the neighbour and her ratty little dog. The builders were terrified of Shenz and wouldn't dare set foot in my garden so she was good for security.
Shenzi was the most unbelievable athlete and it was magnificent to see her running at speed, she was fast and agile and her hunting instinct was incredible. She was happiest chasing birds, squirrels and occasionally small dogs.
She was aloof when she first arrived but became very affectionate. Max and Shenzi absolutely loved each other, here are a few pictures...
Max's skin recovered really well and he had a good coat of fur when he left. He has 3 bald patches, one in the armpit (is it an armpit?) of his front legs and one on his chest, it looks like these will stay bald. Not bad considering how he looked when he first arrived! He had a few follow up appointments and the vets at Hillside were really happy with his progress. I will take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to Duncan, Barry and the rest of the team at Hillside. I will also take this opportunity to wholeheartedly recommend them...
HILLSIDE VETERINARY CLINIC
WYNBERG, CAPE TOWN
021 762 2980
They did a great job!
The dogs had a good life, I walked them everyday after work in Keurboom Park and they got plenty of time on the beach and mountain (which Shenzi enjoyed immensely). Here are a few pictures of their adventures. The last one shows how good Smelly's fur ended up!
I was really happy to hear that a lovely family in Wilderness wanted to take them both. As far as dog homes go it couldn't be better, a big garden full of wildlife for them to chase, access to forest trails, close to the beach and a family who genuinely love dogs. They went last week (Monday 18 July), it was very sad to see them go but I am happy that they have gone to such a nice place together. Their new family phoned me on the weekend and the dogs are having a jol!
So... that wraps up Smelly's story... here is a final picture of me and the mutts on Noordhoek beach.
I decided to take a break from fostering dogs. Which lasted all of 6 days. I now have a mum and her 7 puppies living in my granny flat. I will blog about them too... come back tomorrow for an update.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
I will update this...
There has been a bit of interest in the blog again now after African Tails posted pictures of Max (and his new foster sister Shenzi) going to their permanent home in Wilderness. I will update and put some pictures up this week. Ta.
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