doodles on schnoodles
Fantasy Pups
In the next week, I would like adopting families to communicate to me their intention to select a puppy. Those at the top of our reservation list would help those at the bottom if they could clarify their selection intentions so that folks will know whether they have a chance at black or white, male or female, Catholic or Protestant. (Nix that last choice: all pups are still affiliated!) I am getting questions about how puppy selection works, and this is the natural time for those questions to come up again, so let me remind you. First of all, the order of deposit determines the order of opportunity. You do not own the puppy until it is purchased, but "list-toppers" have the opportunity to reserve a color or sex before others. That will help me begin lining up particular puppies to particular families. When the puppies are old enough to start wearing collars, each will wear a colored collar to distinguish it from another. (It is very difficult if not impossible for us human beings to tell them apart even at six weeks without such an artificial marker.) Then a temporary name will be assigned to the puppy to assist in communication. (You are welcome to pick the name yourself and I recommend it - it gives families a chance to "try out" the name, and it's not binding until you take the sweety home! Most families change the name at six weeks anyway.) This week, we expect the eyes to begin to open, and when that happens, I will get new pictures up to help you in your decision. All decisions must be made by July 28th so that no family is still in the dark on Visitation Day. Those at the bottom of the list are just as anxious to start bonding with their new family member as the "list-toppers". So what will it be: black or white, male or female? What about other characteristics, such as size and personality? Size is determined by genetics and diet, but are too fluid at six weeks for sound predictions to be made unless a puppy markedly stands out from the litter. None does. "Personality" is determined by breed temperament and environmental conditions in the home in which they are raised. At six weeks, there will be no signs of individuation as all the pups are the same breed and will have the same environment. "Rescue" animals, "Pound Puppies", and "Re-adoption Dogs" definitely do have well-defined personalities determined by their histories, and in such cases, that ought to be part of your adoption decision. But nothing about personality can be predicted in a six-week old puppy raised in a solid environment except what is typical of the breed. The good news is this: you and your family and those that you allow access to your puppy will be the biggest factors in your puppy's character development... so relish that privilege and honor that responsibility! How much will the dam's personality be an individuating factor in your puppy's character development? Simple answer: Don't know. Nevertheless, you can read about my dam's personality on my "Dams" page. How much of what is distinctive in Marshmellow's and Phantasia's personalities is a result of genetics that will be passed on to the puppy and how much is incommunicable conditioning determined by their individual history and place in my "pack" is not knowable. If however you have a preference for a Marshmellow or Phantasia puppy, let me know. A note to "No Preference Families": A number of families have indicated that they have no preference for sex and color. There is nothing wrong with that, but keep in mind that too much flexibility may leave the choice with us! It is probably time to have a discussion with the decision makers in your family about whether you still have no preference. Keep in mind during this discussion that the three black females have shown no signs of developing Phantom markings, and none of the eight apricot pups are red, so the choice should be re-cast as between the standard apricot and solid black (always with the possibility that colors darken or lighten as the puppy ages.) Also, keep in mind that females are $200 more than males. I don't mind making the decision for you based on other families preferences, but please be sure that this works for you. A note to "High Preference Families": If you are a "list-topper" and have well-defined preferences, start exercising your selection opportunity early and communicate that to me so that we can help those down the list know what options are left for them. If you are further down the list, your preference may not be available by the time the "list-toppers" have made their decision. Therefore, you may need to decide whether you would rather move to the top of the Winter List to strengthen your chances on getting that color or sex you want, or whether you will be willing to forego your preference to bring a puppy home this Summer. With a shortage of males, that may mean paying more for a female this Summer or waiting six months for a male in Winter.
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Despite the headline, rest assured we still have only 15 dogs in our home. Not double the numbers. But the puppies have doubled! Here's why:
Phantasia's puppies had an average birthweight of roughly 150 grams. (This is an estimate based on subsequent daily growth -- intentionally, no weighing was made of the puppies for the first few days in the spirit of minimal disturbance for the first 48 hours.) They have been growing leaps and bounds these last two weeks and as of today, they all weigh in excess of 300 grams. In fact, their weights run between "Ballerina" at 336 grams and "Beefcakes" just shy of a pound at 441 grams. (These are not their real names - the fact is who is leading in the daily weighings changes from day to day, with a pup gaining 40 grams one day and only 5 the next.) So we have double the puppies from their birthdays, and they look double too! That's hard to capture in a photo without a good sense of scale, but it is evident in seeing them. So where are they going? Well, our adult dogs weigh about 6000 grams, which puts "Beefcakes" about 1/13th of the weigh there! (Pun intended!) My schedule says not to talk about their weights until two weeks of age, but since Phantasia's pups are ahead of schedule, I figured I would jump the gun by a few days. (A pound growth a month is good for this size breed and we expect them to be around 2 lbs on adoption day.) Why do we do daily weighings you ask? It's more than just a fixation with numbers. Turns out that loss of weight is a good indicator that a puppy is sick or needs intervention. So far, none has been necessary, (though being the parent I am, I have on two occasions placed a "Ballerina" next to a teet to make sure she is getting as much nursing time as "Beefcake"!) As for Marshmellow's puppies: they too are growing rapidly, but since they are only a week old today, I will forego early reports until they are two weeks old or double their birth weight, which ever comes first. Marshmellow still has not left her puppies long enough to get a group photo, but tomorrow evening when I take the puppies to give them their first weighing, I will grab a group shot and load it up on the "New Arrivals" page. In the meantime, I am happy to announce that all of Phantasia's puppies are weighed in at a health 180 to 260 grams at the first weighing, and each gained at least 10 grams by the next weighing (though one little black piglet gained 30 grams!) It's all milk fat, as the video below shows. Eat, sleep, repeat. Fantasypups Marshmellow Lucia is proud to announce the birth of her five pups this day of 2018.
All five puppies are apricot colored, and there are two female puppies and three male puppies. Marshmellow had been showing signs of oncoming delivery for a week, so I did not think twice when this morning she holed up in the back of her crate. But the other dogs seemed to know something was different from the way they kept circling her crate and peering in. I began to suspect, so I moved her to her whelping pen. Sure enough, Marshmellow silently delivered her first puppy at 10:30am. Unlike Phantasia, Marshmellow is quick and efficient about her births. She has the puppy all cleaned up before you can even get a look at it. And she is fastidious about it. I wasn't able to get my gloved hand in to check the sex of the puppy until over an hour later. It was a little boy! It seemed as if she was finished come lunchtime, but then at 12:25pm she gave birth to a girl. Once again, she was quick in clean up. All the while, I am peering to make sure that the placenta is delivered before she disposes of it. Counting the after-birth is just as important as counting the puppies! The next boy came fast behind his sister. It was 12:45 when this one was born,. Then nature gave Marshmellow a good 45 minute break which she used to tidy up her tidy up her three babies. I was wondering whether she might be done, when at 1:30pm another puppy was born. Marshmellow had the birth sack off his head before he was fully delivered, had cleaned off his face, and he was already nursing on the nearest teet! Boy was I amused! The little guy was still being nourished through his belly button and already he was taking nourishment through his mouth! In fact, for one hour, his placenta and umbilical cord remained undelivered so that the little guy was "glued" to his mother, belly to belly. Nonetheless, he stretch his little mouth up to nurse and latched on firmly. I was unable to get my surgical clamps in to tie off the hidden umbilical cord for fear of "over-intervening" so Marshmellow and I waited patiently for the placenta to be delivered. So I fed her some yogurt -- calcium encourages contractions. Finally, at 2:35pm, Marshmellow Marshmellow gave birth to the placenta, immediately followed by another female puppy, and her placenta as well.. Here is a photo of Momma and pups taking a well-deserved nap. Happy Summer solstice!
The first 48 hours of a puppies life are the most dangerous. In their new environment, there are many threats and high mortality. Some breeders will not even announce the birth of a litter until this period has passed. Fortunately, we have not suffered that sorrow. We are glad to announce that all of Phantasia's puppies have passed the 48 mark with flying colors. There are still six of them, and now that they are passed this danger period, we are ready to hold them (only as necessary though) and to begin weighing them, They have obviously grown in this brief period, but exactly how much is hard to say as they were not weighed at birth. Below are a few pictures. As you can see, they don't look like puppies yet. Their ears are still against their heads, their eyelids are sealed shut, the bones are still shaped for fitting in a tight womb-space, and fur markings have not yet begun to appear. It will be three weeks before they look like puppies, and six weeks before they look like Schnoodles. So I would not get anxious about which one will be yours -- it is way too soon for that! Looking at the picture of Phantasia with her whole litter, you have to wonder: Where did she fit them all?! Go to our "New Arrivals!" page to see a photo of the newest litter. We started our vigil on June 12th, sleeping on a cot beside Phantasia and Marshmellow's crates. Marshmellow had started her nesting activity before Phantasia, scratching at her bedding all night. As a result, I wasn't getting much sleep. But things were calm on the evening of June 18th. It seemed that we would get a much needed good night's sleep. Then at 8:30pm, I heard from the kitchen a little "yelp" from the living room. Hurrying to the living room, there I saw Phantasia on the middle of the room with all the dogs around her. She was licking at a cream-colored blob on the living room carpet. Upon inspection, it turned out to be a puppy still encased in its birth sack. Although I wanted to move her to the whelping box, I did not dare since she was still attached to the puppy, and the puppy was still attached to her, by a six inch cord. I had to wait for the birth of the placenta. Quickly I placed newspapers underneath her and her puppy. I was just in time. The placenta soon followed. Once mother and child were disengaged, I moved Phantasia and her newborn to the whelping box. Inspection showed it was an apricot boy. Then, at 9:25pm, another ball of apricot followed, Puppy #2 was a girl! This little one hardly took more than a few gulps of air before Mom was pushing out another little ball. But this one was jet black! Jet had a few minutes of quality time with her mother before her grooming was interrupted by another push, and another sleek black ball. The next little girl was long and black as a panther. It was 10pm sharp, Three girls and one boy! We thought it was over. But then at 10:23, Mom pushed again, and an apricot ball came forth, and it wriggled and squirmed, anxious to be free of its little sack. The previous pups had been released by me, and I tied, clamped and cut the umbilical cord. But Phantasia was on this one and had it free before I could intervene. She did a great job! Finally, the last of the six puppies was born at 10:50pm, another little girl, black as an obsidian jewel. Phantasia stuck beside her pups for the next 16 hours, refusing to break to eat or answer nature's call. It was not until the next day, around 4 in the afternoon, that she finally came out of the whelping box to take a potty break. Usually that is when I take the opportunity to clean Momma up with a quick bath and dry.... but Phantasia would not have it. She made it clear she wanted to be back with her pups. So there she is still. And as you can see from the picture below, she could use a bath. But I decided I would let you see the messy reality of it all. Newborn puppies are still cute, but its not all ribbons and bows. And their mommas look every bit as messy. Here is a photo of Phantasia at full term, one day past her due date. The last few days she has been trying every pose she can muster to try to get comfy. |
BreederHello. My name is Marie, and I have three Schnauzers that fill my life with joy! With the help of my children and grandchildren, I am raising Schnoodle puppies and placing them in good homes. Feel free to browse through my website and enjoy the pictures! Archives
February 2020
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