AARCS Update - Puppy Baths

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had to bath our litter this week.  They are quite covered in lice and there were several fleas.  For them, the lice is way worse than the fleas and it all relative since there is another litter in AARCS care right now that has a BAD flea infestation.  Really bad.

This litter of ours is very calm and clever.  There isn't a sour one in the bunch, and so far, no one is stepping forward to be the dominant nasty pants.  They sit really well for us and it's kind of fun watching them travel in a pack just to watch us scoop poop or mop pee spots or see what we are doing in the pen or outside.  Most puppies typically chase us and chew on our feet and are generally underfoot, but this litter loves to watch.  It feels like we are watching their clever little minds developing right in front of our eyes.

Our 6 weeks old litter was not impressed with the baths, but they didn't mind too much either.  That's great, because they will get another bath soon-ish.  There are still nits we couldn't get with this round because the puppies started to get tired of the grooming.  They did so well with the flea comb, but the 2 long haired girls especially had finally had enough with the lice removal, and we still had miles to go.  Bath time again next week.

 

This is Salsa, one of the girls with longer hair.  She's a bit bigger than Samba (her 'twin') and had a terrible number of lice.  The lice really likes her long, fluffy hair.  She was okay as long as she could chew my hand.  This litter has been terrific because none of them are great chewers, although Salsa does like gnawing on my right foot when I go in to feed and clean up the puppies.  Between Samba and Salsa, we broke the flea comb we were using because their hair is just so long and luxurious.

Samba - she's still growing into her eyes.  *grin*  She doesn't look as rat like now as she did when they first arrived because she's done a lot of catch up growth and gained quite a bit of weight.

Hip Hop is the puppy that keeps flying under my radar.  He's really sweet.  He's well behaved (all things being equal).  He's a darling puppy with impeccable manners.

Jive is the big boy of the bunch.  His ears stick up and, because they are rounded, it makes him look like a tiny black bear cub.  He's pretty darn cool and sturdy as all get out.

Tango looks like Jive, but she's smaller.  These 2 hang out most of the time and really are quite the pair.  My Hannah just loves her to bits and calls her 'My Tango'.

This is Disco.  He's the most social puppy of the bunch.  He follows me everywhere and will sit close by and watch what I do in a state of complete rapture.  He's darling and a real little cuddle buddy.

Popper is the puppy we though we might lose at the very beginning when this litter arrived 2 weeks ago.  It took him 2 days after arriving to be able to keep the puppy formula down.  He was lethargic and just sat in the pen with his head hanging down.  He wasn't as responsive as the rest of the puppies and it was quite alarming.  Thankfully, we got some antibiotics and he's doing wonderfully now!  He is the puppy from this litter that has picked me.  This is the puppy that emotionally attaches themselves to me as their person.  It's always hardest when a puppy picks me when they do go - there are always tears once the door closes and they leave with their new family.  Okay, nuff said...

Okay, where do I start with this girl, Chacha?!!!  She is a total wingnut!!!  She sleeps harder than I've ever seen a puppy sleep.  She marches to a different drummer than the rest of this litter.  She dances and prances and does the cutest puppy stiff legged walk.  She reminds me of Tigger - fun! Fun! FUN!  Oh yoish!  She has the bestest coat when it's dry. 

We'll get some better pictures next week and they won't look so much like drowned rats.  They are all getting to be so cute, just like puppies should be.  We are hoping they get the hang of pooping on the paper soon because this is the first litter we've had that seems to miss more than they hit at 6 weeks old.  We'll have a picture of Dance too - she's the really big girl and while she should be the dominant in the litter being the biggest, she's is a gentle giant and absolutely darling!

Here's what we think of this litter;