SF Kennels
Skyfire Australian Cattle Dog
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SF Kennels Skyfire Australian Cattle Dog
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DIARY OF ABBY'S 2007 LITTER
Birth Times (descriptions are based on face markings): 12:20pm Half Mask Ear Spot Male (Born Breech, had to pull) HMESM 1:50pm Double Mask Male Even Masks DMM 2:05pm High Double Mask Male HiDMM 2:30pm Small Double Mask Male SmDMM 3:10pm Double Mask Female DMF 4:05pm Half Mask Female HMF 4:50pm Plain Face Male PFM
Abby's litter is being raised in Las Vegas, here in my home. The puppies are handled daily. At two weeks old, the puppies have now been moved out of their whelping box (swimming pool) and into a 4x4 x-pen. Their paper surface has been replaced with blankets and a papered area. They are moving around. They have a heat lamp, and a heating pad under their x-pen so they can waddle from cold to warm as they feel fit. They are still with mom full-time. The puppies are getting their nails trimmed about every four days. The bigger they get, the harder it is to trim their nails, so getting on this early is important.
Two Day Photos (Boys - three double mask boys)
At 10 days, their eyes have started to open. Their ears are still closed, but should be opening up soon. We can begin to tell if they can hear. Because there is deafness in this breed, this is important to us. Fingers crossed, I have not had a deaf one yet. But almost all breeders get them eventually.
One Week Photos (Boys - all, PFM, HMM)
At 13 days, the DMM experienced some swelling in his neck. It looked like he might have been bit by a spider. We immediately gave him an antihistamine. I thought for sure we would lose him. We took him to the vet and 40 CCs of fluid was drained, he was given an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic. Because of the swelling, he had some difficulty nursing so was supplemented with formula. Mark continued to drain the abscess twice daily. A culture was done to ensure the antibiotic was targeting the correct infection. Although he failed to gain during that period, he is the one of the toughest puppies I have ever seen and refuses to give up without a fight. Since he has been handled and hand fed so much, he is certainly is more content in human hands at this point. Two weeks : GIRLS
Two weeks: BOYS (left to right, PFM, SmDMM, HMM, HiDMM, DMM)
At 17 days, the puppies are getting up on their feet, and the plain face male is not using his rear legs well. If he doesn't get up on his feet soon, we will take him to the vet to see if he sustained any sort of injury. The females are both dominant puppies. They do not hesitate to growl at you. Because the DMM has been handled so much, he is a real lover, and buries himself in your lap.
At 20 days they now almost all HATE getting their nails trimmed. They fight being on their back. The kids are carrying them around, kissing them, and playing with them. I now have music playing for them during the day. We had them in a kiddy swimming pool in the living room while my son was playing the Wii. They are noticing motion, and almost all of them react to loud sounds. I think they all hear. BAER testing will either be the 19th or the 26th of January. They are all up on their feet with the exception of the PFM. He has an appointment with a Neurological Specialist. They still sleep almost all the time.
At this point, my show pics would be both females (slight preference to the half mask female), the high double mask male, and the half mask male. Let's see how my selections change over time. Teeth should start coming in within a week. The double mask male is turning out smaller than the other puppies. He's so much more alert than the others. He watches you when you move around.
The PFM was put down today (12/29). We took him in and they ran some test and took some films. They said it looked like a fluke defect of the L4 and L5, sort of like Spina Bifia, but without a $1200 MRI they could not tell for sure. They said he would always be paralyzed, incontinent, and have no feelings in his rear legs, tail, or back half of his body.
Puppies are starting puppy mash 12/30! What a mess. I put puppy food, replacement milk, and hot water in the blender. They walk all through it, eat and eat, and then crash with bloated little tummies. I'm going to be moving them onto their next surface (shavings) tomorrow. Shaving make a huge mess and get tracked everywhere, but they are so mobile now, the newspapers are getting pushed around too much to be absorbent enough. They have now spent time on blankets, newspapers, towels, and the cold tile floor. I will also set up the outside puppy jungle tomorrow. We break it down and store it when we do not have puppies. It is made up of short chainlink panels that Abby can climb over, but the puppies could not. It's quite cold here, but with the sun out, they will do fine being outside part of the day. They have been listening to Wii Transformers game while in the house (it was a Christmas present), some local rock station while in the garage, and now will get to experience birds and car sounds. They are starting to play. The smallest DMM is the more coordinated, and although smaller, can knock the other puppies off balance. The puppies will now give warning barks when they hear something, and when you go in and call them, they will stop, look and some will even come over to you.
The puppies are getting well socialized. As you can see in the 3 week photos, my daughter thinks they are HER babies. They are wrapped in blankets, packed around and loved on quite a bit. The puppies are scheduled to be BAER tested at the Veterinarian Neurological Center in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. Show prospects will have blood drawn to send for prcd-testing on January 26th, with results being returned in approximately three weeks. Show puppies will then be released to their new homes.
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Mark and Tracy Johnson, Richmond, KY 859-625-0424 |
