Puppy Problems

I breed many kinds of animals, but the ones I enjoy the most are the dogs!  Puppies are very cute and love to interact.  Rabbits just don't do that....and as much as I love the bunnies, dogs are just better, albiet, more work! 

My latest litter only produced three puppies.  The mom, Crystal, has had three litters before this one.  Each having five puppies each.  So this was kind of a surprise to see only three this time.  No matter....it's all good.

I have two of the puppies left.  One sold a couple weeks ago.  These last two are way adorable and smart, but the female seems to be especially bright.  We have a two story house with a deck that expands the length of the house on the back.  I use the stairs to that deck quite often to go from the house to the back yard.  The big dogs have always just followed, but the puppies, being too small, just sat at the bottom and cried because we all left them.  It was the female that figured out how to get up those steps first.  I didn't see it, but I went out one day and there she was sitting out there with the big dogs, looking up at me with big brown and blue eyes.  It took the male several more days to figure it out.

Not long afterwards I'm in the in house and Austin, my oldest son, comes in holding the male saying he found the puppy under the deck stairs, laying down and acting like it was sick.  I took the puppy from him, and sure enough, he was acting sleepy, not able to stand and whining.  Jeez. 

We rushed to the vet's office.  They took us in right away.  They took a temp...normal.  They tested his glycimic level.....normal.  When he was offered food, he ate it right away, which was good, but still he would not stand and acted like he just wanted to sleep.  Also, his gums were very pale, which always indicates some malady.  The vet finally admitted that he had no idea what was wrong and sent me away with antibiotics and instructions on what to look for in case he was coming down with Parvo. 

He slept in the house in a dog bed and didn't move.  He wouldn't even stand to pee.  He really made a mess!   I had to start taking him out and hold him up so he could go.  Slowly, he did start moving more and the color in his gums got better.  It took me a day to put the pieces together, but think I know what was wrong.  He had gone up those stairs of the deck and fell off to the concrete below!  He lay where he landed which was right under a space that a puppy could fit through.  He knocked himself silly and also hurt his front leg.  It's been three days since it's happened, and he's up and hobbling around with everyone!  I worry that the leg is broken.  He's kinda using it, but it's a pretty big limp he has going.  I'm going to have to take him back in to have it xrayed tomorrow.  We are leaving for vacation for two weeks and I can't let it go that long if it's broken. 

I'm very glad I figured out what happened, but I'm not happy at all with the vet bills!!!  I had another puppy  in the last litter break its leg and I put more out in vet bills than I sold the pup for.  *sigh* 

That's the joy of raising animals!

Here he is....all better!

So, this is the beginning of my very first blog!  I'm not sure how well I'll do keeping it up.  But it's something that I've wanted to do for a while now.  I'm not doing this for anyone but me.  Ok, maybe my posterity if they care.  It will replace any kind of journaling I would have done in a notebook.  I'm always talking to myself....telling myself things that seem important.  Putting my thoughts down in words may have no benifit to anyone, but I think it will make me feel better.  So we'll see how this goes.  If you're reading this, judge me if you must, but I'm pretty solid in my beliefs and feelings.  Sometimes I can be swayed to veiw things at a different angle, but I don't change my mind much on the big issues. 

I think life is great!  I think life sucks!  I think life is a roller coaster that, at times, I wish I could get off of and sometimes I want to do it again.  Sometimes I'd like to quit--run away.  I get so tired of the effort I have to put out that I wonder if it's worth it.  Most of the time, though, I love it and all that it brings!  I have a family that I love very much--not just my husband and children, but my siblings and extended family!  I don't always show it, I know, but I hope they know it!  Aunts, uncles, cousins, neices, nephews!  Love being with them and wish I could be with them more often.  I haven't seen some of my family in so long!  It makes me sad.  Facebook has been a wonderful tool to contact with some of them....but not enough are members and of those who are, they don't post much so I have no idea what's going on with them.  Oh well....I know that not everyone has the time  or intrest that I have for such things.  That's ok....we all have our 'things'!

How can something you love so much also give you so much grief!  Children, for example.....WHY!  I want to hug them and shoot them at the same time!  Jeez!  Talk about playing with your emotions!  I always feel better to just walk away and give it a few hours...and sometimes days!....and then those feelings of wanting to strangle your offspring to death is not so strong.  All I wanted was a cute, huggable person who would just look at me with adoring eyes and have no other goal except to obey because they loved me.  Well....ha!  Surprise for me!  They have their own ideas, own goals, own personality that takes them in a different direction then where I'd like them to go.  I have to remember who's really in control and have faith that He'll guide them when needed. 

Another grief-causer is my animals.  They are so much fun!  But some days are hard!  Cleaning, feeding, watching them die, rain that soaks and ruins so much, heat that forces me to hang misters and set up fans.  It gets so overwhelming sometimes that I wonder if it's worth it.  When I think about selling everything, I get teary.  Man!  What would I do with my time if I didn't have all my beasts to care for?  Maybe I'd actually have the energy to clean house or something useful.  Nope...the animals stay for now.  I foresee a day that I can't have so many.  I mean, I have very little help from anyone, and I'm getting older and my back hurts a lot....don't know how long the body will hold out!  Not that I'm at an age that I can get senior discounts or anything, but old enough that the 50 pound bags of feed is not as easy to lift as it used to be.  *sigh* 

As for this blog, I'll try not to make it too depressing.  I'm not a depressing person!  ....at least I don't think I am.......