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!
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