Monday, February 23, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
LIVING IN THE BASEMENT
BY JIM MAHAFFIE
So much for 10,000 years of evolution and natural dens and nature taking its course.
Breeding dogs nowadays requires a huge wood thing called a whelping box. It has taken over our basement, and Maizey stays in it with the pups, taking bare minutes a day to do her thing outside. Elise is frequently sitting in it, too. Surrounding it is a fencing thing, hung with blankets and towels. Surrounding all of that are the various accoutrements of puppie-dom – scale, thermometers, towels, piles of newspaper, bedding, paper towels, duct tape (you always need duct tape, don’t you?), scissors… and of course laptops, phones, paper and pens, some mail, dishes, banana peels, and bedding for Elise – who is sleeping down there.
Apparently, puppies cannot regulate their own temperature for a while after they’re born, so the room has to be 80 degrees or more. Space heaters take care of that (thanks neighbors), and Elise likes it too, as we have the old too hot/too cold impasse in our relationship.
With all the things that go wrong with dogs, how did any ever survive, thrive and evolve over the past centuries? The monks of St. Bernard didn’t have space heaters and duct tape.
BY JIM MAHAFFIE
So much for 10,000 years of evolution and natural dens and nature taking its course.
Breeding dogs nowadays requires a huge wood thing called a whelping box. It has taken over our basement, and Maizey stays in it with the pups, taking bare minutes a day to do her thing outside. Elise is frequently sitting in it, too. Surrounding it is a fencing thing, hung with blankets and towels. Surrounding all of that are the various accoutrements of puppie-dom – scale, thermometers, towels, piles of newspaper, bedding, paper towels, duct tape (you always need duct tape, don’t you?), scissors… and of course laptops, phones, paper and pens, some mail, dishes, banana peels, and bedding for Elise – who is sleeping down there.
Apparently, puppies cannot regulate their own temperature for a while after they’re born, so the room has to be 80 degrees or more. Space heaters take care of that (thanks neighbors), and Elise likes it too, as we have the old too hot/too cold impasse in our relationship.
With all the things that go wrong with dogs, how did any ever survive, thrive and evolve over the past centuries? The monks of St. Bernard didn’t have space heaters and duct tape.
TURN ON THE LIGHTS, MAKE SOME NOISE. OR NOT
BY JIM MAHAFFIE
Did you know that puppies don’t open their eyes or their ears for a week or more after they’re born? So all that being quiet and mellow around them is really for the mother dog, not the pups. They can’t see or hear. They also can’t walk, and just sort of shuffle around rolling and pushing their bodies with their little legs.
But it’s uncanny how, even just a few hours after they’re born, they head like a laser beam to Mom’s Milk Bar.
Puppies also make squeaking noises and twitch a lot. We’re told this is good. Complaining teaches them to get Mom’s attention. And twitching is a sign that they’re growing naturally and fast.
BY JIM MAHAFFIE
Did you know that puppies don’t open their eyes or their ears for a week or more after they’re born? So all that being quiet and mellow around them is really for the mother dog, not the pups. They can’t see or hear. They also can’t walk, and just sort of shuffle around rolling and pushing their bodies with their little legs.
But it’s uncanny how, even just a few hours after they’re born, they head like a laser beam to Mom’s Milk Bar.
Puppies also make squeaking noises and twitch a lot. We’re told this is good. Complaining teaches them to get Mom’s attention. And twitching is a sign that they’re growing naturally and fast.
A WORD ABOUT THE NAMES
BY JIM MAHAFFIE
The puppies are named Belle and Ness. Wha… you ask? Well, as it turns out, you can’t name valuable, purebred show dogs anything mundane like “Sparky” or “Duke” – unless these are derived from some careful theme that runs through the lineage of your dog.
Read no further if only interested in mutts. Continue naming your non-show ring quality dogs “Buddy,” “Rocky” and “Dakota.” But if you want to know…
Maizey is named “Caroling’s Amazing Journey.” She came from “Caroling’s Symbol Du Saguenay” (mom, called Symbol) and “Always An Angel” (dad, called Cherub). Caroling is the breeder/kennel name. That’s Carol Lingley, who is a saint, by the way. You should read the names of the whole line. They are quite snooty and poetic.
So, taking off from “Amazing Journey,” Carol came up with journey-type themes for this litter of pups, and Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening.” In the third stanza, Frost says of the horse drawing his sleigh: “He gives his harness bells a shake, to ask if there is some mistake…” That’s where Ness and Belle came from. We also liked Woody, Missy, Eve, Miles, and Shake – but didn’t have enough puppies.
After the birth drama this past week, racing up 270 to the vet at 1am, perhaps a better poem choice would have been “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.”
Belle and Ness will be given snooty and poetic American Kennel Club (AKC) names soon. You can call your own dog “Coco,” “Barney” and “Princess.” But the AKC will, most assuredly, not be doing so.
BY JIM MAHAFFIE
The puppies are named Belle and Ness. Wha… you ask? Well, as it turns out, you can’t name valuable, purebred show dogs anything mundane like “Sparky” or “Duke” – unless these are derived from some careful theme that runs through the lineage of your dog.
Read no further if only interested in mutts. Continue naming your non-show ring quality dogs “Buddy,” “Rocky” and “Dakota.” But if you want to know…
Maizey is named “Caroling’s Amazing Journey.” She came from “Caroling’s Symbol Du Saguenay” (mom, called Symbol) and “Always An Angel” (dad, called Cherub). Caroling is the breeder/kennel name. That’s Carol Lingley, who is a saint, by the way. You should read the names of the whole line. They are quite snooty and poetic.
So, taking off from “Amazing Journey,” Carol came up with journey-type themes for this litter of pups, and Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening.” In the third stanza, Frost says of the horse drawing his sleigh: “He gives his harness bells a shake, to ask if there is some mistake…” That’s where Ness and Belle came from. We also liked Woody, Missy, Eve, Miles, and Shake – but didn’t have enough puppies.
After the birth drama this past week, racing up 270 to the vet at 1am, perhaps a better poem choice would have been “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.”
Belle and Ness will be given snooty and poetic American Kennel Club (AKC) names soon. You can call your own dog “Coco,” “Barney” and “Princess.” But the AKC will, most assuredly, not be doing so.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
THE BIG DAY HAS ARRIVED!
After a long and valiant effort from Maizey, she delivered two beautiful girls, Belle & Ness, via C-section on February 4, 2009. Both the girls are healthy, active, beautiful and noisy...just like their mom.
I will be updating the site with lots of pictures and comments once a week to chart their growth. Please come and visit often!
After a long and valiant effort from Maizey, she delivered two beautiful girls, Belle & Ness, via C-section on February 4, 2009. Both the girls are healthy, active, beautiful and noisy...just like their mom.
I will be updating the site with lots of pictures and comments once a week to chart their growth. Please come and visit often!
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