What a Wild, Hard, Heartwarming, Heartbreaking Trip of Love

As I write, we are still trying to adjust to having three German Shepherds instead of six, or seven. This has been one of the greatest, and hardest, endeavors we've ever taken on. Not only for us, apparently, as every being in this house, dogs and cat included, collapsed, exhausted, around lunchtime today. The house is full, but feels half empty. It's hard to believe the sweet little beings who were born into our hands just eight weeks ago, are now beautiful puppies ready for their new lives.

We'll never do this again - not because it was hard, it was also a joy - but because our beautiful Jet went through so much that we never meant to put her through. The whole experience will always be with us though - from the tears of joy at five little pups alive and breathing on their own, to tears of sadness at the sudden loss of what we thought was our strongest pup, and now missing the little lives who were so much a part of ours.

As I write, Jet is giving Bella a full bath - christening her into what she knows to be her new life. While Bella is staying with us, she now has no puppies to play with, and perhaps the hardest life of all - living with mom and dad. It's a very strange day here, but a happy one, knowing all of the pups went to wonderful homes where they will be loved and cared for.

Thursday evening, Precious left for her new home where she will have two female German Shepherd dogs to watch over her and teach her.

Friday evening, Gizmo went on to live with his new family, where he will have to other male German Shepherd dogs to watch over and teach him.

And this morning, Bear met a little boy with surprise on his face before a long journey to his new home, where he will have a female German Shepherd dog to watch over and teach him.

It's very very hard to let them go, but we know we cannot give the attention each needs with a family so large.

But let us now formally introduce, Hoover's Curly Lady Bella

What am I supposed to do with this?

Hey, moooooooooom

It's going to take a little adjusting - but I think we'll all be getting back to normal now - whatever that is :)

Bye bye sweet babies - we will hopefully be seeing you all again one day in the not so distant future :)

Peace and much Love,

Dan and Michele

The Puppy News

We have been in shock and sorrow over the last week. You may have noticed we did not post six-week photos. We have actually not looked at the blog in over a week.

The puppies all had a second vet-check and weight taken and received their first shots last Tuesday afternoon. Curly's x-ray showed a very unexpected result. We found that the funny noise he made in his throat which the vet had originally thought was his funny way of learning to pant, was actually a horrible condition known as megaesophagus. Our vet explained to us that this is not common in puppies this age, and that several things could cause the condition, in which the esophagus is stretched, creating pockets where food gets stuck. We researched the condition and could not believe our biggest, most weight-gaining puppy, who ate well every meal and played hard, claiming himself the alpha male from almost day one, could have this condition. We made a decision that we'd like to keep Curly and notified the family who had a deposit on him that the choice was theirs, to cancel, pick another puppy, or keep Curly. They chose another pup and we were happy to keep Curly, who we were going to rename, Thor.

Wednesday morning, after breakfast, Curly began to cough and lay around, uncommon for him. He went back to the vet in late morning and had another x-ray which showed his lungs were full of his food. The vet explained that this is what will eventually happen to a dog with megaesophagus and there was nothing they could do. Our hearts were broken. We held Curly and he showed us nothing but love, though we knew he was in pain. He passed around lunch time on Wednesday and we have been in shock ever since, doing our best to continue as usual for the rest of the pups sake.

All of the other pups were deemed healthy and all have been growing, learning, playing and eating more and more every day. They had their second worming today and are doing really well at housetraining. Each is unique and all are a joy. We suspect the emptiness we feel at the loss of Curly will be increased by the power of four in such a short space of time. We will not mourn the pups moving on to new homes, though. We feel confident they are all going to great new homes. We will miss them, but only mourn the one who has passed.

Now for the 7-week photos of some very special pups - all are spoken for.

Bear

Bella

Gizmo (who has a new name)

Precious

Oskar

Jet

Sweet Curly (Thor)

A Day of Play - and Update

The puppies and big dogs were really happy for a sunny autumn weekend - and so were we! It's amazing how fast these pups are learning. They all know the command 'go potty' really well. They are picking up 'sit' very fast. And a few are awesome already at 'high five' :)

As of this afternoon: 
Red collar male - litter name Gizmo - very affectionate and will make a great one on one protection dog - AVAILABLE

Light Blue collar male - litter name Bear -  SPOKEN FOR

Dark Blue collar male - litter name Curly - SPOKEN FOR

Purple collar female - litter name Oskarette, current name Bella - SPOKEN FOR

Pink collar female - litter name Precious - SPOKEN FOR

Here are some pics:

Our cat, Iggy, isn't allowed outside. The dogs always work together to herd him back into the house. It's pretty impressive how even 5 week old pups work together with the pack to reach a common goal. 

Bad kitty!

Yawn....

Nappy Time

Peace and Love,

Dharma Dogs