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)