Inside Out

Inside Out was Originally Posted on July 15, 2012 by lavarock

I decided that I would put the puppies on the lanai and see how that works. I need them out of the whelping box and out of the bedroom. Mom doesn’t seem to be nursing much so I started them on real food. She will not want to clean up after them much either anymore.

It would be better for them out in the grass in an enclosed area, I think it gets a bit too cool at night here and I didn’t want to build or buy a large dog house or enclosure to protect them from sun and rain.

Since the lanai was already screened from the railing to floor (for Koa when he was a pup), I added some chickenwire, primarily to keep “little pup” from getting through. Little pup as I call the runt of the litter, is still 1/2 the weight and size of his litter mates, and I am being overly protective of him. He had a bit of digestion problems the other night and I called the Vet. Still, he seems in good shape and I am hoping that the meat diet will fatten him up. Many people online suggest the runt of the litter may in fact become the biggest of the litter in time.

I debated on flooring for the lanai, wanting to replace the old indoor/outdoor carpeting with something more permanent. I opted for a simple and quick solution that will suffice for now. I bought two 8 x 10 foot tarps and laid them down over the carpeting and attached them at all ends with furring strips. As long as I trim the pups toenails, they should not start pulling the woven strips out of it. If they make a mess, it is a quick mop to clean.

I will put a wooden plank across the bottom of the entrance gate so mom can jump over and tend to the pups, but they can’t get out over it. As for Koa, my male dog, he seems afraid of the 10 pups and although he will look and sniff, wants no part of them. Mom has no issues with him being there and mom and Koa have been together for 2 years now and spend more time together than with me.

As I mentioned, this lanai situation needs to last only about 3 weeks, until the pups head up into town to be with Dad, and in an area where potential buyers can see them.

I ordered 10 puppy crates (airline approved) through Amazon and they came a couple days later by Fedex. Each crate in an individual box. The other thing I ordered was a box of 8 velcro collars with numbers. This allows me to identify each pup both by color of collar or number (depending upon how colorblind I am at the moment). This is critical as I offer the pups for sale also because people will see the photos and begin to gravitate towards a particular puppy for specific traits. As for me, they all liik somewhat similar at birth but begin to develop their own look as they mature. Still, some may look very similar for quite some time.

As for keeping them identified, that is somewhat easy for a couple of them. The first pup to be born was a black female with a white spot on her chest. That spot will eventually disappear, but for now, she is easy to spot compared to the other black females. Then there is the one lone black male. Finally there is little pup and it is easy to spot him.

Some of the pups are developing a more boxy head and some not and so on. All are having fun trying to climb out of the whelping box and in fact, one escaped last night. It may have climbed out on the back of another, or may have attached itself to moms nipple and been drug out when she decided that they need to stop trying to nurse! We have seen moms walking away from the litter with 2 or 3 puppies hanging on for dear life trying to nurse.

Finally, rather than build or buy a doghouse, I am assembling 3 of the kennels and will put towels in the bottom. That will allow the pups to get insideand snuggle if it gets a bit too cool at night on the lanai. Granted, cool for me is not necessarily cool for them, but I will watch little puup closely to ensure he keeps warm.