Tiga's Litter

New Puppy Blogs!

2008-07-08T17:48:00.006-05:00

For anyone who still visits this blog looking for a quick puppy fix I have great news - there is a new puppy blog. Sheba, another Helping Paws breeding dog, has just had her first litter and you can watch these five adorable Labrador Retrievers grow up at http://shebasfirstlitter.blogspot.com.

Another blog to watch is http://faithhp.blogspot.com. Faith is the breeding dog from Tiga's first litter and a litter mate to Charlie. She has already started a blog in anticipation of her first litter, which hopefully will be soon. The blog is entitled, Tiga's Legacy - Faith. What a nice tribute and yes, it did make me cry.

Here are the latest photos of Tiga's last puppies.

Dixie (formerly Fatty Patty)

Jazzy (formerly Brenda)

Rio (formerly McHenry)

Tessa (formerly "The Peanut")

Trooper (formerly Notorious BIG)

Service Dogs-In-Training

2008-05-25T10:02:00.004-05:00

First off, thank you to all of you who have followed us on this journey. This blog has not only had visitors from 33 states within the US, but also visitors from Canada, UK, Brazil, Iceland, Columbia, Australia, Spain, Japan, South Africa, Ireland and Germany. Truly amazing.

Four of Tiga's puppies are now officially Helping Paws service dogs-in-training. The Peanut was chosen to be a potential breeding dog and placed with a caretaker home. She will go through the same training as the other four and eventually be used for public education. When she is two years old she will have her hips, elbows, eyes and heart checked and if everything looks good she will become a Helping Paws breeding dog.

The other four puppies were placed with their volunteer foster homes. Foster homes are very special people who take these puppies into their homes and hearts, work with them daily, attend weekly training classes, socialize and train them in public and of course, love them. They will teach them approximately 80 skills, including retrieving, turning on and off light switches, opening doors, snuggle and getting help. After two to three years the foster homes will give these well trained, wonderful dogs to an individual with a physical disability, other than sight or hearing.

At the end of the training, a Helping Paws dog is valued at $15,000. The people who receive them pay only a $50 application fee and an equipment fee of around $200. This is made possible through the generous donations of individuals, corporations, foundations and grants. If you would like to follow these puppies' progress as they develop into life changing gifts, please consider sponsoring one of them through the Helping Paws Blue Coat Benefactor program. For more information on how you can help, please visit the Helping Paws website, http://www.helpingpaws.org/ or email me at jmichurski@helpingpaws.org.

Things at our house are now pretty much back to normal. I am able to sleep later than 5:30. My dining room is now usable again and no longer contains a urine trap. Our deck is no longer boarded up and has been power scrubbed to remove any remaining evidence of five puppies. Charlie has his Tiga back and they are playing and wrestling again and never far apart. And last, but not least, Tori has found something new to obsess about. There is a bird's nest under the deck that now occupies her time.

It is nice to not have our lives consumed with puppies but I do miss them. It is a little strange to think that Tiga is no longer a Helping Paws breeding dog. As one of the foster homes pointed out to me, she has lived up to her name. Tiga in Indonesian means three and she has provided Helping Paws with three wonderful litters. She is now retired and will live out the rest of her days as my much loved buddy. I can't thank Helping Paws and Tiga enough for giving us this experience.

Our Last Day Together

2008-05-25T09:39:00.005-05:00

No poop in the puppy pen! That is what I was greeted with on our last morning together, five smiling little faces and NO POOP! That makes it even harder to day good bye to them.

We had breakfast on the deck and played and played. Later the bathing crew showed up and we fluffed and buffed them so they would be all ready for their new foster homes. They all tolerated the bath really well but didn't like the dryer too much. Thanks to Brenda (the person, not the puppy), Catherine and Melanie for helping.

After lunch I spent some time in the yard with them. I really wanted to get a few last photos of each of them. They haven't been on grass too much and it was so fun to watch them discover the yard. I was amazed at how independent they all were, going off on their own and exploring everything. Fatty Patty hit the ground running and never stopped as you can see from her pictures. It was the perfect way to spend our last day together.

The Peanut

Fatty Patty

Brenda

The Boys

McHenry

Notorious B.I.G

Pictures from Yesterday

2008-05-22T07:59:00.003-05:00

Three More Days

2008-05-21T07:33:00.004-05:00

Just three more days left with these guys. This morning I put them on the deck and sat down with them. All five were all over me giving me kisses, biting me and pushing each other around trying to get to the best position, which apparently is closest to my face. It was before 6:00 and I was really tired, but I still thought, "Boy, I am really going to miss them." I think their leaving will be a little harder for me this time around as this is the last litter for Tiga. There won't be another litter for me to look forward to next year. Having a litter of puppies has been a life long dream of mine and I can't thank Helping Paws enough for giving me this opportunity. All three litters with Tiga have been wonderful experiences for me and my family. How could you not love having these adorable faces greeting you every morning, no matter what time it is!

Going Home Day for the Labs

2008-05-20T07:05:00.005-05:00

Last Friday was going home day for Peaches' puppies.

Steve, the caretaker home for Peaches and her puppies, arrived at the Helping Paws training center with seven adorable Labrador Retriever puppies. Seven foster families were there, anxiously waiting to meet their new puppy.

Seven more puppies are now Helping Paws service dogs-in-training and have started their journey to one day being a life changing gift for someone. I love going home day.

2008-05-19T08:24:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it is only five more days until the puppies go to their foster homes. We have a busy week ahead of us. Today we are going to the vet for a check up, their first shots and microchips. Thursday we will go to Helping Paws for puppy testing. This will help Eileen determine which puppy goes to which foster home and which female will be kept for the breeding program. Then Friday is the big day. We will fluff and buff the puppies in the morning and then take them to Helping Paws where they will meet their new families. This litter has been so easy and so fun that I am a little sad about their upcoming departure. I will miss being greeted in the morning by their cute little faces and puppy kisses. It will be nice to sleep past 5:30 though. I hope all of the foster homes are resting up.

B.I.G.

B.I.G. and McHenry

Brenda

The Peanut

Tiga has really started playing with her puppies this last week. She runs around the deck with them and swats them around. The deck furniture is her safe zone where she can escape the puppies so they can't nurse or get their toys away from her.

Eventually she will give up the toy and share.

But before too long she will take it back - just to let them know who is really in charge.

Early Mornings on the Deck

2008-05-16T06:25:00.005-05:00

The puppies have been waking up at 5:30 this week and it is not because they are hungry. They just want to get out on the deck and run. They are not even interested in food until they have had some time to explore and romp on the deck. Fortunately we have had some really nice weather and they are able to do that. Unfortunately, running on the deck is not something I am interested in doing at 5:30. Sleeping would be better in my mind.

The puppies are starting to get the hang of the skateboard. They tend to do more solo riding than group riding like the litter last year. And fortunately, they don't have the speed that last year's puppies had so I am not as worried about skateboarding injuries.

Wrestling with each other is still the favorite activity. Here is The Peanut showing her feisty side.

Brenda

McHenry

Playing with Mom's tail is a really fun game (for the puppies, not Mom).

. . . and in our spare time we have been working on a few more Helping Paws cues.

"Tug"

"Rise"

"Shake"

"Speak"

2008-05-13T17:34:00.004-05:00

I apologize for being lax about getting new pictures posted. Now that the puppies are older I am spending more time taking care of them and less time taking photos. We only have a week and a half left before they go to their new homes so I will try and post more often.

The puppies really enjoy having the run of the deck as you can see in these next few photos.

After the being on the deck, the inside pen is just not as much fun. Fortunately, the weather has been better and they are getting outside several times throughout the day. This makes for a much cleaner inside pen and that makes me VERY happy!

Five Weeks Old

2008-05-09T08:02:00.007-05:00

I can't believe the puppies are already five weeks old. They have been such an easy litter and so much fun, the time has just flown by. I haven't taken a lot of photos this week so not much to update right now. The puppies are loving being on the deck. They have lots of room to run and romp and attack each other. They are turning into little piranhas, fortunately most of the biting is on their litter mates.

Even Tiga's ears are fair game.

Tiga now visits her puppies from the safety of the platform. She is nursing less and less and who can blame her - those teeth are sharp!

The tunnel is by far the favorite play place. They run in and out and tumble all over each other. They even roll it around, giving those inside an exciting ride.

They have really mastered the hoop . It took them awhile to figure it out , but once they did, they starting easily jumping in and out of it.

I plan on taking a lot of photos this weekend so stay tuned.

A Whole New World

2008-05-04T22:44:00.006-05:00

Finally it is warm enough here in Minnesota to get the puppies out on the deck. We puppy proofed the deck by putting boards up and gated off a small section so it wouldn't seem to intimidating. After a few tentative steps the puppies started exploring and had a ball. They checked out all of the puppy agility equipment and even had their dinner outside tonight.

A very long puppy!

Charlie was more concerned with protecting his toys than playing with the puppies.

These exceptional puppies have even started learning some Helping Paws cues.

"Rest Your Head"

"Shake"

"Watch" and "Shake"

and almost "Kiss"

Introducing . . .

2008-05-01T21:50:00.009-05:00

We have finally found names for all of the puppies. Even though these names are only temporary (the foster homes will have the honor of giving them their permanent names) we put a lot of thought into the names they have while they are with us.

So I'd like to introduce you to . . .

McHenry.

A class of kids in McHenry Illinois has raised money to sponsor a Helping Paws dog. After viewing this blog, they have chosen BLH and in honor of them we have named him McHenry.

Notorious B.I.G.

Okay, I am not a closet rap fan but I do have teen age kids and because BRH is so BIG they have dubbed him Notorious B.I.G., Notorious for short.

The Peanut

Each of Tiga's litters has had a puppy named The Peanut. The other Peanuts were the smallest in the litter but they were also feisty, little go getters with a lot of spunk and personality. PRS is not the smallest but she definitely has the Peanut personality. One day I just naturally started calling her Peanut and it stuck.

Fatty Patty

This picture of PT pretty much says it all.

Brenda
Yes, PLS was named after Brenda. Feel free to give Brenda a call at the Helping Paws office if you want to know why.

Here are a few more photos from the last few days.

Mug Shots

2008-04-29T15:09:00.002-05:00

Here are the 3 1/2 week old portraits.

"The Boys"

BRH

BLH

"The Girls"

PRS

PLS

PT

More Cute Photos - Again

2008-04-29T15:02:00.004-05:00

2008-04-28T07:40:00.005-05:00

Last night the puppies had their first meal of solid food. There was no hesitation. They all just walked up to it and started eating as though they had been doing this for weeks. In Tiga's past litters there were always a few gluttons who pushed everyone out of the way and ate their share and more. Not the case this time. Everyone ate in a pretty orderly and polite fashion. Nobody was overly pushy or laid in the dish. I guess with fewer puppies that have always had more than enough to eat there just isn't the need to fight for the food.

After eating it was time to clean up . . .

. . . or help a friend clean up.

Another perk of motherhood for Tiga, she gets to clean up the left overs.

PLS desperately wanted to wash down her dinner with a little milk and just wasn't quite tall enough.

After the dinner mess was cleaned up they all crashed.

More Cute Pictures

2008-04-26T16:04:00.004-05:00

A little quiet time with mom.

PLS

The puppies like the fact that their new accommodations make it easier to interact with Charlie.

The puppies now know that their siblings are fun to play with. Wrestling matches occur all of the time now.

Poor Tori

2008-04-26T10:05:00.003-05:00

How silly was I to think that Tori's life would be so much easier now that the whelping box was gone? I thought her days would be free to play and sleep since she would no longer have to keep a constant eye out for the squeaky thing living under the box.. Well I was wrong. She found it in the living room and even though it is now in pieces waiting to be taken back to Helping Paws, she still feels the need to keep her eye on it. I don't care what Steve says, this dog has issues!

Housing Upgrade

2008-04-26T08:46:00.002-05:00

Big change in the whelping box! There is no more whelping box! The puppies have had a major housing improvement. We took out the whelping box and put up the fence and now they have the whole urine trap to play in. Tiga is much happier with the new accommodations. The box was getting a little cramped for her, the puppies and The Duck, Mr. Frog and Miss Pig. We have platforms on the inside and outside of the pen so Tiga can easily hop in and out. We added a few more toys and a little pink platform, which quickly became the preferred sleeping spot. The platform is part of the puppy playground equipment. If it ever warms up here (yes, it is snowing in Minnesota today) we will set up the rest of the playground toys on the deck. Thanks to everyone who entered the puppy pool. We raised enough money to buy two new playground sets.

Tiga and her babies enjoying the new roomy accommodations.

Notice how the two boys not only look alike but sleep exactly alike also.

Two Week (plus a few days) Portraits

2008-04-22T11:11:00.006-05:00

The puppies have become so entertaining that instead of taking pictures of them I find myself just watching them. They have discovered each other and are starting to interact. They use their siblings as obstacles to crawl over, licking and mouthing them (no teeth yet) as they go. Puppy watching is turning into an addiction for me and I find that while they are awake it is just too hard to pull myself away. Thank goodness they still sleep most of the time.

I lost track of time and forgot to take portrait photos last Friday. Here are their two week portraits, just a few days late. The Duck was kind enough to prop them up for me.

THE BOYS

BRH

BLH

THE GIRLS

PRS

PLS

Here are a some more photos from the last few days. Good thing Tiga only had five puppies. These guys are so big that I don't think any more could fit in at nursing time.

Big Changes

2008-04-20T09:42:00.007-05:00

The whelping box has seen several big changes in the last few days. The most exciting is that the puppies can now see. Their eyes opened up on Friday.

The second big event is that they are starting to get up on their feet and move around. They still are pretty wobbly, but they are trying. Fortunately these two events coincided. Last year they started walking before they could see and it wasn't very pretty.

The third big change is that the puppies have some new friends. Miss Pig, Mr. Frog and The Duck are back and now residing in the whelping box. The puppies immediately started crawling all over them and cuddling up to them to fall asleep.

Here are a some pictures from the last few days.

PRS was the first to open her eyes and the first to stand. She was also the first born.

I tried to get some shots of the puppies on their feet. They aren't able to stand for very long so it is not an easy task.

This photo shows why they are just now standing up. Not much clearance between that belly and the ground. They need to grow some longer legs ASAP.

They are standing ...... and then they are falling.

The puppies enjoying their new friends.

Notice they even have "The Duck" sleeping on it's back.

Tori Has Left The Couch

2008-04-16T09:19:00.003-05:00

Tori is no longer just supervising from the couch. She now spends her days trying to figure out what is squeaking under the whelping box. Poor thing is obsessed with this new job. What she doesn't know is that the noise is created when she walks on the linoleum next to the box. The movement causes the box to rub on the linoleum which causes the squeaky noise. Now Tori's days are consumed by watching the bottom of the box, waiting for whatever is under there to come out and show itself. It is definitely not easy to be Tori.

Amazing Growth

2008-04-16T07:45:00.002-05:00

Check out the following two photos. The first one was taken the day the puppies were born, 4-4-08. The second photo was taken on 4-15-08. Look at how much they have grown and developed in just 11 days. They are almost as long as Tiga's legs now!

A Puppy's Eye View

2008-04-15T12:10:00.006-05:00

The puppy photos are starting to get a little boring for me. All they do right now is lay around which doesn't make for very exciting pictures. So for something new and different I thought I would take some photos of the whelping box from a puppy's eye view. So here it is:

If they had their eyes open and could see it would look more like this:

Eat, Sleep, Eat Some More

2008-04-14T10:12:00.003-05:00

There is not a lot going on in the whelping box. The puppies are eating and sleeping and that is about all. They are all getting enough to eat which is obvious when you take a look at their really plump little bellies. They are still quite content and make very little noise. Most of the time you would not even know there are puppies in the house.

Their eyes are still not open but the eye slit is definitely getting more defined so it won't be too much longer.

Charlie loves checking out these little furry things. The real fun will start when they start moving and biting on his legs and tail.

One Week Old

2008-04-12T13:14:00.004-05:00

The puppies are now one week old. They all have doubled in size and weigh over 2 pounds. This is a very content litter. They eat, huddle, sleep, reposition the huddle, sleep, eat, huddle, sleep, etc. and they do all of this while making very little noise. Below are their one week photos. They didn't turn out very well but it is sometimes hard to take photos of squirming bobble-heads.

"The Boys"

BRH

BLH

"The Girls"

PRS

PLS

PT

Five vs. Eight

2008-04-09T22:51:00.005-05:00

The first week has made me realize that there is a big difference between having only five puppies as opposed to eight. Here are a few of the benefits:

When I do my continual counting of the puppies to make sure they are all there I can now do it using only one hand.
There are only 80 toenails to clip as opposed to 128.
There are more than enough nipples to go around and plenty of milk. I don't have to worry about making sure everyone gets enough.
Tiga seems to be more aware of where they all are and isn't laying down on top of anyone.

I do miss seeing huge piles of puppies in the box but in a few weeks I am sure that I will not miss seeing the extra puppy piles.

All Is Well Again

2008-04-09T22:22:00.004-05:00

All is well again. Tiga is allowing Tori and Charlie to hang out in the puppy room. Tori immediately took her position on the couch where she can comfortably oversee all of the activity. Charlie wanders in and out peeks into the box. Amazingly enough these photos are almost identical to the ones I took last year of Tori and Charlie whelping box watching. The only difference is that there are 3 less puppies for Tori and Charlie to watch this year.

The puppies are starting to look like puppies and Tiga still looks like the proud mom.

They Are Thriving

2008-04-08T22:52:00.005-05:00

Just a quick recap of the last few days -

Tiga is still being an excellent Mom. She is not as protective as she originally was. Tori is now allowed to get close and watch from the couch.
The puppies had their first outing yesterday. They probably weren't to thrilled though since it was to the vet to have their dew claws removed. I'm sure they would have been MUCH happier just staying home.
Weight gain is not a problem this year. They are plumping up nicely. In fact, they are a little over plumping, all of that milk for only 5 puppies.
The puppies are very content and pretty quiet. This translates into a lot of sleep for me which makes us all very happy.
PLS is the only puppy that still has pink pads and a pink face and hers is starting to darken up now too.

Here are a few photos taken over the last three days.

Three pink faces laying on mom. This photo was taken on 4-5. They have lost this pinkness over the last few days.

A pile of puppies. They almost always sleep touching at least one other puppy and usually in a pile of several. Taken 4-6.

A little alone time with mom. Taken 4-7.

Notice their tails. They tend to have them curved down and wagging when they nurse.
Taken 4-7.

A rare sight - they are all sleeping separately. In this photo you can see how plump their tummies are getting and the difference in their color. Tiga's past litters have all been pretty much the same color and very light. We are enjoying having a few darker pups this time around. Taken 4-8.

More quality alone time with mom. Taken 4-8.

PLS stills has some pink pads and some pinkness on her face but it is fading. She is also extremely plump - notice that belly!

The lightest one of the litter - PRS.

Check Out Helping Paws On You Tube

2008-04-07T11:14:00.004-05:00

Helping Paws now has a video on You Tube. It is a great 5 minute overview of Helping Paws and will give you an idea of the life these puppies will lead and how they will become a life changing gift for someone. If you aren't familiar with Helping Paws, please take a few minutes to view it. I have seen this video many many times and I still get teary every time I view it.

Aren't They Cute

2008-04-05T17:49:00.004-05:00

Everyone who sees the puppies says, "Aren't they cute." Well in all honesty, I think they kind of look like rodents right now. The good news is, they are going to be beautiful soon. Because they were a little early they have very pink faces and pads on their feet. Already I can see this changing and they are starting to darken up a bit. The puppies are marked with nail polish so we can tell who is who. The boys are BLH (blue left hip) and BRH (blue right hip) and the girls are PRS (pink right shoulder) PLS (pink left shoulder) and PT (pink tail).

The whole gang.

The boys.

The girls.

BLH

PRS

Check out the little puppy between Tiga's legs.

Tiga finally recovered from the anesthesia around 3:00 yesterday afternoon and has taken on parenting with a vengeance. She is a diligent mother and this time around rather protective. If I had to characterize each of her three experiences with motherhood with one word it would be as follows:

Litter 1 - Abandonment
Litter 2 - Enjoyment
Litter 3 - Protective

Tiga was young when she had her first litter and she was just not that interested in being a mom. She really came into her own with the second litter and seemed to enjoy motherhood. Now with the third litter she has taken on a new attitude - protectiveness. These three different attitudes become very obvious when you look at her interactions with our Black Lab, Tori. Tori was the one who stepped in for Tiga with the first litter. She couldn't feed them but she went to them when they cried and cleaned them. Tiga was more than happy to have her in the whelping box with the puppies. Tori was a little more stand offish with the second litter. She must have sensed that Tiga had things under control. She stayed out of the whelping box but supervised from the couch a few feet away. Now poor Tori is not even allowed on the couch, or in the same room for that matter. Tiga just does not want Tori nearby and makes it very well known. I am as confused by this as poor Tori. Hopefully this attitude will ease up a bit as the puppies get older and Tori will be allowed to resume her puppy watching activities from the couch.

Puppies!

2008-04-04T10:41:00.003-05:00

And this time it isn't a joke. Tiga had her puppies last night between 12:00 and 1:30. She went straight from "kind of being in labor" to really pushing. On the way to the vet I kept my fingers crossed that we would not be delivering in the car. (I did have all of the supplies there, just in case.) We made it to the vet and just a few short minutes later Tiga had her first puppy right there on the vet floor. The rest were delivered by c-section. She had five puppies - 2 boys and 3 girls. For being a few days earl they are a very nice size. Three were a little over one pound and two were just a little under. They had a pretty restless night and didn't really start nursing until 6:00 this morning. Now things have quieted down and mom and puppies are doing great and I am going to get some sleep. Here are a few pictures. More will be coming as soon as I am rested and Tiga is cleaned up.

Sooner Rather Than Later

2008-04-03T11:19:00.003-05:00

Well it doesn't look like Tiga's puppies are going to stay put until her due date of Monday. I have been taking Tiga's temperature morning and night since Monday. When a dog is getting ready to go into labor you will see a drop in their temperature and then it will start to rise again when they are getting ready to deliver. This morning Tiga's temp was down from around 100 to 98.6 so things are progressing.

The vet is on call and when she starts to show signs of actual labor than we will take her in for a c-section. She did eat breakfast this morning and she is still resting comfortably so for right now we are just waiting.

Notice how the thermometer says Dog. Steve wrote that on there when he realized I was using the household thermometer to take the dog's temp. He was horrified by the idea that someone might mistakenly use it in a human mouth after it had been used on a dog. He has a point.

Puppies!

2008-04-01T20:33:00.004-05:00

The puppies have arrived - and they don't look at all like Tiga. There are six brown puppies and 2 black puppies, 5 girls and 3 boys. Wow - what a surprise. Mom and puppies are doing great.

Oh and by the way -

APRIL FOOLS!

Meet Peaches, another Helping Paws breeding dog and the real mom of this litter. Peaches, a yellow lab, had her puppies last week. The Peaches puppies and the Tiga puppies will be in the same class when they start on their journey to become service dogs. Peaches and her puppies are doing great.

From Dinning Room to Puppy Nursery

2008-03-31T20:35:00.005-05:00

This weekend's project was to transform our dining room into a puppy nursery. We have done this three times now and have pretty much perfected the process.

First we move the dining room table and chairs out and the couch from the living room in. The couch and the dining room table are used to block the entrance to help limit the traffic flow in and out of the room. Moving the couch into the puppy room is critical. I plan on wasting hours and hours in there watching puppies and it is important to be comfortable.

Once the room is cleared we start by building the "urine trap." Having a litter of puppies on carpet can be dangerous. To ensure the carpet's safety we have designed the urine trap. We start by building the frame out of 2 x 4s.

Then we pull out the plastic. The first year we made the mistake of not using heavy enough plastic and when the frame slid around some of the plastic ripped. We didn't have any leakage but it is better to be safe than sorry so now we go for the heavy duty stuff.

The plastic is stretched out under the frame and then brought up and over the frame to protect the wood and stapled to the inside. Not only does this prevent the urine from leaking onto the carpet but it also allows the frame to easily slide on the floor so we can reposition it as needed.

The linoleum comes next. It is measured, cut and fit into the frame. We use small boards to hold it in place. The first year we used cheap linoleum and had some tears so now we get the heavier stuff. This remnant was from last year and held up so well we can reuse it this year.

Once the urine trap is completed we put in the whelping box (provided by Helping Paws). The puppies will stay in the box until they are big enough to start crawling out or need more room, whichever comes first.

The scale is set up, the supplies are purchased. All we need now are the puppies.

Tiga and Mr. Duck are all ready to go.

Tori is ready to supervise from the couch again.

One Week To Go

2008-03-31T20:25:00.003-05:00

Tiga's due date is one week from today. She is measuring in at 35" now and starting to slow down. Normally she follows me when I move from room to room. Now she waits to see if I am really going to be gone for long before she gets herself up and follows me. The following photo does a pretty good job of showing her expanding waistline. My normally svelte dog is really starting to balloon. We can easily feel them moving now and sometimes you can even see them moving. I can't imagine what it must feel like to have multiple puppies moving inside you at the same time.

Tiga + Breeding = Never a Dull Moment

2008-03-25T22:05:00.004-05:00

Both of Tiga's previous breeding experiences have brought some sort of excitement - events that have given me the chance to experience something that stretched me to the limit.

The first pregnancy gave me the chance to experience tube feeding. Sticking several inches of tubing down the throat of a new born puppy and shooting formula into their stomachs was something I really never wanted to do but it all worked out and I was able to handle it, even in the middle of the night half asleep. And as if that wasn't enough, there was the puppy that suddenly became very ill and dehydrated and ended up spending some time at the emergency vet. Fortunately, both the puppy and I pulled through that one.

The second pregnancy had the emergency c-section which actually ended up being quite fascinating and again, a great learning experience. Then there was the entire litter getting sick for 24 hours with vomiting and diarrhea. We also managed to get through that one with nobody the worse for wear.

Well not to be out done, Tiga has once again tried to scare me to death. This time she didn't even wait for the puppies to be born. Last Saturday night Tiga became very agitated, panting heavily, unable to remain still for long, never leaving my side (actually in my lap). She acted just like she was in labor and with two more weeks to go this would not have been a good thing. After this continued for several hours I called Eileen and we decided she should go to the emergency vet. (By the way, Eileen wakes up and becomes rational much quicker that I do!) Of course, once we got there she settled down. All of her vitals looked good. She had no discharge or pain in her abdomen and there wasn't anything more they could check. I took her home, after calling Eileen again for moral support. We were hoping that it was over, but no such luck. When we got home she started in again and after a few more hours she started nesting behaviour also. She tried to get behind the furniture and scratch out a bed. Now I was really worried that she was about to give birth so I put her back in the car and this time we went to the U of M. By now it was 3:30 and snowing heavily. Again, once she was in the car she quieted down and went to sleep and when we got there they couldn't see anything wrong with her. Well when we got home the behaviour started again and continued until about 8:30 in the morning when she finally went to sleep.

I talked to our vet, Dr. Windsor, who was kind enough to spend some time on Easter morning advising me. We took her back to the emergency vet where they performed an ultrasound to make sure we still had viable pups. I spent Easter morning worried sick that we had lost the pups and that she was trying to expel them. The news was good. The ultrasound showed beating hearts and lots of activity. Tiga came home and has been acting perfectly normal since then. We still don't have an explanation for her behaviour and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the next two weeks pass quickly and without incident.

She is growing bigger and bigger every day and last night I was able to feel a puppy moving. Very cool.

Here is Tiga tonight demonstrating her "Show me you puppies" cue and looking very relaxed.

The Last Snow - Hopefully

2008-03-21T21:53:00.010-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Minnesota. The temperature reached into the 40s and the snow in our front yard melted and exposed green grass. It seemed hopeful that spring was coming at last.

This morning we woke up to snow - in total about 8" of snow. I am really hoping that this will end soon. I need it to be warm enough in 6 weeks to put the puppies out on the deck for meals and play time.

I must say though that it was one of those wonderful, heavy snows that cover the trees and make everything look clean. The dogs loved it and had a lot of fun playing in the yard.

Tiga (right) and Charlie (left). Charlie is from Tiga's first litter. He is a service dog-in-training and we are his foster home. To Tiga he is the child that just won't leave home.

If it snows much more Tiga's puppies will be dragging in the snow.

Tori is our intense, very focused hunting dog. This is Steve's description of her. I think she is a bit psychotic. She spent hours and hours last week watching the melting snow drip off our roof. Today she had a break from that activity and spent hours pointing at the falling snow. In just a few weeks she will be back on the couch watching the puppies all day, just like she did last year. This dog really needs a job.

Definitely Bigger

2008-03-18T23:42:00.002-05:00

This week she measures in at 31.5", a 3.5" increase. In all honesty, I have no idea whether or not these measurements mean anything because I don't know if I am taking the measurements in the same place each week. I can tell just from looking at her that there are definitely puppies growing in there. When she lays on her side she is starting to spill over onto the floor. Notice how she is now sticking her tongue out at me when I put her through this weekly humiliation.

Meet Robin

2008-03-18T08:44:00.004-05:00

Meet the sire of Tiga's litter, AM-Can Ch. Nitro's Boy Wonder TDI, CGC, better known as Robin. Yes he is gorgeous, but he is more than just a pretty face. Robin is a Police K-9 and a Search and Rescue dog. The picture below was taken after a big drug bust he had in December.

For more information about Robin, please visit his website at www.madbbs.com/users/nitrogoldens/robin. Those of you who are familiar with Helping Paws, already know some of Robin's offspring. Robin was bred with Summer, Tiga's mom, a few years ago. Brio, Rocky, Dozer, Rally and Cheers are all from that litter. Rocky and Dozer have been matched and will graduate this spring. Hopefully, this new litter will be as nice. Here is a picture of Dozer and Rocky.

How Humiliating!

2008-03-10T22:20:00.001-05:00

If someone had done this to me when I was pregnant, I probably would have done some serious damage to them. Fortunately for me, Tiga is a lot more easy going. She does look completely humiliated though. I have never been able to get a photo of her that shows just how big she really gets so I thought this time around we would try taking measurements. Right now she is about 28" around. She is already starting to show a little and there is definitely a difference between how she looked last week and how she looked today.You can click on the photo for a closer look.

We're Back!

2008-03-10T21:18:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are new to the blog, Tiga is a four year old Golden Retriever. She is a breeding dog for Helping Paws, a non-profit organization in Minnesota that trains and places services dogs with individuals with physical disabilities. Tiga lives with me, Judy, my husband Steve, and our three kids, Mike, Jack and Katie. We are Tiga's caretaker home. We have volunteered to have Tiga live with us and raise her litters of puppies for Helping Paws. We started this blog last year when she had her second litter of puppies. Our last entry was about the puppies leaving our house to go live with their foster homes and start their service dog training. I am happy to say that the puppies have grown up to be beautiful dogs and that their training is going great. They are well on their way to becoming the life changing gifts they are destined to be.

Almost a year has gone by and we are getting ready to start all over again because once again – TIGA IS PREGNANT!!!!

Tiga came into season the end of January and we started the process of getting her pregnant. We began by having blood drawn to determine her progesterone levels. By monitoring this they can determine her ovulation date and from that the optimal date for breeding. During this time Eileen needed to finalize the stud choice and arrange for shipment. This shipment did not include the whole stud so once again Tiga won’t get to meet the father of her kids. She just went to sleep and woke up pregnant. It must be a little confusing to her. This year instead of fresh chilled semen we used frozen semen. The whole idea of freezing something and then having it come back to life when thawed is a little weird to me but it must have worked because she is pregnant. We went for an ultrasound on March 3rd and sure enough there were little pups in there and little beating hearts. It is impossible to tell how many from the ultrasound so we will just have to wait and be surprised. It is amazing to me that at the time of her ultrasound the puppies were about the size of my little fingernail and in just a little over one month they will be fully developed and weigh close to one pound. Tiga's due date is April 7th.

The surgical implant.

Tiga's ultrasound.

Tiga's ultrasound with a measurement of the puppy - 1.59 cm.

Special thanks to Inver Grove Heights Animal Hospital for their expertise and help in getting Tiga pregnant and for providing me with these great photos.

THE NEXT PHASE

2007-06-20T23:25:00.000-05:00

Monday the puppies started the next phase of their journey to become service dogs. They left the breeding home and their mother and went to live with their foster homes. Helping Paws does not have a kennel facility. All of the dogs, whether they are breeding dogs or service dogs in training, live in a volunteer home. We are the caretaker home for Tiga. We have agreed to raise her, socialize and train her, have one to three litters of puppies at our house, and of course love her. These eight wonderful puppies that have been at our house have now moved on to their new homes and families.

Midge is now a potential breeding dog and has gone to her caretaker home. When she is two years old she will have her hips, elbows, eyes and heart certified and if everything looks good she will become a Helping Paws breeding dog.

The other seven puppies are now service dogs in training and are living with volunteer foster homes. Foster homes are very special people who take these puppies into their homes and hearts, work with them daily, attend weekly training classes, socialize and train them in public and of course, love them. They will teach them approximately 80 skills, including retrieving, turning on and off light switches, opening doors, snuggle and getting help. After two to three years the foster homes will give these well trained, wonderful dogs to an individual with a physical disability, other than sight or hearing.

Going home day is always exciting, for the foster homes who have been anxiously awaiting these little pups and also for the caretaker home who has spent hours caring for them over the last eight weeks. The puppies were handed out amid smiles and laughter and when it was all over, I went home, laid on the couch, and Tiga and I crashed. I slept nine hours Monday night and when I woke up I automatically went into the dining room to check on the puppies. Part of me was a little sad to not see those cute little faces looking for me. The part of me that is saner and has a better grip on reality, sat down, enjoyed a cup of coffee and didn't have to worry about cleaning up puppy poop.

OUR LAST DAY TOGETHER

2007-06-17T22:37:00.000-05:00

The puppies woke me up early this morning (5:00 am). I came downstairs to one of the nicest surprises - no poop in their pen. No odor, no mess. All eight of them were standing with their front paws up on the gate, grins on their faces and looking at me like I was the best thing in the whole world. I thought what a great way to spend our last day together. We went out on the deck and played and had breakfast. Several hours later Steve and I put them back in the pen and went to have breakfast with his parents. When we returned I could smell the puppies when I walked in the house. There was poop covering every inch of the pen - the biggest mess we have had in two months. All eight were standing at the fence again, grins on their faces and looking at me like I was the best thing in the whole world. Even though I was holding my breath and my eyes were burning, I still thought they were the cutest things.

I tried to get a video of the puppies skateboarding today, but every time I tried to record them they quit and came to see what I was doing. I finally gave up and just took some more photos.

Tomorrow they will be puppy tested in the morning. Eileen will then determine which puppy will go to which foster home and then at 3:30 the big event. The puppies will meet their new families and start their new journey as service dogs in training. I hope all of the foster homes are getting a really good night sleep tonight.

Here are photos of our last day together.

EIGHT WEEK PORTRAITS

2007-06-16T23:05:00.001-05:00

I am not sure where the time has gone but it has been eight weeks (or will be tomorrow) since the puppies were born. They are now between 12 and 15 pounds. After their baths we decided to take their eight week portraits. Unfortunately, they were more interested in going to sleep so they don't look too lively in these photos. For those of you who heard me say last week that the puppies weren't that cute any more, don't believe it for a second. I was a little sleep deprived, tired of cleaning up diarrhea and worrying about sick puppies and basically not quite myself. Now that I am thinking clearly let me just say that these puppies are extremely cute.

"The Girls"

Pink Tail - "Midge"

Pink Left Shoulder - "GeeGee"

Pink Right Shoulder - "Ellen"

Pink Left Hip - "Spots"

Pink Right Hip - "The Peanut"

"The Boys"

Blue Tail - "Stitch"

Blue Left Shoulder - "Houdini"

Blue Right Shoulder - "Beckham"

FLUFFED AND BUFFED

2007-06-16T22:50:00.001-05:00

The puppies were scheduled for their spa treatment (hair and nails) on Friday but due to their being sick we cancelled the bathing team. We were just going to send them to their new homes stinky. Well today I had some extra time so with the help of my kids and friends (thank you Kelsey, Brenda, Connor and Jordan) we at least got them washed and dried. We will try to work on nails tomorrow. There is a good chance in the next two days they will get pretty dirty, but for today at least they are soft, fluffy and smelling good.

THE PUPPY PACIFIER

2007-06-16T08:36:00.000-05:00

I always thought that to comfort a puppy and help it sleep you were suppose to give it something warm, like a hot water bottle. Last year when Tiga had her first litter Eileen set me straight on this matter. The best puppy pacifier is a frozen water bottle. My freezer is full of them now and when it is time for the puppies to settle down and sleep I just throw the frozen bottles in the pen and watch them curl up to them.

BACK ON THEIR FEET

2007-06-15T09:35:00.000-05:00

A virus swept through the litter this week, starting with Stitch and ending three days later with GeeGee. Midge was the only puppy who didn't get sick. I think she is just too much of a tough girl to succumb to an illness.

The hard part of having a litter of eight sick is watching them to determine who threw up or who had diarrhea or who isn't eating. To make it a little easier, during the day I kept the sick puppies inside in the pen and the yet to be sick and recovered puppies on the deck. At night the well puppies went in the pen and the sick ones in a crate - yes foster homes, some of them have slept in a crate. This made it easier for me to monitor their progress. Fortunately this virus seemed to follow the same pattern with each sick puppy; they skipped a meal, threw up a few times, slept a lot, eventually we got some water down them, they had diarrhea (really horrendous by the way), able to eat a little and have some medicine, back on the deck playing like nothing had ever happened. The whole process took about 16 hours.

The decision was made that it would be better to delay the puppies going home day to make sure they are completely recovered before they have the stress of leaving their litter mates and starting on their new journey. So instead of leaving on Friday as originally planned they will go to their new homes on Monday. I feel bad for all of the foster homes who were expecting to spend a fun filled weekend with their new pups, but look at it this way - you get an extra three nights of sleep and with each day, the puppies are getting bigger and sleeping through the night better.

Here are the little darlings - back on their feet again.

UPDATE ON THE BIG DOGS

2007-06-12T11:05:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have mentioned the other dogs that live with us.

Tiga is still being the good mom. She regurgitates food for the pups when she can and will still tolerate their nursing, but only for a short amount of time. I don't think she will miss them when they are gone.

Charlie was away being evaluated for 3 weeks. I really missed him while he was gone but it was good for him to be somewhere where he could keep up with his training and get the attention he needs. I just don't have the time to devote to him right now. Thanks to Lynn and her family for taking such great care of him (he even got to go on two vacations with her.) When he left the puppies were still small and in their pen. Now they are on the deck and are free roaming piranhas. He has handled it very well and is very tolerant of them. When he has enough space he loves to romp with them and bat them around. The puppies must like it because they keep coming back for more.

Tori is still supervising from the couch.

A PERFECT SUMMER SUNDAY

2007-06-12T09:56:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a beautiful sunny summer day in Minnesota. We moved the puppies out into the yard and filled up the pool for them to enjoy. Every single one of them seemed to have fun wading through the water. After having the freedom to run (and skateboard) across the entire deck, the pen in the yard seemed a little small to them and they wanted the whole yard as a play ground. We did take them out a few at a time and let them explore and play with the big dogs.

In typical puppy fashion, they ended their playtime with a nice nap in the breeze.

CRATE TRAINING

2007-06-11T10:36:00.000-05:00

Crate training - 1 down and 7 to go. One lucky foster home is going to get a puppy that just loves to be in the crate. And no, I will not tell you which one it is.

THEY ARE SKATEBOARDING DUDES

2007-06-10T20:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend the puppies took up skateboarding and I must say some of them are quite good at it. It is hysterical to watch. I am working on getting video of it but until then these photos will have to do.

The puppies started skateboarding as a group with everyone participating, even if they weren't actually touching the board.

Eventually the crowd thinned a little and they were able to get in some tandem boarding.

And finally, a little solo time to perfect their style.

Of course there were a few wipe outs.

This nose dive made me think they really should be wearing helmets. I don't want to show up at the emergency vet with an injured puppy and have to explain to them that it was due to a skateboarding accident.

MISSING PHOTOS

2007-06-09T17:39:00.000-05:00

The puppies had a few outings last week and unfortunately, I am missing photos of them to share with you.

Helping Paws had a Volunteer Open House last Saturday and the puppies made an appearance. They were a big hit - who doesn't like to see puppies? I took some really nice photos of the puppies visiting with the guests. I downloaded them, but for the life of me I can't find them.

The other outing was to the vet for their six week check up and shots. All of the puppies did great. A big thank you to Carmel for coming with us and providing extra hands. Thank you also to Dr. Quast and the staff at Inver Grove Animal Hospital who did a wonderful, and efficient, job of checking them out, giving them shots and implanting their micro chips. I apologize for the one little girl who growled, but in her defence, it was a REALLY big needle. I also apologize for all of the messes they made on the examining room floor, but in all honesty, better there than in my car.

SIX WEEK PORTRAITS

2007-06-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

Here are the puppies' six week portraits (actually 6 1/2 weeks).

"The Boys"

Blue Left Shoulder - "Houdini"

Blue Right Shoulder - "Beckham"

Blue Tail - "Stitch"

"The Girls"

Pink Left Hip - "Spots"

Pink Right Hip - "The Peanut"

Pink Left Shoulder - "GeeGee"

Pink Right Shoulder - "Ellen"

Pink Tail - "Midge"

NEW TOYS FOR THE DECK

2007-06-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

Last week we set up the puppy agility equipment and let the puppies have some fun. They were immediately interested even though they didn't always have the right idea about how to use the new toys. Here are some pictures of the puppies playing with the balance beam, the teeter totter, the tunnel and the platform.

The new equipment was fun, but just being on the deck and playing with the old toys and in the water dish is just as fun.

I'M BACK!

2007-06-08T12:53:00.000-05:00

I apologize to all of you who have been wondering what happened to the puppies. We had a graduation, out of town visitors, and the puppies are just a lot more work right now. But I am back now and over the next few days will be posting multiple stories to catch you up with the events of the last week.

THE BATTLE FOR THE PLATFORM

2007-06-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

Spots vs. Ellen in the Battle for the Platform.

Ding - Round 1 begins.

Round ends, back to their corners.

Ding - Round 2 begins.

Round ends, back to their corners.

Ding - Round 3 begins.

Spots gets the advantage.

"The Winner" - Spots

THE LOGO PUPPY

2007-05-29T23:26:00.001-05:00

We've been working on imitating the logo dog. What do you think?

PLAY, PLAY, AND PLAY SOME MORE

2007-05-29T22:46:00.000-05:00

The puppies now have room to run and play on the deck and they are taking full advantage of it. They have discovered their toys and are now not only playing with them but seeking them out. They have also discovered water, both for drinking and playing. As much fun as they are having with the toys and water, most of their entertainment still comes from each other. They are definitely playing rougher and they really know how to use their teeth. I feel like I should tell visitors to wear their snake boots because ankles are fair game to these pups. Here are some pictures from the last few days.

A WILD SATURDAY NIGHT

2007-05-26T21:37:00.000-05:00

After dinner tonight the puppies were WILD! They must have known it was a Saturday night and they really went to town playing. Too bad it was so cold outside. They would have had much more fun on the deck tumbling and rolling around. They now have teeth and really know how to use them - on each other, on me, and sometimes even on themselves. Here are some pictures of their big night.

Eventually they tired themselves out . . .

and drifted off to sleep to dream their puppy dreams.

TIGA THE TEASE

2007-05-26T21:21:00.000-05:00

Tiga is spending less and less time in the pen with the puppies. Often when she goes in she stays on the platform and visits from there. This usually creates a ruckus because the puppies see her and want to nurse. I personally think she is staying away from them because they now have teeth and I can attest to how sharp those teeth are. I've got to believe that nursing puppies with teeth cannot be that pleasant.

Which leads me to my next observation. Because she doesn't want to nurse as much, she has chosen an alternative way to feed her litter. She very generously gives them her food - after she has already eaten it. Yes, Tiga is a regurgitator (notice the nice pile of barf to the right of her).

She did this last year with her litter and I was really hoping it was just a fluke. Apparently, this is not the case and it is just her special style of mothering. Now she will probably have to visit all of the neighbors to eat enough food for herself as well as enough to throw up for the puppies.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

2007-05-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the puppies went outside for the first time. Yes, this time it was for real and it was with Eileen's blessing. We have puppy proofed and boarded up our deck so the puppies are able to run free outside. Yesterday I set up an X-pen so that the space wouldn't seem so overwhelming. Today, I fed them lunch in the X-pen and then let them explore the whole deck. They were a little whiny at first but eventually each and every one of them settled down and became comfortable with their new play area. Being able to feed the puppies outside makes my life soooo much easier. It is a lot easier to hose down the deck then to clean up the pen inside. The puppies are very accommodating, after they eat they are kind enough to do their pooping outside.

I was able to snap a few photos before the storm cut our playtime short.

THE REASONS BEHIND THE LAST FOUR NAMES

2007-05-23T22:01:00.001-05:00

We noticed Pink Tail was quite good at running across the pen to tackle an unsuspecting sibling. We therefore decided that she is our Roller Derby Queen and named her after Midge "Toughie" Brasuhn, a famous Roller Derby skater. Here is "Midge" in her attack mode.

Pink Right Shoulder, "Ellen", was named after Ellen Degeneres because she makes us laugh and she has a really cute little hop maneuver that reminded us of Ellen's dancing.

Blue Tail was given the name "Stich" because he is "just a stitch."

And last but not least, Blue Right Shoulder is now "Beckham". When we put the puppies out on the deck he immediately went to the soccer ball and started to bat at it.

Now all of the puppies are named: Houdini, Beckham, Stitch, GeeGee, Ellen, Spots, The Peanut and Midge.

THE JOYS (AND HUNGER) OF MOTHERHOOD

2007-05-22T17:14:00.000-05:00

For all of you moms out there who have nursed a child, do you remember how much you could eat when you were nursing? How all of those calories were used up producing milk? It was magic, eat as much as you want and the pounds still just fell off. Well imagine how many calories you would need to eat to produce enough milk for 8 babies? Tiga normally eats 3 cups of dog food a day. Now she is up to 8 cups a day with a dollop of yogurt at each meal. She also gets to finish up the leftovers after the puppies eat. Sounds like a lot, but apparently, she is still hungry.

I received a call from my neighbor the other day asking me if I was missing a dog. Well I hadn't let any dogs outside so I was pretty sure my dogs were all at home. I checked the house and sure enough the back door had blown open and Tiga was missing. My neighbor, Leslie, had been working in her office when she heard really loud eating noises coming from the kitchen. She went to check it out and found her two dogs sitting politely, staring at their food dishes where Tiga was in the process of devouring all of their dog food. Apparently she had let herself out of our house, crossed the street and found their sliding glass door open. She just walked in and helped herself. That was my first hint that she might need more food.

Since that day she has become a counter surfer. This is a new behaviour for her and I am afraid it might not disappear when the puppies leave. She has eaten a batch of chocolate chip cookies that Katie made to welcome her brother home from college. A few were saved so Mike at least got to try them. She ate a pork loin Steve had marinated for 24 hours and grilled to perfection. She didn't actually eat the whole thing but we decided since she has been cleaning up after her puppies (i.e. eating poop) we probably shouldn't try to salvage any of it. Another batch of chocolate chip cookies was partially devoured. And for her finale, she polished off an undisclosed number of dark chocolate fudge brownies. This last event caused a 2:00 am the trip to the emergency vet where she was pronounced okay, just really nauseous. Just like a woman, going for all of the chocolate.

It took us a while to catch on but we have nothing left on our counters for her to get into. I am also upping her food intake to 10 cups per day. I have a feeling it won't be an issue weaning the puppies from Tiga, but it will be a huge problem weaning Tiga from all of this extra food.

Tomorrow I will get back to the real reason you all tune in - puppy stories and pictures. Here is a teaser for you. The last four puppies have been named - Midge, Stitch, Beckham, and Ellen. I'll let you ponder those names for a day and fill you in tomorrow on the reasoning behing them. Feel free to comment with any guesses you might have.

FOUR WEEK OLD PORTRAITS

2007-05-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe the puppies are already 4 weeks old. They are so much fun now and provide us with hours of entertainment. Here are new photos of their adorable little faces.

Pink Right Shoulder

Pink Right Hip - "The Peanut"

Pink Left Shoulder - "GeeGee"

Pink Left Hip - "Spots"

Pink Tail

"Blue Left Shoulder - "Houdini"

Blue Right Shoulder

Blue Tail

FYI - once again I saved up my blogs and posted three of them on the same night.

TALENTED SERVICE DOGS IN TRAINING

2007-05-21T22:27:00.000-05:00

The puppies are still hard at work learning the Helping Paws cues.

Here is a really nice "Roll Over".

"Kiss"

"Tug", unfortunately tails do not come off as easily as socks.

INTRODUCING "GEEGEE"

2007-05-21T22:19:00.000-05:00

Pink Left Shoulder is now affectionately known as GeeGee, which is short for Glutton Girl. When we first started feeding the puppies she would lay in the dish and eat her way around it, pushing other puppy's heads out of the way as she went. When she just couldn't eat any more she would fall asleep right there curled up in the dish. GeeGee has since started to eat in a more dignified manner, however, she is still always one of the last puppies eating and her belly is always very distended after a meal.

INTRODUCING "SPOTS"

2007-05-18T00:21:00.000-05:00

We have named another puppy. Meet "Spots".

All of the puppies, except Spots, have jet black pads on their feet. Spot's pads are black with pink spots, or possibly pink with black spots.

FYI - I was making up for missing so many days and posted 3 blogs tonight.

PUPPIES FIRST MEAL

2007-05-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

Another big event this week. Yesterday the puppies had their first meal. We gave them some weaning formula (ground up puppy chow) mixed with water and a little rice cereal. They dug into it like they had been eating for weeks. They ate with gusto and then collapsed, several of them right where they were - in the dish. The pictures speak for themselves.

Tiga gets to polish off the bowl and the puppies get to have a drink to wash down the meal.

After everything is cleaned up, it is time to take a little nap.

EMERGENCY HOUSING RELOCATION

2007-05-17T23:35:00.000-05:00

Imagine my surprise Monday when I walked into the kitchen and saw Houdini walking across the floor following Tiga, happy as could be. Yes, my little escape artist was at it again. This time he was able to climb over the door into the box. I tried to put the higher door on the box but then Tiga wouldn't go over it. The options were not great - let Houdini escape or prohibit Tiga from going into the box to nurse. We decided to go with option C - lose the box and move them into the big puppy pen.

The new pen has more room to explore and play. The extra room made it possible for Miss Pig and The Duck to join the puppies and Mr. Frog.

Here are some pictures of the puppies enjoying their new space and friends.

MOTHERS DAY GIFT

2007-05-13T22:15:00.000-05:00

The puppies gave me the perfect Mothers Day gift today - solid stools. Yes, this is what my life has come to. I was a little optimistic in my last blog when I said a few of the puppies had diarrhea. Actually all 8 puppies had diarrhea and it was pretty messy and stinky in the puppy room for a few days. Thank goodness we are now putting disposable pads in the box instead of towels.

Yesterday I took a stool sample to the vet and found out they have hookworms. This really isn't that big of a deal since all puppies need to be wormed and they get the hookworms from their mother. However, even though mentally I realize this is not a big deal, in reality the thought of worms (or any parasite) crawling around my house makes my skin crawl. I was really relieved when I found out that hookworms are not the kind of worms that can grow in your eye. Now I don't have to keep checking my eyeballs in the mirror. So a little medicine yesterday and today we are finally seeing some solid stools.

Here are some pictures taken today. Now that the box is not so messy, we were able to put Mr. Frog in with the puppies. They immediately started to cuddle up to him.

Houdini has been at it again. He actually made it over the little door but we caught him before he hit the other side.

Houdini seems to always be the last one to fall asleep.

NEW PHOTOS

2007-05-11T22:35:00.000-05:00

The puppies are starting to look and act more like puppies. Their eyes are wide open and they are walking and exploring their world. They have discovered that they have siblings and that these siblings can be played with. I could waste the day away watching them interact and play with each other. Fortunately for me, they sleep most of the day so I am able to pull myself away and get a few things accomplished. Some of them (hard to tell exactly how many) have had a little diarrhea (please notice the correct spelling - thanks Mom and Pam). I have been watching them closely to make sure they are still nursing and acting normal. You can see from the next three pictures that nursing is definitely not a problem. They don't even wait for poor Tiga to get in the box.

Tiga seems to be enjoying her puppies more and more each day. I think she likes the increased interaction now that they can see and walk.

THE NAME GAME

2007-05-08T22:11:00.000-05:00

Last year we ended up giving all of the puppies a name. The names were given over the first three weeks as their personalities started to show. So far this year we have two of the puppies named. Both names happen to be names we used last year but they were so appropriate we had to repeat ourselves.

Blue Left Shoulder is now known as Houdini. The picture is self explanatory.

We were a little surprised when we heard crying and went to check it out. Houdini was on the outside of the whelping box. I think he crawled on top of Tiga and went out over her back. One slight whelping box modification should prohibit this this little escape artist from venturing out again.

Pink Right Hip is now "The Peanut". She is by far the smallest but she has a lot of spunk. I have a feeling she will be giving her brothers and sisters a run for their money.

THEY CAN SEE

2007-05-07T21:38:00.000-05:00

Well you no longer have to take my word for it - they are walking and I have the pictures to prove it.

The good news is that their eyes are now open so they are no longer walking around blindly.

This exceptional puppy is already working on his training and has mastered the Helping Paws cue "Rest Your Head".

Not wanting to be left behind, this little puppy mastered the Helping Paws cue "Shake".

They also seem to have discovered they can bark. Instead of the sweet mewing noises they are now letting a few puppy barks out.

MEET THE PUPPIES

2007-05-05T21:54:00.000-05:00

Here are the eight little puppies. Their eyes are still not open. They have been slightly cracked for two days now but can't seem to open up all of the way. Tommorow they will be two weeks old. My how time flies. I am still stunned at how easy they have been. Tiga is still being a great mom.

Pink Left Hip

Pink Tail

Pink Right Shoulder

Pink Right Hip

Pink Left Shoulder

Blue Right Shoulder

Blue Tail

Blue Left Shoulder

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO

2007-05-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

The puppies had a lot of fun today celebrating Cinco De Mayo. They did the Mexican Hat Dance, hung out with Senor Steve, and then worked off the fiesta food with a little jump on the tramp. Don't worry Eileen, we had spotters by the tramp so they wouldn't fall off.

Click on photo to enlarge.

ANOTHER DAY OF NURSING AND SLEEPING

2007-05-03T20:36:00.000-05:00

Nurse, sleep, repeat. That pretty much covers the day's activities. Their legs are getting stronger and they are starting to take a few steps. A few of the eyes are starting to crack open (see photo below). I have a feeling tomorrow morning there may be a few little puppies staring back at me.

ON THEIR TOES

2007-05-02T18:36:00.000-05:00

Well not quite on their toes but definitely getting up on their feet. We have had several tummies off the ground and a few are even starting to take steps. Of course they are blind and wobbly so it isn't that pretty. Their eyes are just starting to crack open too. It won't be too long before they are on the run.

I tried to get some photos of them walking (or trying to) but they didn't turn out that well. You can see that their tummies are off the ground though.

This is one of the best puppy huddle pictures I have taken. All eight are there, and yes, I did count them.

Sometimes Tiga just needs a break and watches from the outside of the box.

And last, but not least, we have been working on the puppy pinwheel formation. There are always one or two that just don't seem to get it.

"8" and "Weight"

2007-05-01T19:39:00.000-05:00

I know it is a strange title but these are two things I can be obsessive about. When you looked at the picture did you immediately count the puppies to make sure there were eight? I bet most of you did. This is what I do all day long. Every time I look in the whelping box I count to eight. I can't imagine how many times a day I count to eight. And yes, there have always been eight. I am fortunate that Tiga is not one of those moms who moves her babies around the house.

The other thing I can be obsessive about is weight. We weigh the puppies every day to make sure they are gaining appropriately. The rule of thumb (according to Inver Grove Heights Animal Hospital) is that they should gain one gram for every pound you expect them to be when they are full grown. For example if the expected adult weight is 65 pounds then they should gain 65 grams every day. All of the puppies are gaining weight and healthy so I am not so fixated on the numbers this year. Last year I was a bit neurotic about it.

In Tiga's first litter there was one puppy who had trouble swallowing (this is Loti). She would grab onto a nipple and nurse like a wild thing and all of the milk would come out her nose or mouth. She was barely gaining any weight. The vet determined that she did not have a cleft pallate and that if she were to survive we would have to tube feed her. Well I am here to tell you that it is possible to snake 6 inches of rubber tubing down a puppies throat. I was a little nervous (okay, really nervous) about doing this, but after learning how, I discovered that it really wasn't that difficult. Because Tiga was ill she was not making enough milk and some of the other puppies were not gaining as much weight as they should either so we ended up tube feeding a few of them. Because of these issues, I was fixated with the scale.

Last year I used a little kitchen scale and had to convert the pounds to grams. This year Eileen purchased a new scale and it is a beauty (see below). It says HELLO when you turn it on, displays the weight in pounds and grams and has a nice blue light in the display area. The sad thing is, I have this beautiful scale and I am not even concerned with weight this year. But yes, I am still dutifully weighing them every morning.

PICTURES OF THE DAY

2007-04-30T18:27:00.000-05:00

Here are the cute pictures of the day. The colorful towels really make a difference in the photos. Tiga is no longer scrunching the towels up and making a nest so I am able to leave them in the box. In the beginning I was worried she would scrunch a puppy up right along with the towel. The puppies can get better traction with the towels on top of the rubber mat and they are starting to push up onto their feet. This is quite an accomplishment given the size of their bellies. I am trying to get a picture of it but I am just not fast enough.

I love how they sleep in little huddles. They look like a little puzzle the way they fit together.

This little guy found a nice spot for a nap right under Mom's ear.

Another nice napping spot, cuddled in between Mom's legs.

They are starting to wag their tails now. It is so cute to see several lined up nursing and all of the little tails wagging. I can't capture it in a picture so you will just have to take my word for it. The arrow points to the wagger.

This "exceptional" puppy has already mastered the Helping Paws cue "Roll Over".

ONE WEEK OLD

2007-04-29T20:58:00.000-05:00

The puppies are one week old today. All of them are doing great - gaining weight and thriving. Tiga must have enough milk this time because they are becoming little butterballs. It is amazing how much they have changed. This is what they looked like just one week ago,

and this is what they look like today.

This is a picture of the smallest (a little girl) and the biggest (a bruiser of a boy).

Tori and Charlie are still supervising.

We clipped toenails this weekend (96 of them to be exact).

Charlie spent some time getting acquainted with his half brother.

Two of the puppies got to spend some time outside in the sun.

Okay, that last one was completely made up and the picture was created through computer magic. Just trying to freak Eileen out.

The other big accomplishment this week was that with Pam's and my mom's help I learned how to spell diarrhea. All in all a great week.

WHAT A STUD!

2007-04-29T11:32:00.000-05:00

This is the sire of Tiga's litter. His name is Ch. Rumours Just Kat'n Around, better known as Tommy. For more information on this beautiful boy, visit his website, Rumours Goldens. I personally think Eileen did a fantastic job choosing a boyfriend for Tiga.

Whelping Box Watching

2007-04-26T19:14:00.000-05:00

It is amazing how much they have changed in just 4 days. They are all plumped up and no longer look like rodents. Now they look like little piglets. All of them are now over 1 pound. The largest is a female and she weights 1lb 7 oz. The smallest is a little girl at just 1 lb.
Today I spent alot of time just watching them. It gets to be kind of addictive even though they don't do much at this point. The following photos are a sequence I shot over two minutes of the same 4 puppies. They did alot of repositioning before they found just the right huddle.

I wasn't the only one watching the puppies today. Tori (our Black Lab) camped out on the couch for the day and watched from there. Last year she would have been in the whelping box. This year she is giving Tiga some space.

There was one more spectator at the whelping box today. Charlie. Charlie will turn one on 5/18 and is Tiga's son from her first litter. He is being trained to be a service dog and we are his foster family. I think it has been hard on him not having all of Tiga's attention, and not having all of mine. I keep telling him next week will be better. In looking at this next picture I think it is amazing that those little pups will look like Charlie is just one year.

A Trip To The Vet

2007-04-25T22:07:00.000-05:00

It was a big day for the puppies. They were all bundled into a basket and taken to the vet. They are all in great shape, gaining weight and as of today, minus dew claws. Tiga rode with them to the vet and then per Eileen's instructions stayed in the car. Apparently the puppies cry when the dew claws are ripped from their poor little feet (imagine that) and this would have really upset Tiga, who is of course the Mom of the Year Candidate. She did spend most of the car ride trying to get her head into the basket to check on the pups.

The other big event today was that I remarked the litter. When they were born they were marked at the vet with the nail polish they had there. Unfortunately it was a dried blood red color and made all of the puppies look like they had wounds. I am more of a traditionalist, blue for boys and pink for girls. We mark different body parts so we can tell who is who. For example, now there is a Blue Tail, Pink Left Shoulder, Pink Right Hip, etc.

"The Blue Group"

"The Pink Group"

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Motherhood

2007-04-24T18:18:00.000-05:00

When my babies were first put into my arms after their birth I felt an immediate love for them. I wanted to care for them, protect them, help them to have a great life. I cannot tell you how happy I am that Tiga seems to feel this way about her new litter. She has been an awesome Mom. She has spent all of her time in the whelping box, cleaning and feeding them and just being there while they have slept. She comes out to eat and go to the bathroom and then runs right back to them as soon as she can. This may not seem like such a big deal - she's a dog, it comes naturally to them, it is instinct. Well let me tell you, not all dog's are great Moms. A prime example of this is Tiga.

She was definitely not in the running for Mom of the Year award with her last litter. As a matter of fact, if she were human, Social Services would have probably been at the door. In her defence she was young (had just turned 2) and she was very sick with diareah for the fist two weeks. She spent a lot of her time laying on the couch listening to her puppies cry. I continually had to monitor her to make sure she went into the whelping box to feed and care for them. I would hear the puppies crying at night and come down to check on them. There would be Tiga laying on the couch ignoring them. When someone would come to the door she would immediately take off to see who was there, sometimes dropping puppies off her nipples as she left the box. I realize this sounds horrible and makes you feel sorry for her puppies, but they had me and I was very attentive. I also had the help of Tori, our Black Lab. What Tiga lacked in maternal instincts Tori had in abundance. She was more than happy to care for the puppies and Tiga was more than happy to let her. Tiga did eventually become a good mom, but those first few weeks were a lot of work for us humans.

This year Tiga is a year older and so far (knock on wood) has not had a problem with diareah. She seems to be very content just hanging out in the whelping box. On the few occasions where she has left the box to check out the rest of us, she has returned to her puppies the minute one of them makes a peep. She is a little obsessive about cleaning the puppies. I was beginning to worry they would all be hairless. She allows Tori to check things out but she watches her every move. Tori must sense the change because she looks in the whelping box but does not enter. When I take the puppies to weigh them or hold them Tiga follows me and never takes her eyes off of them. I am finding I have a lot more free time on my hands. What a difference a year makes.

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We Have Puppies!

2007-04-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

The puppies are here! Tiga delivered the first puppy yesterday at 1:50 pm. She than preceded to pop out the next four in just over 1 hour. Then she quit. Yep, she just quit. I think she was so busy with the first five that she just forgot she had to have another three. Her contractions stopped and she just laid there happily nursing and cleaning her puppies. After 3 hours of no action we took her to the vet where it was decided she would have a C-section to deliver the rest. The C-section was quite interesting. I have to admit I didn't watch the whole thing but what I did see was pretty fascinating. The Drs. and staff at Inver Grove Heights Animal Hospital were wonderful - professional, efficient and really nice and informative. Tiga came out of there as though it were nothing - hard to imagine considering her uterus was hanging by her side at one point. And all three of the remaining puppies were born alive and healthy. All in all, a great days work by Tiga and all of those that helped. I have to give special thanks to Eileen and Melanie. Eileen, Director of Programs at Helping Paws, came to be with us and supervise the whelping. Melanie, a foster home for Helping Paws, arrived after the fifth puppy was born, just in time to witness the C-section. Melanie is a nurse and it was great having her on hand to help with the feathering. I won't go into detail about that, but let me assure you I was glad Melanie was there to do it.

And now here they are! (The red marks on the puppies are nail polish. This is used so we can tell who is who. Didn't want anyone to think they weren't clean or worse yet were wounded!)

Tiga and pups right after returning home from the vet. She is dead tired after the long day's ordeal.

Amazing what a little sleep can do for you. This is Tiga today after a good night's sleep - chipper and alert once again.

Here are the eight little cuties.

Taking a rest on Mom's leg. It is amazing that this face will shortly turn into a beautiful Golden Retriever head.

Now this is a face.

2007-04-22T04:43:00.000-05:00

It is 4:00 am and Tiga has been restless and breathing heavy all night. I took her temp. at 10:30 last night and it was 98.8. I just took it again and it has dropped to 98.1. When there is a drop in temp it means that she will probably deliver in the next 24 hours. Isn't it nice that dogs give you this heads up so you can be ready? I am guessing she will never make it to Wed. She was a few days early with her last litter also.

Here she is now, laying on the couch. This is not where she will be having her puppies!

This is where she will have the puppies - in the whelping box. It is hard to take a picture showing just how big she is but this one gives you an idea.

The great thing about having puppies for Helping Paws is that they provide you with all of the equipment such as this whelping box. They also provide you with support and expertise. Eileen is only a speed dial away and trust me, I use it frequently.

Hopefully my next blog will have puppy pictures.

2007-04-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Tiga's Blog!

For those of you who do not know us, Tiga is a three year old Golden Retriever. She is a breeding dog for Helping Paws, a non-profit organization in Minnesota that trains and places services dogs with individuals with physical disabilities. Tiga lives with me, Judy, my husband Steve, and our three kids, Mike, Jack and Katie. We are Tiga's caretaker home. We have volunteered to have Tiga live with us and raise up to three litters of puppies for Helping Paws. Believe me, this is no hardship. Tiga is an absolute joy and what could be more fun than a houseful of puppies? Last spring Tiga had her first litter of puppies. It was also the first litter of puppies for us and we all learned together. I will save the details of last year's litter for another blog but here is a picture of the pups.

Now Tiga is once again pregnant and we are anxiously awaiting the whelping. Tiga's boyfriend was not local so rather than travel to him he was shipped to her. As the box says "Don't ship the bitch, ship the semen."

Poor Tiga never even got to meet him. The semen was surgically implanted so she just went to sleep and woke up pregnant. I wonder if this is somewhat confusing to her. Her boyfriend, Tommy, is beautiful - quite the stud. I will have more information on him in the days to come. The empty box traveled in the back of my car for several days after her surgery. Every time I picked my daughter up at school she would open the trunk to throw her backpack in and there would be this box for everyone to see with Canine Semen printed in big letters. Let's just say it amused me a lot more than it did a 13 year old girl.

Yesterday, Tiga had an x-ray to find out how many puppies she is carrying.

There are 8 and I am really happy - a nice manageable number. She is due to deliver on Wed. April 25th.