August 13

When I woke up this morning, I came downstairs to find that the
puppies had broken out of their play pen and "redecorated" my kitchen
with puppy poop. So that I could clean my kitchen, this meant the
puppies got their first excursion outdoors today. The grass needs to
be mowed so it took a lot of puppy energy to run through the yard, but
the puppies seemed to enjoy themselves and get tuckered out pretty
quickly!

Later in the day, they got their first experience with puppy mush.
Puppy mush is puppy food that has been let to sit with water for 3+
hours. I then mix in some puppy formula for the first week or so to
increase the nutritional value. This batch was put in the blender so
it is baby food consistancy.

Annabelle is a piggy right now so I need to separate her from the
puppies during meal time. Annabelle was not thrilled with having to
watch her puppies eat. Oh well, I am sure a dog treat will make her
better. If my past experiences with puppy mush is any indication, the
first time the puppies get mush, it will be more of a tactile
experience than an eating experience, but several of them, including
the runt, just dove in and chowed down! Once the pups ate/danced in
the food, Annabelle was glad to clean the pups up and she probably got
a good cup or two off their coats!

They also needed the third day of their deworming. For those of you
unfamiliar with Panacur, it is a white liquid medicine. It looks a bit
like White Out and smells like questionable milk, but it is an awesome
dewormer for puppies. It can kill most of the worms that a dog can
have. For those of you who have followed the trials and tribulations
of the runt, that is just one example of what a dog with a heavy worm
load goes through. Now that his worms are dying off, he is gaining
weight and becoming feistier.

While Panacur is great, but it is a weight based medication. That
means for a small puppy they only get a few milliliters, not too tough
to administer. But if I were to give Annabelle Panacur, she would
about a 1/2 cup of yucky tasting meds. Thankfully there is a similar
medication that comes in pill form for Annabelle.