Bad Ear Days

You will notice a common theme in all the pictures this week......bad ears. Suddenly they were like little satellite dishes pointing every direction. Guess it is a phase because it happened to all the pups at the same time and Miles ears have improved since the photos were taken.

Yet to be named brother. He weighs 15lbs now. All his hair is growing back in. He still has just a little of the scruffy old fur from his skin problem days but this guy looks like a totally different pup now!




Otto, who had the most beautiful perfect ears... last week.








Miles is 25lbs now. Which foot is Miles and which one belongs to his mom Sara?






The foot with white on it belongs to the 12 week old pup Miles.

Here is another one that shows how big he is. Really too big to fit on a lap now but we still try.


Miles is a frogger and crawls around like this with his legs out in the back. Doesn't look very comfortable. Have taught him to army crawl like this on command. When he does it on a wood floor it looks like he is swimming in place.


Puppy Roaching


This sweet innocent looking pup did finally destroy something this week. I think this is the first item I have lost to the "horrible wild greyhound puppies" that everyone warns about.... a pack of basil seeds. The evidence was found chewed up in his crate. I did catch him munching on the wicker couch in the dog room once but it was before any real damage was done. He is very energetic like any other pup and getting larger but he is smart and has learned which toys are his and which are mine. So far so good... knocking on wood.

Unnamed brother and Otto playing


Miles ears


The pups with Pinky my Italian Greyhound. When the photos were taken the pup with no name was about the same size as Pinky at about 13lbs. He had narrower legs like Pinky and was more petite than his brothers. When this photo was taken Otto was about 20lbs and Miles was 23 or so. Their legs and paws were about as big around as an adult greyhound's already although they weren't as long. They are a few inches taller than Pinky.

3 Months Old

The pups are 3 months old. Doesn't seem possible. They do look their age though. Suddenly their legs are as big around as a full sized greyhound's only a bit shorter. Miles feet are about the same size as his mom's. They still have puppy bodies and heads with these huge strong legs that are so out of proportion to their bodies. The pups grow so much every day you can see the difference. Their heads are larger than the whole pup was when I first met them at 10 days old. Their second round of shots was today and Miles weighed 22lbs and brother Otto was 19.2lbs.

Miles got to play with his other smaller brother this week, who has yet to be named. The smaller brother was 12lbs at his vet visit this week so had put on 3 pounds in a week. He looked much better! He had definitely grown and wasn't as scrawny as he had been. His skin was better and his hair is starting to grow back. He is such a cute little guy! Boy can he jump. He is more finely boned than his big brothers and looks and leaps like an Italian greyhound. He can bounce up about hip high. He seems like he might be a little more energetic than his larger brothers.

From what people have told me about greyhound pups the first 12 weeks are the easy weeks. From now on they are wild and are big enough to do damage. So far they really have been good little pups. Today at the vet's office I got comments on how well behaved Miles and Otto were. My mother commented when visiting that Miles was so much better behaved than the Guide Dog puppies (yellow labs) we had raised at the same age.

Miles has learned everything we taught the Guide Dog pups and then some. The biggest difference between Miles and the those pups is that he doesn't naturally bring the toy back to you when you throw it like they usually did. Miles is perfectly happy to chase the toy or ball then carry it around and play with it by himself and doesn't seem to need someone to throw it for him. Instead of being a retriever he is a "carrier". Loves to carry his toys around. Miles doesn't tear up toys just throws them up sometimes and pounces on them. Occasionally he stalks them. More like watching a cat play with a toy than the way most dogs play. He learns tricks as quickly and cooperates just as well though.

So far the pups have just been pups. No worse or higher energy than any of the puppies I have had really. Miles is better trained than my previous pups because I have been training dogs for longer and spend more time training that I have with other pups. The pups do need to be watched most of the time or they are likely to put something in their mouths that shouldn't be there. They need exercise and much more of it than an adult greyhound. When tired they sleep so it has been pretty easy to prevent trouble with just a little work on my part. I use the crate when I can't supervise to prevent damage but I am home most of the day so it is mainly just used for nap times.

I do correct Miles for chewing on my things and offer something that is OK to chew on. I don't put things up or take things away from him. I use Cesar Millan's method of having the pup drop items then back away from "my things" rather than prying them out of his mouth and putting them out of reach. I leave the thing on the floor and watch it. Miles gets corrected again with an "ACK" if he tries to get it until he "gets" that it isn't something he is allowed to touch. I purposely leave chargers on the floor, fun items on low tables and tempting items laying around. Miles does very good at leaving my stuff alone and playing with his numerous toys. The hardest thing in the house to resist are cheap bamboo coasters in the living room. If that is the only thing I lose to him that will be great.

Miles sleeps alone in his crate all night. His mom, Sara, is in the same room with him in another crate. He and his crate will probably be moved into our bedroom once Sara gets adopted. He crates on command and is good all night. He has a door going out to an Xpen with some newspapers that he uses if he has to go potty at night. He usually doesn't use the newspapers during the day and goes outside. We have taught him "hurry up" as the command to relieve himself like we did with the guide dogs.

Twelve weeks down and a big adventure still ahead!

Mama Sara

The pups are 11 weeks old now. They play for long periods - hours rather than minutes then they sleep very soundly. Miles sleeps through the night in his crate by himself. We still have puppy pads and newspapers down in an X-pen attached to his crate so he can go there when he wakes up. He usually goes outside during the day though. We leave the X-pen gate open when he is out so he can go on the newspapers if an emergency comes up and he almost always does. The pups have never soiled their crate since I got them at 5 weeks. It is a 48 inch long XL crate with blankets in it so is not the small den that is usually recommended for potty training pups.

Sara, the pups mom, has not been adopted yet so is still at my house. She still loves spending time with Miles and the other pups when they are here. She has gotten really playful with Miles and they run through the house chasing and playing with each other every day. The play sessions can last 30 minutes or more and I am amazed that Sara has the energy to keep up with Miles as a 5 year old. Sara plays very gently with him and he rarely yelps even though it sometimes looks and sounds pretty rough. He is about 20lbs and she is around 58lbs so he is about one third her size. They move so fast most of the photos ended up being slightly blurry.




The chase moves to the living room


Sleeping on the bed with his "big brother" Streak after playing.

Hiking

Took Miles on a couple of long hikes during his 10th week. His energy and stamina are up to covering longer distances now. We went with our friend Jann who brought 4 of her own dogs along. That is Jann the May Pole getting all eight dogs out of my van. Three of the dogs are puppies all about the same age. I had Miles and his brother Otto and she had her golden mix pup Roo. The first hike we did was at Paris Mountain State Park and it was about 5.6 miles long. The next hike was a better distance of 4.8 miles and was to Raven Cliff Falls at Caesar's Head. The pups were very tired after both but weren't laying down and falling asleep at every stop like they did at the end of the longer of the two hikes.

Left to Right: Miles, Sara (pup's mom), Me, Otto and Pinky. This was on the trail to Raven Cliff Falls at Caesar's Head.


We made it to the falls and it started snowing! It was nice when we left Greenville so I just had on the windbreaker and only had Pinky the Italian Greyhound in a coat. A cold front came in and we went way up in elevation. Will be checking the weather forecast for future hikes. It got steadily colder while were hiking and I would have had all the dogs wearing coats had I known how cold it was going to be. Had lost feeling in my face and hands even though we jogged some on the way back to keep warm.


Miles and Roo at the falls.


Glad I was able to give the pups this new experience when I did. Those will probably be the last hikes in awhile. Stepped down wrong last night and either broke a bone in my foot or sprained my ankle. I don't even have any good story or reason for it. I was just putting a dog toy away in the garage. I can't put any weight on it and it is all swollen up. Have it wrapped up and am on crutches for awhile. Done with hiking for awhile and am wondering how in the world I am going to watch Miles every second and give him enough exercise while I am on crutches. ACK!

Another Brother

Last Tuesday when Miles was 9 weeks old we traveled back to Birmingham Alabama to pick up another one of his brothers. One of the people there that had pre-adopted a pup backed out and we had someone in South Carolina wanting a pup. I had already planned a trip over with a friend so it worked out well. She had lost a greyhound to cancer recently and wanted to pick out her next greyhound from the boys that were available in Alan's kennel. Raider Gilligan, a small, friendly, calm, 3 year old brindle male ended up being the one she chose. Then we headed over to the adoption kennel to pick up our puppy.

We were afraid it would be a hard choice since all the pups are so well socialized and are very outgoing. The largest pup there caught our attention right away though. He made great eye contact and seemed to be a mid level energy pup. On his vet records he was listed as Pup One so that is what we listed him as on our website temporarily. I am sure his new mom, Kathy, will pick a more suitable name for him soon. He is a darker brindle than his brothers Otto and Miles and so tiny compared to them.

Pup One




The difference in the size from the pups that we had taken 4 weeks earlier and the pups that were still at the kennel was dramatic. Pup One was 9lbs and the other pups looked like they must have weighed about 7lbs or so with the female runt being only about half that size. Miles weighed over 15lbs and Otto was just slightly under 15lbs. What could have caused that big of a difference in growth rates in pups from the same litter that had been the same size just 4 weeks before?

You can see the difference in size between 15+lb Miles and 9lb Pup One.


The SC pups and the AL pups both had weekly wormings but both groups of pups still had some worms at their last vet checkup so that shouldn't have been a factor. Both groups of pups had had their first round of puppy shots. The AL pups had been been battling a staph infection on their skin and had all lost a good bit of their hair. Our SC pups didn't have that. Our SC pups did get to nurse a little longer than the AL pups since I we had the mother but only for 2 of the 4 weeks. She was already weaning them when I got the pups. They already ate on their own and were quickly weaned from a few nursings a day down to one a day. The SC pups got mainly raw food and were fed 4 to 5 meals a day. The AL pups were free fed ProPlan. Those were the only differences but one of those things made the SC group of pups grow 40 percent better.

In case it was the food, the AL pups were changed to another puppy food - not sure which - and are starting to put on some much needed weight. Antibiotics for their skin infection were started the day we picked up Pup One. Otto's family stopped feeding him raw shortly after they adopted him at 8 weeks. They are feeding him ProPlan now (what they feed their other dogs) so it will be interesting to see if he is able to maintain his weight and growth on it. Pup One has been switched to another food on the advice of our vet and is also on antibiotics for his skin infection. I fed him Evo while he was with me but am not sure what his adopter is feeding.

Miles joined us on the trip to Birmingham so the people that had taken care of him for his first 5 weeks could see him again. He slept most of the trip and did really well. His brother, Pup One, and our other passenger Gilligan were angels too and the trip was a long but pleasant one. Only one small pee accident in Pup One's crate.

Pup One stayed at my house overnight and all day last Wednesday. I wondered if he would remember his mother, Sara, and doubted he would. Boy was I in for a surprise. As soon as he got near her crate he started whining, jumping all over it and scratching trying to get in. Even after being separated for 4 weeks he definitely remembered his mom. Sara was very excited to see him and obviously remembered him too. She played with both pups and laid in the puppy area with them for quite awhile. Pup One didn't try to nurse at all. Otto and Miles haven't tried to nurse either since their mom was spayed. We had that done while we were in GA for Sandy Paws.

Mama Sara playing with her two boys outside the day Pup One arrived.


Pup One wasn't so thrilled about seeing his bigger brother Miles. He screamed, growled or ran away every time Miles tried to get him to play. Pup One didn't seem to like being the small pup and having the roles reversed. He gradually warmed up and after a few hours he and Miles were playing like the brothers they were. Hopefully I will get to have Pup One over to play with Miles the way we do with Otto. Otto comes over at least a couple times a week and spends the day.

Furry Friends

These photos are from when Miles was 9 weeks old and about 15 lbs. Some of Mile's friends came over to play. A little golden mix named Roo that is a week older than Miles and Jack the Doxi (a young adult that is still a pup at heart). There is a big fenced area off the stable that the pups love to play in. Pinky my deaf Italian Greyhound supervised the pups. Pinky acts like he wants to play and has the energy to keep up with the pups but for now he still just keeps them in line with a growl or air snap if they bother him. It was a beautiful warm day so we stayed outside for a few hours. The two pups actually fell asleep in the leaves.



WOW! Under these leaves there is DIRT! You can DIG in it and it doesn't taste bad either!

Sandy Paws Sunrise

Sunrise from our balcony


Sunrise on the beach


Moon in the trees


Jenny and Opie enjoying the sunrise


Another shot of Jenny and Opie on the beach