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The Pitter-Patter of Two Dozen Little Feet
Photo: Rod Moser
We keep them in a large laundry room at night, mostly because this room can be secured and it has tile floors. In the puppy morning (which can be anywhere from 2 AM to 6 AM), we open the door. It is a miniature version of the "Running of the Bulls" in Spain. A tiny herd of happy and energetic puppies will quickly run through the kitchen and into our living room. Although the mother has been trying to wean them, a few will usually jump up and latch on for a short ride and suckle. The rest will initiate the day-long poop and pee-fest. We are trying to paper-train them and they are doing pretty good, but still hit the carpets and hardwood floors about thirty percent of the time. It would be ludicrous to consider cleaning carpets until most are off to their adoptive homes.
We have decided to keep two puppies, instead of the one: a little boy (Zac) and a little girl (Ellie). Incidentally, we named our puppies and the mother after antidepressant drugs, since they are our living antidepressants. Lexi, short for Lexapro, is the Mom. Zac is short for Prozac; and Ellie is short for Elavil. Thinking about all of that peeing, maybe I should have named them after diuretics.
The pack will wolf down their breakfast of softened puppy chow, whole milk, and baby rice cereal and begin their antics - wrestling, yipping, pulling stuff around, and chewing on anything left at their level. In the last few days, they have learned to climb the four carpeted stairs in our bedroom. They run up and down the stairs, occasionally falling and frequently trying to jump. They weigh in about 3 to 4 pounds now, but think they are bigger...much bigger. They are making the transition from puppies to little dogs right before our eyes. I can't stop taking pictures of them, but like children, most of the photos are out of focus because they are always moving.
Shelties (Shetland sheepdogs) are a herding breed and we can already see that tendency. They will stare at each other (strong-eyed) and then leap and try to herd each other (or us). This chaos of eating, pooping, running, yipping, and playing will go on for an hour or so. Then, one by one, they will go to sleep in various places, or end up in a one big pile o' puppies.
Just like children, the work begins after they become mobile. At least in humans, we often have a few months before crawling, cruising, walking, and running begins. In puppies, they are physically active in about two weeks. The amount of work involved in home-raising puppies is difficult to explain. Only those people who have actually done it, can appreciate the time and dedication involved to do it right.
A few months ago, I witnessed a six-month-old (baby!) walking. He sat up alone from a lying position at four months, crawled at 4.5 months, and took his first step before he was six months old! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it. There he was - walking purposefully up and down our hall, stopping periodically to look at stuff or bend down and pick up some lint or paper to eat. At this rate of development, this precocious little boy is going to be running by 7 months, and maybe driving a car by his first birthday.
Photo: Rod Moser
I contacted Pet Airways today, a service that will ship animals, safely and humanely, by air. I am doing this just in case my brother decides to take a puppy. We were going to drive and meet mid-way on Highway 80, somewhere in Nebraska, but decided that was not ideal. Not only would it cost us each about a thousand dollars in gas, food, and lodging, but it would be hard on a new puppy to be cooped up so long in a car. Dogs often get carsick, just like people. Lexi, the mother, is a prolific car-barfer so I suspect the puppies may inherit this tendency.
Should my brother decide that a puppy can be a part of his busy, retired life, I think the best way would be to fly the puppy, first-class, by Pet Airways. One problem: They only fly out of Los Angeles, a 7 hour drive for us, but of course, we can always tie in a trip to visit our newest grandson in San Diego. I think an 8- hour, overnight flight to Baltimore will be much easier on this little dog than six days in a car. A one-way flight isn't cheap (about $250), a bit more than it would cost for ME to fly one-way. I am bigger of course. An attendant checks the animals every 15 minutes during the flight, so the level of service is better than commercial air. I guess I could fly with the puppy under the seat (about $100 extra), but how cruel would that be?
Over thirty years ago, when I first moved to California, we shipped our Poodle-Pomeranian mix dog, Jason, by air freight. Hearing those stories of dogs dying in poorly-heated and not-well-pressurized compartments, we constantly worried. He arrived safely, but I would never do this again.
I will miss this little herd of puppies, but it will be nice to have less pee to sop up...less puppy poop to pick up...and, get a good night's sleep again.
Right now, Zac is sleeping under my desk, lying against my feet and periodically sleep-barking and sleep-running. So cute! You don't take that kind of puppy love lightly.
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