The pups are really interacting with each other. They climb over each other. They run into each other. They still sleep with their heads and feet across each other. They bite each other. They hop and play with each other. They bark at each other. They paw at each other and wrestle each other. They are also diggers. They bury their toys. When wife scoops the shortrun, she always uncovers a toy or two. If a pup hears something and takes off running, they all jump up and take off running. If they happen to be outside and wife walks near the stall and speaks, here they come, eight pups running and crowding through the dog door, jumping in and out of the whelping box, falling in the water bucket, overturning the food bowl, jumping up on the inside gate, whining to be petted, climbing over each other, and reaching as high as they can for Mommy.
We have one black female that loves to stand in the water bucket with her two front feet. When wife changes the water bucket, her she comes. She crowds out the others and climbs in the water bucket with her two front feet. She will stand and get a drink. Then she just stands with her head in the air and tongue hanging out. The other day she took her front foot and was splashing water out of the bucket in a pawing fashion. Wife changes the water bucket about five times each day.
It is interesting to watch them bounce and run in the shortrun. Wife changes water in the baby-type swimming pool in the shortrun every few days. Oh they seem so happy. They hop, then take off running. Then they turn and run back. They look up at you. Their mouths are wide open. Their tongues hang out. They pant. Their tails wag and their whole body twists. When filling up the pool, two will be biting at the hose. One or two will be sticking their noses over the side of the pool lapping up water. One will jump in the pool and start pawing at where the water is coming out of the hose. One will jump in, then jump back out. A couple will just take off running- in the stall, back out, down the shortrun, around the swimming pool, just all over. When the pool is full, wife lifts each pup and sets it in the pool. Some jump back out. Some splash. Some tippy toe around. Then they start running again. This is a cute period.
So far wife has done most all the work with the puppies. After we tattoo and put the pups in a long run, then husband has to get in gear. He will feed them, pet them, check them, and start little training games, like tug-of war with towels, shaking the squawker, and eventually lead breaking them.
More later.
Week 9
Week 9 saw KB's pups first introduced to inflicted pain, they were TATTOOED! (Reference previous post "On The Farm- To Tattoo") The pups survived, KB survived, husband survived, and wife survived. Husband was only bitten once. The NGA form "Application for Registration of Litter" was filled out and mailed with a $7 fee to the NGA. Other than tattooing, it was a normal week. The pups grew a little more, they played, they ran up and down the shortrun, and wife gave them their first milkbones.
Well, we tattooed on Sunday. It took three hours, from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Husband went to the mixing room. He cleaned off the countertop. He then filled out the basic information on the NGA forms. He got the tattoo kit and prepared each set of tongs. In one set of tongs he secured the needle-like pins for the litter registration number to be tattooed in each pup's left ear. In the other set of tongs he secured the needle-like pins to tattoo the first pup's right ear, in this case "67A". The number 6 was for June, the number 7 was for 1997, and A was for the first of eight pups. Husband also set out the ink applicator, poured a cup of alcohol, got a new roll of paper towels, set out the needle-like pins for B through H, and arranged the forms to easily mark each pup's bertillon. He then called for wife.
Wife came out and went to the puppy stall. All eight puppies were stretched out sound asleep. Wife entered the stall and the pups started raising up. About four made their way to the gate. One female was wagging her tail and jumped up on wife. This pup was the first to be tattooed.
Wife brought the first pup to the mixing room (KB followed wife into the mixing room). Wife wiped the pup off, washed her ears with alcohol, dried the ears, washed the pup's feet, and wiped the pup's toenails. Meanwhile husband started marking the first pup's bertillon. The pup was marked all black except for a white spot on her chest and three white toes. All toenails were dark except for the three white toes, these toenails were light. Wife then placed the pup in the double bowl sink with rear feet in one side of the sink and the front feet in the other side. Wife was baby-talking to pup. Husband checked to be sure he had the right set of tongs for the left ear. Husband then peeled back the pup's ear, rolled on green ink from the applicator, positioned the tongs over the pup's ear, and squeezed hard, driving the needle-like pins deep into the pup's ear. The puppy YELPED! In fact, she yelped several times. Husband rolled on more green ink and rubbed it on the fresh tattoo with his thumb. Wife then turned the pup around in the sink. Husband and wife shifted positions. Husband changed tongs and repeated the process on the pup's right ear. The puppy YELPED again, several more times.
Wife then held the puppy over wife's shoulder. The female puppy layed her head on wife's shoulder. The puppy looked so forlorn. Wife petted her and baby-talked her. Husband washed ink off his hands, changed the letter A to letter B in the tongs for the next pup, cleaned off the countertop, and finished the first pup's form. KB stood up and smelled the puppy. KB's ears were up in the perked position.
This process was basically repeated seven more times. Some notes follow. The second pup was a male. He was shivering and shaking a lot during the whole process. He was completely black. He was long, thin, and had big feet. Wife picked him second because he came running to the gate from outside. He yelped long and loud. After the second pup, we moved KB to the outside, she was getting nervous and excited. The third pup was a competely black female. She squalled, and squalled, and squalled some more. When it was over, she pressed her head real tight against wife's face. She eventually licked husband, but she licked wife more. Wife held her a long time. The fourth pup was a big black male with white rear toes and a white chest. He has big feet. He is the easiest to recognize. He squalled real loud. On the second ear he turned his head real fast and bit husband. Husband dropped the tongs and jerked his hand back real fast. No skin was broken. Wife laughed. The fifth pup was a completely black female. After wife picked her up from the stall, wife sit down in a chair outside the mixing room. KB came over and licked and cleaned both ears. This pup was the most active and had to smell and investigate everything on the counter and in the sink. She is one of the smaller ones in the litter, not that she is small compared to other litters. She loved to have her belly rubbed. She yelped loud and jerked a little. The sixth pup was another big black male with big feet. He had a little white spot on his chest and two white rear toes. He has big leg bones. KB also cleaned his ears. KB stood outside the door and barked while he was being tattooed. He gave a short yelp and stopped, he was a tough one. When wife held him afterwards, he layed his head on "mommy's" shoulder and gave "dad" a dirty look, like why did you do that. The seventh pup was also a big boned, black male. He had a little white spot on his chest. He came running to the stall gate when wife went to get him. KB cleaned his ears. He gave a short yelp and stopped, another tough one. Afterwards, he wouldn't have anything to do with "dad". The eighth pup was a smaller black female. She had two white rear toes and a little white on her chest. She is very shy. KB cleaned her ears. She yelped loud. Afterwards, she wouldn't have anything to do with husband.
When wife would take a pup back to the stall after it was tattooed, the other puppies would congregate around the newly tattooed pup and lick its ears. It was if they were expressing condolences to the pup. In fact, for two or three days after tattooing the pups will be licking green ink off each other's ears.
After tattooing the pups, wife took treats to the puppy stall. All pups ate the treats. Husband cleaned the tongs and needle-like pins with a toothbrush, alcohol, and pure concentrated bleach. Pure bleach is the only thing that will take the green ink off his hands. Wife had green ink all over her. She washed with soap and water.
Husband later completed the paperwork. The tattooing was complete.
During Week 9 wife gave the pups their first milkbones, the smaller kind. It was interesting. They all took the milkbones from wife's hand (This is good, we have a saying that a greyhound who will not take a milkbone from our hand will not run good at the track). Some dropped their bones and then tried to get the ones from their littermates. Some tried to steal several bones and "stockpile" them. Some pups gave up their bone easily, others growled and gave the impression they would fight to the death to keep their bone. Eventually they all settled down and started chewing on the milkbones.
One female puppy is just like her dad, Tigerman McGee, when it comes to the waterhose. When Tigerman was a pup (and to this day), he loved to be sprayed with the waterhose. He would walk up to whomever had the waterhose and would lean or rub against them until they sprayed him. His female pup has similar traits. When wife fills up the baby-type swimming pool the female pup keeps coming up to "mommy" and wanting sprayed.
Week 10
Week 10 was a big week for KB's 8 pups, they were moved to a longrun and they survived an electrical storm with drenching rain. They also received their first 7 in 1 vaccination shot and received their fourth worming. KB oversaw all relocation activities and gave her approval. The pups look kind of funny, they have these skinny butts on top of their long and big boned legs.They are growing like weeds.
On Wednesday morning at 9:00 AM we backed the dog trailer (open wire type siding and partitions) outside the pup's shortrun, the trailer has 10 holes. Wife passed each pup over the fence to husband who put one pup in each hole. KB was loaded in one of the two remaining holes. Each pup froze as husband placed it in the dog trailer. Then very slowly each pup would tippy toe around and smell the floor and sides. We pulled the trailer around front to a big shade tree. We then gave each pup a 7 in 1 vaccination shot. Wife would open each door and hold each pup. She would baby-talk and scratch each pup. They would stretch out in her lap and lay their head back in her arms. Then mean old Dad (the one who pinched their ears with the tattoo tongs) lifted the skin on the back of their neck and gave the vaccination shot. Not one pup flinched.
We then pulled the dog trailer down along the longruns. We have fifteen adjacent, chain-link fenced longruns. A gravel drive runs along the 390' front. Nine longruns are 30' x 300', six are 20' x 300'. The pups were placed in the ninth longrun which is one of the bigger ones. Each longrun has a 10' gate. A 4' x 8' marine plywood sheet is mounted on top of six fence posts for shade and cover, this cover is centered 15' inside the longrun. In this particular longrun we placed four igloo type doghouses with the entrances just under the cover. Previous dogs have dug holes near and beneath the shade cover. These holes make cool places for the pups to lay. We placed two waterbuckets in the longrun, one is bigger and the handle is clipped to the front fence. A smaller waterbucket was placed next to one of the fence posts of the cover. The baby-type swimming pool from the shortrun was cleaned and placed in the front righthand corner of the longrun and filled with water. A farm-type water hydrant is just outside the front fence. The longrun has paths along each fenceline where previous dogs have worn out the grass. Each chain-link fence is buried 6 to 8 inches. Thick grass (that gets mowed every week or two) exists from the shade cover to the far end of the longrun. In every other run is a big tree which throws shade over adjacent runs, depending on the time of day and position of the sun. Our future posts will relate to this area.
The pups were placed in the 9th longrun. In the 8th longrun are two 12 month old pups, Gunner and Adrianna. The 10th and 11th longruns are empty. In the 12th and 13th longruns we presently have four pigmy goats (three females and one male). We would have placed the pups in the 10th and 11th runs except we want them to learn to run faster than goats.
Wife and husband each carried one pup at a time about 50' down the longrun to shade from an adjacent tree. We would set a pup down in the grass. The pup would first stand still, and not being use to grass would then take one deliberate step at a time, lifting each foot real high. After a few steps, the pup would start walking. Greyhounds, young or old, love grass. Dad took his $9.99 K-Mart plastic lawn chair into the run and sat down in the shade. Soon all eight pups were in the longrun, THEN THE FUN BEGIN.
Oh my goodness, did the pups have a time. They started jogging and nosing around. Some plopped down in the grass, stretched out, twisted, and rolled over and over. Some ran over and climbed up on Mommy, then they took off exploring. Gunner (a light colored fawn male) came over to his side of the fence and started pacing up and down the fenceline. It wasn't long until all eight pups were running the fenceline with Gunner. They more or less jogged, hopped, and ran. One or two ran as hard as they could. Gunner would take off and then stop and wait for them. The pups would run about 80', slow down, then stop. They would turn around and chase Gunner back up the fenceline to the front. Their ears would be pinned back and one could see they were running as hard as they could. Gunner was walking real fast. Before long their little tongues seemed to be hanging out about two feet. They would stop, come over to Mommy and Dad, lay down in the grass, look up at us, and pant like crazy. Then they would go exploring and smelling around the igloo doghouses and water buckets. Boy, a drink of water tasted so good. Their little tails were wagging, their whole bodies were twisting, they were bouncing, and they seemed to be panting and grinning at the same time. Then all of a sudden one would stop, spread or squat, and let fly. After a little rest, a pup would meander back over to the fenceline and start running again. Some stayed to play with Mommy and Dad. They got their bellys scratched, backs scratched, ears rubbed, and they got lifted on our laps. After a little petting they would jump off our laps, throw their heads back, and run around in circles. EVERYONE had a good time!
During the remainder of the day, husband and wife checked on the pups about ten times. In the afternoon (it was hot and humid) we turned on a water spray on top of the fenceline at the front of the longrun. The pups were tired and were laying and sleeping in the holes next to the doghouses and beneath the shade cover. Some pups had crawled under the doghouses which are mounted on skids. Some came over to the water spray and some did not. That evening husband took two feedpans in the run to feed the pups. They ate good. [Wife is filling their feedpans with 5.0 pounds of mixed food twice per day, for a total of 10.0 pounds per day for all eight pups. We also have a self-feeder full of dry dogfood that remains in the run.] That night they slept inside, beneath, and next to the doghouses.
On Friday morning at 5:00 AM an electrical storm passed over the farm. Wife got up, put on her work clothes, and went out to check on the dogs. Husband remained in bed, he has been known to sleep through tornadoes. In a few minutes wife called to husband that someting was wrong with KB's pups, they were all screaming. This is about the only thing that would motivate husband to rise at 5:10 AM. Husband quickly staggered from bed and jerked on his pants and shirt. It was pitch black outside. Husband grabbed the hand-held spotlight. Just as we went out the door a crack of lightening hit about a half mile away. The impact of the lightening and thunder shook the ground. Husband and wife got in the pickup truck and started down to the longruns. More lightening and thunder erupted and it started pouring rain. We parked the pickup at an angle to the longrun with the headlights shining toward the cover inside the longrun.
Just as we were entering the run, another crack of lightening hit on the far end of our 40 acres and lightened up the whole sky. Husband was reaching for the gate just as the lightening hit. He jumped back about three feet. Wife and husband went on in the longrun and started shining the spotlight and looking for the pups. Talk about scared looking pups. The poor pups were shivering and shaking. Some were huddled together down in a hole. Some were leaning against the doghouses. Some were laying down with their heads buried in the grass. It was pouring rain. Husband and wife started searching and gathering up pups. Wife bent down under the cover and started cramming pups into one igloo doghouse. We started counting. We only counted six pups, two were missing. Husband took the spotlight and started searching. Wife stayed under the cover and sat down in front of the doghouse with the pups. Husband found a pup under one of the doghouses, but he could not find the other pup. We counted again. We could not get an accurate count on the black pups crammed into one doghouse in the darkness. We started transferring pups into another doghouse. Sure enough, one pup was missing. The lightening, thunder, and rain continued.
Husband started down the longrun with the spotlight. At the very far end of the run, one black pup was sitting in the corner in about two inches of water. She was sitting in a froze position. She had her head down and would not move, she was literally "scared stiff". Husband gathered her up and carried her back to the cover at the front of the run. We put her with the rest of the pups. She was the "H" pup (tattooed in the right ear).
We have a 12 month old pup in the 5th run, Stretch, that is scared of storms. He was trying to jump the fence, which can injure a greyhound. Wife stayed with KB's pups while husband took the pickup to get Stretch. It continued to pour rain. Husband got Stretch out of the run and put him in the front seat of the pickup. Husband then took Stretch to the kennel room and put him a crate. Husband grabbed a couple of towels. Husband went back to Mommy sitting with the pups in the darkness under the cover with rain pouring down. Again he parked the pickup with headlights shining towards the cover.
The storm passed and it stopped raining. Several of the pups lay with their heads sticking out the front of the doghouse in Mommy's lap. Wife and husband sat with the pups until it started getting daylight at 6:00 AM. We dryed the pups with the towels. By the time we left, we had petted and consoled the pups to the point they calmed down. Later that morning we took KB down to the front of the longrun and let her check out her pups.
We have discussed in previous posts that some greyhounds are scared to death of storms. This episode may help to understand why. Imagine two-and-a-half month old pups being moved and spending their second night in an electrical storm. To tell the truth, husband and wife are not too fond of electrical storms.
Boy, the pups are now glad to see Mom or Dad when they go to longrun.
By
Shawnie and Sam Burdette
Rendering
by Dan Schmidt based on photo of Rascal, Harley and Seamus, placed
by Greyhound Placement Service of New Hampshire. These pups
appeared in our 1996 Calendar
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