6 WEEKS
The munchkins are 6 weeks old now. They have had their first stacked photos taken, bless, they were a little wobbly but most managed at least one decent pose. I now have the time to analyse them over the next few days and make my choice, very exciting.
6 WEEKS AND OTHER NEWS
Mannerly Mutts open day was a huge success, lots of people and their doggies and at one point we had a queue for car parking . HQ. looked smart and the last of the agility equipment arrived the morning of the day before, phew!! Thanks to everyone who made the day so special including Julie Darby and Evie and her friend Carrie with her collies Storm, Breeze and Ice who demonstrated how Agility should be done! A group of my clients and their dogs did an obedience demo which was faultless ,so impressive for family pets, made me very proud. Jackie and her Boarder Terrier Hetty did a charming heelwork to music demo. I was so impressed by all of the participants, its not easy putting yourself and your dog out there in front of crowds of people.
I am now an agent for Albion dog food and have a posh freezer with their raw meat and bones. I am frequently amazed at how a change of diet alters my clients dogs behaviour.Though I do feed raw meat and bones to my girls ,they also have Burns complete mixed in I find this a practical compromise . Albion are in the process of revamping their website so I will put a link ,( or rather Chris will !) when it is up and running.I have used it for several years now and love the consistency and quality.
Now the important bit ,the munchkins 6 weeks old now. They have had their first stacked photos taken, bless they were a little wobbly but most managed at least one decent pose. I now have the time to analyse them over the next few days and make my choice, very exciting.
When Jas had her litter with Dougie last year Chris and I met a lovely and very knowledgeable couple called John and Julie, they had a bitch puppy from me called Elsa. Very sadly John was taken very poorly when Elsa was a few months old and had to spend several weeks in London getting treatment. Anyway the upshot was, after much deliberation, consideration for Elsa’s upbringing at such an important time in a puppies life and great sadness for John and Julie, Elsa was rehomed to a wonderful family who had only recently lost there elderly Munster and wanted another. This has been the best outcome for Elsa who coped brilliantly with the move.
As you can imagine John and Julie were very sad but knew they had made the best choice in a very unselfish way . We have remained friends with them both and knew that one day they would hope to own a Munster to share their lives with .
John’s health is fairly stable now ,but they declined the offer from me for a puppy from Cassies litter as they had arranged various trips this Summer . They adored Jas who if you remember was Elsa’s mother, so the idea came to me if they were interested in adopting her. She is a lovely girl who I felt had so much to give being a single “child” she loves interaction with humans . Obviously with our lifestyle with 5 dogs and the horses and the vege garden and now Mannerly Mutts getting busier Chris and I are limited with the amount of time the girls get on a one to one basis. They have a wonderful dogs life and are all adored but with my behaviourists hat on I could see Jas would thrive with individual input. She loves doing gundog work,we actually did a working test and with the advent of agility here at Catherton she shows a natural aptitude for that too.
Jas has gradually been acclimatised spending time with John and Julie initially she was taken for a walk to our local forest which” J,J and J ” loved. She then stayed for one sleepover and as everything has gone really well she has now moved to live with John and Julie. We will continue to see her lots as they live close by and she will always be welcome home at any time. I know she will be adored and cared for but we do miss our “Jasley cuddles”
5 weeks and out for first adventure
First taste of the great outdoors and loved it. Will post more after Sunday.
4 weeks
The pups have had some new adventures this week. The first one being moving them into their “day quarters” the conservatory. They loved the extra space and dealt with their new surroundings well. On Friday the weather was lovely so we put up their patio, opened the door and without hesitation they explored the outside world with the confidence I love. Some of them are going outside on the grass to poo, incredible for 4 weeks. They are loving their visitors and I love watching the expressions of the families when they see them for the first time, its a joy.
They will have their second worming and their 3rd nail trimming this weekend. As far as feeding is concerned they have moved to Burns puppy food made into a porridge and they love it. They get 3 meals a day plus regular top ups from Cassie. Bless her, it cannot be a pleasant experience for her ,the munchkins teeth are through and very pin like!! She is such a good mum but I don’t think she will continue to feed them as often for very much longer, it is her choice. Then we will increase the mealtimes to 4 a day. Ruby my Shepherd is desperate to love the babies. She was a puppy herself when Jas and Dougie had their litter and she adored them then, she is still the same, I think she will be a wonderful mum.
One week to go until my “Open Day, Have a Go Agility Day”. Plans are coming together, I am making one variety of cake every day for the tea and cake stall. Chocolate Brownie, Lemon cake and Eccles are done. The contact equipment is finished, Chris has done a brilliant job. Tunnel, tyre jump and show jumps have arrived, more is due at the end of the week. Fingers are crossed it arrives, they have promised it will be dispatched Wednesday. I also have fingers crossed for a dry day.
Tomorrow I am off to WELKS, without a dog. It will be great to see everyone again after Crufts .
Post Script;
Had a brilliant if cold day at WELKS. Lots of Crumpsbrook owners to chat too. It was a delight to have Carol back for the day her insight into Munsters and showing is sorely missed. Jas and Dougie puppies did really well. Hugo and Lionel had first and second in their first champ show Crufts qualifier respectively and Keiko won her equivalent bitch puppy class. I was thrilled to know Crumpsbrook had Best Puppy in Breed whatever happened and I was delighted for Sarah and Keiko, she is such a pretty girl so like granny Cassie.
3 weeks
The puppies are altering every day now, definitely interacting with one another. Their voices are developing and I am sure they hear when I make encouraging noises. Yesterday, Thursday, we opened up their whelping area and put down the plastic putting newspaper on the top and bless them they are already moving off their bed to wee and poo. Cassie has continued to feed them well but she is happier to leave them to get some valuable “me time”. The hair on her tummy is getting thin now where the Munchkins’ paws kneed her udder to encourage the flow of milk. At this stage I like to encourage the babies to lap some evaporated milk mixed with warm water. Needless to say they took to the task like ducks to water. Most of them ended up paddling or sitting in it but never the less they loved it. The same cannot be said about the cleaning process afterwards. They were all in need of a wipe down to remove the sticky milk and they were then put under their heat lamp to dry off. I am sure in another few days they can be introduced to their Burns puppy food.
Enjoy the pictures and footage.
2 weeks
What a difference a week makes, weather back to cold and windy, we were really spoilt over Easter. The pups and Cassie continue to thrive. They have their eyes open now and are taking their first wobbly steps, plus we have heard a couple of proper “woofs”. I am sure families will be pleased to hear visiting hours are available . We will limit visits to one family in any day, Cassie still has a mammoth task feeding the hungry munchkins. Do get in touch to arrange a visit.
Worming has taken place this morning for the first time, they have a dose for 3 consecutive days so 2 more to go. Their weight is increasing steadily and Cassie has plenty of milk. She is eating 5 meals a day plus snacks of chicken wings. The demands of her hungry family will continue to increase as they get stronger and bigger, so as soon as the pups are able to we will start them on evaporated milk to help supplement their rations from Mum. I think we will start this week if they continue to grow as they are. I was intending to put up some video footage but the camera battery was flat so will do as soon as possible .
Betty my car is at the hospital with broken power steering, so that will be expensive ,blooming cars.
I am planning on going to WELKS to see everyone ,but I will be dog less. I shall enjoy munching Jas and Cassie’s offspring ,while Chris stays home on puppy duty.
Plans for my open day are coming together, agility equipment is being made and ordered. Chris is making the contact equipment such as walkways and see-saws. The non slip rubberised paint has arrived so I am hoping for some decent weather to paint it. Tunnel and jumps are due to arrive this week.
The following photos are of each individual pup
Happy Easter
P
uppies are doing really well, they have had their first weigh in since birth and have all gained weight. They have alos had their sharp little nails clipped. This is much appreciated by Cassie. Cassie is happy to have a mooch down the field now, we put the munchkins heat lamp on and they are perfectly happy. We are still getting up at 2.30 am to feed Cassie ,Chris and I do alternate nights, she goes out for a wee then has her egg and evaporated milk, which she loves. This probably isn’t necessary with this size litter but it seems a small thing that we can do for her. She did have a day or two when she wasn’t eating as well as I would have liked, but that didn’t last long and now she is ravenous ! I expect their eyes to start to open in the next day or two, they are already much more active and move around the whelping box, dragging their fat tummy’s 🙂
The weather has been beautiful here we have been tidying the garden borders and planting seeds for my veg in the green house. This time last year I was in hospital having had my hip replaced, how time flies.
I am sad to say I have resigned from the LM club committee , I have so much going on this year with starting agility training I just cannot commit to anything else at the moment. I would be happy to do another stint in a few years, when life returns to normal !
We are having an Open Day , “Have-a-Go” day on Sunday May 3rd. Its free, lots going on, various demos, and doggie trade stalls and an opportunity to try a few agility obstacles. And of course the puppies will be making a guest appearance. If anyone is near enough and would like to come it would be lovely to see you and your pooches, Munster or not !
Details on my website www.mannerlymutts.co.uk
4 Days Old
Cassie and her family are doing well, she is such a lovely mum. At this moment in time she looks really well and had enough energy today to chase pheasants down the field. They will have a “weigh in” on Friday and I will report their progress, but they have really grown. I struggle to imagine them all in her tummy now. Badger’s name has changed now to Mac because he has an Apple Mac logo on his back, obvious to see on the photos.
Enjoy !
Crumpsbrook Babies Day 1
Wednesday morning I took Cassie’s temperature and it had dropped, this has been a good signal for me over the years, but this was a few days early. By lunchtime she was panting and pacing up and down. I knew things were immanent. The first puppy, a girl, arrived just after 3.00pm ,very civilised. All our puppies have names given to them in theory to ease identification, but some are quite convoluted but its fun. So the first girl we called Penni, she has a peninsula shaped mark on her left side! Cassie then kept us waiting over 3 hours for the next, she was very relaxed and happy with no contractions but I had to keep telling myself she was fine. Just as I had asked Chris to sort things for carrying puppies and keeping them warm in the car for a journey to the vets, the next lot of contractions started. This puppy was a boy and huge and needed a big effort from Cassie and a little help from me, guess what he is now called Hugo. Ten minutes later number 3 arrived, probably all the heaving for Hugo had pushed this one into position. This was a girl, she has a grey nose so we called her Shadow. Another 3 hour wait (this is so stressful!) before number 4 arrived. It was just after 10.00 pm by now, a boy so like his Dad his name is Dexter. Badger was number 5 one hour later, not rocket science to guess why he has his name. Girl number 3 then. She is called Kite, again self explanatory, she has a small kite mark (so she definitely meets the required standard!) on her side. We are now well into the middle of the night, 2.00am. Ace was born,she has a mark like the Ace of Spades on the top of her tail, Marce our friend that some of you met at Crufts named her. Then finally girl number 5 and puppy number 8 arrived at 4.00 am. She was also named by Marce, she has a shape like an elephants ears with the trunk running down her tail, so Nel, after Nellie the Elephant was born.
I had thought that Cassie was having a numerically large litter due to her size, it is a large litter but not in numbers of pups,, they are consistently across the board, the strongest, chunkiest litter we have had. The smallest being 448 gm ,almost 1lb with the largest, the second boy being 524gm. I am so delighted, a perfect number which Cassie should cope with easily.
Enjoy the photos and video footage of Day 1 hope they make you smile 🙂
The 5 girls, below
3 Boys
