Last Puppy Blog
I would like to introduce Molly, Crumpsbrook Molinia .
The litter theme is grasses. I am excited to be keeping a pup, not what I planned, but circumstances or fate, call it what you will, have allowed me to. Hurrah.
One other bitch will hopefully make an appearance in the show ring and one of the boy pups too. I love encouraging new people to show and I will be only too happy to support them.
Vet checks and microchips done today. Every pup had a clean bill of health, all anatomy (boys!) where it should be and hearts functioning well. Eyes and teeth good .They start to go Friday so by Sunday evening Chris and I will crack a bottle !
I must admit being GSD free ,the first time for 30 years is strange , walking is quieter, Ruby would chase Ebby and hang on to her tail so Ebby had plenty to say at the beginning of a walk . Shepherds being what they are, would then spend the walk trying to keep the human and canine family together, very frustrating and exhausting when your walking companions are Munsters. They are missed.
I would just like to say thank you everyone for your kind messages and support. Losing a special doggy friend is never easy.
Happy times ahead with Molly, her mum, grandmother and great grandmother. We will have great fun I’m sure .
Explorers
Bit late I know but there ain’t enough hours in a day, sorry.
The puppies are outside as much as is humanly possible now .They have full access to the great outdoors and love it . Great Granny Willow is doing her usual job of gentle discipline, so important in the development of any young pup. They do treat her with respect. Granny Cassie loves playing with them and Kite, bless her, is still tolerating them feeding if they pin her down which they are capable of doing when they gang up en mass .
A new agility tunnel arrived which they were all playing in within seconds without a care. Cardboard boxes are great fun too.
Meals have been given alfresco, an important foundation for eating on picnics !
I will have to make my choice of puppy imminently, they are 7 weeks on Sunday. Such an even, good quality bunch I really would love any of them. The micro chipping adventure is on Tuesday , then Friday they start to leave for their new homes.
I know there are 10 excited families counting the number of sleeps until their pick up day when life alters and a new adventure begins .
Here are some new photos and video clip for you to help the days fly by !
5 Weeks and Such Fun
The Munchkins are such a happy bunch. They are more or less weaned now. Kite gives them a quick feed first thing in the morning ,but after that she loves to play with them but avoids any contact with those sharp teeth, and who can blame her.
They are eating incredibly well, loving their Burns puppy food and various variety of raw meat, all of which seem acceptable !
Second worming course is under way, last dose tonight as well as a nail trim.
They are going outside after every meal and pooing and weeing and have today been down the field. Cassie loved playing with them.
They are oblivious to the weather ,which at the moment is not conducive to sitting on the lawn with them.
The chucks have been mostly ignored so far, not sure that will last as they grow up .
Kennel Club registrations are applied for, they are “The Grasses ” litter.
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4 Meals a Day
They are on 4 meals a day now and scoff it. Kite feeds occasionally, when she wants to. Its Chris’s and my time to feed and clean up now.
They have gone into the conservatory and out onto their patio during the day, which they love, and have started to wee and poo outside.
They have also moved in to the “Luxury Apartment” which was the cats bed, poor Milly!
They still sleep in the lounge/maternity wing and we haven’t heard a peep from them. Kite is happy to be back with her mum and granny at night. She is losing her coat and her tail looks like it belongs to a Lurcher, but apart from that she is really well. I’m so relieved her responsibilities are lessoning, she is being a fantastic mum and now we will do our fare share.
Puppy worming is due again this weekend coming so they will be weighed. I can’t wait to see how much they have grown.
Not sure what we can put them in, or what will be big enough for them and fit on the scales because they certainly have outgrown the last tub.
Life and Death
Sorry my blog is a couple of days late.
Kite and her puppies are doing really well, no worries there.
My gorgeous Ebby was put to sleep yesterday, Tuesday. She had recovered so well from major surgery several weeks ago and was such a happy girl. We had a walk on the common on Sunday as the sheep are all off at the moment and the Curlews have now left their nest sites, so off we all went. Kite came too on a long line for her first proper walk since the puppies. I wasn’t going to risk her bounding over the gorse and scratching her teats hence the 20 meter line.
Ebby really enjoyed it, barking and leaping through the bracken,it was a joy to see her.
Monday morning she was quiet and just lay around doing nothing, not her at all. She refused her meals.
Tuesday she looked at me and I knew something was seriously wrong.
After a scan at my vets where they found a bleed in her abdomen we decided to let her go.
Ebby was the first puppy we kept from our first ever litter. She was an amazing person. She came on my training courses with me and helped me get my dog training teaching qualifications. I used her extensively as a stooge dog with dog aggression cases. She was so confident and trusted me implicitly. Ebby used to come upstairs and lie by the side of the bath if I was having a soak. I always knew where she was, with me. She would lie in the dining room watching me cook and knew when I was making liver cake for my training classes that she had the food processor to pre-wash This was her special treat.
Its the end of an era, both Chris and I will miss her, be sad yes, but we must remember the wonderful, happy times we had with he. Ebby is buried down our field near the wildlife pond where she loved to paddle and will never be forgotten.
Thankfully we have 11 wonderful new lives to focus on and how they are growing in stature and confidence.
The family have had lots of visitors and so many cuddles.
They are on 4 meals a day now and scoff it. Kite feeds occasionally, when she wants to. Its Chris’s and my time to feed and clean up now.
They have gone into the conservatory and out onto their patio during the day, which they love, and have started to wee and poo outside.
They have also moved in to the “Luxury Apartment” which was the cats bed, poor Milly!
They still sleep in the lounge/maternity wing and we haven’t heard a peep from them. Kite is happy to be back with her mum and granny at night. She is losing her coat and her tail looks like it belongs to a Lurcher, but apart from that she is really well. I’m so relieved her responsibilities are lessoning, she is being a fantastic mum and now we will do our fare share.
Puppy worming is due again this weekend coming so they will be weighed. I can’t wait to see how much they have grown.
Not sure what we can put them in, or what will be big enough for them and fit on the scales because they certainly have outgrown the last tub.
21 Days Old
Kite and her family are doing really well. She has recovered from her mastitis thankfully. She is looking a little scruffy bless her. Hair is dropping out in handfuls due to her hormone changes, apparently it does sometimes happen with human mums too.
The puppies appetites are growing, as is their demand for milk. Kite is such a good mum but you can’t tell me having 11 growing babies scrabbling at her tummy is comfortable.
Chris and I have trimmed their nails to help Kite. Those little paws knead her tummy to encourage milk flow. It helps prevent scratching and gets the little munchkins used to being handled, so important.
Yesterday we started them on a mix of evaporated milk and warm water. Needless to say they loved it, very messy but such fun. By the weekend they will be having their puppy “porridge”. This will ease the burden on Kite.
One thing for sure is they will be proper cuddle monkeys they love being munched!
Kite and her family are now receiving visitors so do please get in touch to come and see the wonderful family.
2 weeks
Kite and her family are doing well .The pups are gaining weight at a good rate and Kite is maintaining hers . With all of those mouths to feed she is eating every 4 hours and her appetite is very good.
Chris and I have given the little munchkins their first nail trim. Their claws get very sharp and Kite’s teats can get scratched. She has had mastitis which is a bacterial infection caused by bacteria getting into her breasts, one little scratch is enough.
Kite had a trip to the vet and is now doing well. I was putting hot compresses on every 2/3 hours and massaging the blocked duct .
Hygiene in the whelping box is important too, so my washing machine has been on non-stop full of vet bed
Thankfully no more signs .
All the puppies eyes are now open and they are beginning to be more active, they are so gorgeous.
Looks like the tub to weigh them in will have to get bigger !
Just a few photos and it won’t be long before they will be receiving visitors .
Enjoy
Days 4,5 &6
The puppies are growing hand over fist , Kite is doing a fantastic job she has plenty of milk and most important her appetite is enormous !
She only has to hear Chris or I in the kitchen and she comes for another meal.We are more than happy to oblige.
The photos on the red heating pad are of the girls and boys . We name the pups simply for identification purposes plus its fun !
In theory their markings suggest their name !
So hear goes …
Boys
from left to right Yum Yum, Storm, Africa,Shades and Ollie
Girls
from left to right G G, Gale, Tap, Tadpole, Nessie and Stitch
Ebby is a miracle, she is back to herself apart from the various clipped patches you wouldn’t know what she has been through.
I have had a rotton cold but even that seems to be going, so life is on the up ,yeh .
Mannerly Mutts are off to Ludlow Dog Day tomorrow. John and Julie who own the pups 1/2 sister Jas, are coming over to puppy sit.
All of the puppies are spoken for and I will post on here when Kite and her family are receiving visitors .
Enjoy the photos
Few More Grey Hairs !
We had a sad occurrence a few weeks ago, one of Ruby’s bitch puppies from her 2016 litter went into the vets for a routine spay and tragically died under the anaesthetic. I must admit I am guilty of thinking when vets or doctors give the spiel about the risks of anaesthetic I have been blase, no longer!
After much soul searching and thinking Chris and I decided to offer Jan, the puppies owner, Ruby. Ruby is an amazing girl but was very much the bottom of the pecking order at Catherton, something she coped with admirably but it did cause her some stress.
The upshot being that Ruby now lives nearby with Jan and Sarah plus their other dog Vasco (a lab springer cross) 2 pigs, assorted chickens 4 cats and “Rabbit” plus her baby (not convinced of the odds for long term survival of “Rabbit” I must say as she is free range! ). They have a huge garden so very much familiar territory.
Ruby has settled really well, she has visited lots more of Shropshire in the few weeks Jan has had her, including National Trust properties, tea shops etc etc and they have a lodge in Wales, lucky Rub, plus we will see her regularly.
Kite and Dougie’s babies were due this week but as time progressed it was obvious that Kite had a belly full. Last Friday morning the 14th July I got up, started to prepare the girls breakfast and noticed Ebby my older Shepherd was not well. She was very sad looking and had a swollen tummy which when I felt it, it was rock hard. I phoned the vets immediately and she was admitted with a gastric torsion. Ebby was her usual self the previous evening and had eaten her tea. We came home leaving her to be operated on. We fed the other girls and I took Kites temperature, normal.
Lunchtime, Ann my wonderful vet, rang to say Ebby was seriously poorly, her stomach had twisted and her intestines were everywhere except where they should have been and her Spleen was swollen too. The spleen was removed, her stomach tubed and untwisted and her intestines put back. The problem was her heart rate was dangerously low, 40. We ought to go and see her.
She was lay in a kennel with so many blankets on her and drips in place but she was not really aware. Chris and I felt we were saying our last farewells. Ebby was transferred to Bridgnorth for monitoring over night.
Kite meanwhile was panting and unsettled. A sleepless night for us.
Saturday morning Kite’s temperature had dropped one degree, whelping likely in the next 24 hours.
Ebby had survived the night her heart rate had recovered a little to 60, normal for a dog like her is low 80’s
Lunchtime vet rang to say she had eaten a little bit of chicken, but was still poorly. I asked if we could have her home and the vet agreed as we were going to be with her. We picked her up Saturday evening, my friend Jackie stayed with Kite, who was still unsettled and panting .
Ebby was so happy to be home, she ate a small tea then lay in the lounge sleeping.
Chris slept downstairs with Ebby and Kite. Our lounge was split into the maternity wing and the geriatric wing !
Early Saturday morning Chris went out with Kite, thought she was only having a poo ,but no there was the first sign of a pup!
I was in the bathroom heard him shout and ran downstairs. Her first baby arrived 7.30 am a little girl, ten minutes later number 2 arrived and so it continued until 12.00am when 10 puppies had graced us with their presence.
Kite then settled to feed her babies and have a snooze.
At 3.00 pm she began to be uncomfortable and contractions started again. By 4.00 I was beginning to worry a little, the others had popped out with few contractions. This little girl was obviously so much more comfortable with all the space in mummy’s tummy and was not in any hurry to make an appearance. One last push at 4.30 and out popped number 11.
All of the babies are over 454 gm , now 36 hours on I cannot believe they were inside Kites tummy. She had 5 boys 6 girls.
Ebby has continued to improve, she has a huge wound but is eating and pooing normally, whoopy.
Phew what a weekend but what a result ,couldn’t have been better ,both of us were exhausted mentally and physically .
Kite is a wonderful mum as we had hoped as both her mum and grandmother were.
Our job currently is looking after her to enable her to nurture her and Dougie’s offspring.
We have had a change of plan and now intend to keep a pup, so happy!
Enjoy the pics folks.
Yeh !
We have just come back from the vets where Kite had her 28 day scan . Great news Dougie and Kite are expecting .
We saw 5 pups at least . With previous litters we have seen 3 and had litters of 9-11 , our vets have invested in a new scanner ,so fingers crossed for a bouncing litter of Munster Munchkins !
Kite will now be monitored ,no rough housing with her family and lots of TLC . Week Commencing 17th July will soon be here ! 
