Wednesday - JUNE 1, 2005- Lots of happenings here..but no births to report yet.  This coming week will probably settle the issue of whether Bridghid or Heidi will have puppies this cycle.  Heidi certainly looks pregnant and Bridghid never does even when she has a litter.  So honestly, we don't know.    Greta should be coming into heat any day now. 

Thanks to all the good folks who have submitted Puppy Applications to be on our Waiting List for puppies!   If we have not gotten back to you yet, please be patient, we will shortly. Our email has been swamped and we also have been hit bigtime with literally hundreds and hundreds of pieces of junk mail the last few weeks so it takes time to find the real letters and applications to respond to, but we will catch up in a day or two. 

Life in general has been hectic lately and very very busy with our Shepherds. We have been busy with a total rebuild of our kennel and while the projects are progressing nicely.....the place looks like a disaster area.  LOL  We trenched in 400 feet of drain lines as part of our doggy waste management septic effort so there is a lot of torn up yard and dirt piles.  You would not believe how much "waste" they can generate!   Fortunately we have had little rain so we have not been a muddy swamp most of the time.  We also have completely taken apart most of the inside Dog houses and are rebuilding new larger ones and more of them..quite a mess. It will be great when it is done.   

All this is happening while raising our next generation of Shepherds.----9 growing girls who are eating us out of house and home.    We have some wonderful new GSDs growing like weeds........some of our new girls have recently decided to come in Heat ....and we certainly don't want them bred at one-year of age..so that has been a challenge too.  So things have been "interesting" to say the least. 

We are snapping pictures every once in a while and will post them here when things settle down.    Speaking of pictures...we have gotten some great ones from folks who are raising puppies they got from us and we need to get some of them up here too.   We will probably get to that in July at this rate.  

IF YOU ARE ON OUR PUPPY WAITING LIST --WE will send you an email as soon as we have some birth news!

Saturday, April 23, 2005:  Well you would think we had been on vacation or something!!! .....wishful thinking...since there have been no new postings here for a few weeks.    Actually, we have been very busy!   Greta's puppies (except for one we are caring for for a couple more days until the new owners move to their new house) all are now at their new homes.  We had the fun of delivering some of them personally and enjoyed meeting everyone in our travels!  We are already getting some great reports back and some pictures which we always enjoy. 

We have also been busy with all our Shepherds.   We added even more space onto our fenced-in doggy play and training areas.  Since we are raising 8 new girls ourselves we needed separate outdoor playing areas so everyone would have lots of grassy places to romp.   We didn't want to actually fence in our little lake so some of the play areas are open to the water so everyone has a great time splashing and swimming around.  The design and redesign of our "floating fences" has been really "interesting"  German Shepherds are so intelligent and can figure out ways to overcome almost any fencing or gate system...and of course they love the water and are great swimmers.  But we "think" we have finally outsmarted them  - for the moment.   We don't like to keep any of our Shepherds in the kennels for extended periods of time and they need room to run and play outdoors.   

We  are also in the midst of tearing apart and rebuilding the indoor dog houses and making other kennel improvements.   And of course Spring has come and the grass is growing and all the usual Springtime jobs need doing.    We have no shortage of tasks that all need attention and time here!

Our main computer decided to die on us recently so we have ordered parts and we are building a new one..... it is not like our sons didn't warn us that these newer computers run a lot hotter and that heat could destroy the CPU and components including the motherboard.... we were not good about blowing out the dust bunnies (cat and dog hair!!) out of the computer...well it finally happened...burned it up.  Fortunately we had backed up everything just a couple of weeks ago to a new harddrive so all was not lost.  We just wish now we had backed up with imaging software...but no such luck.    So we pass this along...our beloved pets shed....and their fur somehow ends up in our computers...so we recommend buying canned air and blowing them (the computers) out every couple of weeks.!  Now, if we can just remember to follow that good advice ourself!

We think Bridghid (and hopefully Heidi) are pregnant.  We will know in May.  They are both healthy and doing just great.......two of our star swimmers by the way.   Heidi just takes off straight accross the lake and Bridghid is right behind her.  And our little lake is not all that small.  They get great exercise and then they immediately run around the lake to bring their mud and wet into the garage to show us how smart and talented they are. 

Thanks to everyone who has sent us updates on their puppies and pictures!  We will be adding more pictures very soon.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005: We did it!  Actually Bradley Williams, our 15 year-old computer-whiz son helped.... a lot!  WE NOW HAVE AN ONLINE PUPPY APPLICATION working!   We didn't think we would ever get it up and running...but it actually works!   We also took over 300 digital pictures of Greta's puppies on their 8-Week-old birthday yesterday..and maybe we have a dozen photos that are not blurry pictures of speeding puppies or shots of their butts.  We will post them before the week is over.  3 Girls remain to be adopted ....and the Puppy Applications keep coming in ...to be on our WAITING LIST for Male puppies from the next litter.  LOL  Folks, the girls are as cute as the boys ..maybe cuter...and every woman knows (and man should know) that females are smarter etc.  We think the girls have the edge over the boys when a family has very young children.

SATURDAY MORNING, March 19, 2005:  3  of Greta's Girls are still available for adoption.  They are 7 weeks old this week!  

Yesterday afternoon the weather was beautiful and they spent the day playing in the grass.  We took a bunch of pictures of them...unfortunately it was late in the day when we snapped the photos and the pictures mostly came out too dark...so we will try again today.  They are all little bundles of energy now racing around after Greta.  Of course they are all eating solid food now, but they also are still nursing.

This weekend is worming and vaccination time for the puppies.  We are having great weather here and are working on building fence panels and enlarging the dog and puppy grass play and training areas.   We live in a very rural isolated area, but we keep a large yard area fenced in because we don't want any young dogs to go off exploring.   

WEDNESDAY, March 16, 2005:  4 of Greta's Girls are still available!

Puppies remain "Available" until a "Puppy Application" is approved , the Contract is agreed to and "signed" and we have received the required Deposit payment.  Until All 3 steps are done the puppy remains "Available".    Applications are considered in the order received.

The girls will be 8 weeks old this coming Monday, March 21, 2005.  Almost old enough to go to new homes.  We, of course, prefer that they remain here with their Mom until 9 to 12 weeks of age for proper doggy socialization.  But, we think some may be ready to go to new homes by the weekend of March 26th.

We started placing announcements about them a few days ago and have received many inquiries.  We have already had a number of inquiries and applications.  We do not accept every application we receive..so we have had to turn some down.   And some people we are just talking to and exchanging information.  Of course when we have Boys (last july Greta had 9!) folks are looking for Girls and when we have Girls, folks are looking for Boys.  LOL Never fails!  These Girls are just perfect...not a slow one in the group.  They are all very playful, active and intelligent. 

 If you want to reserve a particular puppy you will need to:

1.   fill out our "Puppy Application" and email it to us

2.  Return and agree to the Sales Contract that we email you after your Puppy Application is approved

3.  AND, the puppy is Not reserved or sold to you until the Deposit is paid.

Well, wouldn't you know, the weather has Finally turned beautiful here..the ground is dry for the first time in months!..and so to coincide with the nice weather of course we are a little "under the weather" with the latest cold virus (hazzards of working in a hospital lab!)  But, we have been gathering materials for major improvements for our Shepherds including rebuilding their inside houses and doubling the size of their fenced play area with another 350 feet of fence.  So if you visit, (and everyone interested in a puppy is welcome to visit.)..excuse the piles of building materials....puppy projects in progress!

TUESDAY, March 8, 2005:  We are (hopefully) finishing up the process of uploading about 35 New Pictures of Greta's puppies that were born on January 24, 2005.  They were 6 weeks old yesterday and we are uploading pictures of them taken last week at 5 weeks of age.  

There are now 5 New pictures of each of the puppies taken at 5 weeks old.  Each puppy has his or her own page of pictures.  Just click on  the Menu item on the Left that is called: "Greta's Puppies Born January 24, 2005"..then there is a link on that page to each puppy's individual page of pictures.

There is quite a change from 3 Weeks Old to 5 Weeks Old!  They now practically leap out of their puppy box when we come out to play with them.....and they are now are extremely active and playful.  You should be able to easily see the difference that 2 weeks makes.  

We will begin posting ads later this week.   However,  Boy Puppy #1 is already sold and also Girl Puppy #4 has already been sold.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2005:   Well time does fly!   Greta's 6 puppies are now 3 Weeks Old!   Since we had access to a highspeed internet connection today - we took time to update this Website. 

We take pictures (digital) constantly of all the adult dogs and puppies...but most do not end up here because it takes so long on our dialup connection to upload them.  

But today we brought the Greta puppies up to date.  You can now see what they look like.  Their eyes fully opened and they began walking during their third week of life and we have taken pictures at least once a week.  GO TO THE Link on the Menu entitled "Greta's Puppies Born January 24, 2005"  You will find links there to separate pages for each puppy and to week by week picture pages.

As the puppies were growing day by day, our Lincoln was slowly getting better.  We have spoiled him rotten the last weeks....he has had so much meat...particularly liver that he is ruined for dry dog food.  But, luck was with us and he healed up naturally and is on the mend.   The things we do for our "children/dogs"!..in this case an extra special diet helped and would you believe the application of Sugar and vasoline to his 'privates' ..and voile' everthing shrank back to normal and healed up.   So all is well.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 5pm.  Greta gave birth to 6 puppies yesterday.  They are all doing fantastic.  The humans here are exhausted.  Greta is still her bubbly self and acts and looks like nothing much happened.  She is a great Mom and the "kids" are very strong and noisy.  

This litter is 5 Girls and 1 Boy.  We took some pictures on their birthday yesterday, one is up at the top of this page.  The Girls are $750 each and the Boy is $600.

Lincoln is doing much better.  He apparently wanted some babying and special attention and is enjoying his favorite foods.  The beef liver must be warm and his eggs have to be either hardboiled or scrambled with cheese.   He is ignoring the special batch of ground chuck and rice we fixed and still prefers the nasty smelling cheap canned dog food over the Alpo.  He is still totally ignoring his regular dry food.   I don't care, as long as he eats.  He is drinking tons of water which is good and we are having to take him outside more than we would a puppy..but that is great because his kidney function is good.  After a week of antibiotic treatment (2 kinds..one a buck a pill!)  we will reevaluate the damage to his "privates" with our Vet...maybe nature will heal the injury without any intervention...hopefully. 

As a Canine Medical aside....a Male dog's penis is supposed to be "out of sight" most of the time...if it stays out and won't retract (for instance because it is swollen by an injury)  this is potentially a medical emergency....so serious that it could even lead to amputation.  Apparently this same condition can happen to uncircumcised human males....scary pictures.. but of course dogs work a little differently.  Ouch!  So if you ever see swelling there and "it"  won't "go back in"...it might be time to see a Vet.   Ouch!

MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2005 - 6:00am.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!   GRETA IS GIVING BIRTH today..it began in the wee hours of the morning and continues as the day dawns. There are 5 bouncing baby puppies...so far!  

Greta and the babies are doing just great!  The canine birthing process can go on for many many hours before it is completely finished..this gives mom time to care for each pup as it is born and rest up to prepare for the next delivery.  

It has been a long weekend!!... we delivered the last 3 of the Greta and Bridghid puppies to their new owners in Chicagoland and Virginia...very "interesting" driving through the "Blizzard of 2005".  It is always fun to see the new puppy owner's faces when they first see their new puppy in person!  

We returned to the farm late Saturday night to find that our big "baby" Lincoln is not doing so great.  Two weeks ago Lincoln managed to injure his "privates" somehow.. jumping over a fence or something? bloody looking mess.  It seemed like it was healing quickly and the bleeding stopped the first day...but it must hurt  (or he is depressed) -despite the aspirin we are giving - because he has lost interest in his food and is eating very little and has lost a lot of weight in a very short time.  We have been so busy with puppies the last two weeks, we didn't give him much attention and it looked like he was slowly healing.  It is amazing how dogs can gain and lose weight in a very short time period.  Well actually he ignores his regular food....but snarfs down his favorites if they are handfed to him ...hardboiled eggs, liver, hamburgers...and a particular brand of very cheap canned dogfood......but ignores the expensive canned Alpo.  So he is living in our livingroom watching the animal channel on TV and being babied right how.  So it is off to our Vet with him this morning to further explore "paraphimosis"...which is what his problem is.

WEDNESDAY, January 19, 2005 - 11:30PM   Well only 3 puppies from the Bridghid and Heidi litters remain to be delivered and that will happen this week.   NEW NEW NEW ::  WE HAVE MODIFIED THE HOME PAGE HERE and added pictures taken TODAY of Greta (VERY PREGNANT) and 2 of her baby girls from her last litter that was born on 7-21-05....Can't believe they are already 6 months old!! ...and HUGE.  We thought that folks considering a puppy from Greta's New Litter might want to see what her pups look like 6 months after being born.  g'NITE!

WEDNESDAY, January 12, 2005 - 10:00 PM .  AND THEN THERE  WERE NONE.   Well that is it for the current puppies!  The last puppy has been placed!  10 PUPPIES PLACED IN 9 Days.   

THANK YOU ALL for visiting our Website and a special Thank You to the nice folks who adopted these puppies!         WE ARE NEXT EXPECTING GRETA'S LITTER.

We will be heading North, South, East and West delivering the Pups over the next few days.  These puppies are ending up in new homes in  Colorado,  Virginia, Minnesota,  Missouri, various places around Chicagoland and even here in Southern Illinois too!  We think we found good homes for everyone. 

So it was a good day.   Would you believe over 70 Degrees!! here in Southern Illinois??!!    In between puppy calls and emails we managed to cut enough firewood for the next few weeks....beautiful day for it.  Our Shepherds had a full day of romping outside...ending with warm water baths to rinse the mud off.   Of course , we are going back into the deepfreeze tomorrow night..with a low of 23, but it was nice while it lasted!

All the puppies are doing just great.  Everyone had a final 3 day worming and vaccination this last weekend and are looKing great.

WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE PUPPIES WE EXPECT GRETA TO DELIVER JUST ANY DAY NOW...COULD BE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW....SO I WILL GO CHECK.   ABOUT TIME TO SET UP THE CAMERA MONITOR TO MAKE IT EASIER TO KEEP AN EYE ON HER.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005 9:00am -JUST 2 PUPPIES LEFT!!  Our first ads for the current group of puppies started on New Year's Weekend, really about January 3rd and already 8 of the 10 pups have been matched up with new homes now.  Just two (2) puppies remaining.  Of all the original puppies in this group they are probably the most playful and outgoing puppies of the whole bunch and the ones I personally would have chosen for family pets because of their especially bright personalities.   These two are both high-energy puppies and will keep their new owners busy.

For puppy buyers who are looking for more than just a wonderful family pet and don't mind waiting a few more weeks for a new puppy, we are expecting Greta to deliver a new litter this month.  Her July litter of 10 were just outstanding and we even kept two of her baby girls for our breeding program and could not be happier.  Greta has an exceptional pedigree and there is no limit to what could be done with her puppies.  Take a look on this website at pictures and information about Greta and her July 2004 Litter.  We will be posting new pictures of her July puppies very soon...they are maturing beautifully.

Thursday, January 6, 2005 =  Well, it has been less than a week since we first started advertising our latest puppies (From Heidi and Bridghid) and 5 of the 10 puppies are already spoken for.   

We will try to keep the pages updated daily to show which puppies are still available.

We appreciate all the calls and email inquiries.......of course now we remember why we took a few weeks away from the phone and internet in November and December!!  For a while there we didn't even want to look at the computer.  It takes a lot of time to try to keep up with calls and correspondence.   Whew! 

But, we aren't complaining!   Please keep calling and emailing, we want to find good homes for the all the new puppies before the end of January!!! 

Thanks for all the nice emails about our website and puppies. 

We hope everyone had a great New Years.  The puppies are all doing just great ...growing like weeds and eating and pooping up a storm.  It is always a challenge to keep up with their "waste" this time of year with snow and below zero one day and endless rain and the mud the next.... we bought another pressure cleaner and are finding that with hot water it is helping make the kennel runs clean up tasks somewhat easier. 

Deer hunting season has been on and off for the past month or so...hunters on the edge of our property have apparently been very successful ....Lincoln has brought back the fresh (disgusting) remains of at least 3 deer the past couple of weeks.  It is natural...but still yuck.  It doesn't seem to have cut down on our wild deer herd..they still visit daily to munch on our fruit trees and pastures and there seem to be just as many. 

We are cat-people too (chickens, goats, horses and calves often too)  and someone who knew this apparently dropped off yet another kitten for us on the road out front.   Of course, we had to take her in, it was cold and snowing.  This brings our adopted cat population up to 6 again (4 in the house and 2 in the garage)...another cat to have fixed. She (named Sheba) is cute as can be and driving us and the older cats nuts racing all over the house and always under foot.  At least she litter box trained in just a couple of days....an almost always hits the litter instead of just outside the box now.  

As long as we are taking inventory of the pets....counting the 10 new puppies, we now have 20 Shepherds of various ages and Greta is expecting any minute now.  That will be about our maximum population we think.  And of course there are Phoebe, Bart and Roxy..our adopted mixed-breed pets.  Lot of mouths to feed!  Speaking of which, we have gone back to Diamond brand Professional dog food and are still pleased with the quality.  It is a good quality (made locally in Missouri)  meat-based product that we have fed before.  We had a feed store years ago and always felt it was a quality product.  Everyone seems to be thriving on it and it saves us just a little on our food bill. W explained to everyone that Iams is beyond our budget for now and they understood.  Everyone has also been getting at least one hardboiled egg every day for weeks since our chickens are laying more than we can possibly use.

Excuse our mess if you visit, We are once again rebuilding or reconfiguring the kennels to make room for our 5 new growing girls, so the inside of the kennel is getting torn up and reconfigured so that each can have her own individual "bedroom" and the outside is getting modified to allow for individual outside kennel runs.   We aren't fancy, but we do try to make it comfortable for everyone.

Our home-made and designed drinking water warming bases that keep the dog's cat's and chicken's water from freezing are working very well again this winter..I see similar items for sale for $25 and up...I can make them for about $5.   Maybe we will offer them for sale for maybe $10 on our website one day,  if anyone is interested.

December 30, 2004 - We managed to take pictures of Bridghid's and Heidi's new puppies today and will be uploading them here as quickly as possible.   Advertising starts next week and these puppies can go to new homes as early as Mid January 2005.

December  25, 2004 - MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!!   THANKS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND PAST PUPPY BUYERS WHO HAVE SENT US PICTURES of their growing puppies!! 

We will post all the pictures here as soon as we are able.  We are still on dialup and posting pictures is like watching grass grow.  We have just not had time to do anything new with this website or even keep up with email the past several weeks.  Sorry!!  Life just got in the way and we have just been overwhelmed.  We will be posting pictures of the 10 new puppies from Heidi and Bridghid very soon....the advertising for them will start in January and they will be available starting about January 15, 2004. 

November 6, 2004 BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT!!!  HEIDI HAS ALSO GIVEN BIRTH TO A LITTER OF 5 PUPPIES!  2 Boys and 3 Girls.  Mom and babies are doing great.  We are awash in puppies and fully occupied..considering we are also raising 5 new girls at the same time.

November 1, 2004 BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT!!!  BRIDGHID HAS GIVEN BIRTH TO A LITTER OF 5 Puppies.  1 Boy and 4 Girls.  Mom and babies are doing well.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2004.   WE AND OUR VETS LEARNED SOMETHING NEW THIS WEEK.....

WHY OUR USUAL WORMING ROUTINE DID NOT WORK WELL THIS LAST MONTH.  

Here is the reason:     Yesterday, 9-30-04 we finished up the latest big bottle of $120 a bottle Panacur (Fenbendazole 10% Solution) as we were worming all of the puppies and adults once again ....and Surprise!! The bottle was empty...But.. it was still heavy!!  Hmmmmm?   This was a fresh bottle that we just bought last month.  It had been properly cared for, refrigerated,  and thoroughly shaken (per instructions) before use...and was now empty ...but it still weighted a lot!!  I mean a Lot!

It turned out that there was nearly an inch of white "putty-looking stuff" in the bottom of the bottle....which was in fact the undissolved active ingredient....No amount of shaking or even trying to stir the stuff would make it dissolve....heck it would not even come unstuck from the bottom! 

So for the last weeks we had been painstakingly measuring and administering to our puppies and dogs what was was essentially milky-colored water with very little medication in it!   In retrospect, the stuff did seem a little thinner than usual....

No wonder there were still signs of roundworms when we did fecal testing!

We had never seen anything like that.....and of course we took the bottle to our Vets who had never seen anything like it either....Ever.  The product was fresh and from the same supplier and manufacturer as for years past....it was just a bad production run apparently.  Our Vet replaced the product and is contacting the supplier and we are starting over worming everyone.

The only thing we can think of to do is in the future empty out the new bottles after shaking them and make sure we never get anything like this again.  So we will do that.  It just never occurred to us or our Vets that this would be necessary.

I doubt if many of you who might be reading this are buying Panacur by the quart or gallon....but it might be worthwhile to mention this experience to your own Vet who could very well be unknowingly dispensing little bottles of colored water  -instead of worming medicine - to his patients from a similar quart or gallon bottle and not know that the "suspension"...Might not "suspended" in the water at all and Might be clumped in the bottom of the bottle and he/she probably won't find this out until the bottle is "empty".  Opps!!  

We are still convinced that Panacur or a generic equivalent like Safe-guard is the best all-round, easiest to administer and  most cost-effective wormer available for puppies and adult dogs.....we just have yet another thing to watch out for now.  

If it's not one thing it's another....!!!!!!

All of our puppies and grownups are doing very well.  We are very pleased with how Victor (He is huge!)  and the rest of our "Next Generation" is coming along.  More pictures will be forthcoming here soon.  We take pictures all the time...just don't have time lately to post them it seems.  We are treating everyone for worms (Again!) and doing a lot of kennel bleaching and more feces patrol out in the yard these days..but of course we can't cover the whole 20 acres!  Normally, our adult dogs get wormed twice a year..except for those who are pregnant (who are wormed in anticipation of their delivery) and of course the adult dog's Heartgard medication also helps keep worms besides Heartworm under control.  The problem, if any,  usually arises with the puppies during their first 12 weeks or so. 

We really prefer to keep the use of these worming medicines to a minimum....afterall..it is poison and despite several years of useage and near universal agreement on safety etc. ...just like man of our human "medicines" undoubtedly has side effects the dogs can't tell us about or that may be discovered years from now.  But while dogs may be able to handle a certain amount of parasites..puppies often need some help keeping them under control..so we do what we can. 

 We think Heidi is halfway through her pregnancy...but, of course,  it is difficult to be sure at this point and ultrasound or other methods of checking seem pointless to us.   She is healthy and obviously feeling good and hopefully will deliver some healthy puppies near the end of October.   We will just have to wait and see.

We have been hearing from new puppy owners and it sounds great!..everyone seems to be adjusting nicely and having a great time.  Some puppies are being "spoiled rotten"..lucky dogs.. even to the extent of getting to sleep with their new owners!! I must admit that this has on occasion happened here at this house..but most pups are doing well in crates apparently after the usual adjustment period. 

The Greta pups are now just 10 weeks old and the two Greta girls we kept our growing before our eyes....as is normal.  Folks who have the Katie pups (born 5-1-04) have seen a lot of change over the last month...Ingrid from that litter is just shy of 40 pounds and looking beautiful....turns out she loves to swim even more than the rest of our shepherds and is always in the pond when she is out......wish we could say this makes her really clean...but she also likes to roll in the mud too....so she gets a lot of baths!  ..plain water....too much shampoo is not a good idea since if affects the protective oil on their skin and can cause problems.  Dogs will smell like dogs....you get used to it! 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful time with their new puppies!

SUNDAY, September 26, 2004.  STRESS - A POTENTIAL PROBLEM IN PUPPIES GOING TO NEW HOMES. 

This seems like a good time to talk a little more about the first few days that a new owner has a new puppy since most of Greta's puppies have now gone to their new homes. 

The Stress put on a puppy going to a new home can sometimes create some health issues to deal with and I am going to talk about that some. Watch for any sign of loose stools and be ready to take a sample to your Vet. 

Going to new homes is Always stressful for the pups but they are resilient and it all calms down soon.   But this stress can potentially create temporary health problems that need to be watched for.

I am Very familiar with the throwup and poop on the trip to a new home situation.  That is why I recommend having old towels, paper towels and covering seats with plastic.  You can’t say I don’t warm everyone about that!  Lol  It is a very very rare puppy that doesn’t do one or the other or Both in the first few miles of driving.     I think it must be the unusual motion of the vehicle that sets it off….like car sickness that people have.   Almost always after the first upset most puppies settle down and ride just fine if they can lay next to me or with head on my lap…and after a couple hundred miles most of them will wake up from long naps and want to look out the window as things speed by and it doesn’t seem to bother them at all. 

It may take a while for the puppy’s  appetite to return after a trip to a new home…he is probably going to be upset for a few days as he transitions from leaving familiar surroundings…mom and siblings etc… and bonds with you.  A little bit of milk in the dry dog food may spark the puppy’s appetite.. and maybe a raw egg mixed in or a little bit of soft food…like a little Mighty Dog Rice and Lamb canned food mixed in may get a puppy to eat better. 

As we mentioned previously, this group of puppies did show signs of  roundworms (We think the worms probably came from the new girl puppies we recently bought…..although the worm eggs are just in the environment and simply cannot be totally eliminated)…and we did do an extended 5 day treatment with Panacur to kill and supress the worms.  That does not mean that the worms were totally eliminated - that is impossible to do.    The Pups could easily reacquire worms since we do not keep them penned up on concrete but let them out to exercise and play in the yard.  

We work very hard to keep a clean environment and besides constantly picking up waste and washing we also regularly use a strong bleach solution to clean the kennel runs.  But not even a stong solution of Chlorine bleach can kill every parasite or its eggs or cysts.  

The Stress of weaning and going to a new home often does cause worms or other parasites to flare up …and it is important that this be watched for.   Diarrhea is not unusual anyway in a puppy at this time.  Stress can cause intestinal upset all by itself…but the same stress can cause worms to multiply and other bacteria and parasites to multiply too.  The theory is that stress causes the immune system to be supressed and become less efficient and this allows parasites to multiply faster than usual.   This is particularly true with young puppies since they have immature immune systems anyway.

Diarrhea in puppies should not be ignored since it can potentially be dangerous because it weakens the puppy since he is not getting nourished by his food as well and the fluid loss dehydrates him.  Diarrhea that lasts for more than 2 or 3 of times in a row probably needs attention. If it is yellowish or has any blood in it then it definitely needs attention. There is no reason to panic, just follow these suggestions and everything will be fine. 

In any event, you will definitely want to take a little poop sample in a jar or plastic baggy to your Vet on the initial visit so he or she can check microscopically for worms, eggs or cysts so that appropriate treatment can be started.

One possible cause for diarrhea could be “Coccidiosis” which just means that Coccida (a parasitic one celled protozoa organism) is multiplying in the puppy’s intestines.  See this website: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=680&S=1&SourceID=42

 Coccida is carried by the majority of all dogs and is easily acquired.  A dog’s immune system usually supresses the coccida and they normally cause no ill effects in adult dogs.   But,  puppies have less developed immune systems and can have problems handling coccida and may need help.   The Stress of leaving their familiar surroundings can sometimes surpress a puppy’s immune system enough to allow the coccida to rapidly multiply and so cause coccidiosis  - if they are carrying the organism….which they may be. 

All of the puppies had good solid stools here and showed no signs of diarrhea at all - except during the time that we were treating with Panacur which upsets their digestive tracts.  We do not routinely test stools for coccida cysts or  administer Albon if we don’t see loose stools or diarrhea.

My understanding is that coccida cannot be killed completely by anything presently available - any more than we can kill all the parasitie and symbotic organisms that are in our own intestines…in fact we would get very ill if we could …which is what happens when we take some antiboitics and get an imbalance in our own guts.   The most common treatment for coccida  is an sulfa antibiotic called Albon (sulfadimethoxine).  We are cautious about using sulfa drugs since we often have pregnant females and sulfa can cause birth defects.   But sulfa is safe for puppies.   It comes in a liquid form (5% solution)  and can easily be administered using a small syringe (needle removed) to squirt the proper dosage down the puppy’s throat.  You might have to give it for several days.  You can get this from your Vet.  Kaopectate is also sometimes prescribed to slow the diarrhea down.

Another stress factor is crate-training which can be rough the first few days….and it might not be a bad idea to defer it..or just do it when you have to…like when you go to work….  since the puppy is already stressed and upset just by the new environment.  Our puppies are all introduced to the Crate early on….but this will be his first time all alone in one so it will probably be upsetting.  Basically, dogs are sociable creatures and need warmth and contact with other dogs or people and suddenly the puppy is alone with no one to cuddle up with.  You can try a hotwater bottle wrapped in a towel to simulate some company.   He is definitely going to cry and it will sound pitiful, but you will have to ignore it and try to go to him when he is not crying otherwise he will be “trained” that he can get out by doing that and it will take even longer for him to adjust.  This time passes in a very few days…maybe even just a couple of days.  Remember to carry him outside to the spot you want to train him to go to the bathroom immediately after he eats and praise him excessively when he goes potty in the right place.

Every puppy is unique and you may or may  not experience any of these situations to one extent or another or not at all.  All of these things pass quickly if they are a temporary problem and before you know it - your puppy will be happily settled into his new home. This information is just to help out should any of these circumstances occur.