Puppy Updates – and a website update, too
Well, I finally feel like I can stay out of bed for three hours without falling over, so it’s time for a Bunny puppies update.
As I mentioned before, this litter has been gloriously, wonderfully stress free. After an initial 48 hours spent studiously ignoring her puppies, Bunny clued in to what motherhood is all about, and hasn’t let up since.
There have been a few annoying moments (her tendency to bury herself and the kids under the blankets in the whelping box, for one), but over all she’s done so much more than I could ever hope for from a first time mom.
The pups themselves have been a striking change from the troubles I faced in Sailor’s last litter. Consider their weight development, for starters. At age one week, Delilah and her little brother weighed 15 ounces and 13.1 ounces respectively.
Bunny’s pups, on the other hand, weighed in at –
Brindle Boy – 1 lb 1.1 ounces
White Boy – 1 lb 1.1 ounces
White Girl – 1 lb 1.8 ounces
That’s a huge difference in weight, for such tiny puppies. It helps, of course, that Bunny has tons of milk. It also helps that no one is struggling to breathe. I wish I could have said the same for the last litter.
Besides weight, these pups just feel the way that healthy puppies should. That’s something that every breeder learns – how healthy puppies should feel ‘in the hand’. There’s a sense of dense, packed puppy flesh, firm and rounded and warm to the touch. They should feel heavy for their compact size, and their skin might have chubby rolls, but it should also ‘fit’ the pups. I can’t really put it into words, but anyone out there who’s ever had a litter will probably know what I mean.
Loads of new photos over on Flickr, and I’ll try to shoot some video tonight. My favorite from this set is pictured above.
Website Overhaul
French Bulldog Z – http://www.frenchbulldogz.org – has just undergone a complete site re-design and overhaul.
I’ve added tons of new sections, updated the sections on purchasing a Frenchie, Frenchie adoption and health concerns, and I’ve changed the links area to make all links require pre approval. Please visit us and take a look – I welcome your feedback and bug reports.
Most importantly, if you have an old link to frenchbulldogz.COM on your website, please please update it to our new url –
So many homes, so few puppies…
With every litter, Barb and I face the same dilemma – how do you decide who gets a puppy?
Of course, the basics apply first and foremost – references, a commitment to ongoing care, a certain amount of pre existing knowledge about Frenchies (potential owners who’ve done their homework impress me), a willingness to come in person to pick their puppy up, a sense of excitement about the idea of a new puppy.
All of this being equal, however, how do you choose? How do you pick which person gets to bring home a bundle of joy that you’ve spent ten to twelve weeks loving like its your own? How do you not only decide who you can trust, but who seems most ‘worthy’?
I know that might sound presumptuous – perhaps even conceited. It’s not meant to be.
Every day, I’m thankful that there are so many more good homes waiting for puppies than I will ever have puppies available. The rare nitwits aside, most people who contact me for puppies are caring, conscientious, wonderful potential homes any Frenchie would be thrilled to live in. After a time, I almost begin to feel a sense of obligation to help them find their new puppy (which is one of the reasons why we so frequently list puppies from other breeders that we know personally and trust implicitly.
I just hate having to tell people “no” – that I don’t have a puppy for them, that I chose someone else.
A Bunny puppies update – complete with video and photos – tomorrow.
Carol
Bunny Puppies on Day Four
I love everything about puppies (except for the work, of course).
I love watching them twitch in their sleep. I love watching them roll over, and curl themselves up like little snails. I love watching them nurse in their sleep, little mouths curving to accommodate the nipples they are dreaming of. I love watching the pigment fill in on their noses, one tiny freckle at a time. I love how they sometimes squeak in their sleep, and I love wondering what such tiny puppies could have to dream about.
I love photographing them, too. They change so rapidly at this stage of life that it can sometimes be invisible to our eyes, simply because we see them so often. Photos allow me to look back and watch their progress, charting their changes, seeing their heads and bodies develop.
Today’s new photo set is here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/frenchbulldogs/sets/72157602968873697/
Bunny has turned into such a wonderful mother that it’s allowed me the luxury to simply sit back and watch the pups as they grow, rather than fretting over them constantly. She went from having no interest in her puppies at all, to barely tolerating my handling them.
If I lift them out of the box, which I do several times daily to check them and to accustom them to being handled , she whines and paws at me until I’ve put them back. She then sniffs and cleans them thoroughly, and curves herself around their bodies until they can hardly be seen. Her very posture epitomizes protective motherhood. It’s become a joy to watch her as she bonds with her pups.