Pippi gone

Pippi went to her new home with Natasha and Julian and their 2 children last Saturday. Last thing I saw she was sitting on Natasha's lap licking her chin. My dogs don't appear to have noticed, but I like to assume there's been a bit of doggy grief in there somewhere. I took Nina to see her other daughter, Ella, yesterday, which she was very excited about.

Shame Pippi fell in the pond just before she left! I was indoors and heard Nina barking - that's nothing unusual as she barks at every passer-by, but this sounded panicky. I then heard a little squeak from Pippi (don't call her Pipsqueak for nothing) and knew exactly what had happened. Dashed out to find her doggy-paddling madly in the deep end - a few feet from the shallow end and beach but at 7.5 weeks that's clearly not obvious. Yoiked the poor girl out, wrapped her in towels and cuddled her till she warmed up and the adrenalin rush died down (in both of us!).

Update - better late than never

Well, just as it was getting interesting I got sidetracked and didn't make any entries. Sorry about that. Nina was confirmed pregnant at about 4.5 weeks, but it wasn't clear how many - looked small. At 7 weeks she was rescanned and ... just one pup. What a bugger. Rather worrying as you really can't afford to lose one when it's a singleton. However, all went well and she whelped at 6.15 on Weds 6 July.

Little Grafmax Solitaire (Pippi) weighed a healthy 460g. Here she is as a newborn. More like a little rodent than a dog! All has gone fantastically well. She's been given very active interaction and exposure to lots of things to compensate for not having sibling pups and she's extraordinarily confident at 5 weeks. She now weighs 3.5kg.

Satchmo adores her and plays with her very gently. Max hates her and doesn't want her near him. They are all jealous and seeking lots of attention. I started her on solid food at 3.5 weeks and will start weaning her away from Nina today. She's already sold and her new owners have been to see her twice and are coming again this weekend. Have alook at www.grafmax.org for more photos and video.

More puppies?

I took Nina back to see her erstwhile boyfriend, Bracco, on 5 May. They got on pretty well! Fingers crossed that she's pregnant. If so, pups will be full brothers/sisters to the Grafmax Jazz litter and will be due on 7 July and ready for new homes at end of August. I've told Nina I'd like 8 please. I can't have her scanned until 5 weeks after mating. She's started stealing Satch's and Max's food. Does that mean anything?

I can't wait to see what Satchmo thinks about some new brothers and sisters. I should think his nose will be quite out of joint when he sees his mum fussing round new babies.

Secret diary of Maximilian Thorn, aged 13 3/4

Woke up at 6am and thought, 'My Mum loves me, she won't want to miss a minute with me', so I barked and barked until she realised I was awake and came down to love me a bit more. I went out into the garden for a pee and a sniff and ran back in quickly to see her some more. She didn't seem pleased that I'd come in without waiting for her to do that strange thing where she wipes all my feet with a towel. Still, I probably imagined that - I'm a bit sensitive, you know.

She sat down at that damn thing she calls a computer and appeared to be ignoring me, so I tap-danced and whinged till she turned and laughed and stroked my neck. I love my Mum. She couldn't have been laughing at me of course, cos she loves me too much. She was probably just laughing from sheer pleasure at my stopping her having to look at that weird screen thing. Then she was forced somehow to look back at it again, so I put my front paws on her lap and gave her a big kiss.

She said, 'Off', but I know she didn't really mean it. Then she said, 'I said off, deaf bugger'. Then I knew she really loved me more than the other two, cos 'deaf bugger' is a new term of endearment that she only uses with me. That's cos I'm special. I'm her first dog and today I'm 13 and 3/4. She loves me much more than that scintillating bitch, Nina, who's only a girl after all, and MUCH more than the brat.

Have I mentioned the brat? He and 3 others, indistinguishable from him, came to live with us a couple of years ago. Mum and Nina brought them back from the vet's. They were really small then and I didn't think they'd be an issue, but, boy did they grow quick. They got everywhere. I treated them with the disdain they deserved, of course; ignored them completely, in fact, but that didn't stop them running round after me and doing their poor excuse for barking. (Not proper big boy barking like mine. Hang on a sec while I do a bit more.) Anyway, after 8 weeks, my Mum realised they were pathetic compared to me and paid people to take 3 of them away. (Yes, she did, I saw money change hands.) Seems the brat (they call him Satchmo, but I call him the brat) was so appalling they couldn't afford to get anyone to take him away. And boy did he grow. I've heard people say he's bigger than me, but of course that can't possibly be true.

Anyway, today's my 13 3/4 birthday, so Mum is going to take me for a really good walk and then Emma and Brian are coming for the weekend, specially to see me cos it's my 13 3/4 birthday. Yes, I know it's Mum's and Nina's birthdays tomorrow, but that's definitely not why they're coming; otherwise, why are they coming today?

Got to go - sausages for breakfast. That PROVES my Mum loves me best. The other 2 will get tinned food - heh, heh.

Puppies?

I've been pointedly not making a decision about whether to mate Nina when she comes into season again in a few weeks. Pro - this is her last year of being able to produce KC-registered pups, probably my last chance to raise more pups, it's good timing (summer, I'm working from home). Con - health risks? I'll be stuck at home all summer.

However, just in case, I sent her for some health checks last Friday. Like most large breeds, dobes are prone to heart problems, esp Dilated Cardiomyopathy, where the heart enlarges. She was given the full test for this 18 months ago, but had some follow-up ones and also blood tests for liver and kidney function. Her heart was fine (she didn't even have to be sedated for the tests; what a good girl) and the blood results should come back soon.

And, rather predictably, that's tipped me into thinking I should mate her if the test results are OK. Otherwise, why pay for them to be done? I expect that decision was already made subconsciously anyway.

I'll use the same sire as for the Jazz litter. Temperament couldn't be better; behaviour, health and fitness good and they're all beautiful head-turners.

And of course, there's no way I'm going to keep one...

Update on New Year resolutions

Just looked back at the New Year resolutions. Mixed bag (not very mixed; most have been pretty much failures).

"My main wish for Max is that he stays happy and healthy. My resolution is to make sure he gets 2 walks every day to keep him fit." Update - he is happy and healthy. The spring weather has seen him out in the garden a lot and he looks really fit. Can't say it's due to my success in taking him for 2 walks a day, though...

"My wish for Nina is that she stays well and continues to do well at shows. I've just started taking her again and she's had a Best of Breed, a 1st and two 2nds in her first four shows. My resolutions for her are to continue working on her nervousness of unknown small dogs if they come bounding up to her (she's much better, but more to do) and to join an agility club with her." Update - she's well and doing pretty well at shows. RBOB recently. I've taken her once to the village field where everyone walks their dogs and once to Westonbirt Arboretum. Does that count as working on her nervousness? Not really, does it? Haven't joined an agility club, but she has had a couple of agility lessons at our normal place.

My wish for Satchmo is that he stops chewing everything! Are you listening, young man? My resolutions for him are to get him through KC Gold and SWDTBC Intermediate. And to improve my handling, especially to handle him well at Crufts. Update - as with all my dobes, Satch got to 20 months and pretty much stopped chewing everything - apart from his mother's ears. He's got his KC Gold and may take his Intermediate shortly. And I DID handle him well at Crufts - as witness his 2nd and 3rd places!

Too good - I'm suspicious

Satchmo has been pretty good. He got his Kennel Club Gold last Sunday. He was really well-behaved on his walk yesterday. He hasn't chewed up anything in the garden lately. Why is it that I feel we're building up to something?