Zenith | Dangerous Common Sense

Day 94 — Christmas is Over. No Need to Hide Our Naughtiness!

By Galen|2019-01-21T14:44:35-08:00December 26, 2018|dachshunds|

AuRoara (note the updated spelling) says that now that Christmas is over, there is no need to feign angelic behavior. Like any child, she saves the worse (and cutest) temper tantrums for Mom. Mother Zenith does look like she can handle the pressure, though! Christmas is over. It's okay to talk back to Mom now.Remember to click on this and any other picture for a larger version. Do it twice! Even the human dads find it hard to ignore the snapping of teeth! Geoffrey and a Snappy AuRoara on the Bed

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Day 77 — A Family Day

By Galen|2018-12-09T17:53:01-08:00December 9, 2018|dachshunds|

The pack doesn't take its normal daytime nap when Geoffrey is home. Instead, today was mostly constant in/out/up/down. For Aurora, of course, the motivation for all movement was PLAY! I went to church and by the time I came home and did some stuff it was late, so no visitors today. We did discover that Aurora doesn't seem to want lunch anymore. She's enthusiastic about breakfast and dinner, nearly cleaning a big bowl of wet puppy food and kibble. Aurora also has discovered that she can use the human's fixation on bodily functions to get trips outside whenever she wants. She [...]

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Day 4 — Struggling to Thrive

By Galen|2018-10-01T18:56:32-07:00September 27, 2018|dachshunds|

Metro is in the incubator at the emergency room where we brought him at in the middle of the night. When we fed him yesterday afternoon, we hoped he had turned the corner. He sucked from the bottle, and the amount of fluid our vet calculated that he drank sounded good. Unfortunately, the feedings at 6:30, 10, and 1 am had him eating very little. He kept losing weight, getting down to 4.97 ounces at 3 am from 5.39 ounces at 9 in the morning. He was born at 6.31 ounces... losing weight the first day is normal, and he [...]

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Day 3 — Eat! Please!!

By Galen|2018-10-01T18:58:27-07:00September 26, 2018|dachshunds|

MUNI, the girl seen here on the left, is gaining weight. The boy is losing weight and not staying well latched on. The Midday Report today has to focus on getting nourishment to the boy. The first week of their lives puppies aren't very interesting, anyway. They eat and sleep. They crawl over mother to find a dining spot, but they don't play, open their eyes, or generally act much more than consumers of milk. That's ideally. The girl, who we are tentatively calling MUNI, is doing okay. She is constantly on a nipple and sucking. She's gained [...]

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Trying to Get Comfortable – Day 2 at 1:45 pm

By Galen|2018-10-01T18:58:13-07:00September 25, 2018|dachshunds|

A day for vigilance, or how to act like nervous grandparents. Our major concern at the moment is that Zenith ate only a breakfast of boiled chicken breast at about 7 and has refused more, refused more with rice, refused more with rice and chicken broth. She also has moments of whining and nervousness, moving the puppies further back in the whelping box, especially if both Geoffrey and I are in the room at the same time. The puppies seem fine. The girl continues to nap on a nipple and wakes to nurishment. We worry that the boy stays on [...]

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Zenith’s Puppies — Day One

By Galen|2018-09-24T22:49:29-07:00September 24, 2018|dachshunds|

Zenith's C-Section at Bishop Ranch was on schedule and had happy results. At 2:02 this afternoon a girl was born, followed about a minute later by a smaller, darker boy. Dr. Janice Cain and her team were reassuring, warm, professional, and kept us all healthy and sane. Bringing the Puppy to her first Towelling It's now 10:15 at night and we are all home and settled down a bit. Zenith and the girls are in with Geoffrey in the television room. The heat is on to a cozy 75 degrees. Zenith is in the whelping box, and most [...]

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