Picky eater!!

I mentioned a few posts back that we need to switch away from Royal Canin brand before the puppies get addicted to the oily flavor. It turned out that we only had enough RC to mix the next 4 meals with the new Hills food.

That means the 5th meal was 100% Hills. Kovy inhaled it and didn't notice a different. Muji, however, wasn't impressed with the sneaky change in flavor. She took a few bites and started crying and trying to howl (puppies learning how to howl is a really awful sound).

I stood my ground and let her cry it out, and eventually she took a few bites. Finally, I went old-school on her and filled her bowl with warm milk, which she lapped up happily. That filled her stomach, and perhaps showed her that it's either "new food or milk." She apparently likes to eat more than drink, because she ate the next meal just as fast as Kovy!

We had almost gone out to buy another bag of Royal Canin to ease the transition, but that proved to be unnecessary.

Along the lines of puppy food, we've been doing research on different brands. Turns out there's a lot out there I didn't know about dog food. Checking out these two sites:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

you can learn everything about the ingredients and additives in every dog food out there. It turns out that the new Hills food isn't exactly the best. After some price and reviews comparisons, I think we decided that organic dog food is the way to go. Specifically, we decided on Nature's Domain (from Costco), but Taipei Costco doesn't carry it, so we're still in the market for a new brand of food.

On the way home from Costco, we stopped at a dog product store and looked at some more food brands and took home some samples of Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul dog food. It checks out on both those sites, so it might be what we end up phasing in when our bag of Hills is running low.

Can we really do this?

Although it's only been in the back of my mind for the past two weeks, last night we talked about the idea of raising two puppies again.

Before reading about the hardships of raising litter mates, I was already put off and a bit uncomfortable with the idea, just from sheer time and space. But after learning about the other behavioral and emotional problems that are seemingly inevitable, I really can't stop fearing the future. I love dogs, and I'm in love with both of my puppies, but I don't want it to ruin my life, which is why I wasn't actively looking to get a puppy to begin with.

Anyway, we talked about what we'd have to do, such as walking, feeding, playing, etc separately. We talked a bit about trying to find a nice home to send one of the puppies (I decided if it came down to it, I'd want to keep Kovy), but the bottom line is that there are already a LOT of puppies that are trying to find homes for. 

It really seems like there's no hope for Muji to find a new home, which led the conversation back to "Ok, well, I guess if we have to raise them both, we will."

So actually the question isn't "Can we really do this?" but rather "We are going to do this." 

It's possible, but with more stress than I've been used to in awhile.

A second opinion

It's been 2 weeks exactly since we found the pups. They are basically newspaper trained and almost completely off the bottle (maybe once a day between solid food meals). Still unsure about their age and breed, we decided to go see another vet for a second opinion.

This vet kind of looked like a dirty basement but the woman seemed really nice. After spending a few minutes in there it got better, but it definitely didn't have that sterilized/safe atmosphere to it. 

Our new puppy food!

Anyway, the woman told us they were some kind of mix (nothing about German Shepherds) and they'd grow to be medium sized dogs. She also noticed that almost all of their teeth had grown in, which meant they were at least 1 month old. We're going to stick with the 4-5 week estimate. She mentioned they should be completely off the bottle as soon as possible so they can start learning how to chew. 

After the run-down of all the things we need to do in the future (and giving us a puppy passport to keep track!), she gave each dog a de-worming pill. She also gave us a few treats to take home for when they start really chewing. 

Another thing she pointed out is that the puppy starter-food we got was just about the best tasting and most oily food out there (Royal Canin), and that if we continue feeding them this food, they'll never be able to eat another brand. Needless to say we ran out immediately and got another type of puppy food so we can phase out the Royal Canin.

Follow up on the de-worming pills: 

They both had worms, and it was gross. They were extremely long and white. 

Upgrade

It appears that the little box and the small fish tank are already too small to hold our puppies. Not only are the puppies both old enough to start exploring, but Kovy has already started to become an escape artist.

I'm bored in here! Let me out!

It was definitely time to upgrade for a few reasons:

• If Kovy actually manages to pull himself over that box, he's going to hurt himself.
• The puppies don't look comfortable sharing that small box anymore.



Kovy and Muji's makeshift den in the corner of the living room.

• The puppies are at the age (4 weeks) where they are supposed to start instinctively leaving the "nest" to do their business, and a small box doesn't allow for that. 

So here's what I did. I used some boxes and laid down a bookshelf to make a little pen for the pups. Half of it is covered in newspaper and half is covered in wee-wee pads. Yes, that sounds like they are supposed to pee everywhere, but let me explain:

Wet newspaper= success!

The newspaper side is the "bathroom." They soil the newspaper, and instead of replacing the newspaper, we just place another piece on top of the mess. This way, the "bathroom" retains the smell which should make the puppies more inclined to keep returning there. The sleeping side is covered in wee-wee pads because the pads have a plastic lining on the bottom. Should they pee on the bed, we can easily remove and replace the wee-wee pad without it have seeped through to the floor, leaving a fresh-smelling bed.

At first Muji and Kovy were both doing their business all over both sides of their new pen. There wasn't a divider between the bathroom and sleeping area, so I used a bit of Styrofoam wrapped in a towel to separate the two areas. My thought process was that the puppies didn't actually feel like they were leaving the sleeping area to pee. However, if they have to climb out of the nest, they'll actually feel like they left the nest. After about a day of constant supervision and keeping any trace of urine out of the sleeping area, it worked!!

Solid!

Alright! Muji and Kovy can both eat solid food!

A massive dish for their first solid meal. Also their first time swimming!

Of course by solid I mean it has been soaked in milk for 10 minutes, so it's more like the consistency of oatmeal. But hey, it's a big step from bottle-feeding. For now, we're doing every second feeding is soggy puppy food, and they are licking the bowl clean.

Zon's choice of food for the pups (even though they aren't Minis!)

It's a race! We're weaning!

Muji, I think you're getting to big for the bottle

It's been almost a week and the puppies are starting to eat (drink?) less often, but more in one feeding. We had been giving them around 2 ounces of milk every 2-4 hours, but they still seem to be hungry (thirsty?). After each meal they still try to suckle everything they can reach.

Actually, speaking of that, we've started separating them at night because whenever Muji is hungry, she starts trying to nurse on Kovy's private parts. I've read some stuff on the internet saying that could cause some skin irritation for Kovy, but another issue is that they are still at the age where they need to be stimulated in order to relieve themselves. Usually, Zon and I have to take a wet tissue and wipe them over and over again until they pee/poop.

Another thing we've noticed as they try to suckle our fingertips is that they've got some serious teeth growing in. This leads me to believe that they are older than the initial speculation of 2 weeks. So we're going to get some transition puppy food to start weaning them off the milk bottle.

What 2 do, What 2 do?

After yesterday's big decision ("we're keeping them!!!!"), there was a giant weight lifted off my shoulders. Although it was only for about 36 hours, I was really stressed out trying to think of the "right" thing to do. Do Zon and I have what it takes to give these puppies the life they deserve? And of course, after tons of puppy research, we answered "yes."

Last night, however, two things were keeping me up (actually four if you count the puppies).