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Roy's Randy (Xena's stud boy!) (December 4, 2003)| The old farmer calls this boy by several names; 'Roy', 'Randy', and 'California 2'! *I* call him RANDY, OK? :-) Although the old farmer does not cotton to OFA, he did allow me to take Randy to my vet to have him checked - so we went to Dr. Katie Hennessey at Heartland Animal Hospital, 1200 Lynndale Ave., Faribault, MN 55021 (507) 332-0716. Dr. Katie is one of only 3 vets in the entire state of MN that is trained and certified to do Penn-HIP x-rays, and she has a special interest in bones and is highly experienced; she is the only vet I will trust to check the patellas on my pups! (Can you tell that Dr. Katie's opinion holds alot of water in my book?) While Randy is *NOT OFA CERTIFIED* Dr. Katie's opinion is that his hips are OFA GOOD, and his patellas are TIGHT AND NORMAL :-)! Many thanks to the farmer for allowing me to take his dog off his yard and drive across the state to Dr. Katie's! Randy is a black-tri saddleback, about 14 inches square, and about 16 pounds; his sire is Fire Mountain's King Roy, and his dam is Ms. Annabelle. He was bred to UKC CH Xena: Terrier Princess (Penn-HIP, OFA: hips-Ex, LCP-Normal, elbows-Normal, patellas-Normal, CERF - 15 inches square and 18 pounds) on December 13th, and produced a litter of tan-sable and white pups on 2/11/04! |
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Countdown to RatpiT's spring litter (December 13 to February 11th)| Come along our photo journey and watch Xena as she is bred - and as pups develop and are born! This album is for public enjoyment ONLY! These puppies are NOT FOR SALE. |
| 618 Visits
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Week 1 (2/11 - 2/17)| Pups stabilize and Xena settles in enough to let us take puppy portraits! We have selected a Nautical theme (the pups were born under the astrological sign "Aquarius") and for our litters we just gotta name our pups; sometimes better names are discovered down the road a piece, so names here are subject to change - but at least we have names to call them (instead of #1, #2 - how impersonal!) Pups are developmentally in the neonatal period (from 1 to 13 days) a time of rapid neurological development (they grow before your eyes!) Starting on day 3, pups are subjected to mild stress to enhance their development. |
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Week 2 (2/18-2/24)| Pups continue their rapid neurological development as we approach the second half of the neonatal period. The pups are given a thermal stress this week, which is accomplished by putting them on a cool surface to allow their bodies to sense a drop in temperature. This stress serves to enhance their immune system, and is very simple to administer - but time consuming, and also very loud! |
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Week 3 (2/25-3/2)| Pups enter the Transitional period; eyes open and pups get up on leg and start walking with baby steps. Pups ears open up at the end of this week - rather some pups can hear by the end of this week (Intrepid!) and some will open up the following week (the rest of them). We continue mild stress excercises to help condition the pups to human handling. Nail trims continue as the tiny hooks continue to grow. |
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Week 4 (3/3-3/9)| Pups enter the first stage of socialization - the 'Period of becoming aware.' They can hear and see, and beginning to eat solid food. The pups bark, growl, bite and wag tails, and play prey killing games; they also tire very quickly! The pups are installed in the nursery this week; because this is such a stimulating week for the pups, the only mild stress we do this week is to take each pup away from the litter, and place them on a foreign surface - and then record the results for our puppy personality profiles. By weeks end Ruby is in doggy heaven when at long last she is allowed to cavort with the pups! |
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Week 5 (3/10-3/16)| Pups enter the second stage of socialization - the 'period of curiosity.' They are curious and explore their environment, and they practice social behaviors as they interact with the pack. The start of the fear period (a time when pups are super impressionable) begins this week, but won't crest until 8 weeks. The key stress activity this week involves ears and eyes, and so we work to socialize the pups to loud noises prior to the crest of the fear period. We also begin one-on-one sessions with the pups, spending a few minutes of private time with each day to help them build a positive self image. Also this week, a special visitor- the doggy chiro! |
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Week 6 (3/17-3/23)| The 6th week is prime socialization time! We have taken vacation from work to devote to puppy socialization parties. Pups ride in the car for the first time as they experience one-on-one sessions at the coffee shop meeting new people. Visitors stop by with children to help socialize our pups to kids as well as adults! A special THANK YOU to all our puppy socializers! |
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Week 7 (3/24-3/30)| Pups focus on the dominance order as socialization to both humans and canines continues. We get a taste of SPRING and pups are finally able to go outside and feel the sun! Potentially traumatic experiences are kept to a minimum as the 'fear period' - a sensitive imprinting time for the pups - crests. |
| 469 Visits
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Week 8 (3/31-4/6)| The pups continue to socialize with dogs and people, but we keep things mellow as the pups pass the crest of the 'fear period' - a very impressionable time for the litter. My puppy testing team comes thru once again as we coordinate puppy aptitude testing on day 49; the day the pups exhibit adult brain waves - and a time before any emotional baggage can influence core behavior. Xena works on weaning the pups while the whole pack works on showing the pups the ropes and demonstrating rank. |
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Week 9 (4/7-4/13)| Pups enter the 9th week with lots of butt whooping! The adult pack teaches the pup pack all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and pups continue to work out the dominance order. Pups learn to be responsible for their own bodies this week; they get stepped on and quickly learn that they need to get out of the way, as the adults are no longer jumping over them but now walking thru them! There are lots of car rides this week, out to Wisconsin for a Hasting's evaluation and out to Faribault for a vet check! We get news from the vet (both bad and good) which helps us to further sort the pets from the breeding dogs in the litter, and two brood prospects get go home this week! The remaining litter adjusts to the change in pup pack numbers with tests for dominance. All in all a very busy week in the RatpiT! |
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Week 10 (4/14-4/20)| Pups enjoy a mellow week. We would normally practice leash walking at this time, but due to the new F-strain parvo we are playing it safe and keeping the pups off public property until they are fully vaccinated at 12 weeks. The pups have no problem finding alternate games to play off leash (they try to dig to China!) All in all another busy week in the RatpiT! |
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Week 11 (4/21-4/27)| Pups continue to GROW and paper train as we experience camera (operator?) malfunctions. Yet another mellow week in the RatpiT! |
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Week 12 (4/28-5/4)| This week is filled with many visits and fieldtrips, and pups are now fully socialized to car travel and crating so a quiet, pleasant drive for all! This week also includes a vet visit with surprise good news! |
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Week 13 (5/5-5/11)| Huge changes happen in the RatpiT this week! We get two very special additions, and Dauntless goes home! |
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Week 14 (5/12-5/18)| Pups continue to work out dominance orders as the numbers of the pup-pack ebb and rise! The Team-mates get plenty of dog/dog socializing, and the humans get to enjoy the show! And, Nemo goes home this week! |
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Week 15 (5/19-5/25)| We continue with a busy week of socializing pups large and small! The A-team project is a success, and another success this week - Tiny goes home! |
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