We’ll be hanging up the “ON VACATION” sign tonight and not be available for emails or calls for about ten days.

But first, let’s recap the week and let you know what’s been going on! It’s been a bit busy, to say the least.

Allie is slowly feeling better and acting more like herself. She is resting lots and goes outside for breaks when she wants. From the reading and searching I did, a raw diet is the most beneficial for this condition (and for dogs in general IMO) so she is now on raw food. Our water is very “hard” so I bought her purified water to hopefully cut down on the mineral content in her water. I found a tincture at the health food store that is for humans (we checked the ingredients and they are okay for dogs also), so we did some figuring and cut the dose down for Allie’s size. It is supposed to help break up the stones (the vets tell me that dogs do not usually pass them and one vet said “they don’t usually cause problems”…..*scratches head).  I’m hoping the natural remedy will help break them up so she can pass them. Time will tell. In the meantime, she is still on pain meds to make her more comfortable also.

She did go back into the vet on Thursday so we could do a bit more “work” on her. I was able to collect a urine sample (which they weren’t able to get last week when she was there) so the doctor could do a urinalysis. Then they drew blood and ran some lab work on her to see what her kidney functions were. Thankfully, the results were all normal!

You can see how excited she was to be back at the vet. Poor baby shook the whole time she was there. ☹️

I had some commercially prepared raw food in my freezer so that’s what I switched her to. But I didn’t have enough for when I’m gone, so out came the cookbook! Well, actually, I headed over to check out Rodney Habib’s (and Dr. Karen Becker’s) video on making a balanced homemade raw meal and followed that. Here’s the video for anyone interested.

So I made sure I had all the ingredients, gathered my equipment and got to work. (And for my vegetarian friends (we’re vegetarian too) freaking out about me making raw dog food at my house, I have a separate food processor, cutting board, knife, etc for the dog’s food) 😉

I didn’t get a picture of the process because it was kind of gross looking (pate’ for dogs anyone?) But here we have all the ingredients mixed thoroughly,  being weighed and made into patties which I froze.

Once they were frozen, I pulled them off the paper and placed two (one for breakfast, one for dinner) in a container. Hubby can just pull one container out of the freezer the day before feeding it, place it in the refrigerator and let it thaw for the next day’s meals. (I”m trying to make this as easy on him as possible!)

Little Nugget turned seven weeks old and has been matched with his forever family! (Congrats Julia and Nugget! ) Thanks to everyone who reached out showing interest in him. ❤️

He still enjoys time with mom but is also learning to eat his “big boy” food and spend time away from her.

He’s had his first few adventures outside in the backyard and absolutely loved it!

There were numerous things to work on and get in order before vacation started, one being that “T” thing that’s due on April 15th. Ugg….I can’t even bring myself to say the word. 😉 The eye-opening part is figuring out how much I spent at the vet and for health tests during the year. 😮 I’m still waiting for the clinic to put a plaque with my name on it on one wing. 😜hehe (I’m seriously thankful for the great care my fur-kids get from the docs).

And then I had to start on detailed instructions for my poor husband so he knows what to do with each and every dog. He’s great at helping with the puppies and dogs in the house, but the adults that sleep in the dog house are my job. Each dog sleeps in a specific crate, some get puppy food, Aurora gets a different puppy food (for large breeds), the others get adults food. The girls that are in season and going to be or are being bred get NuVet and a folic acid supplement and the ones confirmed get NuVet and puppy food.

We have dog runs in the dog house so dogs can be housed inside when the weather’s bad, we’re not home, or someone is in season. The female stays inside while Sundae (the fence scaler goes out), or he’s in while the girl in season goes outside. We have enough runs where it’s usually a pair of dogs that get along are housed together with a bed and toys.

When dogs go outside to potty and play first thing in the morning, the boys (and a handful of girls) go out in one yard, then the other girls go in another yard. “Some” girls get a bit testy with the other girls so those hang out with the boys until they come into season.

Folks, it’s complicated……

And I’m leaving my husband in charge of all this and hoping for the best.

And that’s why all the dog crates now have names and descriptions on them plus the number of which run they are normally in (These are my dogs and he still doesn’t know who is who sometimes or that the “red and white” dog is actually called “Blenheim”. 🤦‍♀️

Each run has a clipboard hanging on the gate with a picture of the dogs that go in that particular run together, their description and particular needs; “IN HEAT”, “give NuVet”, “pregnant”, “gets puppy food”, etc.

Oh, and did I mentioned that there are four females in heat right now! 😳 No, they will not all be bred, but I have left hubby instructions because he will need to coordinate the “honeymoons” while I’m away.

The two girls that we did ultrasounds on and confirmed they were pregnant got scanned again to see how things are progressing. One has a BUNCH of little red/apricot babies in there! (No, the ultrasound does not show color..hehe. But I know what mom and dad produce together ❤️). The other confirmed “pregnancy” is iffy. She was not as obvious as her “sister” but might be hiding one or two in there. We’ll see how she looks when I return.

And we confirmed one more pregnancy! This should be a more “colorful” litter. ❤️

Oh, and did I mention those two pregnant girls are due right about the time I return home? So, everything had to be prepared and set up for the grand event ahead of time (or if someone decides to deliver a bit early and hubby has to play midwife!)😬

So I’ll sign off for now! I’m off on an adventure…Adios! Arrivederci! Au revoir! Sayonara! Shalom!