Day 81 – Continuing the Journey of a Lifetime, 11 Weeks in the Making!

June 27, 2018June 27, 2018Leave a comment

It’s been an emotional 7 days in our household with a variety of different “Sugar news”. Last Tuesday, it was time for Sugar to be spayed and begin her journey of smelling the roses! In the very near future, she will be retired and we will be adopting her! She is well known and liked at the Vet Hospital due to her litters, and the cutest thing I heard was when the news was spreading amongst staff that Sugar was in for a spay one of the staff came up to me and said: “What do you mean, no more Sugar Cubes????” After a good chuckle, I told her no, it was time for Sugar to turn that over to the younger pups in the program!

The spay didn’t go as well as we had hoped. Due to her C-sections and litters, she had a bit more of a complicated surgery. It was a long night at our house with her. As the night became early morning and we still weren’t seeing the progress we had hoped, it became evident early the next morning that continued medical care was needed. Unfortunately, there was some unexpected internal bleeding which required her to return back to the vet for an additional procedure the next morning, some extra medications, and observation. She came back to our home on Thursday after her extended stay and has been recuperating while we spoil her rotten and get her back on the road to long walks, fun playdates and some great exercise in the not so distant future.

So it was wonderful to have a fun and rewarding time to play with adorable Sugar Babies tonight and unwind from an otherwise stressful week!

Seriously, how do you resist such an adorable face??

Today was the special opportunity that many whelping homes wait for patiently – the evening to see “their” puppies after they are away at the Duluth prison! They left around 6 weeks and now this N litter of Sugar’s is over 11 weeks old-the 7 pups have been away for almost half of their life and I couldn’t get to the facility quick enough for my play date with them! It felt like when my girls returned from college!

Norton offering his best sit on command!

When I arrived they were just getting taken out of the vehicle. Then they were corraled over to the training room where my husband and I would have the opportunity to play with them for about 45 minutes prior to their great start and puppy raiser families arriving to come to pick them up. Tonight would be their first official time away from their littermates. They spent time away from their siblings at night when they were all with different handlers, but they got multiple opportunities to play with them during the days while they were there. The first two weeks they still had Sugar there with them and the last 3 weeks they had the comfort of their other 6 siblings. They’ve been busy learning while they’ve been there, but that doesn’t mean that tonight won’t still be a tough adjustment for them! I will be curious to hear how the evening, the overnight and tomorrow go for these wonderful puppies!

While I thoroughly enjoyed playing with them, about halfway through I had to step away and detach a bit. This litter, in particular, I was a bit sad because I knew it was the last litter Sugar would have, so this goodbye seemed a bit more emotional and final than I had prepared myself for. I wanted this to be a happy celebration for these puppies who are going to do amazing things during their lifetime and I didn’t want that to be lessened by me falling apart into a puddle of tears, so that meant I needed to step away from the “playing” and observe a bit more from distance. Over the years I’ve learned a bit more about controlling those emotional stepping stones(but I’m still terrible at it!); I’m not sure if it’s because you get used to it, or you start learning how to protect your heart a bit more from the emotions of the experience.

You never get tired of seeing your whelping litters

Using a “settle” to keep this pup quiet during some of the filming from the news station

After the litter drank the WHOLE bowl of water, those eyes were expectantly looking for more!

The puppies were having a great time with the space and the toys

And as I was playing and watching the puppies, I started seeing the anticipatory faces of the volunteers who were coming to pick their new “adventure” up through the observation windows! I thought back to the time when I was the one picking up a puppy to puppy raise and how excited I was for the new opportunity I was embarking on! I can’t believe how many years have passed since that first experience, but my heart feels like it’s been way more than 6 1/2 years! It is FULL of experiences that 7 years ago I couldn’t have even imagined in my wildest dreams! Happy, sad, funny, exhausting, overflowing with joy, amazed, scared, determined……Offhand I can’t think of any emotions that I haven’t experienced through the puppies that I have been so fortunate to have in my house whether it was for a short foster, a long-term foster, a great start, being a puppy raiser, having a litter of puppies, or hosting a breeder dog (or two). Each of them has taught me something that is now part of me and that I can’t separate from even if I wanted to

Ken enjoyed the opportunity to say hello again as well

Norton wanted to sit and watch the other puppies roughhouse, but he wanted to catch a quick rest rather than joining in!

The mirror in the training room is always a big hit when the puppies arrive!

So, with time, things change. I get to say another goodbye and think of how my life will change again in the near future, with new and different adventures. Soon, Sugar will be OURS and we will get to write a new future together! I’m not sure what that future holds, but I know with Sugar by my side it will be amazing!

Right when we got home, Sugar went crazy when she smelled the puppies on me, grabbed a toy and looked at me like “where are they”??! Due to her surgery last week, we had to try and keep her calm and quiet, but she was waiting to play with her puppies!

Even though Sugar won’t be having any more puppies, I hope people will still read this blog! Since the blog is called “Life of Sugar” we still have a lot of things to say!!!! I think Sugar has many new things she will be enjoying! Hopefully, the next post you see will be about her official retirement from the program!

Day 8-What Blizzard? It’s Sunny, Warm, and 80 Degrees-At Least in the Whelping Box! (Perspective is Everything)

April 14, 2018April 14, 2018Leave a comment

THE GLIMMER OF POTENTIAL BEGINS TO APPEAR

As you can see by the picture below, it’s hard to remember it’s spring right now……

But perspective is so important! We may not be having the nicest weather currently, but hopefully, everyone will be able to settle inside somewhere and enjoy some good music, television, family time or just catching up on their to-do list. This won’t last forever….at least that is what I keep telling myself day after day after day…… 🙂

Perspective is also important when it comes to assistance dogs. There are all sorts of storylines regarding assistance/service dogs in our everyday world-from those who make training service dogs much more difficult because they try to pass off their pet as a service dog, to those who ask us questions about if assistance dogs are happy and ever get to “just be dogs”, to the dogs who have “made it” and are happily serving clients all over the world, changing their lives and wagging their tails! And let’s not forget the dogs who started in the journey of becoming an assistance dog and for a myriad of reasons were unable to complete THAT journey, but have gone on to lead wonderful lives of purpose as comfort dogs, therapy dogs, and precious pets. The great thing about dogs is that they change lives everywhere they go, and it’s not limited to those in only in the assistance/service dog world! They are truly amazing, and if you haven’t had the opportunity to see that then just take time to stop and observe one day and watch the dogs around you. They read their humans like no one can; they adjust to the changing world around them that’s out of their control with a calm stride and they make others laugh and smile-sometimes they are the only ones that can do this with such little effort!

People ask me why fake service dogs are a problem and I talk to them about how poorly behaved dogs that aren’t qualified to be out in public give ALL dogs a bad name in public places, not to mention the safety factor which is unfair to the dogs who aren’t adequately trained to be in all of those situations as well as the humans who encounter them. Just like you wouldn’t pay an untrained person to be your doctor or fix your furnace due to safety issues, having people who aren’t trained to handle public situations with dogs is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Dogs that are put in environments that they haven’t been exposed to regularly can suffer from stress and anxiety, and that can lead to a bad reaction or interaction in a crowd. One bad experience with a fake service dog that you think is a legitimate service dog will taint the viewpoint of how these dogs serve clients in public spaces. The more issues that people and businesses encounter with fake service dogs, the more they question us volunteers about the dogs we are training in public. That’s exactly why it takes assistance dogs 2+ years to get enough experience and training to be successful in their careers and that’s why it’s so frustrating for fosters, puppy raisers and volunteers to have to endure the increased challenges of justifying why we have the dogs we are training out in public. If assistance dogs in training don’t have the opportunity to get out in public and experience all of the things they will need to know about before they go into service, this can decrease their confidence and make them less able to perform their tasks as needed.

As for dogs in training “just being dogs”, I can assure you that the dogs in training that I have personally fostered, short or long term puppy raised or have been a breeder host for have more opportunities, more fun times of play, more one on one attention, more toys (just ask my husband how many baskets of dog toys he begrudgingly has to tolerate in our living room) and more “just being dogs” than other dogs I have owned in my entire life! We experience life as a TEAM, and they get to enjoy things with me that I never got to enjoy with my own personal dogs. Movies, restaurants, cafes, parks, buses and light rail, pancake breakfasts and the list goes on! They’ve allowed me to see the everyday things in my life from a completely different lens and my perspective has changed in ways I could have never imagined!

When I had ankle surgery and was in a wheelchair and on crutches for 4 months, I realized how difficult it was to get places, how hard it was to open doors and how every task for me seemed so much more difficult to accomplish. I also realized that people are so busy in their lives that sometimes they don’t take the extra few seconds to help someone around them-not wanting to “offend” them by offering help or they are just too busy to stop. But when you watch clients with assistance dogs, part of the difficulty in some tasks gets removed but their companionship also provides comfort, and these dogs draw a great sort of attention that makes people react differently which is so incredible to watch!

And, don’t ever feel TOO bad for a career changed assistance dog; their lives are full of people who love them, families who play with them, and opportunities to continue changing lives! Many become certified therapy dogs and bring joy to another whole plethora of people!

So, on this blustery winter day, my suggestion is to change your perspective, and feel the warmth of these puppy pics-and just TRY not to smile!!!!! Feeling warm inside from the cuteness of these adorable puppies is a pretty good alternative 🙂

Miss Pink, Mr. Orange and Mr. Red making sure I remember what’s REALLY important-the small things!

Miss Pink-I just call her heart stealer……

cuteness overload! Check out the extra skin on the leg of Mr. Red-he’s sure got his Mama Sugar’s extra skin gene!!!!

Sugar just relaxing on this cold blustery day with her beautiful pups!

Mr. Blue getting comfortable

NOW he’s comfortable!

A little snuggle time with Miss Pink

Glimmer

Day 5: The Gift You Can Only Give Once-Puppies of Purpose Have a Busy Schedule Ahead of Them!

April 11, 2018April 11, 2018Leave a comment

Many people love seeing Service/Assistance Dogs when they are working with clients, but often don’t realize the work that has gone into those dogs over their entire lives to get them ready for the job at hand, and the work begins as soon as they are born. As a whelping home for my first time in 2015, I was a bit amazed at everything that these puppies are exposed to in the early days of their lives which research has proven has a direct impact on how well adjusted they can be as an adult dog! I also had to learn that holding and loving these puppies is critical, but it doesn’t replace the other things that puppies need to experience; new environments to experience and changing their environments to teach them to adapt to their surroundings, exposure to a whole variety of sights, sounds and smells, socialization with every possible opportunity once they are old enough (but at the very least with me and my husband handling them frequently until they can socialize with others) creating brain challenges for them to keep their neurological stimulation at its very peak so they can transfer that to becoming a dog that loves to work and help with tasks.

Here are the stages of these tiny pups and what they should experience in order to give them the perfect building blocks for success!

The excerpt below is taken from a Healthy Pets article by Mercola and does a great job of explaining the first 8 weeks of puppy development.

5 Milestones in Every Puppy’s Life

•Stage 1: Whelp. A whelp is any just-born carnivorous animal. The word is most often associated with newborn puppies. Whelping means birthing; to have whelped means to have given birth.

•Stage 2: Neonate. Neonate refers to a newborn pup from day 0 to day 13 of life. Neonate puppies can’t see (their eyes are still closed), can’t hear (their ears are sealed shut) and can’t pee or poop without stimulation (licking) from mom.

They have no teeth, nor do they have the ability to regulate their own body temperature.

These tiny babies depend on mom and their littermates to stay warm, which is why they tend to snooze in furry little piles. Neonates sleep about 90 percent of the time, and when they’re awake, they’re nursing.

Fortunately, they’re born able to smell, which helps guide them to mom’s nipples at mealtime.

The first milk a mother dog produces is colostrum, which contains the antibodies that transfer maternal immunity to help protect the pups from opportunistic diseases during their first weeks of life.

NEUROLOGICAL STIMULATION

Virtually all the energy a neonate’s body generates goes toward growth. They typically double their birth weight during the first week of life. Since they can’t yet stand, they sort of paddle around using their front legs. This soon leads to crawling.
It’s during this time (days three to 16) that its beneficial to institute early neurological stimulation (“super puppies,” as some say) which can oftentimes result in more balanced adult dogs.

The U.S. military did studies on raising puppies, and they found that doing certain exercises with puppies during the time of rapid neurological growth, between the puppies third and sixteenth day of life would increase the pups performance in later life. They created a program called the Bio Sensor program consisting of 5 exercises to be done once a day with the pups. They found that not only were puppies able to cope more with stressful situations, and problem solve better than other puppies, but that they were actually physically healthier with higher cardiovascular performance, stronger immune systems, adrenal glands and heart beats.

They are only done for a brief 3-5 seconds so as to stimulate the neurological functions without stressing them too much.

Holding them upright encourages neurological stimulation and blood flow

Holding them upside down for 3-5 brief seconds causes additional neurological stimulation which is different than when they are held upright!

The supine position has them laying on their back or cradled-I can just imagine those brain cells developing as we go through these exercises!

Using a Q-tip on the paws and between the pads is a tactile stimulation that can help them be adaptable in future situations where there is a flooring change, a different surface that they need to manipulate, etc. and keeps them learning to be adaptable to their surroundings

Placing the puppies on a cool, wet rag briefly continues to stimulate the neurological connections that they will use as they grow into adult dogs!

Below is a video explaining neurological stimulation by a veterinarian.

•Stage 3: Transition period. The transition period covers days 13 through 21 of a puppy’s life. The ears start to open at around day 14, and the eyelids between days 10 to 16. As you can imagine, these events give the pups a whole new outlook (literally) on their world.

They begin to respond to smells and tastes, and their little puppy grunts evolve to whines, yips and barks. By day 15, most pups are standing up, and within the next several days they take their first unsteady steps. At this point, they go from total reliance on mom to a bit of independence.

•Stage 4: Awareness period. The awareness period is day 21 to day 28. By 3 weeks of age, pups are using their senses of sight and hearing to learn. They’re beginning to play with their littermates and explore their environment.

This is also the time during which puppies gain some control over elimination and begin moving away from their “den” (sleeping area) to pee and poop.

•Stage 5: Socialization period. The initial socialization period encompasses weeks 3 to 8 in a puppy’s life. It’s during this period that her interactions with other pets and people increase, and she’s able to form attachments.

At about 4 weeks of age, mom’s milk production begins to taper off, and the puppies’ calorie requirements increase. As mom gradually weans her pups, they begin showing serious interest in solid food.

As luck (and more importantly, nature) would have it, at 3 to 4 weeks, the canine teeth begin to push through, and a full set of puppy teeth make an appearance between weeks 4 and 6.

Age 6 to 8 weeks is considered a critical time in every puppy’s socialization period. This approximately two-week window is when puppies are most accepting and least fearful of others.

How quickly a pup’s mental development occurs is a direct result of the environmental stimulation she receives during this period. By week 8, most puppies are fully weaned. Puppies need additional, expansive socialization from 8 weeks to 6 months of age to best acclimate to all life will throw at them as adults. At 3 to 5 months, permanent teeth begin to replace puppy teeth, and by 7 months, puppy has a full set of permanent teeth.

Here is a video that I believe explains the process of Super Puppy Training that Whelping Homes perform with their litters to help them have the best possible start in life on their journey to becoming an assistance dog!

Day 3-The Foreign Language of the Whelping Box; Strangely Familiar and Yet Totally Brand New at the Same Time

April 9, 2018April 9, 2018Leave a comment

The puppies have been in my home for 3 days now, and what I realize is that although it’s not my first litter, it’s a whole new world that I have to explore again with new eyes. Every litter, every momma dog, every experience, and every puppy is different; and every whine, cry, and pant that I had learned to decipher from a previous litter in my home is now only a casual reference point and I have to learn the “language of the box” all over again. I have to use what I’ve learned in the past to help guide me on this journey, yet I can’t allow the previous experiences to cloud my judgment for what’s in front of my eyes with THIS litter.

Dinner time!

A cry from a puppy can be that they are too hot, too cold, hungry, not feeling well, are looking for their mom, or have to go to the bathroom which they need Sugar’s assistance for, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities are endless, and as soon as I assume I automatically know what it is without exploring all of my options I’ve lost the benefit of fresh eyes to find the real reason for their vocalization. Honestly, it’s like learning a foreign language in a record amount of time! Some litters love a warm whelping box, while others don’t; some love being with their littermates and others love to be in the far corners of the box away from everything-yet puppies going off on their own could also indicate something might be amiss. So, you carefully watch and wait for their next move so you can compile the information and then come up with your best guess as to what’s going on and if it’s an issue or just puppies being puppies.

The puppy tubes give the puppies some traction while nursing so they aren’t slipping all over; we also use loop rugs to give them traction as they get more voracious appetites!

There’s what the books and the experts tell you about tiny little puppies and then there’s your vision of what you see, your gut instinct, and the interactions between mom and puppies. It turns you into a detective of sorts until you solve the mystery and you see a reaction in the puppies, the mom, or the environment that tells you either you are right on or try again. More often, it seems to fall into the latter category, and yet you don’t have the option to get frustrated because being alert to the tiniest of clues is really important. You don’t have time to pat yourself on the back, because a new mystery is waiting just around the corner to present itself for you to solve! The first big hurdle is the birth of the puppies, but sometimes people don’t realize that there are a hundred more hurdles along the way to them becoming 8 week old bundles of joy! Lucky for us, staff is there to guide us along the way with their knowledge and expertise so we don’t have to do the journey alone!

One litter in our home loved a 90-degree whelping box and this litter prefers more like an 80 degree box-but the variables are what played into that difference. Sugar is spending much more time in the box this time around and so they are cuddling with her nice warm body more often; the days have been sunny and the sunlight in the window can warm the room more than if it were the middle of winter; even my choice of waterproof pads and sheets can affect the level of heat that the floor retains which affects their comfort level. All of these things that change are out of my control and so I have to figure out how to solve it differently this time than maybe previous times. We watch the puppies constantly to watch their body language. If they huddle they might be cold, if they spread out they are too warm, if they cry it could be either or a combination of anything else!

By the end of the night, your mind feels like you’ve spent all day in a college-level course of a brand new language, and tomorrow you get to do it all over again with a whole new language! My brain loves a challenge, so this experience gives me opportunities in thinking “outside of the box” and to be open-minded. I honestly believe that my experiences in whelping have directly impacted my views of the real world; I have learned to explore options much more freely and to look for solutions that might not be “traditional”. It’s taught me to appreciate experiences and people, places and things that I may not have previously because you never know how much effort, training, skill or heart that has gone into what you see in front of you!

Pink got the prized spot for the moment:)

Mama! I’ve got a secret to tell you!!! I love you!

Nursing while laying down is EASY! But sitting up gives you an idea of just how smart I am already!

I never get tired of watching the puppies vie for their Mama Sugar’s attention!

Day 2 – The Wonder of Love in Progress

April 7, 2018April 8, 2018Leave a comment

As I sit here during the pre-dawn hours, I watch with wonder at this moment in front of me. Just 24 hours ago, we were at the Vet Hospital getting an earlier than planned assisted delivery of future assistance puppies.

But now, as I watch with only the light from the streetlights and the heating lamp, I am on the sidelines, watching this beautiful bond being formed between a mother dog and her puppies. I quietly sneak a peek into her private world-where humans aren’t part of the equation. You would think that she was too tired, in too much pain from the surgery, or too concerned about herself to concentrate any of her limited energy on her litter of 7. But, what I witness is exactly opposite of that; I see Sugar-who with every litter has given it her all in ways I would have never guessed would happen in the canine world! You see her watching the puppies as if she were studying them to get to know them; at the first sound coming from them she immediately reacts to see what the issue is and she offers the only thing she has to make them feel better -herself. And tonight is no different because she searches for them even if she is out of the box for a couple of minutes-wanting me to bring her food into the whelping room area where she will be close to the puppies. She chooses to only leave the room to go outside to the bathroom, preferring a 4X5 whelping box in the office in our house instead of the freedom of our entire house where she could relax! Now that the babies are here, she knows where HOME for her is!

Nothing better than puppy kisses

And her mother’s senses which are laser sharp seem to gain clarity with each litter and each day, like when she finally decides to come out of the box to sleep right at the entrance but wakes up for no apparent reason, goes into the box and walks directly to ONE particular puppy who magically goes to the bathroom only seconds later- and she is right there to clean her baby up! What is it that tells her which puppy would need her a few moments into the future? Is it a particular scent that gives her direct cues of what she needs to do with which puppy?: She also hesitates and doesn’t step into the box; preferring to wait for us to come check on her when she gives a little whine so that we can move the puppies out of her way and she can get into the whelping box without incident! She also exhibits this behavior if she is going to get out of the box and puppies are on her. Rather than jumping up and displacing the puppies she waits for them to be cleared from around her before making her exit.

The puppies found the sun!

I sit outside of the box with a sense of wonder at watching this critical bond with her puppies unfolding right before my eyes! I wonder what it must be like for her to wake up and all of a sudden have someone placing puppies on you. I can only imagine her instinct is so strong that taking care of these babies just seems like another everyday experience that came her way!

Some of those questions got me to thinking about whether scent makes it possible for dogs to ‘smell” their relatives even years after they have been separated. The studies seem to show that indeed they do! See the article below for some of the backgrounds on studies done by Cornell University.

Sugar for sure is a natural at this motherhood thing, and the pictures below give you just a tiny glimpse of how evident that is when you watch her with her puppies, the “N” litter!

Miss Pink having some one-on-one time with her Mama

Mr. Blue showing he knows what he wants and how to get it!

Sugar and her puppies are enjoying a sunny afternoon catching up on some much-needed sleep after 2 night shifts!

Mr. Blue showing me he’s just the perfect size to love!

Delivery Day!

November 17, 2016June 29, 2017Leave a comment

Tuesday, November 16th

It’s a very important day because Tuesday, November 16th is the day that Sugar will be having her litter of 7 puppies! Because she had some issues in her previous litter, it was determined that it would be safest for her and the puppies to have a c-section delivery.

The surgery went quickly; the first puppy that was taken out had a detached placenta and struggled a little bit but with the help of another vet he came around just fine and was given a green collar.

In a matter of minutes, staff had taken the puppies, worked their magic to tie off the umbilical cords, made sure their vitals were great and placed them in the incubator. I was so happy to see them doing well; partly relieved that I didn’t have to worry about the possible problems that could have occurred at home with whelping even though I had spent weeks planning and preparing for it, and at the same time worried because this was a new journey for me with Sugar having surgery, not knowing what to expect as far as complications and recovery time, and the added strain of 7 puppies for her.

This is the story of Sugar and her puppies; how they start their journey as an assistance dog in training and what the process is for those involved in their lives including the breeding/whelping home, great start homes, prison programs, foster homes, puppy raisers and their final training.

Hopefully you will not only learn about the process involved, but it will help you to see the importance of programs like this and maybe you will choose to get involved yourself!