Webcam Video Archive

I took down the web cam today. When I changed the pen configuration since no one seemed to be watching anymore (after all, they come in when it's night - not much to see here). So I did want to archive the videos I recorded periodically for posterity, so here you go:

Day 65 - Ch-ch-ch changes

I woke up Friday morning and took Reid out to potty and then let him finish out our morning sleep in bed with me. Yishai's always telling me how adorable Rippa is in the morning doing that and I found out first hand that's no lie. They like to spoon you. It's incredible. I may have to choose a puppy to do it with every morning  until I'm puppy-less.

The MacRoberts came to pick up Reid on Friday morning, and brought their ol' boy Rip with them to mama him. Not that he needed it - I spent two hours with him in my parents' yard (or hillside, as the case may be) and he was a pooped pup by the time they got him.

Fury spent the rest of the afternoon sniffing around for him, and usually I wouldn't notice but my mom likes to anthropomorphize a bit more than normal and was SURE she was missing her puppy. Maybe she was. She doesn't seem to broken up by their absence when we're on roadtrips or they're in the pen in the yard and we are in the house.

So I got back home last night, and Yishai had done a nice job keeping everyone happy. He came by after a party we hosted at our climbing gym to pick his dog up at midnight. I told him that waking her up . . . he better play with her a good long while or . .. 

and he got no sleep last night. :) Ooooops. Don't mess with puppy sleep patterns!

So the puppy yard was nasty - they managed to kill the grass under the tarp somehow and the rest of the grass had turned into a poo field because it's too wet to mow and i can't see it to clean it so today I  built a new pen in a different spot in the yard that's fresh and more cleanable, and also a  bit smaller since on a given day it only houses 2-3 puppies.

I also put the top on the crate in their house pen since the web cam's not going as I'm going to crate train them gently for upcoming housebreaking. It's hard to housebreak six puppies running in your living room/kitchen, but I think I can manage two. But that requires crate training and I don't want my roommates to kill me when they scream about the door being shut.

So that's news. Here's photos:

The last night of El Reid (who is keeping his name, btw):

Fury is a toy hog.

Fury and Moto snuggle on the couch - and he got up there on his own. Impressive.

Yeah, Rippa, let's see YOU get up here.

Drivin' Reid to the Bay Area:

Yeah yeah yeah, I don't crate dogs in the car. 

Reid with my nephew, Connor.

Mom's gonna kill me for this one, but seriously, it's the best one of her.

Me with my sister.

Dad lovin' on Reid and the Fury:

Reid peeing - yes, I am classy.

Lemme up!

Ball?

In which I capture a precious moment where Reid loses his balance and goes rolling down the hill.

Harumph.

And VIDEOS!

Day 63 - A Trip North

I'm sitting in bed right now and can't sleep because although he had a big day, Reid is all about wrestling with Mom right now. This is great because I haven't seen Fury have this much fun with another dog in a long time. Nice memory for their last night together. I'm also typing this on a new laptop that doesn't have photo software installed, so you're just gonna have to wait. :)

Got packed up to go around 3 and Reid, Fury, and I started our journey northward to my parents' house. I left the other two puppies in the care of my roommates/Yishai who had agreed to take care of them rather than me have to manage moving around puppies needlessly. Much gratitude, and I feel slightly guilty but in Yishai's case it's clear he feels a shared responsibility for the litter and so it is fair. . Reid at first was a little whiny until he figured out that it wasn't doing any good and then just went to sleep except when I stopped for gas and he dutifully went potty when I asked, and then back to sleep.

When we arrived, he was greeted by my parents, my sister, my two young nephews (7 & 10), and their dog, Lexie. Being a bombproof puppy, none of this was a problem for him as he leaped right into Connor's lap as he sat down and gave him some licks. Between the loud, raucous atmosphere that is McNamara North (which is always so jarring for me as I am used to a peaceful decorum that is McNamara Central - there is also McNamara South in the form of my brother's family) and the kids not letting Reid have a moment to himself, Reiderton proved himself to be an ace family man. I've had chats with all the puppies and Reid definitely told me that he wanted a family. I am pretty excited to have the MacRoberts come pick up their new charge tomorrow, they are going to love him - he's perfect for their home. They're perfect for him.

In the same vein, I cannot tell you how tickled I am about how well the girls are doing in their new homes. I love reading the Facebook updates, emails, and listening to the voicemails about how lucky they feel to have these puppies. All the stress and sleep deprivation and fear about whether I was doing the right thing . . . yeah, I did. My decision to place puppies based on personality was a good one. The homes I'm getting are ones that are totally right for the home and the puppy. It literally gets me through my day, checking people's comments on Facebook and watching the video they're posting and the videos. I am so lucky that it's turning out this way. As Patrick said, though, I did my homework on this litter. Anyone else you know who's waited almost 20 years from getting into a breed to making a litter? Yeah . . . 

In other joyous news, Little Fie Pie has a new home, too. As I said, it was in the works, and Fie and I had a long conversation, "Look," she said, "I have some potential as a stockdog, but you know what? I really need a home that's going to just keep me around as a buddy. I like playing with other dogs, and I like being with you people, and everything else is icing. I would really, really like a home that is all about me." And so, with that, she's been sold to my roommate's parents in San Diego. The story there is that they've had Australian Cattle Dogs for years and just a few months ago her parents' dog died fairly tragically. It's the first time in 35+ years they've been without a dog. The Flowers have been expressing interest since I had them, Mr. Flowers even saw them when they were very, very little (and Fury could barely tolerate touching), but I was blowing off their interest because I didn't really know how the guys would turn out. Fie is so gentle and unassuming and polite that I started to seriously consider it, and after asking Fie and getting her approval, when I got the call tonight, we solidified it. The family is going to Hawaii first, so it looks like I have a little Fie dog to train and care for a bit longer, but she's got a home. :) Yay. 

That leaves little Moto bear. As usual, we're screening folks, but no advancement in the news department yet. I have faith that he'll end up where he needs to, though I still say I hope it's not with me. :D No more dogs!

Well, they both finally chilled out and Fury is sitting on my bed asking me to turn out the light, so I bid thee adieu.

Day 60 - Pukin, dukin'

So, here come all the photos and videos from the day before and yesterday, but first, two things:

For the past couple days, Fury's been doing something weird/stupid. The puppies are weaned, right? They're 8.5 weeks old now. So then WHY is it, that Fury will go over to them and puke? She's been doing it for three or four days now. At first I thought it was an accident, but Casper reported that yesterday while I was gone, she went over to their pen when they were whining and puked. Of course, all the puppies love this if I don't catch it in time. Perhaps she wants to contribute to their gentle weaning as slow as possibly? I don't know how one can puke on command like that, but this Fury-behavior-thing is always proving to be interesting. I still think about how as soon as we picked her up from the airport after her trip to get bred how she would wander around the house grunting. Thought that was just going to be a new facet of hers, but nope. It was, "I'm pregnant, dammit."


I woke up this morning to the sound of Moto saying, "Feed me, love me." So I went out there to find just three puppies in the pen (remember that Rippa is now staying at Yishai's). My heart hurt a little because you know, I put a lot into the kids and now just three left. It was cool to log into Facebook to see excited posts and photos of the girls in their new homes, and Yishai calls first thing every day to tell me what he and Rippa are up to.

So here's all the video/photos from the last couple days, as promised. I wonder when Chris will finish processing Week 8 photos.

Photos from the morning before the big drive:

And then DURING the big drive:

Wherein I figure out that whiny puppies given noogies will shut up.

Getting to Darren and Dana's house:

Mirrors??

Piper gets brave.

Curry is just fine right here, thankyouverymuch.

Good night!

And then seeing them off (no photos of that, actually, as it was just me and what's to see? Puppies in a crate at a counter?):

It is soooooooooooooo early.

LAX American terminal. See ya, kids.

And now we have photos contributed by the new owners . . .

Here's Firma on the way home to Iowa from St. Louis. She was a worked puppy. Bekka tells me that she told her her name is Piper, so that's how we'll refer to her from now on. You'll know her formally as The Fury's Lil' Tantrum of Tara. How cute is it that we have two "lil"s in the litter? (Rippa is Tara's Lil Rippa).

And we even have a video from Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1262463036826&ref=mf

Yes, clearly Piper is settling in nicely. :)

And we also have Curry, who is doing well and her owner is being good to me with lots of photos. 

The sadist in me loooooove this one - it looks like she's having a major snow-spill.

Yeah, so, so far so good. Everyone seems to be happy with their new family, clearly, and I believe very firmly in my heart that these guys are where they really ought to be. Very excited about that.