6-11-06, 9 months
Raising Sable
6-11-06, 9 months
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 9-11-05 A pile o' puppies, about a week old. There are 10 in the litter. Will this be the one we adopt? We'll find out sometime in October. |
 9-18-05 About 2 weeks old. |
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10-9-05 With the puppies escaping from the
makeshift home at the beach resort, the owners encouraged us to pick one and
bring it home. Three had already been adopted, one disappeared, so with 6
remaining we chose this one:  |
She's one of the middle of the pack. Rebecca really had her heart set on the runt so in a moment of weakness I suggested we take two. The owners said that wasn't possible since there are people interested in adopting all of them. We left the runt behind, with hopes that in a few weeks no one else will have chosen him and we'll get a call back. We're calling our new puppy Sable. In French, sable means sand since we got her at the beach and she's sand colored. She's very young, only about 5 weeks old. We were concerned about feeding her well but she's taken readily to canned food mixed with milk (puppy milk replacer we ordered hasn't arrived yet) and spends most of her day outside where she prefers. She's still too young to get vaccinations, but the vet will see her this week and schedule those as well as give us vitamins and whatever else she needs. On the gross side, we removed a Tumbu worm from her tail. Thankfully the others had already been treated last week. |
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10-11-05 Last night we moved her from the
bathroom where she spent a good amount of time howling (or as Nicholas
described it "screaming") to our bedroom. I was up with her at 2 a.m.,
3 a.m. and 5 a.m. to feed her and take her outside but at least there was no
more barking. A few quiet whimpers when she got lonely or wanted to go
out I can handle. I'm still tired though and can hardly wait to get
through the next couple months until she can stay outside on his own for
several hours and not be entirely dependent. The kids are great with her, but it's interesting with 4 kids and 1 small dog. Everyone wants to be the one to hold him or bring him out. I know the novelty will wear off, but right now, it's nice.
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Who couldn't like that face? |
 10-19-05
She's going on 7 weeks now. Those Tumbu flies are quite the pain
though, I've removed 2 more from her leg this week. What draws them is
dampness. If she lies down near the pool and gets her side wet, or if
she dumps her water dish and walks through it, even walking through the damp
morning grass, the wet fur draws flies who land on her and lay eggs, which
hatch and burrow into her skin.
We've overfed her a bit, which accounts for the fat tummy and the books actually say that puppy food isn't necessary. We read that good quality small size adult maintenance food provides the best nutrition for growing labs, so I'll be putting in an order for some. She's becoming more active, racing along with the kids, playing tug-of-war and pouncing on everything. |
 We
received the books we ordered on raising and training labs. She's
still very mouthy and will probably be so for many more months, but after
reading the tip to say "OUCH!" each time she bites skin, she's already
getting better. Getting her to stop tugging on clothing will be a
separate challenge. Katherine gave her a knotted shoelace to play
tug-of-war and that has gone over very well, along with the semi-deflated
ball she can chew. We've ordered training treats, some toys and other
items for her. |
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10-23-05: Nipping is still our #1 problem, and some hyperactivity after lengthy playing that freaks out the boys. |
10-28-05 :
Eventually she'll be a water loving dog, and she's already very curious
about the pool, and wary as well. The few times we've dropped her in
she frantically paddles to the side. Actually, the first time she
discovered the pool water was an accident and she sank like a rock.
Ian was swimming and scooped her out. |
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 Everything is a game and from what we've read, that probably won't change. It's not uncommon for Sable to grab the board rope and run off under the fence to the yard. Sandals, diving toys, it's all fair game if the kids don't put them up. We've already lost 2 pairs of goggles because the kids put them down on the side and the dog runs off with them and chews the straps. |
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11-8-05 Growing by leaps and bounds, she actually seems to be gaining inches
each week.
 She's
a wonderful, playful, smart animal. By 8 weeks she'd mastered Sit, and
she's figuring out Fetch, Stay, and Come. Our orders arrived with
treats, toys, and a product called Fooey. Supposedly Fooey tastes so
nasty that dogs won't chew/bite items you've sprayed. No one told
Sable this tidbit. Immediately after I sprayed my sandals, she took
off with one of them. I know the stuff tastes bad (some got on my
hand), so why doesn't she? |
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biggest problems are the two we started out with, nipping and accidents.
Biting is definitely getting better, but still not under control.
She's primarily an outdoor dog, but does come indoors to eat most of her
meals and to play in the evenings, so 99% of her business she does outdoors.
I actually found febreze at the store, so after each accident we're cleaning
as well as we can and febrezing the room. |
| 11-13-05 Sable's portrait? |
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12-4-05: Another month older, several inches and pounds bigger. And very very wet. She doesn't like the pool yet, but she did discover the joys of her own wading pool. |
The girls were making "soup" and Sable wanted in on every step. |
Dogs and grass, I don't know what the attraction is. |
She could actually fit her whole body in the tub, but preferred to play this way. |
And it's not actually the tub she enjoyed, but slapping the water with her paws and splashing all over. |
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 12-8-05 |
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She loves to sit on laps. Either in typical ball-of-dog fashion, or actually Sit on Lap. Katherine was very patient. |
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 4 January 2006, and can still fit in the tub. |
19 March 2006 The tub will no longer support her size. Guess we'll have to come up with something bigger to cool her off on those really hot days. Oh, who am I kidding, every day is a really hot day!! |
She must be almost full grown, right? Well, she's only 6+ months old, so I figure she has a few more inches and many more pounds yet to put on. Notice her stylish new collar? |
 3-19-06
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10-1-05 About 4 weeks old, you can see clearly how they're suffering from
bites and infestations from living on the grass. We're third on the
list to choose. There are 3 robust puppies (the whitish ones around the
water dish) so it'll be interesting to see which one we get. The kids want
the runt.
Any better guess on what breed they are?
