Saturday, September 3, 2011

Alls well that ends well..

Dropped Molly and Munchkin (now called Izzy) at their new owners on Friday afternoon.  Really nice family with young boys, 2 cats and a large garden.  All the pups went to very good homes.  Couldn't be better. 

Koda (was Scampi) is back for a few days while his family are away and goes home on Monday. 

2 days until the house is dog free again.  Think this will be the last fosters for a while (famous last words). 

.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Flying the nest pt2

Pupdate... Zach / Ratty (now called Mac) is settling in nicely at his new home.   Topsy went off to his new home last night to meet his new puppy brother / sister.  Poochie (to be named Charlto) is going tomorrow afternoon.  Scampi / Koda is back being looked after while his family are away for the weekend.   I am doing a home check for Munch this afternoon with a lovely family in Newlands, who are, wait for it...  thinking about taking Molly too!  It would be wonderful if they did, what a happy ending.

Ratty sleeping after his bath, Koda hiding in the kennel with Munch.

Topsy falling asleep in the sunshine.



Keeping fingers crossed that Molly goes with Munch, would be so nice for everyone!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Flying the nest

The 'skin mite condition' (I have been avoiding the word mange around my housemates) has been successfully treated and the pups are off to their new homes. 

Molly and the pups had a dip after our vets appointment on Tuesday night and another dip on Sunday morning.  They were not impressed with being bathed but got used to it and didnt make too much fuss.  This picture of Topsy could be on an animal welfare poster I reckon...


They were bathed late on Tuesday so Nicky came around armed with a hairdryer and had a little puppy salon going to make sure they didnt go to bed wet (bless).  It was nice and sunny on Sunday so they were bathed in the morning and put outside to dry off, they jolled so much in the dirt that they had to come back inside to be rinsed and into Nicky's pup salon again to dry, then they all fell asleep in the sun. 

Doggo, Scampi (now called Koda) and Cutie Pie (now called Stitch) went off to their new homes yesterday afternoon, leaving Zach / Ratty (now called Mac), Poochie, Topsy and Munchkin behind.  I think Mac's owners are coming to collect him this evening, Topsy is going in the next day or so and Poochie on Wednesday-ish.  No owner yet for Munch, or Molly...

Scampi (Koda)

Doggo (no new name yet, owners like Fergi, as in Sir Alex)


Cutie Pie (Stitch)

I felt a bit sorry for Molly this morning, she didn't eat her food and went into the small kennel (where the pups often hang out), which is a first.  At least the pups are going over the course of a few days, rather than her having 7 one day and none the next.  She has done a remarkable job of looking after 7 pups and never gets tired of them, even when they try to ambush her and steal her treats (usually Doggo).



I dont think it will be too hard to find a home for Munch, but please pass word about Molly, she is a very gentle dog and would be a great pet for an older person or a family with kids.  She does seem to have a bit of hip dysplasia so wouldn't be able to go running or do anything too manic.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Army of the 7 Puppies

I took the family to the vet this morning for vaccinations and check ups, some of the pups have early signs of Mange.  Feck!  I need to get the rubber gloves out again and bath them like I bathed Smelly, once tonight and again in 5 days time.  Good news is that the mange mite is really easily treated and should be gone after the 2nd bath.  Bad news is that it is contagious.  I am not going to be very popular if it spreads.

All but one of the pups has a home but can't be homed until after their second bath, so they will be going mid next week / first weekend in September instead of the end of this week / weekend.  Munchkin is still available and Molly also needs to find a home, it would be great if she can go to another foster where there are other dogs, I worry she is going to be lonely once all the pups have gone.

In separate but hilarious news.... 2 people found my blog because they were searching for the keyword 'horny bums'.  I am sure there are plenty of places in the smutty corners of the internet where one could find a site all about horny bums (whatever a horny bum is), but even if you were in the mood for some of that action why click through to a site that's blatantly about stray dogs.  The mind boggles.  Laters.






Friday, August 19, 2011

New Homes

The dog homing is going great!  A series of emails were sent out and seem to have whipped their way around Cape Town quite effectively, even onto the Sotheby Realty's newsletter, thanks Sothebys!  Scampi (now called Koda), Zach (now called Mac) and Poochie have confirmed homes, Topsy and Doggo have been reserved and their new owners are going through the application / home check process now.  Just Cutie Pie and Muchkin to go, and Molly of course.

The pups are being de-wormed tonight, getting their first immunization injections next week and then off to their new homes on the weekend of 27-28th August, they will be 8 weeks old.  They have grown loads and have become very playful.  They love to box with each other and play 'Control the Hole' in one of Shenzi's old mine shafts in the garden.  They also love to attack shoelaces and any dangling piece of clothing, Nicky's fluffy slippers had no chance.

I will take some new pictures and upload them next week. 

Please pass the word around about the last 2 pups and Molly, she is such a gentle and sweet dog and it would be really great to see her go to a nice home.


Thanks for all the kind words of support etc.  If you feel like helping out then donations of food (quality dog food), beds, blankets, kennels etc are always welcome at African Tails.  If you are too lazy for that then just SMS 'WAG' to 48716, the sms costs R10 and helps pay for the mass sterilizations that African Tails conduct in the townsheeps.  Otherwise consider being a foster yourself.  If I can manage it I am sure you can too.



Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Profile Pictures

The pups are doing really well.  Fat, healthy and happy.  They have started exploring and playing a lot more over the last few days which is fun to watch, their personalities are really starting to show.  Their teeth are coming through quickly and they are capable of delivering a surprising playful puppy nip when they want to, they also love ripping up the newspaper which covers the flat floor and attacking shoelaces.

Mum is fine, patient and tolerant as ever.  We have been calling her Mommy for so long that she responds to it, so decided to call her Molly as Mommy sounds terrible, like some men call their wives Mommy, its a bit gross.  I gave Molly a bath on Sunday because she was filthy so she is nice and clean.  Just needs a good brushing now.

Thought I would add profile pictures of each pup, I need to start looking for their homes so this will be a useful reference.   As I mentioned in the last post, the names have been given by my friends' kids, a 3 year old boy and 6 & 8 year old girls.  The names are only so I can keep track of weights etc.  Feel free to rename them if you take one!  So, in no particular order, let me introduce;

Cutie Pie (Female)...

Doggo (Male)...

Munchkin (Female)....

Poochie (Female) aka The Fat One....

Scampi (Male)....

Topsy (Male) aka Naughty...

Zach (Male) aka Ratty...


You wouldnt think by looking at her sad face but 'Poochie' has potentially found a home, so has 'Doggo'.  Neither are confirmed yet... hint hint particular reader...

'Zach aka Ratty' is named so because of his grey brown fur and rat like face, he is actually one of the cutest and loves a cuddle.

'Topsy aka Naughty' is very sweet, he is the most likely to try and steal from Molly's bowl and the one who explores furthest into the garden.  He has also figured out that if he stands in the food bowl no-one can get the food under him.  Needless to say he is getting fat.


Here are some action shots:


Cutie Pie punching Ratty in the face...


Cutie Pie, Doggo and Scampi exploring the garden...

Ratty having a play with his mom... 

Munchkin delivering a nip...

Ratty having a sleep on Nicky's lap...



Regarding their potential sizes and weights etc.  At just before 4 weeks the average pup weight was 1760g, by far the heaviest was Poochie at 2.3kg.  A 4 week old German Shepherd should weigh about 3.3kg (female) and 4.2kg (male), the male German Shepherd would grow to about 35kg, so at 4 weeks they are 12% of adult weight.  Based on this reasoning these pups will be about 21kg.  Females are not usually bigger than their mom and Molly is 26kg and knee high.  Obviously we don't know who 'Dad' is but I think its safe to say he was a medium sized multi-coloured township dog.  Expect the dogs to be a bit bigger than a Collie but smaller than a Lab or Alsatian. 

Thats it for now.  Will update again soon.  Pass the word around so we can find the best possible homes for these mutts.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Quick pupdate

Quick post today... All fine with the pups.  They are feeding well, I started giving them Royal Canin Puppy food soaked in warm water and they love it.  Mum also loves it and growls at them if they try and eat from her bowl.  The naughty one growled back which was quite funny.

Here is the tale of the tape, with their new names.  My business partners kids named most of them and my friends 3 year old named one - Doggo.  


AFRICAN TAILS PUPPY WEIGHTS - Approx birth date - 01 July 2011, Arrival 24 July 2011















NAME
SEX
DESCRIPTION
24-Jul-11
25-Jul-11
% Inc
26-Jul-11
% Inc
27-Jul-11
% Inc

Topsy
Male
Black, white toes
1584
1692
6.8%
1695
0.2%
1758
3.6%

Doggo
Male
White
1256
1307
4.1%
1332
1.9%
1437
7.3%

Zach
Male
Grey / Brown
1595
1607
0.8%
1650
2.6%
1761
6.3%

Scampi
Male
Grey, white stripe
1622
1650
1.7%
1724
4.3%
1837
6.2%

Poochie
Female
White, black stripe
2065
2080
0.7%
2178
4.5%
2300
5.3%

Cutie Pie
Female
Black
1370
1384
1.0%
1496
7.5%
1511
1.0%

Munchkin
Female
Black, white face stripe
1533
1609
5.0%
1680
4.2%
1735
3.2%



Total
11025
11329
20.1%
11755
25.2%
12339
32.8%



Average pup weight
1575
1618
2.9%
1679
3.6%
1763
4.7%



Mum

26.8kg