Dew Claw Day
The puppies woke up this morning and probably expected the day to be just like every other day in their short lives so far. Eat, crawl around a bit, sleep, eat, crawl around some more, sleep.
But today was Dew Claw Day.
Many breeds of dogs are born with vestigal extra toes on their front and/or rear legs. No one knows what these extra toes up about 3 - 4 inches on the inside of their legs were for. In some breeds these extra toes or "dew claws" must be removed for the dog to go in the show ring. In other breeds it is required they remain. In fact, Great Pyrenees are required to have double dew claws on their rear legs! In Sammies, keeping or removing them is optional. I usually remove mine as do most breeders in this area.
Most vets want to remove them at 2 - 5 days. Both vets that I regularly use want to do them between 3 and 5 days, I usually go in on Day 4. But yesterday, Day 4, I couldn't take them in because 1) it was a Sunday and 2) we had a blizzard here in Colorado and I was snowed in!
The plows came thru about 1:00 this afternoon and as soon as I saw the road was clear, I called the vet and into town we headed.
Puppies first Road Trip!!!
We got to the vet and had a little drama with Black... she had apparently gotten squished under her siblings and was severely stressed out and having some trouble breathing. The vet rushed her into oxygen and she bounced back quickly. It took me a little longer to recover.
Dewclaws were removed, puppies fussed all the way home, but as soon as they were reunited with Mama Raven they settled back into their normal routine... eat, crawl around, sleep, eat, crawl around, sleep....
Here we have 5 day old Purple and Red napping together. Could they be any sweeter?
The Raven Cam
I had someone ask me in the comments yesterday for the web address of the Raven Cam. It's http://www.hpi.net/whitestarsams/ravencam.htm. And there is a hot link button right over there >>> in the right sidebar. See the button that says "the raven cam"? All the way at the top under Raven's Important Stuff? Click it and it will take you right there!
But today was Dew Claw Day.
Many breeds of dogs are born with vestigal extra toes on their front and/or rear legs. No one knows what these extra toes up about 3 - 4 inches on the inside of their legs were for. In some breeds these extra toes or "dew claws" must be removed for the dog to go in the show ring. In other breeds it is required they remain. In fact, Great Pyrenees are required to have double dew claws on their rear legs! In Sammies, keeping or removing them is optional. I usually remove mine as do most breeders in this area.
Most vets want to remove them at 2 - 5 days. Both vets that I regularly use want to do them between 3 and 5 days, I usually go in on Day 4. But yesterday, Day 4, I couldn't take them in because 1) it was a Sunday and 2) we had a blizzard here in Colorado and I was snowed in!
The plows came thru about 1:00 this afternoon and as soon as I saw the road was clear, I called the vet and into town we headed.
Puppies first Road Trip!!!
We got to the vet and had a little drama with Black... she had apparently gotten squished under her siblings and was severely stressed out and having some trouble breathing. The vet rushed her into oxygen and she bounced back quickly. It took me a little longer to recover.
Dewclaws were removed, puppies fussed all the way home, but as soon as they were reunited with Mama Raven they settled back into their normal routine... eat, crawl around, sleep, eat, crawl around, sleep....
Here we have 5 day old Purple and Red napping together. Could they be any sweeter?
The Raven Cam
I had someone ask me in the comments yesterday for the web address of the Raven Cam. It's http://www.hpi.net/whitestarsams/ravencam.htm. And there is a hot link button right over there >>> in the right sidebar. See the button that says "the raven cam"? All the way at the top under Raven's Important Stuff? Click it and it will take you right there!
posted by Anne at 9:16 PM
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