It's official. I just sent in my entry. Saturday, 8/8, is the first official sign up day. As I cannot be there in person, I wanted to make sure that my entry was there to be counted in the first batch of entries. Also, by having my entry in on the first day, I get to be part of a drawing to get my entry fee back. Every bit helps...
Puppy update: New pictures coming soon. There are still 7 healthy puppies. One of the brown girls is the biggest in the bunch. She is a full inch longer than her smallest sister. I removed their dew claws on Friday. For those of you who don't know what this means, the dewclaws are the fifth toe on a dog's front foot, similar to a "thumb". We remove the puppies' dew claws when they are very young and the bone is hasn't hardened yet. It makes them uncomfortable for a few minutes and makes mom worry a lot, but they all settle down within a minute or 2 after everyone is done and no one ever thinks about it again. The advantages of this process are many. The 2 biggest reasons, though, are to make bootie wearing more comfortable and to prevent their accidental removal as an adult. The tops of the booties sit right where the dew claw would be. If the dewclaw hasn't been removed, the bootie causes a lot of abrasion. The accidental dew claw removal could occur when a dog catches his/her dew claw on punching through crusty snow, on the edge of the dog house, or in a chain or tug line. If this were to happen to an adult dog, it would be considered a serious and potentially crippling injury.
So pups are well on their way to future race careers and should be opening their eyes by the weekend. I'll post more pictures soon. But for now, check out these video clips from last winter when my brother Jamie was visiting.
Puppy update: New pictures coming soon. There are still 7 healthy puppies. One of the brown girls is the biggest in the bunch. She is a full inch longer than her smallest sister. I removed their dew claws on Friday. For those of you who don't know what this means, the dewclaws are the fifth toe on a dog's front foot, similar to a "thumb". We remove the puppies' dew claws when they are very young and the bone is hasn't hardened yet. It makes them uncomfortable for a few minutes and makes mom worry a lot, but they all settle down within a minute or 2 after everyone is done and no one ever thinks about it again. The advantages of this process are many. The 2 biggest reasons, though, are to make bootie wearing more comfortable and to prevent their accidental removal as an adult. The tops of the booties sit right where the dew claw would be. If the dewclaw hasn't been removed, the bootie causes a lot of abrasion. The accidental dew claw removal could occur when a dog catches his/her dew claw on punching through crusty snow, on the edge of the dog house, or in a chain or tug line. If this were to happen to an adult dog, it would be considered a serious and potentially crippling injury.
So pups are well on their way to future race careers and should be opening their eyes by the weekend. I'll post more pictures soon. But for now, check out these video clips from last winter when my brother Jamie was visiting.
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