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The good news is that Mr. Burrito has been nursing with a vengeance, and his mother is suddenly very assiduous about licking him clean, and he gained four ounces over the last 24 hours, which is a lot for a creature who only weighed 27 ounces yesterday.
He’s incredibly strong and feisty, and motors around with surprising strength. Early this morning I watched him scoot a lap around his whelping box - about 12 body lengths - in 30 seconds.
The bad news is that his temperature has started rising, which is an indication that he could start getting very sick in the next 24 hours. Or it might be nothing. It’s almost impossible to say.
I would like to draw your attention to the ear flapitude, which is just about the size of your thumbnail.
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Last night I decided to knit a cozy for one of his hot water bottles in cotton yarn. I cast on what seemed like the right number of stitches, and knit about two inches. Then I decided that it was too big, so I ripped it all back.
Then I decided that it would be super awesome (and also help keep me awake) to knit an aran hot water bottle cozy. So I cast on what would now be the right number of stitches, joined it to knit in the round, then stared down at the needles trying to remember some aran stitch patterns.
Then I stared into space for a while with the knitting on my lap. And then I gave up and went back to reading a book.
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In other news - seriously, how could anyone not love Neil Gaiman? A true story from a 1998 signing event, told in four-panel comic form. And he really did take the stick home in his luggage.
These 16-hour work days are starting to get to me. (Unfortunately I can’t take time off my Real Job, but thank goodness I don’t have to show up at an office. That might require me to wash my hair, and I simply haven’t time.) And isn’t it funny how the more you need sleep, the less likely you are to get it?
My strategy to combat the seemingly-endless tossing and turning is the same as always: I keep my iPod on my bedstand, and listen to one of Gaiman’s audiobooks. “Fragile Things,” at the moment. (I feel my “American Gods” MP3s are starting to wear thin, like the bits and bites are wearing off the corners.)
Even if you have read the books, you should listen to the audiobooks. Gaiman reads them himself, and he does a wonderful job. The best audiobook narrators provide a one-man performance of the work, which gives the stories a whole new dimension. And Gaiman is definitely one of the best.
Nothing cures a restless sleep like having someone available to read you a story on demand. How did people ever survive before technology?
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Mr. Burrito Questions Answered
1. Patti asks, How many times have you kissed him? Tell the truth.
I try not to disturb Mr. Burrito too much. When he’s sleeping, I try to let him sleep. When he’s nursing, I try to let him nurse. When he’s just belly-crawling around, I scoop him up and give him a quick series of mwahmwahmwahmwahmwah on his little head. This happens about once an hour.
So that’s: (10 kisses, once an hour) x (four 10-hour shifts so far) = 400 kisses.
2. Jennifer mentions that frozen colostrum is available for farm animals, and wonders if frozen dog colostrum is similarly available for purchase.
I didn’t realize this, but I’ll mention it to Mr. Burrito’s breeder. Might be handy to have some on tap for the next litter. Thanks for the info!
(I searched online for dog colostrum, but found none for sale. I did however find that a number of people are offering human colostrum for sale for adult humans as an immunity booster. You heard it here first.)
3. Lisa E expresses some confusion at the situation.
Understandable! I’m confused, too. But maybe that is because I am very tired. The deal is, the breeder is also my landlord/property owner/neighbor, and I’m helping her out for an hourly rate against the rent. (This deal was not difficult to sell me on, by the way.) She’s watching him during the day, and I watch him during the night.
For the first week to ten days, puppies need round-the-clock care. At the very least, he needs to be watched to make sure his mother doesn’t squash him by accident. (Being a newfoundland, she weighs 120 pounds.) At the most (like the first few days) he needs to be fed and made to poop by hand, because his mother wasn’t doing the job.
Now that she’s stepped up to the plate, he needs to have his temperature and weight charted at least twice a day, and monitored for dehydration. He’s been tending to get dehydrated, and has required a dose of sub-cutaneous fluids once or twice a day.
I’m taking the night shift because it’s shorter, and I’ve spent years working night shift, so I’m pretty used to it. (Night shift can be traumatic if you’re not used to it.) The breeder is watching him for the day and swing shift.
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