New Rattitude desperately needs votes!

Over at www.theanimalrescuesite.com there is the shelter contest going on that I've told you about before. We are having people vote for the New Rattitude - WA region this time for the contest and we were doing pretty good but recently we've dropped down in the over all standings and we now have only about 10 spots between us and the 2nd place group in WA. They are holding strong and we are steadily sliding down. We can't lose this right at the end like last time, so PLEASE help us. Our canine clinic is full of needy dogs right now that could use that $1,000.

Go to the voting site, choose New Rattitude as your shelter and WA as the state and VOTE!!! Thanks so much for your support.

The puppy pit

Once the whelping was complete and Star and her pups had some time to bond I needed to move the family into new, clean and comfy digs that would allow mama to get in and out but would keep puppies securely in one place where they'd be safe.

A lot of people use those hard-sided kiddie pools that you can buy at Target or places like that. Perfect idea, except that it was October and the kiddie pools had all sold out of stores by early August. At the Pet Market we have these playpens that are specifically made for small dogs and puppies. They are very similar to the fold up playpens for babies except these have an end that zips open so dogs are able to come in and out. This one also has a hard plastic liner that fits in the base and is easy to clean - perfect. With some clamps and cardboard I added a lip to the end to allow Star to come in and out easily but to keep the puppies inside and it has worked wonderfully.

Once they are bigger we'll switch to an ex-pen at home and the playpen can go back to work for when the puppies have had their vaccinations and can visit the store with me.

All 5 of the pups have now passed the 1 pound mark and we anxiously await their eyes opening. Their little snouts are starting to lengthen so they look more like puppies and less like little mice. lol

One week old

The pups are now a week old and a couple of days ago the blonde guys started getting their nose and pad colors. Here you can see little Dax's nose, starting to get a little bit of black at the tip.

They have nearly doubled in size and are all quite healthy. Star has an arm chair in the puppy room that she sits on and chews on her nylabone when the pups are sleeping. It's 84 degrees in the room so they do fine without her body heat. Like any mom, she treasures her kid-free moments when she can relax and do what she wants.

I really find it tough to believe that Star was a puppymill dog. She is in no way fearful of humans, loves attention, and (drumroll) is housetrained and trained to a pee pad. She was just going on the pee pad in the middle of the night but she has taken to waking me up at 5:30 am so we can take a walk in the back yard in the freezing cold and she can do her business. I much prefer wadding up a pee pad at 7:30 am to getting up at 5:30, but hey, I shouldn't complain.

Today we took the puppies' 1 week old photos that will be used on New Rattitude's Website for the nursery Webpage. There was also a New Rattitude litter born in Michigan this week - 4 girls. Watch for photos of them on the New Rattitude Website soon.

Little Squirmers

The puppies are all doing great and growing quickly. Star continues to be a great mom and dotes on the puppies constantly, only leaving her box for quick bathroom breaks. After she's done she tears back in the house and up to the office, waiting for me to open the door so she can get back to the babies.

The 2 blondies are the biggest and are growing faster than the other three. Dax actually started out as the smallest, but now he's as big as brother, Rom. They are nearly identical so we had tied a ribbon around Rom's neck so we could keep track of who was who at weigh in time. Last night I went to weigh the pups and was calling out the weights to Troy, who wrote them down for me. I weighed Dax, put him back in the box, and then grabbed the other blond pup, Rom. I weighed him and the weight was the same. Then I realized this pup didn't have a ribbon. I looked back in the box, confused, and there was Dax, asleep where I had laid him. Then I realized that Star must have chewed off the ribbon. We laughed over that, trying to decide who was who since Dax had caught up in weight to Rom. Luckily I had noticed earlier in the day that when you turn on the overhead lights that Dax is just slightly darker than Rom along his back. You have to have them side by side to notice but there is that slight difference.

The three dark pups are all starting to get their rattie eyebrows which is SO cute. They show up best on the brown pups, Milah and Sisko, but I can see that Worf is getting his as well. It will be fun to see their little markings start to emerge.

Anyhow, the photo above show little Mr. Rom, before his ribbon was removed by his momma.

Star and her Trekkies

Yesterday from 3:45 pm to 6:20 pm Star gave birth to 5 healthy little puppies. There were 4 boys and 1 girl and they were all between 7 3/8 oz and 7 3/4 oz in size. She is an excellent mom and really there wasn't much for me to do but sit back and watch her work. I actually missed the birth of the first little guy because I went downstairs to get heat the microwave pads for the puppy basket. I figured I was way early but, you know - better safe than sorry. I get upstairs 2 minutes later and Star is licking this little black blob.


Two of the boys are blondies, like Armstrong/Sunny if you remember that little foster guy that we had. As they age their markings will show up but for now they look solid. The first pup is a black sable with tuxedo markings and then the other two are dark brown with black sable and the tuxedo markings.


The girl's name is Milah Jo, and the boys are Worf, Rom, Sisko and Dax. All the names follow our space theme and are from the TV show "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" since these five pups bring our current dog count to 9!

Blogger is being obnoxious and currently won't allow me to get photos in my posts from Flickr. So to see all the photos go to the Star set of photos over on Flickr.com.

Star

Star stopped eating last night and has been resting most of the morning. Now stage one of her labor is starting so we should have puppies tonight. Wish her luck!

2010 New Rattitude Rat Terrier Calendar is here!

The contest is over, photos have been chosen and a very nice calendar has been assembled and is now for sale over at New Rattitude's ReTail store . 100% of the net proceeds of the calendar sales benefit the rat terriers in foster care with New Rattitude, Inc.

The cost is $15 and if you order before November 1st you don't have to pay the additional $3 shipping fee. Order early because quantities are limited. Check out the preview Webpage to see the great photos that were chosen. I was very impressed with the final product.