A few new changes today for everyone. We added in a larger toy for the puppies to play with. They will chew, tug, and hurdle it. They have started to do all of those things to eachother, which was our cue to add some toys.
We also used the Dremel tool for nails for the first time. The Dremel is a great way to keep their toes short which will help keep their joints and ligaments healthy. We typically start to use the Dremel at an age a bit older, but we decided to give it a try and see how things went. Well, it went super smooth and was even easier than traditional clipping. No photos as this was a two person job, but essentially one of us held the puppies up like Simba from the Lion King one at a time and the other sanded down their sharp nails. Tipsy appreciates it during feeding times!
I had expected that we would have a few that were super fussy and it might take a good bit of time, but surprisingly we didn’t have anyone that absolutely hated the experience. And it only took about 10 minutes!
Today was also the day that we swabbed the puppies for their Embark tests. It will take 2-4 weeks for results to come back, but we have found that the test is worth it. It will tell us so many interesting things about each individual puppy form which of the pups is liver factored to who is predicted to be bigger or smaller. Of course the size depends on so many things, but the genes associated with size are helpful to make sure that our dogs meet the Dalmatian standard that is up to 24″ at the withers
We are extremely careful when swabbing a litter. We have to keep all of the puppies away from each other and mom for 60 minutes. After that, we have a process to make sure that there are no mistakes. Does it take longer? Yes, but it is correct!
Activate a DNA kit online, add a return address, swab the puppies cheek for 30-60 seconds, package the swab, wash hands, repeat.. X6!!!!!!
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