Lovin' Spoonfuls

In today's title, pardon the take on the the 60's folk rock band who put out songs like "Summer in the City" and "Do You Believe in Magic" (The Lovin' Spoonful), but "Lovin' Spoonfuls" summarizes pretty well what we're up to with Miss Sky and Mr. Green these days.

They're getting loads of lovin' and they're getting loads of spoonfuls. ;o)

Here's Miss Sky last night:


Here's Mr. Green last night:


Here they are with Daniel (DFS) this morning:


The "lovin'" part is obvious: loads of snuggles and people attention. The "spoonfuls" part refers to the spoonfuls I use to make meatballs of Prescription Diet ID food every two hours for the little guys.

These poor starving puppies. My goodness. EVERY time I walk by the puppy pen (or get in the puppy pen, or clean the puppy pen, or pet the puppies, or talk to the puppies, or even walk into the room), they think they're getting FOOD (or they WANT food and can't wait to show me how MUCH they want FOOD). I honestly don't think they sleep anymore (tough when your tummy rumbles).

But that's all good. The fact that they have the energy to tell me they're hungry means they're getting stronger and healthier by the day.

We've essentially double their food (went from one to two meatballs) but even their increase to two meatballs every two hours, though clearly more satisfying, isn't completely staving off their hunger (they have LOTS to make up for).

Here's what they do when I walk by (or do my dishes or fix a cup of coffee or warm my coffee in the microwave or get a glass of water or walk by on the way to the powder room or make my lunch or make our dinner or open the fridge or get a glass out of the cupboard... you get the idea). That's DH in the background and Mr. Green attempting to bark:


Both Sky and Green still try to bark and vocalize, but the poor little things don't have their voices back yet -- it sounds like laryngitis in humans: only a half, squeaky voice, if that.

And they still look skinny. :( EVERY mommy-instinct in me wants to fatten them up and let them eat to their hearts' content. That, however, would be disastrous -- they're little GI systems can't handle that yet. Wisdom and Knowledge have to overrule Instinct for now. Harrumph.

So I hug them instead. ;O)

They're really enjoying (and getting used to again) lots of lap time and snuggles. They'd appeared to have forgotten how nice it is to snuggle after nearly a week cooped up in a crate -- they were really wild when they came home. And rightly so. Being held by humans at the vet's, apart from a few snuggles here or there, meant something awful like a catheter change or a shot or more subcu fluids or a yucky medicine being squirted into the back of their throats.

It's almost like we're retraining them to welcome the sweetness, assurance, and comfort of human touch. And they're responding quickly. Labs really are resilient and adaptable. They seem to be settling back in very well.

And they're starting to remember their manners a bit more (puppy biting isn't nearly as bad as it was when they first came home; they're jumping less for our attention; and they're generally calming down a bit). Like parents of sick children, I'm having a terrible time being "firm" and "authoritative" but I figure there will be plenty of time for that. We're letting them re-enter puppy learning and training very slowly. They need support and reassurance more now.

They're still always hunting for food though. Here's a picture of the pups while quietly snuggling with Daddy Don (DH) for a second ...



until Daniel (DFS) walks by. Ohboyohboyohboy...someone walked by...maybe they're getting more meatballs for us! Check out Mr. Green's squiggle to follow Daniel:


Sweet silly kids. Their continuous quest for food and constant energy means they're thriving. And that's a good thing. I'll take this over lethargy any (and every) day of the week.

UPDATE Regarding the pups still at the vet's: We received no calls overnight or early this morning (that's a good thing). I did call the vet hospital just now (they ask us to wait until 10 a.m. to check on the pups by phone), and all the pups did indeed make it through the night, and all the pups are seeming a little "brighter" this morning. Yay! I'll go over later this afternoon again to meet with the doc again and to visit the pups (and snuggle who I can). I'll update you about them this evening after I return from my daily visit.

Thanks for hanging in there with us.

'Til next time,
Joan