Angel and her pups are doing well; they are so fat and cute.  She is a good Mom but prefers humans to her pups; so we have the bed right in the family room most of the time because then she is content.  The other ladies would prefer to be off with their pups by themselves and do not care much for us visiting until the pups are about 10 days old.  I love having puppies and pick them up often from birth until they go to their forever homes.

Gabby is getting really bid, in fact, she is waddling a little bit.  She usually has 5 pups which is a lot for a 5 pound Pomeranian.  This will probably be Gabby's last litter. she is 5 years old.  She is in excellent health but has a touch of arthritis in her hips and so I think it best this be the last.  The problem is that Gabby loves breeding and having pups. When we try not to breed her, she goes right up to the males fence and teases them until they are howling.  We haven't bred her in over a year and she is very happy that we let her have puppies again.  She almost seems to be smiling.

Chewie is in the family way.  She gets very loving when she is pregnant...hold me, touch me, pick me up, talk to me and ignore the rest of the girls.  She usually has 4 puppies and is an excellent mother.  She has orange, cream. wolf sable, white and once in a while black.  Her pups are consistently tiny usually growing up to be about 5 pounds just like Mom.  She is getting big, too, but is not waddling.  She is sitting in my lap as I type this.

Honey Bear is due the last of December, first week in January.  Unlike the other two Moms, she is never exactly on time.  Sometimes she is early by a day or two or maybe late by a day or two.  But when she is ready, she gets in her bed and stays there until the puppies come.  Honey Bear weighs 4 pounds most of the time but has no problem delivering her pups and they are always healthy.  She is my lap baby...doesn't really like anyone but me but she tolerates everyone else.

We make quite a parade with the 3 of them right behind me every where I go and the rest of the clan trying to get them and me to play.  I have shut the Moms up in the house and played with the others in the yard but it sure makes the Moms mad to be shut up.

So we are all waiting for the new pups and loving the pups that are here now.

The weather was cool for a while, in the 70's but being in Texas, you never know about weather.  We are back into the 80's for the next week.  I really enjoy the cooler days and the Poms do too.  Winter is my favorite time of the year.  We have had really mild winters for the last couple of years.  But the dogs houses and the dogs have all been winterized.  The fall cleaning is done.

Tomorrow is grooming day for the whole clan.  Most of them like the attention but some of them hate the brush more than they like the attention.  The males all stretch out and enjoy the time in my lap with the brushing and trimming of their hair and get antsy when its time to trim their toe nails.  But after grooming they get to run wild for the whole day before going back into their yards.  My males are all gentle and loving souls.  The females like the brushing but none of the rest of the grooming process.  I enjoy it all.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I am looking forward to all the family and their pets coming for a visit.  My sisters each have two dogs and my brother has one.  So when we get together at my house they all get to run free on my acre of land.  The pets of my siblings live in the city and so the only time they get to run free is when they come for a visit. It takes have of the morning for all of them to get to know each other again and start playing but once it starts, they play until time to go.

As we approach the Holidays, I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving and have a very blessed Holiday season.  I always enjoy the time I get to spend with family and friends and since we started making most of our gifts for one another, the financial pressure is off.  The gang always brings their pets with them to celebrate the Holidays and we watch all of them from various families play while we eat good food and catch up with each other.

 I always donate food to my local pet shelters and try harder during this season to help.  My heart goes out to all the animals that are not in loving homes wth people to play with them and love them. 

Angel started the day unsettled, I could tell she was fixing to go into labor.  She went outside and immediately came back in...I was sitting in my easy chair and she got in my lap.  Thay didn't last long because then she was pacing up and down the hall.  Angel is ignoring all the other dogs and the toys.  She isn't in any distress and isn't panting.   The puppies are very active when I place my hand on her stomach; she wantd me to just sit with her and rub her tummy.  We do this for a while but now it is luch time and I get up to fix lunch, instead of following my every step as she usually does, she is going behnd the couch, in and out the doggie door and pacing the hall.

 I take Angel to her brood box and get her all comfy but she is having no part of it.  I do my chores with Angel shut in the birthing room and come back in about 2pm but no puppies and she immediately darts out the door and waits for me in the hall.

Now, Chewie, Honey Bear, Yoyo, Lacy and Koki are all beginning to get interested and try to sniff Angel.  She puts them in their place and begs to get in my lap.  I hold her rubbing her tummy but the others have brought toys for me to play.  So I am rubbing Angel's tummy and throwing balls for the others when all of a sudden Angel starts to pant.  It is about 4pm.  I think, wonderful, it is about time.  Back to the birthing room and the brood box, I get a book and sit and talk to her.  She is very retless and does not want to lay down so she paces the room and frequently stops to put her head in my lap.  The phone starts ringing and I leave her to answer the phone; it is a long-winded but good friend so I talk for about 15 minutes before excusing myself and going back to Angel.  As I enter the birthing room, the other ladies start to scratch and whine at the door and this upsets Angel.  I leave the room and get the others away from the door.

It is 6pm and supper time. I leave Angel in the birthing room and fix supper for my hubby.  I try to check on her every few minutes but it just upsets her more for me to come and go.  Instead of going in the next time, I just listen at the door but hear nothing.  We eat supper and I load the dish washer; I head for Angel.  She is panting hard now but still doesn't want to lay in the box.  This is her second litter and she was very different the first time.  With the first litter, she stayed in the box and seemed content to just wait even tho she had no idea what was happening to her because it was her first litter.  She is still pacing and panting and wanting to get in my lap.  The puppies are no longer moving when I put my hand on her tummy.

Finally at 9pm she has her first pup...a tiny white male.  The delivery was easy for her and as soon as he is clean, she is back pacing.  I put him on a warm heating pad and wash out his eyes and mouth.  I get her back in the box and with my hand on her, she lets him nurse.  The second pup is born about 10:15pm and is just as white as the first and is also a male.  She cleans him up, I also clean him up and finally she lies down with her pups and lets them nurse without my hand being on her.  I do not think she is finished and at 10:50pm she has a white little girl and I know that she is done.  She is calm and happy now; no panting, no pacing and her attention is off of me for the first time today.  I am a little concerned because the puppies are very tiny more so than her first puppies.  But as I continue to check on them every hour or so, I see that they are nursing and snuggling with Mom and all is well.

I do not go to bed until after midnight so I can check on the tiny family and know that all continues to be well.  The others are all interested partly because they have all been mothers themselves but partly because Angel has had my attention all day long.  So before I go to bed we have a good round of play with the balls, frisbee and playing tug of war.  I try to tire them out but only succeed in tiring myself out most.  We all get ready for bed and I take one more look at the family before I go to bed.

The puppies have dried out from birth and being cleaned; they are warm from the heating pad and snuggling with Mom and are happily nursing. Angel is very relaxed and loving her puppies.  I call it a night.

I was watching my neighbor with her dog today and I was struck how much the dog, a Husky that is 15 yrs old, depended on her body language and her facial expressions.  I am not sure but I think he mght have a hearing problem.  She walked outside and waited for him to notice her and look at her and then she began the most remarkable communication with him .  He came up to her and sat down in front of her and she quietly and calm began to talk but he was watching her face and in a munute he got up and went for a toy.  They played for a while but he watched her intently and seemed to know when she was ready to quit putting his head on her leg and the toy down.  She sat with him and brushed him and talked very quietly...I couldn't hear what she was saying but the dog walked over to the gate and waited; she followed him and opened the gate; he did not move and she went out to the mail box and came back with the mail.  He seemed so sad when she went into the house.

I intereact with my Poms every day but we are loud and busy having fun.  They respond to my voice and my actions but not like I was watching next door.  The Poms follow my every step like we are a parade and try to convince me to play or get them some treats.  I think I am trying to say that for my Poms when I come outside it is all about us but for the Husky next door it was all about his Mistress.  My Poms are young so maybe that makes a big difference too.  My oldest Pom is just 8 yrs old and in excellent health and the youngest is 6 months old.  But even Gabby the oldest is loud and busy having fun.

My Hubby left today to go hunting with his son in Iowa and that left me with lots of free time to do some "spring" cleaning in the fall and I didn't play with the Poms as much today nor was my cleaning about them and their things.  I get a vacation when he goes huntng too because I don't have to cook every night and I can watch my movies that make me cry or talk all evening on the phone to another Pom lover or just sit down and read a good book.  I miss him already, we have been married 21 years, but I sure will enjoy the next 5 days.

Cyn

All my Poms and I are enjoying the cooler weather and getting outdoors.  The wind has really been blowing but the dogs really prefer being outside since things cooled off.  It has given me a chance to get all the dog beds in to the wash without having several unhappy faces staring up at me while they are in the washer and then dryer.  It is a major thing to the Poms when their beds are not available for napping and heaven forbid I move them to a new location.  So I got one chore done easily.

So I was brave and began picking up toys in the yard...now I have everyone's attention and they are racing to pick up toys before I get to them.  I want to wash the toys too as most of the them are plastic squeak toys or stuffed animals.  I try to coax Yoyo into giving up her Monkey but it becomes play with us having a "tug of war" , they all get happy and start barking because they think I am outside to play.  I take the toys I have and go wash them. 

Now the beds are clean and dry and I put them back where I got them but none of my Poms want to get in a clean bed and look at me with accusing eyes.  Their eyes tell me they would have been much happier if I had just left the beds alone.  While they are upset about their beds, I go ourside and try to pick up the rest of the toys.  I almost succeed in getting all the toys but Petey and Dreamer have again beat me to their toys and I gve up and go wash the rest of the toys I have.

 I get the treats and try to distract them because they are sitting by the sink waiting for their toys back.  They take their treat and go back to the sink to wait.  Oh well, I hurry up and wash the toys and give them back .  They immediately take them outside and leave them and come back to stare at their strange clean beds.

I am looking for a healthy treat I can make for my Pomeranians and would love to have any recipes that you would want to share.  I do not like commercial treats for my babies. I have looked on the internet for recipes but I am not very good with the computer and haven't been very successful.

I know some people make all kinds of "good for them" treats for their pets and hope I will be able to get a recipe and I am sure my babies would love it.

I discourage them eating from anyone but the family but I live close to a school and as the kids walk by they sometimes try to feed them junk.  I have been lucky so far because as the kids get close to the fence, the Poms back up but they still throw the stuff in my yard.  I have even gone so far as to ask them where they live so I can talk to their parents but I don't want to get any of them in trouble.Anyway, I decided to try to give them treats inside during the time the kids are usually walking by and there by avoid the problem at all.  The Poms are so small, fluffy and cute that I guess the kids just can't resist them.  I know I love dogs of all breeds. 

I started making them chicken and rice back when there was a problem with so many of the dog foods and just have never gone back to commercial foods. 

Cyn

It was much cooler today and the dogs loved it.  They played chase running at full speed around the picnic table then darted behind the tool shed and came out from under the boot.  Lacy was in the lead but Honeybear, Lil Fella, Maxi, Sugar and Gabby were right behind her while Angel Yoyo, Koki, BB, Lovey, and Chewie tried to cut them off.  I was amazed that they never ran into each other as they ran full speed. 

 They did this for about 10 minutes because the weather was just wonderful...cool and dry; it has been a while since it was this cool.  I should be able to put up the swimming pool in the next few days because the news says cooler weather is finally here.

After their run they were exhausted but instead of going inside like they have been, they just found a favorite place to lay down in the yard.  It was wonderful to see them all happy and tired out from playing.  I always look forward to fall for them because it is so hot in Texas in the summer.  But I think they like Winter and Spring the most.  It is almost time to put out their warm winter pillows and winterize the houses just to be ready before the first really cold day hits.

The only time they seem to want to sit in the house with me is in the summer, otherwise, they love their big yard to run in and just enjoy the out doors.  Even rain does not run them in the house unless thunder and lightning come with it.

It rained all day today and the thunder and lightning had my babies hunting places to hide but they also wanted to follow me wherever I went, So, they would hide a while and then come and find me then the thunder would hit again and they'd run and hide.  Any time I sat down, they would all be trying to fit in my lap.

But when the thunder and lightning stopped they'd be outside playing in the water so they could run into the house track up the floor and get my lap wet. even tho I kept a towel handy, I was all wet before noon. 

 I decided they all needed baths before bedtime so I filled the tub and bathed them 3 at a time.  All is quiet now and they are almost dry and ready to cuddle.  I am exhausted and hope tomorrow is a time for calm and napping. 

Gabby and Chewie should be pregnant and due in December.  Gabby is a wonderful mother and will take care of any 'baby' but Chewie loves only her own.  Gabby in black and white with a teddy bear face and Chewie is orange with small features.  Both of them are excellent mothers and I always anxiously await their puppies.  I must get thier whelping boxes ready because Gabby starts laying in hers right away and Chewie will be ready for hers in December.

 While I am on the computer, all my babies are squeezed in under the computer table waiting for me to finish.

Today was a quiet day of petting and grooming of my babies.  They all love to be brushed and held and, of course, I talk to them the whole time.  I believe most of them understand most of what I am saying and what they don't understand still gives them a chance to hear my voice.  While brushing, I rub their tummy tell them what good babies they are and how much I love them.  Cutting their toe nails and trimming their paws is another story.  I usually start out with their back feet and try to sneak into the whole toe nail thiing.  But it doesn't matter because right away they know what is coming.  I just dive in and talking the whole time, take care of their feet.

Gabby was in a rare mood today, not wanting to be touched or messed with at all, so I saved her for last.  We did get it all done but it was a struggle to keep her still enough to cut.

After all the activity, we had a treat and just took a nap.  Each one of them found their favorite place and went to sleep.  I had three of them in my lap and one sleeping on my house shoe. 

Yes, I mean "we"; my poms were ready for a romp in the yard so I thought I'd throw some balls for them.  In the beginning, they went to get the balls and bring them back to be thrown again; all ten of us were playing then Angel grabbed a ball and took off running and all 8 of the others followed her.  That left 8 balls in the yard form me to "fetch".  So now I have eight balls and nine Poms because, of course, Angel has left hers wherever she ran off with it and come back to play some more.  I throw the eight balls and two of them are fighting over one ball so I begin to look for Angel's ball...I do not find it so I run in the house and get another ball but when I get back they have all lost interest in the balls. 

So now I get the rope and run thru the yard dragging the rope for them to catch; about six of them manage to grab on and the other three are after my ankles and my shoes.  I play tug of war with the six of them until they tire of it and then I get out the swimming pool thinking I will fill it for them and sit down and rest while they play with each other.  The play lasts about 5 minutes before they are jumping in my lap sopping wet and trying to lick my face.

I love my Poms and love playing with them and this was so much better than yesterday when they attached the Chow next door.

After everything settled down and I was talking to the neighbors, I found out the Chow is named Pops and is 13 years old.  He wasn't trying to hurt any of them just to play with them.  As they said, if he wanted to hurt them, it would have been easy.  So I petted Pops and counted my blessings.

My Pom Babies and I had an exciting day.  My neighbors have a Chow and they picked today to put up a new fence, well my babies wasted no time in finding a small space in our fence that they could get under and they were off and running.  Yoyo who weighs exactly 2.75 pounds runs right up to the Chow between his legs ( I am still on my side of the fence)and starts barking.  The Chow has noticed that there are nine puppies in his yard and he takes off after them.  My neighbors are screaming at him and I am trying to coax my babies back to my yard while I am running for the neighbors yard.  Chewie has planted her little feet and is daring the Chow but Petey has run up behind him biting his legs...Yoyo not to be out done his trying to bite his privates the neighbora are trying to catch any one of the animals.  I am on the neighbors side of the yard and my babies finally notice me and head home with the Chow in hot pursuit.  The neighbors catch him before he gets too far and I put a board in the hole.  It was funny after it was all over but my heart stops to think of what could have happened.  I asked the neighbors to let me know in advance (PLEASE) before they do fence work so I could get my babies safely inside.

This year has been horrible for allergies in Texas.  We had a very wet Spring with lots of flooding and them mild temperatures compared to what we are used to having.  We also had a very short summer, usually summer lasts from the end of May thru September but this year it has only been August into October.

My Poms have had allergies like never before, runny eyes and noses and coughng.  So each morning we give everyone medication; but the medicine only helps a little.  I am so glad that in looks like summer will be over in a week or two and some cooler weather will help with these allergies.

Does anyone have a holistic cure for allergies in dogs?

I have a two yr old Pomeranian that has started using the inside of her house as a bathroom.  She has been trained to use a doggie door and has lots of room on my half acre of land to go do her business but recently, she has started doing her business inside her house.  She has only been doing this a little while and I would like to figure out the reason for the change in her behavior.  There have been no changes in her food, socialization (playing with me and the other dogs), water or temperature inside her house or out.  She A/C and heat in her house.  She is a delightful pet and I love her dearly but this is a real problem because she sleeps in her house.

I have worked hard to teach my Poms not to bark unless alerting to a stranger or danger; Pomeranians are prone to be yappers but it is to some degree a learned behavior and once one Pom starts the others will surely join in.  Since I breed Pomeranians, I wanted my puppies not to be taught to bark in excitement by the older Poms.

First I had to control the barking of my older Poms; I decided to fill a spray bottle that I could adjust to a stream instead of a mist with water.  I used this spray bottle to spray my Poms whenever they barked unless it was appropriate to do so.  It took a little while but they have learned not to be yappers and we are all much happier.

People who have bought my puppies also tell me that they are not big yappers and they are very pleased wth my training and socialization.

Cyn