Willow @ Cnoc an Doire

A Journal

January 2005

We got Willow from my dad on Sunday after New Year's Day. He had been away from his mother and in a huge crate for about 24 hours. He was clean and warm and fed and had been babied quite a bit but the sight of that 6 week old baby in a wolfhound-size crate just broke my heart. I didn't wait to be asked, I took him out and asked for him and got him.

We spent all day Sunday discussing names and trying to get him on a routine. Sunday night was awful. The last baby puppy I raised was in 1993 and it was twelve weeks old and weighed 17 pounds. I was up and down several times.

Jack took the puppy to the vet on Monday. He weighed three pounds and was full of worms. He got his first puppy shot and a dose of Strongid T. I had already discovered his overbite but there was nothing to be done about that.

I had gotten a camera for Christmas and it seemed like the perfect time to learn to use it. Click on the small pictures to see bigger versions.

February 2006

My brother is staying with us for the winter and he got a boxer pup for Christmas. Mac is adorable and Will just adores him. They are best buds and Will babysits a lot for us.

March 2006

We're going to see if Will can raise a wolfhound since he did such a good job with the boxer. Sassy has come home with us and Will just added her to his best buds list. I think that Sassy and Mac are actually a lot closer, but don't tell Will.

May 2006

The Purple J has come to live with us now. Mac has gone to his own home so Sassy and Will have taken J under their wings to tutor in home ettiquette. Ha!

August 2006

Will's parents are Patches and Fred. They have come to live with us for a while. Patches had three puppies on July 30 but we lost one that wasn't quite ready to be born. I have dubbed the new arrivals Hans and Gretchen and now that they are big enough to play, they are adorable. They will be going to their new homes in October where I am sure they will get new names.

The wolfhounds were quite shocked to realize that these wee ones were actually real dogs. J is especially fond of Gretchen and she of him. I don't let them get close because J could accidentally crush her. Their relationship consists of sleeping nose-to-nose with the kennel bars separating them. I tried to get a picture but the lighting does not cooperate.

I must say that Patches was a meticulous housekeeper. I cannot compete with her in that department. Now that she no longer spends all her time with them, I have to do the cleaning. I can't imagine having to clean up after 8 or 9 wolfhound babes!

Will is proud of his little brother and sister but he doesn't like them yet. Actually, no one wants to play with them. I guess after raising a boxer and two wolfhounds, Will has had enough of puppies. Too bad, he was good at it!

P.S. Doesn't Gretchen look like her big brother at that age?