We started the week with this week’s raw snacks: meaty bones (beef). Game and Chai both approve, of course.

Dog and human friends

Game met Porfirio at the park around the block. Porfirio is a wirehaired big something mix she really likes. We don’t see him much, but this week, we did. He counts as a dog friend even though they only interacted briefly. It’s those spikes in happy anticipation I’m after: Game shows them when she first sees and then gets to greet a friend. Her entire body perks up; she grows an inch and starts wagging not only her tail, but even a little bit of her behind (much less than your typical Lab but very noticeable for a Mal), her ears go forward and get as pricked as it gets, her facial expression relaxes into a joyful smile, and then she playfully prances up to her friend. She doesn’t need the interaction to last a long time – it’s this moment of anticipation and then the greeting; some sniffing together and then Game is ready to wag her goodby-s and be on her way (keeping some of that joyful look on her face for a while).

On the second day of the week, we met our human friend Charlie and their two dogs for a hike, so Game got to run with Nemo and Hilo. Human friend – check; two more dog friends – check and off-leash nature time – check!

Left and middle: Game and Hilo; right: Chai, Hilo, Nemo, Charlie, Game (curled up between Charlie and me) and I hanging out post-hike. Even energizer bunny Hilo was ready to relax for a moment or two!

It was fascinating to see Game try and crawl-dig into three different holes in the hillside. This isn’t something she usually does. I wonder if there were intriguing smells in these holes or if it was early denning thoughts kicking in!

Also outside of dog friends, was a lucky girl this week and got to hang out with not just one, but two of her favorite humans (other than me) for a few hours each.

Toy play

This week’s designated extra toy play session was with a fleece tug (I haven’t used one of those with Game in a while – we usually play with big dog toys). She very much enjoyed it, but opted out contentedly after a shorter than usual session. It’ll be interesting to see if she satiates faster on toys over the next few weeks! Here’s a snippet of toy joy:

Clicker fun

Game got an extra-extra session this week (orange on the tracker) because I needed demo videos! She does (of course) never complain!

Scavenging and delicacies

Scavenged delicacies that stood out this week:

• Horse poop (Game doesn’t usually eat it, so this was interesting!)
• A whole big pan dulce Game wolfed down all at once so Chai wouldn’t get it, leading her to regurgitate and get to re-eat it three times in a row. Lucky girl (I guess!)

Raw and other exceptional snacks:

• Meat bone (beef)
• Canned food (Game is getting some every day with Panacur/fenbendazole mixed in, starting on day 40 post mating and all the way to the second day after whelping. I dewormed Chai today as well (since I now have a mountain of Panacur), so she also got to enjoy some (according to the dogs) delicious canned food.
• 3/4 of an extracurricular rawhide bone Game snatched from Chai. (Chai finished the last quarter.)
• 2 raw eggs.

Enjoying extracurricular rawhide on Thursday!

Preparations

This week, we got …

• 2 plush toys I’ll be saving for the litter (I don’t usually buy them because they are expensive, but I want the puppies to experience lots of different ones). My plan is to just pick up a new one every time I get puppy supplies. Getting one or two at a time will make it feel like I’m not spending as much money as I’m actually spending on them.
• More cleaning supplies (a big bottle of chlorine to get the smell out of the reusable pottie pads I’ll get for the puppies.)
• I stacked up on rawhide so there’s always something to chew (other than furniture) around … but I suspect we’ll use a lot of it before the puppies are born, so I might have to re-stock.
  
• I re-read Karen Cornwell’s Layman’s Guide to Whelping Puppies.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

[Love Bowie; love the song; here’s a link.]

• As of Thursday, February 29, 2024, Game can’t deny it anymore (at least not to me): she’s showing now! It’s easier to notice than it would otherwise be because her belly has been partially shaved for the ultrasound, so changes are more apparent than if it was covered in fluff. Someone’s in there, and they are growing! Some – not all, but some – of her nipples have also started growing a bit!
• This week, there were a few neighborhood walks Game was moving more slowly, taking her time to sniff rather than trot. Something must be feeling different!
• She is getting hungrier and has been asking for evening snacks the last few days!
• She has been slightly less snuggly some days this week. On those days, I’ve switched to looking into each others eyes and telling her what a good girl she is, and offering my hand to rest her head on (which she will gladly do and sometimes nestle her muzzle up to my hand). Other days, such as today, Friday (last day of Game’s week), gentle belly massages are very much appreciated.
• Some of the changes (such as walking more slowly) I’ve observed this week may be because it has been (I believe) this year’s warmest week so far.

Game’s color tracking chart for the week

The little boxes I added below each day, starting on Sunday, get checked off anytime I deworm – this way, I make sure I don’t forget. I’ll redesign my template once I run out of the ones I had printed.