Cheryl - I need some help!

Since you are our resident "expert" on animals, I thought I would ask you about this.

We have 2 dogs - Bali (4) is a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix. Baby (3) is a beautiful black lab. Bali had puppies 3 weeks ago (we have a neighborhood dog who likes to visit! )

Anyway, Bali has been a very good mommy. But recently we noticed that she doesn't get up right away when the puppies are calling for her. She will feed them eventually and it's not like they are starving or anything. Is this normal? I've never dealt with puppies before, so I am clueless!

Also, how old should they be before they start eating puppy food? They are 3 weeks old right now (as of yesterday).

Another one - right now we have them in the bottom half of an extremely large dog kennel (Rick rigged a door so they couldn't get out). But they are now trying to get out of the kennel. We thought about putting the top on, and closing the door, but then Bali wouldn't be able to get to them without one of us opening the door. It's too crowded in there for her AND the puppies. Should we do this? Or is there something else we can put together to keep the puppies in that Bali will be able to get in and out of? I don't want them roaming around the house - it's not puppy proof!

One more - how old should the puppies be before they need to see a vet for shots, etc? I have never gotten a puppy less than 3 months old and I always took them right away. I really can't afford to get shots for all 6 of them and would like to leave that to whomever adopts them. Is it safe to wait?

Lastly, since Rocky keeps coming to visit (at least once a week) I am going to have to get my girls "fixed". We hadn't because we had thought about breeding Baby. Rocky (the dad) is also a black lab, but I have decided that I am just not really equipped for breeding a dog. I hate to report the owners (they are neighbors) because they really do try to keep Rocky at home, but this is the greatest escape artist I have ever seen in a dog! He actually tore the bumper off the back of their boat last month when they had him tied to it while they were working on their fence! LOL! But frankly, I am getting tired of caring for a dog that isn't mine. We end up having him at least overnight several times a month, which means I'm having to feed him. Plus, he tears up everything he can chew - he's not quite 2 years old, still a puppy in Lab terms. The last time he was here, he ATE a $12 bag of garden soil and knocked over (and killed) 5 of my herb plants. Any suggestions on how to handle this? He really is a good dog - very friendly, great with kids, and extremely loving. But he's not MY dog!

Re: Cheryl - I need some help!

Thank you so much, Cheryl! And please thank your sister for me as well! You answered all of my question - especially the one about the puppy food. I was worried about that, but I'll go out tomorrow and get them puppy food and add some water to it. I am here all day, so no problems there.

Between Rick and the kids, these are going to be the most well adjusted puppies you ever saw! Rick had gotten into the habit of taking all 6 of them out into the front yard every day after work to play with them. I swear, every kid in the neighborhood has to come and check them out! Today we actually had the next door neighbor kids waiting for Rick to get home!

So far, I have home for 2 of the 6. I honestly can not afford to get shots for any of them (heck, I can't even pay all of our bills right now!), so I will try to find good homes for them all before they need shots.

We do have a half bath downstairs. Sounds like we will have to put them there. It is a bit larger than the kennel they are in, but I don't know how long that will alst. They are looking like they are going to be fairly good sized dogs, They are already about 4-5 pounds each! Mama only weighs about 33 pounds! Oh well! They are cute enough that I'm not going to worry much about it. It's not like they will stay in there very much anyway!

Re: Cheryl - I need some help!

Right now I would gladly give them to ANYONE! One of the girls (they call her Squeeker) is the noisiest darn puppy ever! And she waits until about 3AM to start up! LOL! I got absolutely NO SLEEP last night. Finally went to sleep about 4 and got up at 5:30. So I am tired and cranky - more so than usual! Dreww is home because his tummy is upset. I may let him take them out front later today to play. Maybe after lunch.

One of the people who was going to take them had backed out. For some reason, they think it is going to cost hundreds upon hundred of dollars a year to have a dog? I told them how much the food is (it can get expensive) and where to take them for discounted shots (we get both dogs all their shots for less than $60 a year), but I can't convince them. So now I still have 5 puppies that need homes. Rick and the kids want to keep 2 of them (Bruiser [the only boy] and Bear [who Rick has fallen in love with]) Sorry, we already have 2 dogs and we don't need anymore! But they are cuties! I'll try to take pics and see if I can post them. They are going to be beautiful dogs.

Oh, they finally gave all of them names.
Bruiser - the only boy named after the puppy Drew lost a few years ago
Bear - a brindle colored ball of fur, she's a love bug
Dora - loves to explore, hence the name
Boots - Dora's best friend who happens to have 4 white feet on her all black body
Squeeker - the runt and the noisiest of the bunch
Susie Q - I have no idea where that name came from!

All of them are mostly black with some white markings. Bear and Boots have some brindle coloring thru the black. Bear's is very visible and Boots is sporadic. Bruiser has the most wite on him. Squeeker is almost pure black, with just her front toes showing a tad of white. The others are motly black with some white on their feet and chests. Their fur is incredible soft, which surprises me as Bali has coarse hair and Rocky's is so short you can't tell. They are going to be short to medium haired.

Squeeker got her first bath. She picked up a flea while outside playing yesterday. Didn't find any on the others, but I'm watching them since I can't put anything on them yet. Little stinker decided that the bathtub was fun and kept slipping thru Drew's hands. They made a mess of my bathroom, but she has been much calmer since getting her bath yesterday. Still noisy, but calm.