Helpful Posts: His mom rejected him at birth and Judy has been hand feeding him ever since. He was quite premature and her motherly hormones didn't kick in.
He is a few days short of three weeks old and his eyes are open. He has graduated from eating from a syringe to a puppy bottle.
He now gets fed every four hours rather than every two; which is a lot easier on Judy. She has his schedule down so that she only has to wake up once during the night to feed him. A couple more weeks and we will transition him to eating Puppy Mousse by Royal Canin https://www.royalcanin.com/ca/en_ca/...anned-dog-food which is a wonderful starter food for abandoned puppies.
I think that Leo will grow into quite a cutie...
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Thread: Leo is growing
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11th October 2020, 06:17 PM #1
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Leo is growing
Last edited by rpcrowe; 11th October 2020 at 07:35 PM.
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11th October 2020, 06:40 PM #2
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Re: Leo is growing
Looks like loving care pays off!
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11th October 2020, 07:15 PM #3
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Re: Leo is growing
Oh ...kisses a thousand times
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11th October 2020, 07:42 PM #4Moderator
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Re: Leo is growing
Your dedication to these dogs is admirable. It deserves all the thanks that you get.
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12th October 2020, 01:10 AM #5
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Re: Leo is growing
He is so cute.
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12th October 2020, 04:20 AM #6
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Re: Leo is growing
Great photo and story! Thanks for sharing with us
Do you know why mom rejected?
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12th October 2020, 04:53 PM #7
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Re: Leo is growing
I suspect that it had something to do with Leo being so premature. Her maternal hormones had not cranked in and she had no milk. Maybe if nature had been allowed to run its course, Leo might not have survived. Animals will often reject their young if they suspect that the young will not survive.
Originally Posted by lovelife65
Anyhow, Leo has a dedicated surrogate mother in my wife who is tending to his needs. He is now two or three times his birth weight and is crawling all around the puppy box.
He really is a cutie!
This is a quickie video snippet I did of Leo for youtube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=654FoiFyM8gLast edited by rpcrowe; 12th October 2020 at 08:47 PM.
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12th October 2020, 11:33 PM #8
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Re: Leo is growing
Richard, thanks for posting the youtube link; it was interesting to see Leo kneading the air when he was nursing on the bottle.
Is Leo's mother one of your own dogs or is he a rescue that you and your wife took in?
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13th October 2020, 12:19 AM #9
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Re: Leo is growing
Leo's mom is Carmella. a rescue that we took in about a month ago... Originally Posted by Cantab
Richard, thanks for posting the youtube link; it was interesting to see Leo kneading the air when he was nursing on the bottle.
Puppies often knead their moms while they are nursing...
Is Leo's mother one of your own dogs or is he a rescue that you and your wife took in?
Carmella has been spayed and is in the process of being adopted right now!
BTW: Carmella's violent reaction to her puppy surprised us because she is a really mellow dog in all other aspects...
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20th October 2020, 09:37 PM #10
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Leo Needs a Bath
He is transitioning from bottle feeding to puppy gruel which we prepare by grinding kibble into a powder and mixing it with puppy formula and Puppy Mousse...
He laps it up but also gets quite messy while eating. He needs to be bathed every time he is fed...
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21st October 2020, 12:42 AM #11
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
Good news! Thanks for the update.
It looks like he was eating on a raised piece of furniture -- or you had your camera down near floor level. In any event, a good shot.
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21st October 2020, 02:48 PM #12
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
Actually Leo was on a disposable paper Pee Pee pad https://www.petsmart.com/dog/trainin...YaAvpVEALw_wcB with which we cover half of the bottom of his pen. The other half is covered with some fuzzy blankets and some plush toys (in lieu of siblings)...
Puppies seem to differentiate early between the fuzzy blankets making up the sleeping area and the Pee Pee pad on which they learn early to poop and pee. I think that rather than "learn: it is inborn not to foul their bed... It is easy to frequently change the Pee Pad, replacing it with a clean one... After the pups learn that it is fun to tear up the paper pad. we switch to washable cloth pads.
I actually had the camera almost resting on the "pee Pee" pad in order to get down to Leo's level. I really like the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens in cases like this because of its marvelous close focus ability. The lens was only a few inches from Leo when I shot his image. This lens has "almost" macro capability. The articulating LCD along with the Sony mirrorless camera's great focusing capability is also helpful. The lens focuses closest at 28mm or so, which is the reason for the distortion.
The sticky (pun intended) problem is adjusting the size and proportions of his dish. At first puppies do best with a relatively flat dish. But they tend to walk into the dish. As he gets used to eating, we will change his dish to a deeper one which will reduce his walking into the dish.
I shot an overall image of the puppy pen in which Leo lives...
The pen is about 48 inches (1.2 meters) square
Last edited by rpcrowe; 21st October 2020 at 07:10 PM.
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21st October 2020, 11:11 PM #13
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
Richard, your description brought back memories of when we fostered six kittens (and adopted their mother). For the first week after their arrival (kittens about 3 or 4 weeks old), my wife seemed to be working full time at keeping things clean, etc.
Leo is definitely cute.
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22nd October 2020, 01:04 AM #14
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
It is a difficult and time consuming job hand feeding a puppy or kitties. I really respect my wife for doing it. It's wonderful seeing little Leo thriving when he would have otherwise died...
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22nd October 2020, 04:54 PM #15
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
How long will you have him? Will he be put up for adoption? He is just so cute.
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23rd October 2020, 02:27 PM #16
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
We will put him up for adoption after he is neutered - in about two or three months...
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23rd October 2020, 03:17 PM #17
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
Thank you Richard for the update. Its wonderful what you and your wife are doing. Keep us posted on Leo's progress. Originally Posted by rpcrowe
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24th October 2020, 02:38 PM #18
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
I will keep you updated. It is fortunate for us that Leo was a singlet pup. Imagine the time we (Judy) would have had if we needed to bottle feed six or eight pups... Originally Posted by escape
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24th October 2020, 09:00 PM #19
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
Nice to see little Leo doing well. Nice work to you and your wife for caring for this cute little pup.
What kind of health issues both physical and mental might new adopters be faced with given his tough beginnings? I no immunity could be a struggle wo his mommas milk.
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27th October 2020, 02:12 AM #20
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Re: Leo Needs a Bath
Yes he will have no mom's immunity but, we are keeping him well protected and will. of course, he will get the requisite shots when the time for them comes around...
Right now, he seems quite strong and healthy...
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