Little Hot Pink

What I do!

I spend a lot of my leisure time with my dogs, on my homestead. My hobbies include training, competing with, and occasionally producing a well-bred litter from my dogs. In order to make my living, however, I work outside the house and off the homestead. I'd love it if the homestead were completely self-sufficient, but it's nowhere near that yet.

So, what do I do? I work for a dog breeder, of course. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to find a local breeder of Australian shepherds and Belgian Malinois who needed help cleaning her kennels and picking up her dog yards. Not glamorous work, but it paid some bills and allowed me to work with dogs that were not Toy Fox or Teddy Roosevelt Terriers. The pay was a little above minimum wage, so I jumped at the chance. I spent a little over two years cleaning poo out of runs and yards and cleaning dog hair out of buildings, mopping floors, and feeding dogs.

As of almost a year ago, I am working with the small dogs and the puppies. It sounds like more fun than it really is, as I am still cleaning poo and dog hair and feeding dogs. However, now I get to add in weighing puppies weekly, giving vaccines and medications, grooming, crate training, and doing other things that see a puppy safely into the world. On slow days, like today, I might get a chance to play with the puppies and cuddle them or maybe take some candid pictures or videos. It's not easy work. Some of it is labor-intensive and some of it is emotionally difficult. I have a love-hate relationship with seeing the puppies leave for new homes, but it's gradually growing easier over time--even with my favorites.

Ominous Beginnings

Little Hot Pink puppy was one of those favorites. She and her Belgian Malinois siblings were born in November. It was a beautiful, chubby litter. Their mother fed them and washed them almost constantly. When she wasn't curled up with the puppies on their heating pad, she was nibbling from her free-access bowl of kibble or taking a bit of exercise outside. It was obvious that they were well cared for and loved. My boss doted on them, as did I. Mals are a tough and independent breed. It's important to imprint human touch and contact on them as soon as possible and for as long as possible when they are still small.

Every day that I worked, I did Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) with the puppies, as I do with the majority of litters. When they were two weeks old, I weighed them for the first time and put their colored breakaway paper puppy collars on them. The littlest girl got a hot pink collar.

Immediate Action

While I do not weigh the puppies every day, I handle them an average of four days each week to do ENS or clean their surroundings. It was pretty obvious to me that Little Hot Pink was not growing as fat as her siblings. It's not unusual for puppies in the same litter to grow at different rates. Her breeder and I agreed that we should pay close attention to her, but neither of us were alarmed quite yet. As long as she continued to grow, however slowly, we would let her dam take care of her and leave her with her siblings.

That "stay the course" attitude held until Little Hot Pink entered her fourth week of life. It was obvious by then that she was not getting what she needed to grow and be healthy. She was half the size of her littermates; she had gained only one third of the weight they had. Her coat was not as shiny as theirs. Her ribs were beginning to protrude, and her tummy was round but not full. While they were happily starting to eat kibble and to play independently, she typically nursed from her dam or sat in the corner and shivered. A responsible breeder knows when it's time to get help. My boss took Little Hot Pink to the vet for a thorough exam.

The vet assured us that she couldn't find any illness, parasites, or physical flaw that would cause the puppy to fall behind the way she had. She was a "failure to thrive" puppy, who would succeed or fail based on her own strength of will. With added attention and care, it would take time for her to catch up to the others, if she had the determination to pull through. Now that they were starting to eat kibble and not as dependent on nursing on their dam, she would be competing less for food. We all knew that Belgian Malinois, as a breed, have drive and determination. Many times, puppies that fail to thrive die before they even open their eyes. Little Hot Pink puppy had a good chance to make it, even if she had lost so much ground.

On the vet's advice, we removed her from her dam's living space and put her in her own crate with a heating pad. She would be fed at least four times a day, using kibble soaked with canned puppy food and water, and added supplements. It was becoming obvious that her dam was hardly feeding her now, anyway, so weaning her completely would not be a major issue. It might actually save her life.

Every time we fed her, we put her on the floor by herself and encouraged her to play. She liked to walk around a bit, but she wasn't a happy puppy. During the first week of this treatment, she only gained .30 pounds going from 1.70 pounds to 2.00 pounds, but it was still more than she had gained the previous week. Even better, when she saw me come inside the building every morning, she started coming to attention and wagging her tail. I knew it was just because she was excited to be getting her food, but it was fun to see. By the end of the second week, she had gained another pound, reaching a little over three pounds. As much as I was having fun playing with my "big tough killer puppy," she needed to rejoin a puppy group.

A New Family

The thing is, she was way too far behind her family to rejoin them. The rest of the puppies in the litter were between five and seven pounds and were ready to start using the doggy door to the outside run, where they could be with other, slightly larger, dogs. She was still small and slightly pot-bellied. While she had regained a bit of energy, it would be possible for the larger puppies and dogs to hurt her. It was just our great good fortune that we had a second litter, an Australian shepherd litter that was already weaned and only slightly larger than her, with which she could play. In she went!

My boss raises very smart, stable puppies. The new litter accepted Little Hot Pink as if she were a long-lost sister returning to their midst. Very soon they were snuggling with her in their crate (which now had a cozy new heating pad and fluffy blanket!) and were enticing her into their games. She still got two extra feedings a day, just to ensure that she had plenty to eat, but she was eating less and less each time. That was actually a good thing! Eating less when she was alone and still gaining health and weight meant that she was eating more while in her group. Little Hot Pink was making progress!

Growing Strong

The first time I weighed her after she moved to her new quarters, Little Hot Pink weighed 3.85 pounds. She had gained over three quarters of a pound, and her coat was now shiny. She was still only half the weight of her heaviest sibling, but she was the perfect weight for her pen-mates. Developmentally, she was still behind. She preferred quiet to activity, and she never initiated play. Many times, she would simply watch me while I was working, trying to figure out what it was I was doing. Any time I would approach her, she would look up at me, almost begging me to pick her up. Sometimes I would take a few minutes to let her out and handle her. Yes, I was caving into her demands, but I was also trying to maintain her social development at the level of her siblings. They were already happy and confident around people and had good bite inhibition. She did not need to fall behind them socially, as well as physically.

The following week, Little Hot Pink weighed 4.80 pounds. The week after that, 6.30 pounds. She was growing taller and longer than her new family and her muscles were growing strong. Her coat began to "clear," losing some of the dark, rough puppy coat and developing the sleeker, lighter sable color that she would have in adulthood. She might turn out to be small, but she was going to be a beautiful adult dog.

Every week, she was gaining in strength and confidence. She was shedding the shy and quiet puppy facade and turning into an active, curious dog. She still watched me a lot as I worked, but if I left her out of the pen as I worked, she had to investigate things instead of hanging by my feet. I taught her to come to me ("Puppy Come!") and to sit for a treat. My boss again brought Little Hot Pink puppy to the vet, who gave her a clean bill of health. There was no reason that our sweet puppy, barring accident or acute illness, would not make it to adulthood.

Going Home

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a puppy go home with someone who will love it and cherish it for the rest of its life. Two of Little Hot Pink's siblings had already gone to their new homes. It was time to look for her new owner. It was difficult to find the right home for her. People who wanted her as a pet did not have the experience needed to handle a Malinois, no matter how small she might stay. People with Malinois experience might ask too much of a potentially developmentally challenged dog. Eventually, the suitable home stepped forward: a dog trainer with Malinois and behavioral training experience who absolutely loved her petite size.

My heart was on the verge of breaking, but I was excited for her, too. Her final day with her breeder, I took her weight for the last time: 8.95 pounds. In just six short weeks, she had gained almost 8 pounds. She cocked her head at me in her curious fashion and took the special cookie from my hand. She was quiet, almost solemn, as she did so. Something was up. She knew it. I picked her up, smelled her freshly bathed fur and gave her a kiss on the head. She licked my cheek, just before I handed her to my boss. It was time. In just a few short minutes, she was in the crate in the cab of the truck, ready to be delivered to her new owner.

I did not watch the dust settle as they drove away. It still hurts to see my favorites go and she was one of my favorite favorites. Still, I am happy for her. Our time has ended, but I know that her victory tale is just beginning.