My apologies. I hope everyone understands how groggy I still was when trying to describe both dogs' stats. Molly Maguire does indeed weigh a trim 20 lbs but she only stands 12" at the shoulder. My eyes were still crossed from exhaustion earlier. Now after another nap and a pot of coffee, I weighed and measured Brigid herself. Very carefully this time, no estimates! She's almost 9" at the shoulder and weighs all of 3 1/2 lbs. Her hipbones stand out like a scrawny bovine's.
But after lunch and a long break outdoors, she toddled around a lot better than before. She climbed the low porch steps herself. I think I'll measure her on Sundays and weigh her every day, maybe keep a written record until I consider her in good shape. Her ear's better all the time, too. The pinkness on her muzzle and right ear (both white) has faded by at least half. I put tea tree oil drops in the ear. Betadyne works well too, but nothing beats tea tree oil.
We also passed an important social milestone. I fed both dogs lunch outdoors and kept Brigid on a leash meanwhile so she couldn't crowd Molly. But I purposely gave Molly more than usual, knowing she'd leave some. When Molly finished all she wanted, I turned Brigid loose to run scarf up the scraps. Molly just wagged her tail fondly and let her finish it all off. So if they're not going to fight over food, they're not likely to fight over much else either. When Brigid wanted to climb back in my lap, I petted her but didn't pick her up. She whimpered a little but then turned back to playing with Molly. I don't want her to think of me as her only source of love. After all she went through the first 10 weeks of life, she could easily have lifelong deep-seated neuroses, and it's part of my job to lessen that by encouraging as much canine bonding as possible. Molly will be a better doctor for her than any human could.
So we all had a lovely couple hours outdoors this afternoon (storm due tonight) and when I brought them back in and put them in the baby bed, there was little fussing. They knew they had a chunk of venison coming as a treat, and now they're snuggled together in a tight little ball, sleeping it off w/o ANY sedatives. Molly's used to a lot more free time indoors, but that would be unwise with Brigid until she's thoroughly comfortable in there with company. Molly doesn't seem to object so far, either. In a few weeks it will be used strictly for one noon nap, bedtime, and when I'm gone - which is very rare. I walk around the corner to church, and I won't even be going this week.
On Tuesdays I have a lady who drives me around on errands for 2 hours. That's when I'll buy a few bags of puppy food to substitute for the adult kibble Brigid gets now. After she fills out and quits growing, back to adult food. The additives I use all year more than make up for puppy needs, but I want Brigid to gain weight as fast as reasonable considering where she's starting from.
Did you folks know that when some of the starving prisoners were liberated from WWII concentration camps, they died from the sudden abundance of food? That's why I wanted to take it slow at first with Brigid.
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