Thor Finds a Home - and nail trimming tips

     It's been  busy week around here for the Dachshund Lady.  We have had several puppies going to their new forever homes, with more set to leave even today!  Mostly these have been the Cream puppies of Duke and Duchess; their puppies are so, so cute!  Their litter was an astounding SEVEN!  There were six girls and only one boy; talk about being outnumbered.  But that little boy got to go to his new home yesterday, and he got a brand new, very powerful name:  Meet "Thor".  You Avenger  fans will appreciate that.  :)

"The Mighty Thor"

"Thor protecting his two sisters"

     Here is another picture of Thor's two sisters who are not spoken for yet.  The are just now eight weeks old, but have been completely weaned and totally rowdy for a couple of weeks already.  You'll notice instead of Thor's green eyes and brown nose, they both have black eyes and black noses.  Both are very striking looks.  Of course, I could be a little prejudiced.
     Before puppies leave Dogwood Dachshunds, they always get one last once over checklist to make sure they are healthy and fit.  One thing is they always get one last "puppy manicure".  New puppies' nails grow fast, and since the first few weeks are not spent running around and wearing their nails down, they grow into little "hooks", and are very sharp.  I trim the little nails at around 4-5 weeks, and then again before they "go home" at 8 weeks.  This is a very important time to begin teaching your puppy that nail trimming is necessary and not something to be feared.  From this point on, I encourage new puppy owners to keep nail trimmers handy, and to quite often take the trimmers and let the puppy smell them, rub them on the puppy's feet, in between their toes, and actually squeeze the trimmers close to their ears as if you were actually clipping, so they can hear the little sound it makes.  All this will then seem "everyday and natural" to your puppy as he grows older, and so should be comfortable with you handling his feet.  Otherwise, you may wind up having to go to the Vet or groomer just to have nails trimmed.  Dogs with light colored nails are easier to work with, because the vein can usually be seen through the nail itself, so you can avoid clipping too far into the "quick".  It is very painful to the dog to cut too far, and the nail will bleed a lot.  It is advisable to have on hand a product to stop the bleeding, called "styptic powder".  You can find it in the pet store in the medical section.  The brand name I most often have seen is "Kwik Stop".  I call it the "yellow stuff" ('cause it's yellow).  If you do cut too short, and the toenail is bleeding, simply apply some of the yellow powder directly to the nail, and it should stop the bleeding.
     I hope everyone is having a safe and happy beginning to their summer.  Remember to not let your dogs overheat.  We'll discuss heat exhaustion here soon, as it can be very dangerous for your dog.  If this is your first visit, welcome!  Please go to the top of the page and sign up to "follow", or "subscribe", so you'll get automatic updates. And recommend us to your friends to follow, as well.  You can also checkout my website at www.dogwooddachshunds.com.  And if you have a comment or question, please use the comment section below.  If I don't know the answer to your question, I will do my best to find it for you!
     Thanks for stopping by, and as we always say,
                                    "HAPPY TAILS, EVERYONE!"