Russell Irish Setters

The pups are going concerns now!    They almost all ventured otside today despite temps of -11C!  They didn't stay out for long, but they did go out.  Purple and Periwinkle even climbed a snowbank.  All have "Big Dog Collars" now, and even no collar has one - a striped brown and blue collar.  Rainbow has to wear a red and yellow collar, and periwinkle a purple flowered one as finding 14 collars with the right colours was a challenge.  It cost nearly $50 for collars for them all!  YIKES.  Opie loves playing with them, as you can see by the photos.

I had Raisin for a geriatric checkup the other day, and spoke with the vet about the logistics of vaccinating 14 pups at a clinic 2.5 hrs away.   So I am going to take the girls at six weeks for their first vaccine, and then the males at the usual 8 weeks.  This is because one of the girls is going to go to Norway, and we don't know as yet which one it will be.  That girl has to have a rabies vaccination prior to going, and we don't want to give multipe vaccines too closely together.  So the girls will be vaccinated at 6, 10, and 14 weeks, and the boys at 8 and 12 weeks.  Because maternal antibodies can interfere with that first vaccine, but because there could also be a lapse of protection, we will do a six week vaccination.  We definitely do not want to vaccinate the girl going to Norway for rabies and DAP at the same time.   It is a logistical nightmare, but a fun one!