[Dailydrool] Adoption news, Puppy feeding, Belly Bands

[L.K. Metzler]

**Adoption Notice:  Tuesday, July 22 was the official Gotcha Day for baby Adelaide, a 3 - 4 month old Basset girl I adopted from the San Marcos, Texas animal shelter.  She was picked up as a stray sometime around the Fourth of July, but never claimed.  She's mine now!!
   
  We are now a 3-and-a-1/2 Basset family.  (Penelope is half-Basset genetically, but definitely a full Basset attitudinally...)  Addie has several nicknames already, including "Addle-gator"...she definitely has alligator teeth!  OUCH!  The Big Kids aren't so sure about this little girl, and are reserving comment on their new little sister for the time being.  Big Sister Jasmine and Big Brother Pelly have taken turns as babysitters and make sure that baby Addie is sufficiently worn out a couple of times a day so that she sleeps well.  Big Sister Penelope isn't at all sure she likes the idea of her flag of a tail being under constant attack from those needle-like puppy teeth, and tends to find a quiet corner in the back of the house when Miss Adelaide is on the prowl.
   
  Addie's Dogster page is at http://www.dogster.com/dogs/819540.
   
  **Puppy Feeding:  It has been a looooonnnnngggg time since I have had a baby puppy.  All of my other dogs were at least a year old or more when I adopted them, so I am a little out of practice as far as feeding a baby.  How much, how often? I've been giving Addie 1 cup of Nutro Large Breed Puppy food three times a day with about a tablespoon of green beans with her breakfast and maybe 2 tablespoons of Pedigree canned puppy food with her supper.  She's on some clavamox and a cough suppressant pill for the next few days to clear up a cough that she had when she was in the shelter. (Could either of those make her hyper?  I thought they would make her sleepy, but...)  She cleans up every morsel of her food at each feeding, so I know she must be hungry at her feeding times.  I don't want to over feed her, but I don't want her to be hungry, either.  She's very active all day long.  I've given her a few "Lite" dog cookies between meals, and she eats those right up.  Is she still
 hungry?  Should I feed her a bit more?  I have yet to introduce pumpkin and baby carrots, but will do so soon.  We're getting used to green beans first.  The vet said she weighed in at 20 pounds on Tuesday, and he estimates her age at 3 1/2 - 4 months.  She is a long girl, and seems to be a bit finer-boned in comparison to my other two full Bassets.  Puppy experts, any advice??
   
  **Belly Bands:  HOW in the world do you keep these on a dog with "snake hips"???  Pelly manages to wiggle and wriggle enough to get the darned thing off.  The same is true for the Walkabout sling I have for his rear end (he ruptured a disc in April, but is learning to walk again), and it is built out of neoprene like little short pants.  I can't strap it on him tight enough--even with velcro and a web belt to boot--to keep it on his skinny little butt.  He just slithers right out of it, usually at the most inopportune time.  If I strap it any tighter, his eyes will bug out and he won't be able to breathe!  He's just a slippery guy, I guess.  Short of superglue or duct tape, I'm at a loss.  Any suggestions?
   
  **Drool to all of those hounds and humans who are sad, in pain, or just need some extra support....
   
   
  Lisa Metzler
   
  Penelope, Jasmine, Pelly, and baby Adelaide
   
   


    L.K. Metzler
San Marcos, TX 
  toppogigio at yahoo.com
   
  "A dog wags its tail with its heart." - Martin Buxbaum 
    "If dogs could talk it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one." -- Andy Rooney 



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