The vet check said the pups were negative for Parvo and their form of
mange is genetic and not contagious (For the purists amongst us they have Demodectic not Sarcoptic mange).
[note to BK - no, I am not writing a novel, I was interrupted by the morning deer parade, they paused next door to have some breakfast).]
Now, as I was saying, the pups are not contagious (with the exception of the kennel cough). The vet said it was best to keep the new dogs "isolated" until their cough went away. Since the disease is airborne, that means moving the dogs to Tahiti to recuperate in an outdoor pen, or build them their separate heated home here. (The vet's advice to the SPCA was for them to keep a lot of windows open to insure good air circulation - nice in the summer, but a difficult measure when the outside temperature stays below freezing for days at a time. Our house is new and very well built - translation: to minimize heating costs the house is virtually hermetically sealed - the doggie door being the only exception - so whatever germs flit about the basement shall soon flit about upstairs.
Since the pups really need to be "socialized", and our tribe is aquiver with curiosity, and I'm tired of putting on a down-jacket to take my crossword puzzles downstairs to sit with the pups, we decided to introduce a pup at a time to the upstairs tribe and hope we could keep the chaos to a minimum.
Visual BALLYHOO for "The Pups Meet the Barkers" to follow.
der Brucer
