Thanks For Joining The Live Chat With Molly Morelli

This week’s live puppy chat with Warrior Canine Connection’s Molly Morelli was full of updates and other insights unique to Molly’s expertise. Thanks for joining us; hope to see you next Tuesday at 7:00 pm ET.

crowie Molly, when will Derecho have his stitches removed?

WarriorCanineConnection Derecho will have his stitches in until his head grows enough that his eyelid no longer rolls in. I am taking him in sometime this week to have them checked to be sure all is well.

Puppy Fan Molly, how is Olive doing? Thank you 🙂

WarriorCanineConnection Olive is doing great! I still don’t know if she is pregnant or not. We will know one way or the other next week. All fingers crossed pleased.

mhennan Molly, are you still planning to crate Sandy in the house if she is cleared of UTI, or after treated for?

WarriorCanineConnection I could crate Sandy…but I like going to bed early and not worrying about staying up to crate her 🙂

lynnesky Which WCC dogs will be Menlo Park?

WarriorCanineConnection We have one dog already in Menlo Park. A black lab named Sonny. I am trying to decide if I will send someone from here or if I will get another puppy to send there. Probably one of Olive’s (or whatever our next litter is) will go there as well.

doglove How much would you say Sandy weighs?

WarriorCanineConnection Sandy is around 10lbs.

Maxi Hi Molly. Has Macy taken to Ruby, Lucy and Penny more now that they are a bit older?

WarriorCanineConnection Macy just doesn’t like dogs in her face. She happily coexists with other dogs if she can pretend they are not there. Once the pups are bigger and ahve more sense about them they read her body language and stay away.

crowie So how much has Sandy gained since she arrived then, approx? 

WarriorCanineConnection I don’t know. She was 10 lbs when she went to the vet. She might be more now.

lynnesky Are you enjoying having HHD “girls?” It seems very lively there!

WarriorCanineConnection Lucy went back home today. Penny as it turns out is not actually in heat so she is going back to training tomorrow or Thursday.

WarriorCanineConnection I don’t mind the dogs but this many can be overwhelming when it comes to the mud.

mhennan That reminds me…do you prefer regular towels to microfiber-type towels for drying off the dogs/pups?

WarriorCanineConnection We just use regular bath towels.

brandy’smom Do you agree with some of us that think Sandy will make the perfect Service Dog, or is she still too young to tell?

GoldenGirl1950 Molly I love how you embrace Macy for who she is. I have a soft spot for older goldens.

Maxi I have a soft spot for Macy too and that’s why I always ask for her.

PegSharp Is there a time frame for how long Sandy will be @ WCC?

WarriorCanineConnection I think Sandy is doing fantastic. I’d say for another one to two weeks. Once I have date I will announce it and where she will be going.

Beagleluv Does Derecho have a FB page yet?

WarriorCanineConnection I need to set D’s page up. I will do that tonight.

Paws2luv Do you know if the Menlo Park location will be having Puppy Petters? A few of us live not far from there.

WarriorCanineConnection No Puppy Petters there because there will not be litters born there. We will be looking for Puppy Parents and Puppy Sitters.

lynnesky Has Sandy had an “official” WCC picture taken yet?

WarriorCanineConnection We did Sandy’s photo on Friday and I need to get that to Miss Zazzle.

doglove Cadence seems to be doing great from the photos posted on her FB page…how is her progress?

WarriorCanineConnection Cadence is doing great!

WhatUp I see Sandy still has a harness on, does she have to have on all night ???

WarriorCanineConnection I think Cheryl forgot to take Sandy’s harness off. I’ll head out after the chat to do that.

KathyMacKnight How’s Mia?

WarriorCanineConnection Mia is on the mend. I am tired of colds but happy she is a healthy kid otherwise.

Jersey Girl I notice Sandy doesn’t eat all her food at one time….I never saw a puppy do that, is this normal?

WarriorCanineConnection Yes, she has no competition so she doesn’t feel the need to inhale her food. Also, she is gets SO many training treats she simply isn’t hungry.

Puppy Fan Any good advise for getting thru the 9 month – 1 year phase?? My pup is a handful!

WarriorCanineConnection Group obedience classes. They need the socialization and extra structure during that age.

pj Are you seeing any signs that Olive may surely be pregnant?

WarriorCanineConnection pj – I am surely one of the most superstitious people I know when it comes to breeding. I don’t like to look at or talk about signs because I fear it will jinx things. I know, silly.

mhennan Molly, with the PEC in full action how long would new puppies remain inside in the whelping box?

WarriorCanineConnection The pups will sleep inside in Mia’s room (with me next to them) for at least the first 3 weeks. Once Puppy Petting starts they will be brought down to the PEC into a whelping box down there.

Puppy Fan Didn’t you say at 1 point that those ‘teenage years are the hardest??’

WarriorCanineConnection Yes, teenage years ARE hard.

Gayle M – MA Molly, what is the success rate of these inseminations?

WarriorCanineConnection I’d say 95%…pretty high. You just don’t often have a good reason for a girl to miss. Just like you don’t always have a good reason for a human to miscarry or miss.

WarriorCanineConnection So far only Grace has come into season.

puproar What about Penny?

WarriorCanineConnection I was told Penny was in season but when I picked her up she wasn’t.

doglove Has Grace done any training in any of the facilities?

WarriorCanineConnection Grace comes to WCC about every other week for training.

Gayle M – MA Molly, Is there a waiting list of veterans for your dogs?

WarriorCanineConnection We don’t keep a waiting list because we don’t have a ton of dogs that are old enough to be placed. We don’t want people sitting around for years waiting for a dog from us.

Puppy Fan Can you update us on what Levi’s up to these days?

WarriorCanineConnection Abby and Levi are both doing great.

WarriorCanineConnection Levi is working on walking on the leash without pulling. He gets excited and wants to pull so we are slowly teaching him that isn’t acceptable.

mhennan How is Miss Breeze doing? I know for legal/privacy reasons we won’t see photos & I don’t always catch the trainings.

WarriorCanineConnection I think Breeze will be here Thursday.

doglove Is there a significant difference in the progress of those dogs in facilities for training daily then the others?

WarriorCanineConnection Not really. They all get training it just is different people training them. All dogs will be at different levels just because they are different dogs.

Gayle M – MA Molly, will you be training the trainers for Menlo Park?

WarriorCanineConnection We hired a very experienced trainer for Menlo Park.

Puppy Fan How do you teach him not to pull?

WarriorCanineConnection Not letting him get away with it. If he pulls we stop and make him return to the heel position. A very slow process but it works.

mhennan Molly, for the pulling is that when you are using the gentle leader? I struggle with that with my girl as she is super friendly and can’t seem to help herself

WarriorCanineConnection We are using the gentle leader on Ruby and Lucy. we will are also teaching them to walk without it but just using it as a tool right now.

DaisyDog How is Sandy’s training coming along – she looks so bright during sessions?

WarriorCanineConnection We are really happy with Sandy’s progress.

EHealy We’re all hoping for the best that there will be Olive puppies this summer, so should those of us who plan to attend the ‘Pawty in the PEC’ fill out puppy petter applications?

WarriorCanineConnection No need to fill out puppy petter apps for just the weekend of petting.

holleylover Molly – a question about Twister? Do you keep in touch with his new family? If any thing were to happen would he come back to you? 

WarriorCanineConnection Twister would come back here if for any reason he can’t stay with his family. I don’t see that happening though – they love him!

texasundog Do you think the gentle leader works better than a training (“Choke” chain) collar?

WarriorCanineConnection The choke collar teaches using pain. We teach their brains – we don’t want to hurt them to make them listen.

lynnesky Who else was born in litter that was same time as Mia’s birth?

WarriorCanineConnection There were only 3 pups in that litter and they were born while I was in transition between working at another organization. I gave two of the three pups back to that organization and kept Gabe.

Puppy Fan How is our Lundy doing? Growing into his fluffiness, from the looks of last pic.

WarriorCanineConnection We love Lundy!

KYbeagle Will you have someone on the west coast raising pups or will you keep that mostly in the east so you can keep an eye on the pups?

WarriorCanineConnection Depends on what you mean by pups. No pups will be born on the West Coast.

texasundog Has your friend that shows, Misty’s breeder, seen Twister yet? What does she think of him if she has?

WarriorCanineConnection I think he gets to meet Twister tomorrow.

Paws2luv Will you be accepting any type of donations for other locations such as Menlo Park. If possible, can we also donate to those locations as well?

WarriorCanineConnection You can donate money specifically for the Menlo Park location and once we get few more dogs there we might set up an Amazon Wish List as well.

WarriorCanineConnection If you donate for the Menlo Park location the money still comes here as it is our Head Quarters.You just have to notate it is for Menlo Park.

lynnesky Is Sandy doing better with potty box?

WarriorCanineConnection Sandy is doing great with the Potty box. About 98% success

DaisyDog Sandy sure seems to run until she drops – does she have extra energy or just her pup phase?

WarriorCanineConnection She is just a puppy.

CARCA Will menlo park have an explore cam?

WarriorCanineConnection No, there won’t be any pups there and I think getting a live feed in a government building would be a no go 🙂

Janet&crew-VA So will Olive’s puppies be the start up puppies for Menlo Park? Or Sandy?

WarriorCanineConnection We have one adult lab in training now. I am not sure who else will be there just yet. Maybe Sandy..maybe not. Once things are certain I’ll be sure to let you know.

pj Are the potty boxes phased out eventually or are they also used when they become service dogs?

WarriorCanineConnection Once the potty boxes are phased out they are not really used as adults.

doglove Do you use anything like Frontline with your dogs? Would you recommend it?

WarriorCanineConnection We use K9 Advantix and would never think of not using it.

WarriorCanineConnection I am always the worrier and err on the side of caution. I’d rather be safe than sorry.

puproar I came in late, so forgive me if this is a repeat: has Olive’s ultrasound been scheduled?

WarriorCanineConnection Olive’s ultrasound is next week.

doglove Sorry one more…do you use the K9 Advantix all year or just the warmer months? Thanks for the advice.

WarriorCanineConnection We use k9advantix all year round. We can’t take a chance on any fleas on a military installation or hospital setting.

texasundog Sandy still seems small to me. Is she really?

WarriorCanineConnection Sandy is a normal size.