She's What!!!

Breeding dogs isn't as easy as throwing two dogs in the back yard and hoping they will get the job done, no it is much more complicated than that.   Or at least breeders and Vets seemed to make it more complicated than that.  There is a magic hormone called Progesterone and basically when your girl comes into season you monitor her progesterone - at about $100 bucks a pop by going into the vets office, they take blood from her and send it off to a lab.  At least here in Sequim they send it off to a lab as my vet doesn't have the equipment to test it in house.  I usually get the results back the following morning.

So based on my last experience with Driving to Utah to breed to Beowulf and having Ivie get bit by a brown recluse spider and losing all but one puppy I decided that my pocket book really needed a break this time around.  Although I would have loved to breed to Beowulf, it just wasn't going to be feasible.  He was going to be spending the Winter in Arizona with his family and although the idea of spending some time in warm weather was appealing I decided that I would breed to a Beowulf Son, Chandler.  Chandler lives in Federal Way and I really enjoy spending time with his Mom and Dad, Marty and Jon Moore.  Chandler just turned two and it was decided that Ivie would be his first girlfriend since she was a proven bitch and had produced nice puppies in the past.

So when Ivie came into season, I got a bit nervous when Jon told me he was going to go to the Arizona regional specialty.  I crossed every finger and toe that I had that she would hold off long enough for him to get home.....That is where this story really starts......

On Tuesday Ivie's progesterone was at .2, remember she needs to get to 5.  So I wasn't too worried.  we decided to wait until Friday and do another draw.  My vet does the draw and the next morning I decide to go to the dump and do some stuff at the office.  Meanwhile in the morning Ivie is acting all antsy and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, so I put her outside and then figured it was safer to bring her back in the house while I was out doing my errands.  Around 11:30 I noticed an email from my vet letting me know that her progesterone had risen to 1.9...hmmm this could be a bad thing, so I called Anne (my mentor and very good friend)  Anne says you need to get progesterone done today.  Call Dr. Smith and see if they can get you in.  So I call and they tell me that I have to be there by 2pm for them to get the results back the same day....It is now 11:37 and I am 2 1/2 hours from her office and I don't even have my dog with me....ok then, we will be there.

I race home, change my clothes, grab my toothbrush, an extra change of clothes and a small bag of dog food that I happened to have for this very reason and flew out the door.  Thankfully the bridge wasn't open for any submarines and I made it to their office at 2:01pm...whew!  Linda meets me and while we are waiting for results we go and have lunch, great for taking my mind off of things.  Linda is now getting worried about the time, so we head back over to their office and I ask if they have the results back from her test.  This is the actual conversation.  The young girl says let me look,  It says here that Ivie's progesterone is at 6.3.  My response - SHIT!  6.3 are you sure!  her response, as she looks horrified by my language at this point is - would you like to talk to the doctor?  My response, no need, I know what I need to do - Thanks!

And Out the Door I go (I think that is a line in a song)  I call Linda, she lives close and asks if I need anything to get on the road.  I think I am good.  I call Anne, She says I need to call Jon, so I call Jon.  Jon has left the dog show to visit his parents in Quartzide about 2 hours away.  He says he will pack up and start driving north, which means going back to the show site, load up his trailer and stuff and drive right by where he currently is...Did I say how much I like Jon.  Anyway I start driving south.  Ivie and I spent the night in Oregon and we met Jon the next day just north of Sacramento.  We find an area and let the dogs be together but Chandler just couldn't get the job done.  Being young and all he just didn't quite know what to do.  We tried and tried and I realize at this point that we need help.  All our help is in Oregon, so we start driving North.  I meanwhile am following Jon and making phone calls.  Jon is exhausted and we pulled into Weed, California at a Pilot Truck Stop and park his trailer.  By now I have been coached by the best of the best in breeders on how to help Chandler and I have to say, he got the job done!  Good Boy Chandler!

The following morning we drove to his place and got another tie, I then came on home and worked the next day, to leave work and go over to Federal Way the next day for another tie.  By this time I have put some major miles on my van.  For someone that was hoping for something close to home and simple, well that just went out the door.

Yesterday, I received confirmation from Dr. Smith's office that Ivie is pregnant and she expects her to have 7 to 9 puppies on or around May 3rd.  This is such good news and I am so happy.  Now comes the waiting.  Thankfully I am going to the National Specialty next week, I am sure when I get home, I will see a big change in my baby girl.