And I am beginning to think a watched mom is much the same. Although this morning Ivie really didn't want to eat her food. She ate some then spit it out - much to Dallas and Brandy's liking. She is resting, her temperature has not dropped which they say in necessary in order for her to start delivering puppies. However Ivie has never read the breeders handbook and does things her own way. With her first two litters I never saw her temperature drop, so why should it this time.
In either case, my very good friend Ruth Johnson is on her way to spend the night with me tonight. Which will be so nice in case puppies decide to come in the middle of the night. If not we have a c section planned for Tomorrow at 1pm and I have all my peeps lined up to help. Linda Dalton - also coming in from out of town and is the BEST at organizing people. I have my friend Mary Franden, who is a collie breeder, Susan Kowitz who has a puppy from my first litter and is the queen of taking pictures and documenting everything. Anita Pedersen who is a retired er nurse and will do whatever anyone tells her to do, Courtney who is my dog sitter and a vet tech. Ashley Angevine who is the vet tech on call and the best at reviving puppies that don't want to be revived, I know we have Kizmet today because of Ashley's determination and willingness to not give up and of course Dr. Wagner who has given me her cell phone and told me I can call her in the middle of the night - here is hoping we don't have a middle of the night thing and more of a afternoon delivery. My team is in place!
I have been nesting for two days, there is enough food at my house to feed a small army, I have cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more which is probably a very good thing. I managed to get 1/2 of the lawn mowed again last night and I think I will do the dog yards again once Ruth is here. That way if I cannot get them mowed for another three weeks it won't look like I am growing hay in my back yard. At least it is cooler today which is nice for Ivie.
I will keep you all posted....The countdown begins.
Ladybug
Friday, May 2, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
1st Day of Waiting
When Ivie had her big litter two years ago she decided to deliver her puppies two days early, while I was in the shower. So this time I decided I would be prepared. I brought home all files I needed from the office last night and advised my clients that I would be working from home for the next couple of weeks since my dog was going to be having puppies.
I have to say I think most of my clients were understanding and excited, but there are a few that I don't think understand the concept. Why would you stay home with puppies, don't you just let the mother care for them....Yah right. So then I have to explain to them that what should happen when a person makes the decision to breed their dog. Puppies are fragile, they can get squished unknowingly by their mother and especially when there is a big litter, it sometimes is just impossible for her to lay down without laying on a puppy. Then you hear the muffled ummph cry of a puppy that cannot breath, and you have to roll your hand under mom and pull them out. Also with a big litter, mom usually doesn't have enough milk, and you have to watch and rotate the puppies on to the good teats and sometimes supplement with goats milk in order for everyone to get enough to eat. A good breeder will also socialize and work with the puppies as they grow in order for them to be able and willing to adapt to their new environment. After talking with them for a while, they are amazed as they had no idea that so much went into raising a litter. So many people have never gotten a dog from a breeder but rather gotten them from a pet store or humane society or a friend who's dog just happened to have a litter of puppies. I must admit I have been one of those people in the past and recognize that person....but I have gotten off the subject of coming to work from home in order to be prepared.
Last night I laid out all the supplies needed, changed the light bulbs in the whelping room since the only way to do so is to put a ladder in the whelping box and I didn't think that would be too good of an idea with puppies in the box. I had bought a couple of bulbs that are supposed to last 20 years and decided this was a good place to put them. I wondered as I was trying to get them out of the packaging If I break them getting them out of the package will they still be replaced by the manufacturer? I doubt it - it practically takes a rocket scientist to figure out how to get these dang things out of the packaging, but I managed and installed them without breaking them, Yeah!
We are ready and prepared! This morning Ivie woke me up in her normal manner of whimpering and letting me know she was hungry, this is a good sign that maybe today is not yet the day and I can actually take a shower, which I did for inquiring minds. She ate her breakfast, went out in the yard and did her business and proceeded to whine and wimper for the next hour. I think it was because I was home and she was hoping for some sympathy, which of course she did get. Took her temperature and it has not dropped, although this has never been an indication of puppies coming with her and proceeded to double check the whelping room. Towels, check. Scissors - check, paper towels - check, garbage can - check, dental floss - check, iodine - check and the list goes on. I am ready - I think and as I sit here typing she is relaxing by the front door, probably hoping I will let her out so she can go dig a hole big enough for a small car to get lost in - but that is not happening sweetheart at least not today. Anyway, I am prepared - I think!
I have to say I think most of my clients were understanding and excited, but there are a few that I don't think understand the concept. Why would you stay home with puppies, don't you just let the mother care for them....Yah right. So then I have to explain to them that what should happen when a person makes the decision to breed their dog. Puppies are fragile, they can get squished unknowingly by their mother and especially when there is a big litter, it sometimes is just impossible for her to lay down without laying on a puppy. Then you hear the muffled ummph cry of a puppy that cannot breath, and you have to roll your hand under mom and pull them out. Also with a big litter, mom usually doesn't have enough milk, and you have to watch and rotate the puppies on to the good teats and sometimes supplement with goats milk in order for everyone to get enough to eat. A good breeder will also socialize and work with the puppies as they grow in order for them to be able and willing to adapt to their new environment. After talking with them for a while, they are amazed as they had no idea that so much went into raising a litter. So many people have never gotten a dog from a breeder but rather gotten them from a pet store or humane society or a friend who's dog just happened to have a litter of puppies. I must admit I have been one of those people in the past and recognize that person....but I have gotten off the subject of coming to work from home in order to be prepared.
Last night I laid out all the supplies needed, changed the light bulbs in the whelping room since the only way to do so is to put a ladder in the whelping box and I didn't think that would be too good of an idea with puppies in the box. I had bought a couple of bulbs that are supposed to last 20 years and decided this was a good place to put them. I wondered as I was trying to get them out of the packaging If I break them getting them out of the package will they still be replaced by the manufacturer? I doubt it - it practically takes a rocket scientist to figure out how to get these dang things out of the packaging, but I managed and installed them without breaking them, Yeah!
We are ready and prepared! This morning Ivie woke me up in her normal manner of whimpering and letting me know she was hungry, this is a good sign that maybe today is not yet the day and I can actually take a shower, which I did for inquiring minds. She ate her breakfast, went out in the yard and did her business and proceeded to whine and wimper for the next hour. I think it was because I was home and she was hoping for some sympathy, which of course she did get. Took her temperature and it has not dropped, although this has never been an indication of puppies coming with her and proceeded to double check the whelping room. Towels, check. Scissors - check, paper towels - check, garbage can - check, dental floss - check, iodine - check and the list goes on. I am ready - I think and as I sit here typing she is relaxing by the front door, probably hoping I will let her out so she can go dig a hole big enough for a small car to get lost in - but that is not happening sweetheart at least not today. Anyway, I am prepared - I think!
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
4 Days to Go
Everyone keeps asking how Ivie is doing. She looks beautiful, has a pregnant glow, her coat is shiny and lush and her milk is coming in. She is hungry and I am giving her three meals a day instead of two as she cannot eat a big meal any more. I am coming home at lunch now to feed her and check in on her and take her for a waddle down the road. I say Waddle because that is what it resembles.
She is very careful about staying out of Dallas and Gandalf's way and she spends most of her time laying by the front door. I don't know if she will hold out until Saturday but no matter what I am prepared.
She is very careful about staying out of Dallas and Gandalf's way and she spends most of her time laying by the front door. I don't know if she will hold out until Saturday but no matter what I am prepared.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
One Week to go
Oh my goodness, it is hard to believe we have one week to go before babies are born. I am so excited and can hardly wait to see what Ivie has. She looks like a small house on four legs or others have mentioned she deeply resembles a beached whale.
The reproduction vet indicated that because Ivie has had two c sections she will most likely need to have another one. I had originally scheduled x rays for Monday, however a very wise old time breeder told me that if we were doing a c section there was no reason to do x rays. We will get all the puppies and that is the main reason to do x rays. No reason to expose the puppies to radiation if it wasn't necessary, which it wont be.
My other issue was that my regular vet is leaving town at 5am on Friday morning and won't be home until late Sunday night. ACK!!! I was panicking. My vet suggested that we drive to the repro vet in Tacoma but that is two and a half hours away and the last thing I want to do it drive home after a c section with Ivie and a bunch of puppies, what if she goes into labor on the way there, what do I do then. So I made inquiry's and made phone calls and decided our back up vet will be our old vet, Dr. Wagner. She did Ivie's first C section and did a great job, she allowed me to watch and be available to help if need be. We had left the clinic because Dr. Wagner had a baby and was on maternity leave when Frodo had gotten sick and no one was able to help me at that time. Dr. Wagner was more than happy to be available to help and gave me her cell phone in case I need her in the middle of the night. The plan is to let Ivie start the delivery process on her own, this will help with her hormones and milk production and then we will go into the vets office when she shows any signs of not being able to deliver on her own.
Today has been shopping day! Or at least getting dog and cat food day since I will have to work the first part of next week and the store where I get my pet food is the opposite direction from work. $600 dollars later, my dogs and cat will be able to eat for the next two months. It is amazing how fast it all adds up. Then off to Costco - lets just say my check book is looking rather empty right now. I still have a few other things I have to pick up but the weather was threatening to rain and if I didn't get my lawn mowed today, It may not happen for another month and that would not be a good thing. So I am happy to say all the dog yards are picked up and mowed. I still need to weed eat but I couldn't get my weed eater started today, instead Dallas and I went for a nice long walk.
I will try and keep everyone up to date on things as they happen on this blog. I find it is the easiest way to stay in contact with my puppy homes. Feel free to leave comments or questions and I will answer them as I have time.
The reproduction vet indicated that because Ivie has had two c sections she will most likely need to have another one. I had originally scheduled x rays for Monday, however a very wise old time breeder told me that if we were doing a c section there was no reason to do x rays. We will get all the puppies and that is the main reason to do x rays. No reason to expose the puppies to radiation if it wasn't necessary, which it wont be.
My other issue was that my regular vet is leaving town at 5am on Friday morning and won't be home until late Sunday night. ACK!!! I was panicking. My vet suggested that we drive to the repro vet in Tacoma but that is two and a half hours away and the last thing I want to do it drive home after a c section with Ivie and a bunch of puppies, what if she goes into labor on the way there, what do I do then. So I made inquiry's and made phone calls and decided our back up vet will be our old vet, Dr. Wagner. She did Ivie's first C section and did a great job, she allowed me to watch and be available to help if need be. We had left the clinic because Dr. Wagner had a baby and was on maternity leave when Frodo had gotten sick and no one was able to help me at that time. Dr. Wagner was more than happy to be available to help and gave me her cell phone in case I need her in the middle of the night. The plan is to let Ivie start the delivery process on her own, this will help with her hormones and milk production and then we will go into the vets office when she shows any signs of not being able to deliver on her own.
Today has been shopping day! Or at least getting dog and cat food day since I will have to work the first part of next week and the store where I get my pet food is the opposite direction from work. $600 dollars later, my dogs and cat will be able to eat for the next two months. It is amazing how fast it all adds up. Then off to Costco - lets just say my check book is looking rather empty right now. I still have a few other things I have to pick up but the weather was threatening to rain and if I didn't get my lawn mowed today, It may not happen for another month and that would not be a good thing. So I am happy to say all the dog yards are picked up and mowed. I still need to weed eat but I couldn't get my weed eater started today, instead Dallas and I went for a nice long walk.
I will try and keep everyone up to date on things as they happen on this blog. I find it is the easiest way to stay in contact with my puppy homes. Feel free to leave comments or questions and I will answer them as I have time.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Leaving for the Specialty
Today is both exciting and hard as I am leaving for Hampton Virginia for the US National Specialty. I am extremely excited to meet up with old friends, share my passion for Bernese Mountain Dogs and see some dogs from the East Coast that I normally would never get to see.
However in order to do that I must leave Ivie and the rest of the crew at home. I gave Ivie a bath yesterday to get her cleaned up and toenails trimmed before she has her babies. She is looking somewhat liked a beached whale at this point and she has 3 weeks left to go, she is going to be Ginormous when the time comes.
I also just found out my regular vet is going to be out of town when Ivie's pups are due. This is terrible news and I am afraid I am going to have to take her over to Tacoma to Dr. Smith's office for a C section. The thought of driving home with Ivie and babies is not a pleasant one, but I just don't trust the other vets in my area to do the job.
I will dwell on this more as I explore my options. Meanwhile they are calling my flight so I am off to the best show on earth...at least in my opinion
However in order to do that I must leave Ivie and the rest of the crew at home. I gave Ivie a bath yesterday to get her cleaned up and toenails trimmed before she has her babies. She is looking somewhat liked a beached whale at this point and she has 3 weeks left to go, she is going to be Ginormous when the time comes.
I also just found out my regular vet is going to be out of town when Ivie's pups are due. This is terrible news and I am afraid I am going to have to take her over to Tacoma to Dr. Smith's office for a C section. The thought of driving home with Ivie and babies is not a pleasant one, but I just don't trust the other vets in my area to do the job.
I will dwell on this more as I explore my options. Meanwhile they are calling my flight so I am off to the best show on earth...at least in my opinion
Thursday, April 3, 2014
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.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Evaluation Day
Do you ever feel as though you are spiraling out of control? Well that is me this morning. This week has been so chaotic at work that I have HAD to be in the office whether I wanted to or not. Trying to run the business and take care of getting things ready for this weekend and guess what I am NOT Super Woman. Something gave and unfortunately I feel as though I have let down my good friend Linda Dalton.
Our big dog show is this weekend and I also feel as though I have let our Kennel Club down by not being able to be there to assist with all the things I have done in the past. But my main priority is these puppies. They are 7 1/2 weeks old and at this point they are way too active to be left alone and I just won't take them down to the show site, it is way too dangerous for them. My dad is the announcer at the show so he cannot be here and they need him more than me, so I am taking some comfort in knowing that at least I have a representative there. The other thing is that I promised Linda she could use my RV and I would have it filled up with propane, gas and take it down for her to use. Last night she called to see why the generator wouldn't work. It was a major ordeal just getting it down to the site, as I needed someone to stay here with the puppies while I drove and for someone to bring me back home. I thought I was just doing good to get it down there, I didn't think to check the batteries on the darn thing. You guessed it, the house batteries are deader than a door nail and nothing works. Thankfully Mona and Mark and Anne and Dawn are next to her and she can use some of their power, but this morning I am trying to orchestrate getting someone down there to get those batteries working while at home watching puppies.
After the show, everyone is coming up here and we are going to do evaluations, play with puppies and have a BBQ. Here I feel I have let the people evaluating and my puppy owners down because I didn't realize that I couldn't download the forms online for a fee. NO...you have to purchase them and they mail them to you...crap! So we are going to use the Akita Club's Puppy evaluation form that is found online and make some adjustments to it....I am sorry, this has all been a huge learning experience and I am still learning that is for sure. I actually think the Akita form is better than the other forms I had planned on using and I am going to suggest to Anne that she take this to the BMDCA board and recommend they do something similar for our members that we can access online, they could even make it a money maker I am sure there are many breeders out there like me that would be willing to pay dearly for this form at the last minute:)
So folks, everyone is coming in this afternoon. The puppies are resting, I need to finish cleaning up the house and the deck area for everyone and I will post more later. I know I never did get the 7 week pictures up but it is kind of mute now, as we will be doing 7 1/2 week pictures today:)
Our big dog show is this weekend and I also feel as though I have let our Kennel Club down by not being able to be there to assist with all the things I have done in the past. But my main priority is these puppies. They are 7 1/2 weeks old and at this point they are way too active to be left alone and I just won't take them down to the show site, it is way too dangerous for them. My dad is the announcer at the show so he cannot be here and they need him more than me, so I am taking some comfort in knowing that at least I have a representative there. The other thing is that I promised Linda she could use my RV and I would have it filled up with propane, gas and take it down for her to use. Last night she called to see why the generator wouldn't work. It was a major ordeal just getting it down to the site, as I needed someone to stay here with the puppies while I drove and for someone to bring me back home. I thought I was just doing good to get it down there, I didn't think to check the batteries on the darn thing. You guessed it, the house batteries are deader than a door nail and nothing works. Thankfully Mona and Mark and Anne and Dawn are next to her and she can use some of their power, but this morning I am trying to orchestrate getting someone down there to get those batteries working while at home watching puppies.
After the show, everyone is coming up here and we are going to do evaluations, play with puppies and have a BBQ. Here I feel I have let the people evaluating and my puppy owners down because I didn't realize that I couldn't download the forms online for a fee. NO...you have to purchase them and they mail them to you...crap! So we are going to use the Akita Club's Puppy evaluation form that is found online and make some adjustments to it....I am sorry, this has all been a huge learning experience and I am still learning that is for sure. I actually think the Akita form is better than the other forms I had planned on using and I am going to suggest to Anne that she take this to the BMDCA board and recommend they do something similar for our members that we can access online, they could even make it a money maker I am sure there are many breeders out there like me that would be willing to pay dearly for this form at the last minute:)
So folks, everyone is coming in this afternoon. The puppies are resting, I need to finish cleaning up the house and the deck area for everyone and I will post more later. I know I never did get the 7 week pictures up but it is kind of mute now, as we will be doing 7 1/2 week pictures today:)
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