Of course this being my first litter, I am reading everything I can get my hands on about whelping. My learning curve is still very steep and I'm sure will stay that way for a long time. After reading in the book , "Puppy Intensive Care" , by Myra Savant-Harris R.N. I was having dreams of Belle dropping puppies and I'm running her to the whelping area, then getting mucus off the face, trying to get Belle to lick it, and trying to get the puppy to eat for we know that the colostrum is very important that first 24 hours, whoa. I woke up, checked on Belle, sighed as big relief, and didn't get much sleep after that. Then it has been serious shopping for the supplies I needto get ready for those pups. I know, dogs have been having puppies forever and they do just fine. But, I want to be ready in case she has problems.
Cravings
Belle is now in her 7th week and has this thing about eating my squash stems. She has chewed 3 hubbard squash off of their stems. With this I decided that maybe she has some type of vitamin deficiency and when I was in Missoula Wednesday I bought some dog food that was made of only bison and sweet potatoes. I am mixing it with her other food. Don't know if it is helping or not. I did find her in the box of harvested acorn squash eating the stems off from them last night. Maybe I should harvest the stems and sell as a pregnancy supplement. There's a thought. Major medical breakthrough for pregnant dogs. She's slowing down a bit and sleeping more. I took her for a long walk and she was very exhausted by the time we got home. They say that exercise is good for them to help with birthing. But, I am going to shorten her walks quite a bit.
Pregnancy
For a few weeks we couldn't even tell of she was pregnant. At 28 days we took her to the vet and they did an ultrasound and I got to see those little blobs that were growing into puppies. Very exciting. The tech counted seven and honestly I couldn't see all that he was seeing. Did see a few that were for sure babies. Other than being tired, her pregnancy is going well. She drinks a lot of water and she then has to wizzle a lot. Reminds me way back when I was expecting. She did throw up once. So, don't know what caused it, but it didn't last. Her is getting round now. She is in her 6th week with 3 to go. With her roundness her legs are getting shorter. My husband calls her the dashador. Really hope it doesn't give her a complex. Love our pregnant Belle Starr. Shadow on the other hand could care less. Typical male... No worries... Couldn't do it without those males. Love them.
Breeding and Puppies
Know that I'm an unexperienced breeder, but my learning curve is steep and I'm learning a lot. So with that, I will share my experience with others. First of all I know more about the heat cycle of a dog then I ever wanted to know. Which by the way is very similar to a human's, but only happens twice a year. So Belle was due to come into season in May, right around the time of her surgery. But she didn't show any signs. I discussed this with the vet and he said that sometimes they have a silent heat and that she should come in at her normal time which would be November. This was at the end of June. Belle Starr turned 2 years of age July 11th. That is when they can get their OFA clearances for elbows and hips. They can't do this if they are in a heat cycle. So she was kinda showing signs of coming in season, and I was worried that we couldn't get her ex-rays for the clearances and I would have to hold off breeding. I took her in and they said she was fine and we did the OFA clearances. Then low and behold, she went into her heat cycle the next week. Once again, Belle Starr was secluded in the dog room. But this time it was for the best. No stray dogs for this girl. She doesn't get to choose her guy, for sure it would probably be not a good choice. Being her first mating she was reluctant to breed, so we ended up having help from the vet. We really didn't want to miss this opportunity. So that was the beginning.
Surgery
It's been a while since I entered a blog. I guess you could call it my down time before all the action. I did take Belle Starr and Shadow to Ridgefield in March to the International Dog Show. Both Belle Starr and Shadow earned their National Titles there. Belle Starr had injured her elbow (who only knows how she did that) and had surgery in June at Great Falls, MT. The vet did an awesome job. She had to stay down for 6 weeks. Now try that one out. Keeping a labrador quiet for that long of a time is a job in its self. She did real well and thank heavens I have a nice dog room with a doggie door to an outside kennel. I was able to keep her off things that could injure her while jumping. So, between Fred and I we took many walks to give her exercise and of course potty breaks. She soon learned that if she didn't go, then she could stay out longer. Now that was just frustrating, especially when we were in a hurry. Smart girl... She healed very well and was relieved to join the pack again.