<--
-->
|
20/02/01 At this time we are looking for a stud dog for our Ali, this has not been easy
We are finding it difficult to keep the blood line going, we have seen a few dogs that are ok But feel
that we should look at as many as we can
23/02/01
Found out that there are certain tests that can predict the right time when to mate
Tests so far are a premate test from your local vet, that involves taking your dog on a regular basis to check her peak time, at about £40 a time a bit dear maybe
Ovulation test kit its a probe and about £300 to buy
Clinistixs detects diabetes in humans but have been told it also can show when your dog is ready 50 test strips £5:00
|
27/02/01
After lots of phone calls and travelling we believe we have found the perfect stud dog for Ali, we are staying with the oldwell line, they have produced the most cc winners of any other breeders. As soon as we saw their dogs we new this was the end of our search, they were very helpful and approved our ALI to continue this line, we were a bit nervous because they really check to see if your dog is up to the standard, and we are lucky enough that they approved. All the travelling now seems worthwhile.
01/03/01
We seem to be totally preoccupied with Ali and the future plans for her puppies.
She has been placed on a diet because her chances of conceiving are better if she's on the leaner side, (she's been
sulking since her little treats have stoppped).
Last night we took Ali for her booster jab to make sure she is up to date with her
innoculations, this will benefit her litter by passing on vital immunities.
We have been spending much of our evening time searching the web for any information about breeding dogs and raring litters,
it is not going to be easy, very hard, infact our lives will change considerably
10/3/01
Good news Ali has started her season on 8/3/01, we have spoken to the owner of the stud dog and arranged
to take her on the 11th day but we are keeping an eye on ALI, If her discharge changes from red we will
take her 2 days after. Her booster jab is on the 14th, so we will enquire about worming Ali and also take
advice on Premate tests. We are trying the clinistix and will tell you the results soon.
There is a lot to do, I just hope all goes well, wish us luck and keep watching this space.
(we knew Ali's season was close so we used a white blanket in her basket to get the exact time her season
started.)
18/03/01
We took Ali to be mated today, all did not go to plan, it was the 11th day of her season
so we thought we would see if she was interested:
In runs the randiest dog you have ever seen in your life, it knew what he had to do
(and i'm sure he loves it) but Ali was not so keen, we tried a more gentler dog but Ali
still wasn't interested. It was decided just to get her used to a stud dog without
anything being attempted, it worked fine. It was becoming obvious it wasn't Ali's right
time to mate, the end decission was for Ali to stay with the Breeders so they could let
her get used to other dogs.
20/03/01
Reports coming back of how Ali was cautious of the other dogs, she was not even interested
in some young pups they have there. Today sounds better she has been playing with the
pups been walking with the stud dog and is showing a better interest.
We can't express how much we admire the breeders they have a mass of experience and great
patience, we are very lucky.
28/03/01
A successful mating took place on 22/03/01, we couldn't believe it so we asked if we could be
there on the next
mating, so off we went to fetch our Ali back. On arrival she seemed just as normal our sweet
little dog then
she started to pull the breeder towards the mating place, she was so keen the difference
was unreal.
In comes big Borris and Ali lets him do his job a 20 minute tie took place, our Ali was a bit
noisy but was in no distress,
i feel sorry for the man on the stool who was helping the dogs, there must have been some
weight
to hold for that length of time.
We noticed a different dog when we came home we are no longer her center of attention she
has other things on her mind,
she wees a lot more now scenting everywhere, she is dying to go to the river but it is out
of bounds because of foot and mouth. Its been a week now and our Ali is back to normal
she is more confident with other dogs alot more interested in us and we are waiting to see
if she is pregnant.
I was so shocked at the difference in Ali towards the stud dog, obviously the 11th day was
not her time but the 14th day was.(fingers crossed).
22/04/01
It has been nearly 5 weeks since the mating took place we have a few signs that she might be pregnant,
teats getting larger, also noticed belly getting hairier (not sure if this is a sign or not)
After much sort after advice we have decided against a scan as this would involve shaving
Ali's belly, we don't want to put her under this stress. Have been told they are not accurate (12+ pups on
scan only 5 really) also do not want Ali to be in contact with ill dogs at the vet where she could pick up a virus,
we also believe if we were told 6 pups and she only had 5 we would become concerned about her being in trouble
and could over react to this situation.
This is our choice hope it is the right one! (Taken after a lot of good
advice from other breeders)
5/05/01
It's Ali's 6th week of her pregnancy, the signs are really showing now, large teats, her belly dipping
showing a large lump, Ali is very happy at the moment her tail hardly stops wagging, she is slowing down
on her walks (we don't take her too far), food wise we are now feeding her 3 meals a day her normal food
plus a high protien meal, also drinking a lot more and goes to the back door to be let out more often,
she has also been digging in the garden (natural instinct tells her to dig a whelping cave).
If all goes to plan the birth should be around the 24th May.
18/05/01
It's day 58 and the average date from fertilisation is 62 days,(though it can be as early as
54 days, or as long as 72 days). We have a whelping box and she sleeps their at night, already our
lives have altered, I stay up till midnight to let her out for a wee and the wife gets up at 3.30 a.m
to let her out again. Ali had a mistake in the kitchen last week, we did not chastise her but it made her quite sad,
she knew it wasn't right.
Food wise we feed her probally 8 times a day in small amounts, if we put out her normal meal she doesn't eat it all at once,
then when she comes back to eat it's not as fresh so she was leaving it, phoned the vet tonight to put them on stand-by
(as i am typing this she is lying at my feet wagging her tail like mad at nothing, she is really happy, then again she gets
a lot more strokes because she can't scratch most parts of her body so when we see her struggling she gets an all over massage
the wife never had this treatment with our four daughters.We are getting ready for stopping up all night the shift system is arranged
i must admit even stopping up till midnight then going to work has tired me out this week, I'll have to learn to sleep for an hour or so
after work, believe me it is hard work and the amount of food she is eating is frightening and they are not born yet!!
We are buying a thermometer to keep a check on Ali's temperature, when it drops for a few hours it is an indication she could
whelp in
the next 24 hours, it's the pups not the dam that trigger the start of whelping. we have the following items ready for the birth
Hot water bottle- in case we need to take pups to vet
Electric blanket- heat source for pups
Plastic Gloves
Jelly- help pups out
Old soft towels- dry pups
Glucose water- drink for Ali
Clock- time intervals between pups
Scissors- cut cord if Ali doesn't
Baby feeder Sterilisation solution bitch milk replacer
Plastic sacks- discarded paper
Newspapers -been collecting these for the last 4 weeks good for temp bedding
The best Bedding for pups is polyester fur.
I'm off for a nod now!
20/05/01
Took Ali's temperature this morning 8:00 am and it had dropped from a constant 101.5 to
98 this is a clear indication that she should give birth in the next 48hrs its now 6:00pm
and she is in the first stage of pregnancy panting heavily and quite restless.
20/05/01
It's 5:00am been up all night letting her out for a wee calming her down heavy panting she is now
in the second stage contractions started she's vomitted her tails really crooked she's stood up
at the moment discharge coming out 5:15 large discharge
22/05/01
What an experience the first pup was born at 5:21am, just before at 5:15 Ali had a large discharge of water, at first she
did not know what was happening and was quite startled at the site of the pup, we removed the sac ripped the cord and
showed her to ALI, she was not fussed at all, our joy changed to concern, Ali was still on her feet at this time, then
she decided to lie down, we dried the pup off in a warm towel and placed it on Ali's teat, this action suddenly changed our Ali
she licked the pup and got on with the job in hand, the next pup was born at 6:12am, we helped her with this one, though she
did lick it, it was difficult for her to get her head round the back with all the weight in her belly, following pups
arrived at 6:45 7:13 and 7:35, we thought that was it, she got up went out side for a wee, came back, licked her pups and
laid down, pup 6 arrived at 9:15, still born, we tried so hard to revive her, holding her firmly in a towel above my head and
swinging her down in between my legs, then rubbing her for ages to no avail, it was very sad but she looked so peaceful,
i even tried blowing down her mouth very gently at the end but it was not to be. Pup 7 arrived at 9:50, Ali took over
on this pup, she was able to reach round her back and mother nature did the rest, we allowed her to eat 2 of the placentas,
the last pup was born at 10:35, it was very hard work but well worth it.
We took Ali to the vets at 2:00 pm to check her and the pups over, all was fine, she was discharging a green liquid
after the birth and this has now changed to a brown colour, she is an excellent mother, she gets up to go out, comes back
licks them all over and settles down to feed them, we are on 24 hour watch at the moment, keeping a watch out for any pups
getting squashed underneath when she moves, she's getting better each time at placing herself down, food wise she was
not eating very well after the birth, after advice we have given her some well cooked scrambled eggs, the pups look very
healthy, bigger than i thought they would be, surprised how far they can crawl, it is very tiring at the moment, really hard
work, 24 hours for the next 2 weeks, the time at night goes very slow, you are just about to eat or drink when you have to
get up wash your hands, move a pup, wash your hands again and try and eat.
24/05/01
It's getting easier and Ali is making a lovely mum she has the knack of getting in and out of the box without hurting a
pup and is very gentle with them its exactly 5:15am so there 3 days old today the cords have all dropped off nicely
they look very healthy Ali looks a bit under weight at the moment we are feeding her little and often till her appetite comes back
back the discharge is slowing down now our next aim will be to get her eating a bit better than she is at the moment weighed
the pups the other night and was all around 800g give or take 10g one pup was 780 so we are making sure she gets the back teat
the pups are already showing characters one sleeps at mums kneck one always sleeps with its kneck over another one eats on its side covering
the other teats observing them it is amazing how they know where to go the one that sleeps at the will find Ali's head then crawl allthe way round
her back till she reaches the large teats as i was just saying it's getting easier we have just had a flurry of activity
all wanting to feed at the same time when one moves the other gets cold so it's off we all go for a feed and a warm and that little rascal
that covers them teats up is causing havoc it's nearly the end opf my shift now i will wake the wife and go to bed.sorry for any spelling or bad punctuation i'm not going to check
27/05/01
Not much happening at the moment every things fine, cut the pups nails 2 days ago, had to
higher the crush bar in the whelping box today as they are growing up fast, waiting for the eyes to open,
we gave Ali some supplement milk for puppies as she was a little under weight after the birth
and her appetite was not very good, we really had to coax her to eat but now she is eating 2x
her normal food plus scrambled eggs, she's producing a lot of milk for the pups and they feed longer
and don't require so many feeds as the first few days when it was little and often. The 24 hour watch is still ongoing
and was proved to be correct only 2 days ago when a pup got trapped behind Ali, but no harm was done.
31/05/01
The first pups eyes opened on day 8 but even now on day 10 some pups eyes are not open,
today was the first day when one pup actually sat up to pooh, they can wee and pooh without
mums stimulation, nearly walking, can raise whole body with legs and are very fast to get to
mum when she returns to feed them, they all look very healthy and mum looks very fit.
04/06/01
the pups moved to their new larger play pen, the whelping box is also in their
and Ali's basket, she goes in and out as she likes, pups are starting to lick themselves
and it feels like the calm before the storm at the moment, we are registering the pups this week,
Kennel names for them is proving difficult.
08/06/01
Nearly three weeks old and they can stand sit up and walk a little, they are also starting to
play with each other, tried a plate of mushed dog food and they loved it, they have this
once a day now, the only down side is the smell, they need cleaning a lot more often, night
shift is over but get up at 3:00am to let Ali out and check on the pups.
17/06/01
4 Weeks old and all are doing really well, wormed them today for the first time used a liquid formula, Ali is fit but her coat looks terrible,
pups now eating mushed up dog food and supplement milk, it's fathers day and i can think of no better present than to have 7 healthy
pups, the amount of newspaper we are using is frightening, the pups play together and seem to chase fresh air, they have had lots of visitors
this week and love it, Ali was very good letting other people hold the pups, she only feeds them about twice a day now, the only down side is
Ali messes during the night can't work this out yet, only thing is she could be used to us getting up and letting her out.
|