Main thread: Five months in the life of a breeder

[Bruce H]

10/1/05

I have decided to do what amounts to a journal on breeding our girl Anna that just came into season. Based on an earlier question I asked, it seems there is some interest in this. I see this as something where I may post as often as once a day or only once a week, depending on what is happening. I also envision this as interactive, where you may want to post back with questions or comments. I'll try to respond as best I can. I also welcome advice, hints, constructive criticism, etc. from other breeders on this forum; my wife Kris and I certainly don't know it all and we are not vets. I will also say that Kris has probably forgotten more than I'll ever know about breeding, so I may have to defer to her occaisionaly on some of the details. So here we go.

The title says 5 months because it's 2 months (63 days) for the pregnancy and 3 months after the puppies are born. That's not entirely correct, because we consider breeding a puppy a lifetime commitment. We tell people we want to know everything that happens with their new puppy, good and bad. They are strongly encouraged to keep in touch with us and most do. We need to know if a combination we bred is working or not. The whole goal of breeding is to improve the breed and without feedback from people we sold puppies to, we can't do that. So you people out there, send your breeder a short note now and then just to let them know how your Cavalier is doing. Off my soapbox now!

When I first brought this up I said we were breeding our tri girl Anna to our blenhiem boy Cooper. Well, things have changed slightly. One day after Anna came into season, another girl Star came in (couldn't she have waited just one more week?!). This is Cooper's first time (they grow up so quickly) and we are concerned that he may not be able to take care of 2 girls at the same time (no comments about my boy's manliness!!!!). Therefore we have to go outside for a stud service. We decided to use an outside stud for Anna and breed Star (a blenhiem) with Cooper. We want to breed Anna with the same boy we used last year, because that combination created such a beautiful litter. So I will still follow Anna, with maybe a comment or two about Star. Just watch, sure as heck Anna and Star will go into labor at the same time!!

We have started Anna on supplements (glucosamine, coquinone, folic acid and a mineral supplement) and increased her fruits and vegetables VERY SLIGHTLY. We do this to be sure she is as healthy and prepared for this as she can possible be. Giving birth is very stressful to a dog, just as it is in humans.

We have an appointment on Monday with the local fertility expert for an exam and the first of 2 or 3 progesterone tests; we will also be getting a brucellosis test. The progesterone tests tell us when she is at peak fertility and ready to breed. Not all the breeders do this, but we do, after having a girl a few years back that we missed on twice because she was ready so much earlier than normal. Once the tests say she is ready, Kris drops everything and drives to the stud dog breeders home, about 5 hours away, rents a motel room, and breeds our girl probably 3 times and a day apart. Since Star came in season about the same time, she will also be bringing Star and Cooper with so she can breed them at the same time.

The hardest thing at this time is keeping Cooper away from Anna and Star; absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Besides, if he were around them before they are ready, he would drive those poor girls and himself crazy. So now it means when Cooper is outside, Anna isn't. When they're both inside, they have to take turns in the crate. And they both need special attention after taking their turn in their crate.

Later this weekend I'll get a couple pictures to post of Anna once I figure out how to do it. If the breeder allows it, I will also get a picture of the stud dog and post it.

Bruce
MysticKnight Cavaliers

 

[Bruce H]

10/2/05

Am really struggling with this new-fangled picture stuff! Let's see if this works.

Following is a photo of Anna at about 6 weeks.

Following is photo of Anna's "glammor shot".

Cool!!!! I figured out what I was doing wrong. I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks! More photos to come over the days, weeks, months.

Bruce

 

[Bruce H]

10/3/05

Anna went in for her first exam this morning, along with Star. She had a progesterone test done and we will get the results tomorrow. When the progesterone test hits 5, then we do a lutine test to pinpoint ovulation.

She also had a vaginal smear done to determine how far along she is in her cycle; she is about 60% cornified, which means she is approximately 60% of the way to ovulation. In addition, they scoped her to check for wrinkling in the vaginal wall, which is also an indicator for getting close to ovulation.

Here's what's interesting (at least to Kris and I). Star came in season about 1-1/2 days after Anna. Going by the vaginal smear, Star is further along than Anna. But using the scope, Anna is further along than Star. The progesterone and lutine will tell the real story.

Kris has her bags packed and has contacted the breeder who has Anna's "boyfriend". She and the vet are guessing Anna will be ready Wednesday or Thursday. But then Mother Nature sometimes has a way of making us look silly!

Bruce
MysticKnight Cavaliers

 

[Bruce H]

10/4/05

We got Anna's progesterone test back today and she is at 4.6. The vet says no more testing necessary; head for the stud dogs house. By tomorrow she will be ready.

Kris leaves at 5:00 AM tomorrow morning and will be back sometime Saturday. Poor Anna is just beside herself, she is in standing heat now and really, really wants a boy.

Bruce
MysticKnight Cavaliers

 

[Bruce H]

10/9/05

Anna got back from the breeder yesterday, she left on Wednesday and came back Saturday. Everything went just fine, we got 3 ties at about 15 minutes each, one each day. It didn't seem to matter to Anna that the boy didn't bring her flowers!! Anna is still in season and will be for a few more days, so it's still the work of keeping her separated from our boy and keeping the underwear on her while she's in the house. Sure will be glad when that part of it's over.

The gestation period is 63 days, so if I count 63 days from date of first breeding (October 5), I get December 7 as her due date. Just to be sure we get it right, we will be numbering each day of our calendar, starting with the date of first breeding. That way there are no mistakes and we know at a glance what day she is on in her pregnancy.

Not much to do now until about half way into her pregnancy. At that point we may decide to do an ultrasound to verify pregnancy. They will also count puppies, but the ultrasound is anything but a reliable count. We have had 2 of the ultrasounds where they counted wrong and we had a "bonus" puppy. An x-ray a week before is much more reliable.

So now we try to keep her as quiet as possible, lots of lap time and not so much rough-housing with the other dogs. Although if she is the same as her first pregnancy, she won't be doing a lot of playing with the other dogs.

Can't wait, I NEED MY PUPPY FIX!

Bruce
MysticKnight Cavaliers

 

[Bruce H]

Well, here I am at day 10 for Anna and it already seems like months. This is as hard as waiting for our first Cavalier. And what makes it even worse, is we don't know if Anna is pregnant yet; won't know until about 4 weeks when we do an ultra-sound. She has gotten a lot more clingy the last couple days, so we THINK she may be pregnant, but we may be looking at her through breeder eyes.

This is the first picture of her that I have taken to document size change. It's really not much of a pose (and her tail is firmly tucked), but it will show how she gets bigger as she progresses in the pregnancy. I'll try to get a picture about every 10 days, but don't expect to see any change til at least day 30 or so.

You'll notice that her coat looks really bad. This is because it hasn't come back completely from her last pregnancy. When a girl has a litter, they really blow their coat after the puppies are born. Her coat got so thin, we could actually see her skin through her coat. And to make it worse, we did some trimming of her tail and belly to make it easier to keep her clean during and after welping and to make it easier for the puppies to get on the nipples.

Not much more to say, it's now just a waiting game.

 

[Bruce H]

Day 18 and nothing to report. Just waiting. The clock actually ticked backwards! I think I see all kinds of different signs of change in temperment and eating habits, but it also could be breeder eyes.

This is exactly what people who are waiting to take their puppy home tell us they are going through.

Sigh.

 

[Bruce H]

Day 24. Why can't the gestation period be 25 days?

Kris made the appointment for an ulrasound for Anna (and Star) for Monday, November 14. That's later than we normally do, but she wants to be sure the puppies are developed enough to do a better count and maybe avoid the x-ray for the final count at the end of the pregnancy. More waiting!!

Anna sure is acting like she's pregnant: very clingy and ready to eat the legs off the chairs. We have increased her food somewhat, just don't want to increase it so much that she starts getting fat, especially if it turns out she isn't pregnant.

We have had a couple people who are interested in puppies out to the house to visit our dogs in anticipation of puppies being available. We interview them and they interview us; if they seem OK we put their names on a list to contact after puppies are born. If they're still interested, they can come out and see the puppies at about 3 weeks, at which time they put down a deposit if they want a puppy.

Still a waiting game.

 

[Bruce H]

Still waiting icon_whistling

Actually, we have been watching Anna for signs she is pregnant and we are about 90% sure she is pregnant. The nipples seem to have grown very slightly and it looks like a base is starting to show at the nipples. She also looks like she is starting to widen out just slightly.

Just a few more days to the ultrasound and then we know for sure and we will have a count on how many.

 

[Bruce H]

11/14/05

Day 40. Anna went in for her ultrasound this morning.

SHE IS PREGNANT!

We are absolutely thrilled! What's more, the ultrasound showed SIX. Big litter, average for the breed is 4. I wish I could have gone with, but I had to work. Kris said she could see the puppies moving and could see the heartbeats. How cool is that?! Sure wish there was a way to tell the sex of the puppies, but there just isn't. We have to wait for the welping.

The ultrasound is a little pricey at $110, but worth it to us to know for sure and to find out how many puppies she's carrying. The real downside is that they shaved her belly; but then that will make it easier for the puppies to latch on to a nipple.

The vet gave her a thorough checkup and said everything looked good, so now it's more waiting for her due date of December 7. That could change, though; if I remember correctly, her last litter came a day early.

So now we change a few things. We are adding a couple tablespoons more protein to her diet. She also is getting a small amount of daily fruits and vegetables. We now need to keep her quieter and especially we want to keep her from jumping up and down from our laps. She now gets help getting up and down. When she goes outside, she goes out only with Star, who, incidentally, is also pregnant; I'll post about that separately. That way she doesn't get too wild but does get some exercise.

Kris has also contacted our web site host. Evidently, for big bucks (and I mean BIG) we can get our website put at the top of the search engines. Not sure how that works, as I am basically computer illiterate, but Kris assures me its worth the money with both Anna and Star's litters coming up.

Now we pray daily for a healthy litter.

 

[Bruce H]

11/19/05

Day 45.

Anna is really starting to show with 18 days left. I did get a picture today of her standing like the first picture, but there was almost no noticeable difference between the two. Guess I'll wait til she is closer and there will then be a definite difference. I did get a not so flattering picture of her half asleep on the couch with her shaved belly. We may shave a little more near the front nipples; we'll see how the puppies do with nursing. Poor little girl. She looks so uncomfortable.

mom.

We have started feeding her smaller meals, twice a day now. She just can't eat as much as she should once a day. Some of that is a low residue canned food we give her to get lots of protein without a lot of bulk. She is also getting a bit of chicken breast, in addition to some fruits and vegetables. I think she's eating better than me!

We are having a hard time keeping her from jumping down from the couch to the hardwood floor. As she gets more pregnant, we worry about her feet slipping on the hardwood. So we now have a rug on the floor in front of the couch. Also starting this weekend, she will start sleeping in the welping box in our bedroom. We want to be sure she is comfortable with the different sleeping arrangements. It also gives us a chance to hear her when she has to go out in the middle of the night.

We pray daily for a healthy litter and a healthy

 

[Bruce H]

11/24/05

Day 50, 13 days til P-Day (Puppy Day)

For the first time last night I felt puppies in Anna move. Not much movement , just once every minute or 2. Won't be much longer and it will feel like puppies are having a party. Very cool!

Anna is getting even more clingy than usual. Seems she always has to be on my or Kris' lap all the time. The hard part is that she still wants to play with the ball. She loves the miniature tennis balls; I thought we had picked them all up a few days ago, but she found one, put it on my lap, and proceeded to sit and stare at me. Sorry, Anna, no more ball chasing til after puppies are born.

We have moved Anna (and Star) into the crates in our bedroom for eating and sleeping at night; this is also where they will be with their puppies. We want them to be used to their new crate when puppies come. Once puppies have been born, this is the crate Anna and puppies will be in.

We also will set up an x-pen once puppies are born so Anna can come out of the crate for food and water, but still be confined. We started that when one of our first girls (unconfined) decided that her pups would be more comfortable with us in our bed; we woke up in the middle of the night to find her bringing her pups into our bed.

I modified a standard crate by cutting out the top and adding the new plywood with a hinged top and plexiglass window. This allows us to easily see the pups and get them in and out of the crate. The only thing I have not yet added is a 3" high piece of wood at the door; will do that in the next few days. When the pups get to the point that they can start crawling over the wood, they graduate to a bigger enclosed pen in the living room.

We pray daily for a healthy litter and a healthy mom.

 

[Bruce H]

11/28/05

Day 54, 9 days til P-Day (Puppy Day)

The puppies have started to pawty big time! Lots of movement and fairly constant on both sides. All very normal. I don't know how Anna can sleep with all the movement, but she is getting a lot more sleep now. She has adjusted just fine to her new crate in the bedroom, in fact I think she prefers sleeping in a crate in the bedroom with us. Last night she started scratching to go outside in the middle of the night, that's to be expected and is another good reason to have her in the bedroom with us.

Tomorrow we are going to start taking her temperature twice a day, 12 hours apart. Those temperatures are recorded on a form we made. What we are looking for is a 2 degree F. temperature drop below the average. When we see that drop, then she is within 24 hours of welping. It is possible to miss the drop, but we have only once missed it. All we are looking for is a little advance warning.

Now that we're getting closer, we are gearing up for the welping. As I write this, Kris is printing out the forms to record the temperature that has a space for date and the morning and evening temperature. She is also printing out the welping form that we use as the puppies are born that give the date, puppy number (birth order), sex, color, time of birth, weight, and comments. Additionally, we are buying the things we need that were used up with the last litter. For example, we just bought a package of 24 hand towels; you can never have too many towels.

Anna just started 3 smaller meals a day, today. With that load of puppies, she needs more food but it has to be in smaller quantities each time. Only so much room in that belly with the puppies growing like they are. Actually, if it were up to Anna, she would want a dozen meals!!

Everything is looking good. We pray daily for a healthy litter and a healthy mom.

 

[Bruce H]

11/29/05

Day 55, 8 days til P-Day (Puppy Day)

Well here's a real exciting picture!! We got out all our welping equipment, so thought I'd show some of what we have.

Starting at the left side of the dresser is the box of miscellaneous stuff we use such as alcohol for sterilization; clamps, dental floss, & scissors for the umbilical cords; iodine; bulb for suctioning mucus; etc. Above that is the CD player for classical music to try to calm our nerves; hey, someday it may work! To the right is a cardboard box that has a heating pad in it that will be covered with towels; this is where the newborn puppies go while their siblings are being born. At the far right is a postal scale for weighing the puppies when they are born. We put the puppy in the box and take 2 or 3 closeup pictures that show the weight, the number (birth order), and the puppy from different angles. These pictures are then printed out and used to identify the individual puppies so we can keep track of weight gains.

Along side the dresser is a foam exercise mat that we put on the floor and cover with a blanket for us to sit on while we are welping puppies. Under the dresser is an oxygen bottle in case we have trouble with a puppy and it needs oxygen. Or, to revive me!!

I'm sure there are other things I have forgotten to mention, but these are the basics. We pray daily for a healthy litter and a healthy mom.

 

[Bruce H]

11/30/05

Day 56, 7 days til P-Day (Puppy Day)

This might be a little boring, so please bear with me.

Started taking Anna's temperature yesterday, looking for the 2 degree temperature drop that indicates welping is within 24 hours. For those not in the U.S., the temperatures are in degrees Farenheight; so, no, Anna is not boiling, LOL. The results so far:

11/29, evening: 99.8

11/30, morning: 99.7
11/30, evening: 100.1

 

[Bruce H]

12/1/05

Day 57, 6 days til P-Day (Puppy Day)

I'm going to just keep adding to this so the temperature is easy to follow from one day to the next. I'll try to post every day so you can watch and be on pins and needles along with me What I'm looking for is a temperature around 97 or so.

11/29, evening: 99.8

11/30, morning: 99.7
11/30, evening: 100.1

12/1, morning: 99.0
12/1, evening: 99.4

 

[Bruce H]

12/2/05

Day 58, 5 days til P-Day (Puppy Day)

I'm going to just keep adding to this so the temperature is easy to follow from one day to the next. I'll try to post every day so you can watch and be on pins and needles along with me. What I'm looking for is a temperature around 97 or so.

11/29, evening: 99.8

11/30, morning: 99.7
11/30, evening: 100.1

12/1, morning: 99.0
12/1, evening: 99.4

12/2, morning: 99.7
12/2, evening: 99.5

 

[Bruce H]

12/3/05

Day 59, 4 days til P-Day (Puppy Day)

I'm going to just keep adding to this so the temperature is easy to follow from one day to the next. I'll try to post every day so you can watch and be on pins and needles along with me. What I'm looking for is a temperature around 97 or so.

11/29, evening: 99.8

11/30, morning: 99.7
11/30, evening: 100.1

12/1, morning: 99.0
12/1, evening: 99.4

12/2, morning: 99.7
12/2, evening: 99.5

12/3, morning: 99.8
12/3, evening: 98.7


Hmmm. Dropped a degree from this morning. Could be heading down, we may check again late tonight. She's not showing any other signs of getting close (like nesting, panting, restlessness, etc), though. The little poop did decide she had to go out last night around 1:30 am and again at 4:00 am. The worst part is when it gets this close, we go out with her with a small towel and flashlight just in case.

 

[Bruce H]

12/4/05

Day 60, 3 days til P-Day (Puppy Day)

I'm going to just keep adding to this so the temperature is easy to follow from one day to the next. I'll try to post every day so you can watch and be on pins and needles along with me. What I'm looking for is a temperature around 97 or so.

11/29, evening: 99.8

11/30, morning: 99.7
11/30, evening: 100.1

12/1, morning: 99.0
12/1, evening: 99.4

12/2, morning: 99.7
12/2, evening: 99.5

12/3, morning: 99.8
12/3, evening: 98.7
12/3, 11:00 pm: 98.2


Well, I really thought we would be welping puppies by now. About midnight last nite Anna started nesting and panting, couldn't make up her mind where she wanted to be. Got maybe an hour of sleep all night. Kris & I tried sleeping in shifts, but neither of us got much sleep. Anna has settled back down now. Will probably take her temperature again in another couple hours for the morning check. Sometimes I tend to forget how hard this can be. The best news is both Anna and Star have made it to day 60 and we shouldn't have to worry about puppies being too premature.

 

[Bruce H]

12/5/05

Anna has 5 healthy puppies, all tricolor like we expected. They were borne December 4, 2005. Here is the breakdown:

Birth order, sex, birth time, birth weight

1, F, 12:35 pm, 8.1 oz
2, F, 3:55 pm, 7.9 oz
3, F , 4:55 pm, 6.5 oz
4, M, 5:35 pm, 7.1 oz
5, M, 9:30 pm, Rats, forgot to write down weight, but it will be on photo

The ultrasound said 6, but I think it was off; not unusual. Can't feel any more puppies in Anna. We are taking her (and Star, whose count was really off) to the vet this am. Really nice size puppies, although Anna wasn't real thrilled about the size of the first one; let out a little whimper when it popped out, the first time she has ever done that.

The last puppy was a real struggle. Had trouble getting him going and keeping him going for the first 10 minutes or so. Lots of gasping for breath. We suctioned the nose and mouth like usual and just kept rubbing him vigorously, all the time keeping him on oxygen. Once he seemed to be breathing OK, we got him on a nipple, but he didn't seem to have a lot of strength to nurse. Milked down the nipple and put a touch of clear Karo syrup on the nipple. After he got that sugar into him and it took affect, he took right off. Never underestimate the power of Karo syrup!!!! Will have to check the birth photo later today to see what his weight was, guess we were more tired than we thought; my guess right now is around 6 oz.

These puppies were really nice size. In the past we always seemed to get one around 4 to 5 oz. Let's hope they stay as healthy as they started.

So now we start weighing puppies every evening. That's my job when I get home from work, and God help the person who tries to take it away from me :lol: What we are looking for is a pretty much steady gain; rule of thumb is they should double their birth weight in 7 to 10 days. If someone is not gaining like we think it should, it gets some individual attention; gets put on the best nipple, gets put on a nipple by hand and watched the whole time, etc.