3 week pictures

Here they are - The WWII Litter at 3 weeks of age - One note - 3 week old puppies don't like to stand still for pictures (GRIN). We will be deciding on better names soon......

Zorro - Black and White Male

Dot Dot - Brindle male

Dot - Brindle Female

Possible name - Rosie the Riveter

(not cooperating with this process)

1/2 and 1/2 - Brindle Male - Mismark

Frosty - Black and White Girl

No Dot - Brindle Male

(Also not cooperating with this process!)

Ziggy - Black and White Female

We could not get a decent head shot of Ziggy.

Rudy Update

Since I had to be in court this morning, Rick had to take Rudy to the Vet and my information is a bit sketchy. Rudy has two bulging discs. He was given a steroid shot and is now on a muscle relaxer and oral steroids. He is on crate rest for at least a week and cannot do steps - which is a problem in our house...Guess we will be carrying him in and out of the house for a while. We will be calling in the holistic Vet that does Chiropractic adjustments and Acupuncture for treatments as well. Our Vet feels that he should make a full recovery. I guess his herding days are over now. Any suggestions on how we avoid any future problems for Rudy would be greatly appreciated.

Help! Need advice

Rudy (our red Merle rescue) is down in his back. He started limping 2 days ago and yesterday had trouble getting up steps. Today he can lift his front but has a great deal of difficulty getting his butt up. I carried him out this morning to do his business and he has not moved from the spot I set him down in. I have given him some aspirin and that seems to help the pain some. I have never had to deal with this before - any suggestions on how to make him more comfortable till we can get him to the vet tomorrow would be greatly appreciated.

Almost Daily Cute

EARLY MORNING FACE FIGHTING!

I LOVE MY SISTERS AND BROTHERS
BROTHERLY LOVE

Almost Daily Cute

Most of the puppies eyes are open and they descend upon poor Kate as soon as she enters the whelping box. She lets them all latch on and then plops on her side. Puppies squirt out on both sides but somehow never let loose. They are so cute, I can spend hours watching them. I have been late to work everyday this week.

Our theme for this litter will be World War II - we are thinking of:

ROSIE THE RIVETER

ENOLA GAY

MEMPHIS BELLE

WINSTON CHURCHILL

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

PEARL HARBOR

I SHALL RETURN

DOUGLAS MACARTHUR

Any suggestions..........

Daily Cute (well almost daily)

The puppies will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. ALL are doing well. They are now raising themselves up on wobbly little legs and staggering around the whelping box. I expect to see little eyes looking back at me anytime.

I will try to post pictures of each puppy later this week.

Daily Cute Resumes

Our little one has bounced back and is on it's way to a full recovery. Woo Hoo - puppies are so resilient! Here are a few puppy shots taken this morning!

Scary days

On Monday one of our puppies was injured in an unfortunate accident (involving my 80 year old step-father-in-law who suffers with Alzheimer's). The vet diagnosed a mild concussion. After several harrowing days, the baby appears to be improving. We are not out of the woods yet, but the puppy is nursing on her own. Once things settle down, we will resume our daily cute shots. Keep your fingers, toes and paws crossed for our little one.

Daily Cutes

There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping puppy

I think we may have some reds in this litter

Early Daily Cute

AHHHHHH - Nothing like an early morning breakfast at the milk bar!

Daily Cute(s)

First just let me say that it is really hard to take head shots of 3 day old puppies. I did my best....the names are temporary

Dot - Bitch - Brindle/red? - has 1 dot on neck

Dot Dot - Male brindle/red? - 2 dots on neck

No Dot -Male - brindle/red? no dots!

Pirate - male - black/white - lots of white but not a mismark!

Zorro - male - brindle/red? - Z shape mark on neck

Ziggy - Bitch - black/white - Z mark on shoulder

Frosty - bitch - black/white - white tipped ears

As you can tell Frosty is showing what she thinks of this process!

Mom and babies are doing well - Everyone gaining weight.

Daily Cute - Day 2

Here are the puppies on day 2 !

Day 1 Picture

Here is a picture of the babies - Stats are below!

Born at 8 am this morning:

Girls:Black/White - 11 7/8 oz
Black/White - 10 1/2 oz
Brindle - 9 3/4 0z

Boys: Brindle - 11 1/4 oz
Brindle - 10 5/8 oz (may be a red??)
Brindle - 8 1/4 oz
Black/White - 10 7/8 oz

Mom and babies are doing great!
I will do my best to post daily cutes......

PUPPIES!

Seven beautiful, healthy puppies arrived this morning by C-section - 4 boys, 3 girls. Kate was spayed at the same time. Mother and babies are doing well - Rick and Laura are EXHAUSTED! Will try to post pictures and stats this evening!

Update

Kate's temp. dropped this morning and she is nesting like crazy - I may have puppies for my Birthday yet! Keep you fingers and paws crossed for an early evening delivery!

Kate

Day one of training is over and no signs of an impending whelp - Ok Kate...hold on 3 more days then Mom will be off for 5 days.

Day 59

Ok Puppies - you can come anytime now!

X-Ray results

We just got back from the Vet. Kate's X-ray clearly shows 7 puppies. On closer inspection, we could see an 8th spine. We had trouble locating the corresponding head and finally decided it was blocked by Kate's organs. So for all of you that voted 7-8 on the poll - you were right! Now the count down begins....
OK, Kate ------Think easy whelp, nice healthy puppies.......

Kate - Day 52

Something tells me the puppies may arrive sooner than I thought. She was bred on July 1st making day 63 September 1st. She clearly ovulated before her breeding so I am expecting puppies to arrive as earlier as Tuesday - She will get X-rays that morning to see how many we are expecting...... The poll is pretty even between 7-8 or 9 + . Poor baby is ready to get those puppies out - she has to have help to get up the back steps now.

Puppies are coming!

Here is poor Kate on day 49 - She looks as if she is about to explode - How many puppies are in there - take our poll! Something tells me she may whelp before September 1st!

Memphis Trip

Jill didn't do anything on Saturday and went reserve on Sunday. No points for Jill this weekend. So, Jill will be going to the Chattanooga and Murfreesboro shows looking for those lat 2 singles. I was honored to show Scout in Group on Saturday where we got a look, but no group placement.
Janet and I had still had a fun weekend despite an interesting dinner at the Texas Roadhouse on Saturday night. It's always nice to see old friends and make new ones, so the trip was not a loss.
My one complaint is I woke up this morning with one of the worse allergy attacks I can remember. I am so congested I sound like I have a bucket on my head. Thankfully, the District Attorney General took pity on me this morning and did not make me testify in any of my sentencing hearings.
Tonight will be a nyquil night..... as we say in the south "for tomorrow is another day"

Off to Show

Well, Janet and I are off to Southhaven MS (Memphis, TN) for a show today. The entry is small, maybe Jill can pick up those last 2 points!

Calming down

Whew, I need to retire - can I make it 5 more years? I have always tried to take the approach at work of "not sweating the small stuff". Of late, I seem to have a harder time applying this technique. I have been working for the State for 24+ years, and I've never been told to go to training or else, so it's hard to adjust. With the current budgetary problems, things in my dept. have been stressful, with workloads increasing at an alarming rate. Maybe I am just too old to adapt. Who knows... ANYWAY...after a long discussion with Shirley regarding Kate's impending whelp it appears things will work out. She pointed out that it is highly unlikely that Kate and my friends 2 bitches will all whelp on the same day, so help will more than likely be available. She also offered to jump on a plane and fly from MD to TN for the week if needed. What a jewel of a mentor she is!
Thanks to all my blogging buddies for enduring "my red neck melt down". I appreciate your wise advice!

Stressing Out - Help!!!!

Oh boy I am stressing out right now. My employer is absolutely insisting that I attend 4 days of intense training starting August 31st. Normally, I would not mind this but Kate is due to whelp on September 1st. Now, if she's a sweetheart and delivers at night - no problem - I will be there. My husband will be home during the day on Monday through Wednesday, but he has never whelped a litter on his own. He has to work on Thursday which leaves Kate alone. I have asked several of my breeder friends for help but keep running into obstacles. The breeders I trust the most all have bitches due the same week and obviously can't commit to anything. The OCD in me has got me freaking out. Should I schedule her for a C-section on the 28th (day 59)?? - I really hate to do that but I am running out of options. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Lesson Learned

My husband learned what not to do in a dog fight last night! We rarely have a fight in our house. To exit our backdoor you have to go down two steps into a small closed in area. This has always been a problem when letting our dogs out. The girls like to butt bite the boys as they go out. the boys get ticked, and bite who ever is next to them - to the girls delight! Last night, the butt biting started a fight between two boys. Rick ran out and stuck his hand between the biting mouths and.....OUCH!

Kate's favorite perch

Day 38 - Kate's favorite place to lay is on the top step into our den. I think she's having a hard time fitting her expanding belly on the step.

Pickles & Ice Cream

Day 34 - Kate's morning sickness has subsided and she is HUNGRY! She wants to eat everything - I am sure that would include pickles and ice cream if I would let her have them. She is just as happy with yogurt and raw liver!

I snapped this picture a few moments ago. Kate loves to lie on the cool concrete - I do believe there are puppies in there!