Oh Yeah, You Blend

Little Popcorn broke 200 grams with a BULLET this afternoon!!! WOOHOO!

I won’t say she’s out of the woods but what a huge milestone for her!

This is why you do this though. Happy mom, happy puppies. Everybody back home and safe.

Whelping puppies is about my least favorite thing about breeding dogs, it’s stressful as hell. And anyone who tells you that they love whelping likely simply hasn’t bred much or has had extremely good luck. It’s true that 90% of the time everything goes well, but when it doesn’t, you’d rather be doing anything else. You feel horribly responsible (because you are), and it’s a weighty burden.

So as you know Bob, if you read this blog, Zhora started with stage 1 labor yesterday. All fine. Our friend Nicole came over to be a newbie whelper helper (this was a heck of a litter for THAT as it turned out).

Zhora gradually progressed as the afternoon wore on, and started strong contractions and pushing in the evening. Administered injectable calcium per our repro vet (the amazing Dr Claudia Gray at Alliance Animal Hospital). All according to plan. First puppy just wasn’t coming. Eventually I pushed back Zhora’s vulva a bit (this is the glamour of dog breeding) and saw a foot. I was pretty sure it was a back foot (which is fine, about 40% of puppies are born tail first, the main things to be concerned about is that the puppy is in a “diving” position (legs extended, facing down), and not with its legs tucked under or on its back). But I could only find one foot and I was worried the puppy’s other back leg was tucked under, so I “wheelbarrowed” Zhora (walked her around with her back legs in the air to let the puppy slip back up a ways and hopefully reposition a bit). I also called Dr Gray in there somewhere to make sure this sounded OK to her (in literally the middle of the night). Then as the puppy started to work its way out (or rather as Zhora started to work her out), I grabbed the back feet with a facecloth and just gently pulled down with her contractions (you almost never want to just pull it out, you can really hurt the bitch or the puppy, the main thing is to stop the puppy getting sucked back in between contractions so the bitch can gain ground with each contraction). After that, the puppy came out reasonably easily. She had a lot of mucus and I suctioned her well with my Delee catheter. After she was out Zhora was like my friend Lynn’s proverbial “salad shooter”, and the next three puppies (all males) came in quite quick succession.

And then nothing but occasional hard contractions. For four hours. That’s the maximum time my vet wanted to see between puppies if there were contractions. So I called again. I could feel the one remaining puppy still quite high up. Dr Gray walked me through a few things to try (small doses of oxytocin IM, “feathering”, etc.), nothing worked. I called back, she said she’d meet me at the clinic.

Once there, we started Zhora on IV (she was quite tired by then), did a quick ultrasound to be sure the puppy was still alive (it was, and with a good heart rate), and tried a few medical interventions (more calcium, more oxytocin, poor Dr Gray getting covered with poop trying to manually get the puppy out). Nothing worked. We checked the puppy again and its heart rate was dropping so we decided we needed to go to section and that there wasn’t much time.

Well thank goodness for well-educated, well-prepared and knowledgeable people!  Zhora was pre-oxygenated by mask (she didn’t like that), and then anesthetized and whisked into surgery. I was invited in to watch. Dr Gray got the puppy out and handed her to Renee, her tech, who pulled out ALL the stops. She had a warming mat and warm air blower running, she used epinephrine and dopram to stimulate breathing, she used the acupuncture needle spot on the front of the muzzle, she used subcutaneous fluids, and she suctioned and rubbed and pinched and pissed that puppy off until she woke up and got breathing well. It sounds mean, but when a puppy is first getting breathing it’s very hard work for the puppy and especially if they’ve had some anesthesia in a section they can be quite slow to get going. But they will die if they don’t breathe, obviously, so you want to make them ANGRY and squealing. That’s a sign they’re breathing well enough. We made sure she got to nurse from Zhora alone so she got some colostrum.

We then sat with Zhora (who was up and around, admittedly like a drunk arguing a DWI), let everybody nurse one more time, and then headed back home. Over 24 hours without sleep and a gallon of stress. But so far, so good.

Zhora shortly after waking up from her c-section, nursing puppies outside the operating room. Note the artistic tail-brush painting on the wall behind her in blood (normal post-whelp discharge) and poop. It’s a glamorous business!

What Dr Gray thinks happened is that a placenta was left behind and it blocked the puppy’s exit. Her sack had broken so she was dry, so that combination of physical blockade and lack of lubrication meant she just couldn’t get out.

Finally she lay down to sleep (after I made her). If you look closely, you can see a puppy lying ON her back foot to nurse.

I decided to use the makeup sponge method to top up the c-section girl as she had a rough start. I will probably hand feed a meal every day to everyone, I’ve done this in the past at my friend Diane’s suggestion, since it helps with associating people with good things early on. I made a batch of Myra’s puppy formula last weekend and I am glad I did!

Doctor Gray’s count via ultrasound at 28 days was bang on the money! Five on x-ray today (our original x-ray appointment was tomorrow but we were there for ultrasound today so did the x-ray a day early). On ultrasound we saw hearts beating over 200 beats per minute (which is what you want), on at least three of them. I was asked about why only 3, and the answer was that Zhora was being a pill about lying on her back with a big pregnant belly (and also because she has Opinions), so we didn’t want to wrestle with her and stress her out. Because all 5 are quite uniform in size, we were pretty comfortable just spot checking.

One is lined up ready to go! All a nice uniform size at this point (we’re calling the 21st her likely due date).

Here’s the email I sent to Renee and Dr Gray today, and I’ll put Dr Gray’s answers at our appointment today in bold (as best I remember them):

I just felt somebody moving around in there on her right side!!!

(Jim, as usual, declined to feel it, since he feels that they are aliens, like the facehuggers in Alien, until they are born)

Current status:

Zhora: 

Colossal squid:

She is MUCH larger in person than in photos still. She has to kick one leg sideways to accommodate her puppy tummy when she sits. She wants to eat ALL THE THINGS and thinks her lunch needs a lunch. She is happy to go for her walks, we try to go for at least a mile or two almost every day and she has lots of energy when she’s doing things but when she’s not, she’s snoozing. She still jumps around and runs, but is much more sedate than usual. Still very content. We start daily Panacur (fenbendazole) this week, and they are due in TWO WEEKS!

My sister lost her 11 year old Irish Setter Cillian suddenly yesterday, it’s a terrible shock and we are thinking of her.

So yesterday I spent the day in the car, driving Bert the first leg on his long journey back to Arizona, and my brain got to thinking, as it occasionally does. I’d like to write a little Academy Awards speech here, if you’ll indulge me, as this whole episode has really cemented a few thoughts for me.

First, I want to thank Bert’s owner and my friend Michelle Fromm at Caliente Swedish Vallhunds, who became my instant friend when I met her at the North Carolina National Specialty in 2011. Michelle’s dedication to keeping working drive alive, in structurally correct, well-tempered, typey dogs, is exemplary. This breed needs people like Michelle. This is a working farm dog, it needs to retain the ability to be a working farm dog. Michelle’s generosity in lending me Bert for the summer was enormous, and her trust was, I hope, not misplaced. Breeders working together is vital to the health of this awesome breed, especially with a careful eye towards not ending up with a split breed as has happened in so many others. There should not be “show type” and “working type”, there should just be “Swedish Vallhunds”. A correct Vallhund should look like it’s supposed to look AND be able to do what it’s supposed to do, and it should have a temperament you can live with easily. You lose what you do not breed for.

Second, I want to thank Bert’s breeder, Wendy Amon, in England at Pepperthyme Swedish Vallhunds, if Bert is in any way representative of what Wendy produces and raises (and he is, by all accounts), she is doing this breed a huge service. He is sweet, friendly and stable. He’s at home wherever he goes. He is handsome and correct. And he has working drive to spare, including the sometimes-elusive “sticktuitiveness”, which to me means he isn’t afraid to be wrong, and just try again. This is a testament to how he was raised, but also to his innate temperament.

Third, I want to thank Dawna Sims at PSR Stockdogs, for helping Bert get here and back. And Pam Abrath at Fantasi Swedish Vallhunds, who drove all the way to Ohio to take Bert to Purina Farms to meet up with Dawna on his way home. Thank you so very much both of you, for going out of your way to help.

Finally, my tolerant and awesome husband Jim, for becoming Bert’s foster dad for the summer, and my family and friends and work family and friends, for helping and listening and tolerating me in my crazy dog lady mode. Thank you guys!

Now we just wait and keep our fingers crossed. Bon voyage Bert!

Zhora has gained a pound and a half! Some of that is weight and not puppies because I increased her food before breeding to get a bit more plush on her (she’s not fat, just not agility lean, like from a 4.5/9 to a 5/9 body condition score, Dr Gray said her weight was “perfect”),but some is hopefully grublets! She has a bit of a tummy starting and is losing her waist. She is eating well most days, although sometimes in the morning she is a bit nauseous (a couple of ginger snap biscuits seem to help and she usually eats her breakfast with gusto a bit later). One thing that has been very interesting is that Zhora is usually a Labrador when it comes to food, she eats everything in her bowl in a matter of seconds. The last week or so she is still screaming for breakfast, but then either nibbles and walks away, or eats quite slowly. I have been adding a bit of canned food and that seems to help her get going.

I normally feed one meal of kibble (breakfast) and one meal of raw (dinner), but I decided to take her off raw during the pregnancy just in case. Calcium especially is a concern in later pregnancy, and it can be difficult to keep calcium levels low enough with raw (too much calcium in the diet before whelping can predispose the dog to eclampsia), especially if you feed a commercial raw diet, which I do (I feed Doggone Raw, which is locally manufactured and awesome!). She will go back on the raw after the puppies are born.

We are doing everything we can to keep stress low (there’s no evidence that stress causes resorption, but why risk it?). Zhora is wearing an Adaptil collar (Adaptil is a synthetic copy of a calming pheromone that mother dogs emit while nursing puppies, it can help with many behavior issues but also just generally helps with relaxation and feeling good, and we also have an Adaptil diffuser in the room the dogs are in most). She’s stopped agility (I decided to be really cautious and she hasn’t seemed to mind) but is still playing fetch and going for walks (staying fit is very important for her physical and mental health, and also for increasing the chances of an easy whelping). She is definitely sleeping more than usual.

Thursday is day 35, which is the end of the first phase of gestation (embryogenesis). On Thursday the embryos become fetuses! They start really growing after day 40 or so, and that’s when they gain almost all of the weight and size they will have at birth.  They have eyelids now, and their toes will start to separate over the next few days!

We will increase her food next week (but then only by about 30-40%, you don’t want her to get fat, as that can make whelping harder), because that’s when the puppies really start to grow!

We have not yet decided on the naming theme for the C litter, we don’t want to tempt Murphy by naming our puppies before they are hatched! Stay tuned!

Bert goes home in two weeks, we will miss him! He is part of the family now.

Skip this bit if you don’t want to know gross dog stuff. This time around things have been markedly different, which leads me to wonder a) if she was even really pregnant at all last time or b) if there was only one embryo. This time her vulva didn’t go back to pre-heat size, it stayed larger and softer (this is how you know you’re a crazy dog lady, you talk about your dog’s lady bits on your blog). She slowed down quite a bit quite early. She had the clear stringy vaginal mucous last weekend which is one of the hallmarks of pregnancy in dogs (she didn’t have that last year).

Day 28, ultrasound done. Our first time at Alliance Animal Hospital and I was very impressed (plus they’re a full service repro clinic, which is awesome!). Dr Gray was pretty sure she saw five!!! She palpated Zhora first and smiled at me and said “she’s pregnant”, and I nearly burst into tears.

Ultrasound showed all about the same size (which is good), all good heartbeats. Ovaries looked good, both had appropriate corpus lutea (which produce progesterone). She did suggest checking progesterone weekly to be sure it stays up since she resorbed the last litter.

So it’s only the first hurdle, there are more to come, but this was a big one, and she’s over it!

The last time we showed to judge Howard Etzel, we had a no Q weekend. This time Nina earned her MACH, earned QQ #21 (#1 towards MACH2), and had a perfect day today! Her tally for the weekend was two QQ’s (one of which earned her MACH), two Premier Jumpers Q’s, a Time 2 Beat Q and a Master FAST Q. Her best weekend to date.

I was crying so hard when I went to hug the judge I could barely see. This MACH has been a long and amazing and educational journey and there were times I thought that we might not get there, and that would have been fine anyway!

Every single run with Nina is a joy, Q or no Q, and I try very hard to never forget to feel grateful for each and every one, thanking her for the privilege of her effort is part of every run). So very, very proud of this little dog.

At 10 years old she is running faster and smoother than ever, she loves this game more than anything, she is still bouncing with excitement at the start line, and she was a qualifying machine this weekend. This might have been our best qualifying weekend to date!

She is just an amazing dog. And I think HER favorite part of her MACH was that she got another turn to run!

Bert was awesome too! He earned his first NAJ (Novice Agility Jumpers) leg, and is really starting to get the hang of the game! He goes home in September and I will really miss him, I look forward to seeing how he progresses!

Nina Friday FAST (Q):

Nina Friday Premier Jumpers (Q):

Nina Saturday Jumpers (MACH part 1):

Nina Saturday Standard (MACH!!!):

Bert Saturday Standard (NQ, but really coming along nicely!):

Bert Saturday Jumpers (first Jumpers Q!):

Nina Sunday Premier Jumpers (Q):

Nina Sunday Jumpers (part 1 of QQ #21):

Nina Sunday Time 2 Beat (Q, bonus scritches at the start):

Nina Sunday Standard (part 2 of QQ #21!):

Zhora’s progesterone was 1.7ng/mL on 7/17 (day 8), 4.5ng/mL on 7/19 (day 10), and 8.1ng/mL on 7/20 (day 11). So she likely ovulated somewhere between Wednesday the 19th and Thursday the 20th.

A dog’s eggs take about 48 hours to “ripen” (they are not able to be fertilized immediately after ovulation). Zhora wanted nothing to do with Bert on Friday (Bert, however, wanted quite a bit to do with Zhora…). As I was course building at an agility trial in Erie, I drove back and forth to try and get this breeding accomplished. Because Zhora was being disinterested to hostile to Bert on Friday, I spent much of Saturday morning at the trial on the phone trying to find a vet or fellow breeder who could manage an artificial insemination for me just in case Zhora wasn’t going to allow a natural breeding.

Saturday night I spent over an hour on the floor trying to help them get the deed done. Bert was willing, Zhora was…not.

And then this (Sunday) morning at 4 am, Zhora woke me up and asked to go in with Bert and got things done like she’d done it many times before! I guess she prefers things on her own terms.

While I’d have been happier with more than one tie, I am very grateful to my breeder friends who assured me that the timing was good and that many, many litters are born from single ties (in fact, many breeders only EVER do one breeding, on purpose). So now we wait. Assuming she ovulated on the 19th or 20th, puppies would be due September 20-21 (dog gestation is 63 days from ovulation, one week in a dog pregnancy is roughly equivalent to one month in a human pregnancy). Fingers and paws and eyes all crossed, because now all we can do is wait.