Virgin Voyage – What an Adventure!

Oh Boy! We are Going Outside!

We are so excited – Mom told us all about it!

I mean, we are really excited…but, of course, patient

You aren’t getting me…I mean reeeeaaaly excited!

Actually, Breeze has this wonderful little stuffed toy, that during her labor of her first litter, she carried this little animal around the house and into her den, as if it were a puppy.  So in the last day or so, as we have begun discussing taking the pups outside, she has all of a sudden started taking this stuffed toy outside!  Its like she is agreeing with us, that they need to get out there and get a handle on the world.  Funny…we are all so tuned in to each other!

They aren’t quite big enough to climb over the fencing door jam.

We thought we wanted too…

Its just confusing…

Getting outside was quite a process…

And, the ramp was like a slide!

Who’s A Good Dog?!

We had adjusted last year’s yard access to make it even easier for this  litter (little if any wagons and carts and loading)

although this day, we didn’t make it all the way to the ground.

(Sorry that my vertical pictures are so huge. I’ve tried everything to resize and nothing changes – if you have any advice please feel free to call!)

We also weighed and wormed. 

Amy gave great assistance!

Clearly Breeze has plenty of milk to share. 

Very robust puppies…

the one girl (shown below) is slightly lighter but super healthy.

It most likely means she is just milder mannered…Ms. Mellow

Pups all settled in quickly as we came back inside.

Please feel free to come and play with the puppies…

bring your children or grandchildren –

there is plenty to go around!

Day 22

We took everything from the spare room into the main room.

This move was organized over a month ago.  Actually I was planning on using this for the whelping den but it wasn’t what Breeze was used to, so we had set up the small den we’ve been using to get us through the first 3 weeks before the pups go outside.

If you look closely you’ll see the black fencing is folded up back by the crate so we can double the size of this pen in a few weeks when they need a larger area.  We are borrowing the fencing from Amy (she took care of the house and Breeze (including breeding!) when I went to Zimbabwe, and they have the fence for her bunny, and one of the forthcoming pups from this litter.)

Yes that is a 4′ buffalo hide drum hanging above the crate.  Long story!

I use a $4 shower curtain liner under the sheets and it keeps the cushioning blanket on the bottom dry.

Another long story about why I have soooo many blue flannel sheets from 40 years ago, but it has given me some ultimate flexibility in keeping the den clean.

What’s Your Name?

They Have Just Learned to Really Play in the Last Couple Days

Face Cleaning is Essential

Mo’ Face Cleanin’

Breeze is a Fastidious Housekeeper!

Hmmm…What an Interesting Site…

What a Good Mom

Check your calendar for when you can visit! 

We all appreciate socializing…

Christian and Amy spent some great time with the pups and Breeze. Thanks for photos but thanks mostly for your time!

That puppy looks like its hanging from a limb out in space.

Ahh…Breeze settles in with all the excitement of puppies and friends.

Everyone is getting mellowed out….nothing like mother’s milk!

You might think this is a still shot, or that your film isn’t working right, since everything is so still. But eventually you see the shadows and ha! it is a moving picture.

They do love feet!

Pile o’ Pups

You are too cute!

Now that everyone else is sleeping…maybe there is something here.

Feel free to make an appointment to visit!

Wow – these days are moving along so quickly!

Marimba class brought in a few visitors.

Whoops this isn’t a pup…Bullwinkle?

Day 19 was a big visitor day!

More Day 19…and “big kids”

Come see us!

Really!  Summer is moving on…Solstice has come and gone and here I am wanting to catch up with the kite that is flying over my head … feels like there is no string attached now…

Life is good and the pups are great.  Please bear with my slowness to upload pics.  Summer demands are over the top this year.  So here are the first 2 weeks in one post.

DAY 5   Ahh… the Love of Licks…

Day 6 Visitors!

Day 7 Pure Joy

Day 7 Proud Mama Just Watching…

Day 7 Pyramid King of the Mountain

Day 9 – Finding the Perfect Place to Sleep

Day 9 – A Little One on One

Day 10 – Another One on One

Day 12 – One by One

Day 14 – Lost and Found

This little one was wandering around a full minute before the video starts. …reminds me of my habits, returning to what is familiar.

Day 14…Visitors Welcome!

After the boys left everyone fell asleep…a big day on campus. 

Today was the first day their eyes were really open!

It was most obvious when I went to change the sheets. 

Today they would not be contained easily and were walking all over.

This little guy was off sleeping by himself. 

I like to document the unique behaviors and watch how they evolve,

so we will be watching this little one – does he hang out solo a lot? 

I’m looking to match up the growing dog to their family and home,

so it starts early by observing the strange, rare and peculiar!

Please write or call and make an appointment to come play with the puppies!  Breeze and all enjoy it immensely!

Just a couple of reports about Day 1. 

I promise I won’t be blogging daily,

but I did want to let you know about the “day after”. 

Sleep is good and well appreciated by all!

Friday morning came early.  We had 3 visitors already today.

• Our vet Ellen made a house call to check out the mama and she says all is looking good.

• Jerry, who helps me around the farm, came in to secure those wooden boards around the perimeter, since the pups are small enough to squeeze through.

• And then Amy came by to see the puppies and Breeze after dinner.

Big first day!  Breeze is such a delight with people.  She is happy to share her litter and be the proud mama.  Although I’m sure she appreciates the resting, she also doesn’t seem to be the least affected by people in her midst (after the initial hearty greeting).

Looks like not a lot going on here (look closely) –

this was the nature of reality all day long.

After getting a new sheet to freshen the bedding, I was able to track the weights based on the descriptions from yesterday.  I’m amazed that the frantic comments I was making during whelping actual worked to connect to each puppy.

Although my scale is really old and funky, meaning it may not be accurate, at least if I continue to use it I will be consistent for comparisons sake.  Here are our birth order results (Irish means black/white and Tri means black, tan, white):

1. Male Irish 13 oz
2. Male Tri 15 oz
3. Male Tri 16 oz
4. Male Irish 15 oz
5. Male Tri 13 oz
6. Male Irish 12 oz
7. Male Irish 14 oz
8. Female Tri 13 oz
9. Female Irish 15 oz
10. Female Irish 12 oz

Please feel free to call for an appointment to come socialize the puppies!  We count on people to come out of the woodwork for this occasion so they get plenty of handling.  Thanks!

We have some exciting movies to watch.  Granted it may not compete with Netflix etc. but they are home grown and educational (if you like to know the rest of the story).

This is really delightful to get to share with you.  I don’t know that its popcorn-worthy but its very interesting if you have not been present at the birth of puppies.

First Born

(Hang in there when the screen goes black…

I had to put the phone down to get a towel!)

For some reason Breeze unexpectedly and repeatedly insisted on moving her first pup out of the den, which would be a real problem for clean up.  So, we had to put up fabric so she couldn’t see us, and then she settled down, and stayed inside without a problem.  Last litter she had also tried to move the first pup to the futon.

We waited a healthy hour for pup #2.  During that time Breeze just hung out and panted, also taking care of #1.

I like this film even though its very dark.  Its so tender. The silhouette effect satisfies my inner artist.

2nd born is a tri-color male.

Breeze is taking care of the umbilical cord nicely.

This is #6 on the right with#5 on Breeze’s nose … you can barely see #5’s tri-color cheek.  Often the brown evolves and become darker as time goes on, so watching them grow is like opening a treasure box.

#6 is the pup on her leg, finding a nice resting place.

#7 is the last of the boys….what a run of males!

#8 is the 1st girl!

Are these kittens or puppies?

There are 8 of them, whatever they are.

#9 has arrived and is a girl!  Are there any more coming?

Patiently waiting the 2 hours for their last sibling.

#10 is a girl!

And yes, we get dew claws removed, but so far have never had any.

Day Zero went extremely well, thanks to all hands on deck!

Breeze and I really appreciate everyone for everything –

(even the last minute purchase of goat’s milk from Jan

to be prepared “in case”

thankfully it wasn’t needed

so I guess I’ll just have to drink it …  Its oh-so tasty!)

From about 3 pm Wednesday Breeze began the panting that says “hey, we are with the program now!”.  With 3 different buddies taking shifts from yesterday evening until tonight (thanks Amy, Helen and Renee!), we all jumped through the whelping hoops with flying colors!  I am only somewhat on Neptune and Breeze is soooo relaxed.

Ben and Breeze’s 2018 litter is beautiful!  We have 7 males who all came first, and 3 females who followed. 

They began at 12:30 pm today with the very first pup, and 1 hour later it was every 10-15 minutes or so.  Then there was a pause for another hour, a 10 minute pup, and finally the very last one waited 2 hours before coming!  We hung out for quite a while thinking there might be one more, but called it around 8 pm.

There are 6 black and whites (traditional Irish) and 4 tri-color like their papa Ben (black, tan, and white).  1 girl is a tri-color and the other 2 are black and white.

All pups came into the world without a hitch.  Everyone is resting so calmly, and nestling in for a good night.  I will be doing the same earlier than usual, as last night’s panting was not conducive to sleep.  Breeze and I spent the night on the floor in and next to her den.  I think after a brief swim and giving Breeze a walk, I too will be going into the horizontal zone.

I have so many pictures and videos of the event, since all the off-shift helpers were present in spirit and needed to stay in the loop, so I probably over documented the whole thing. I’ll need to pare it down and send out a few here tomorrow.  Sorry I’m too bushed tonight to pull something out.

Payton is the official pool-meister so I’ll need her official comment, but if I understand how it works (I’m a virgin pooler) I think Kathy won (she is just so intuitive)!  She got 3 out of 5!  She had it with 7 males, first one born in the a.m. on 6/7! 

More manana!  Thanks much for your interest!

Okay I’m not going to be excessive here and give you hourly reports, but I do want to say that things are getting serious around here.

This is a picture of yesterday evening…she was still able to lay around and be comfortable.

This after noon that changed into the pre-labor panting, which looks like labor  but isn’t quite as intense.  Its very different than the previous days.  With the warm weather its been an interesting process to decipher.

Breeze is 83″ around the largest part of her middle.  She seems so much bigger than before, so to get a measurement seems like a good thing to have in our records.

The Den

So a good guess might be the wee hours of the morning or later Thursday a.m.   I don’t know who besides me had Thursday in the puppy pool but that is the way its headed…a remote possibility could be midnight tonight?

Sweet and Tender Girl

Puppy Pool ended today since it was the first possible whelping date. Thanks for playing!

She really likes the space under the porch. I keep worrying that she will get stuck under there one of these times because she is getting so thick around the middle.

I call and call and eventually she peeks out.

We really need to keep an eye on her so that she doesn’t go under there while in labor, or she might really want it to be her den!

Then we’d be up a creek without a paddle…

 So far, no labor signs!