Home just in time

Back home again, Emily is making good progress and we are hopeful that the antibiotics she has been sent home with will do their job and knock this infection on the head.

Bellas pups seem to have doubled in size in the 48 hours I was away and have now opened their eyes. They are also starting to try and get up on their legs so it won't be long before they start getting a bit more interesting :-). As you can see, they are feeding very well.

 

Betty has just had her pup, a beautiful black little girl, so glad she waited until we got home. Whilst I am delighted that she has produced a healthy pup with no problems, it has put me in a bit of a quandary. I have been waiting for a female Betty pup for a couple of years now (she is from a line of poodles that, as far as I am aware, is no longer active) but I have also got a very interested prospective owner and I hate to let people down, especially as they have also been waiting a long time for their pup. In some ways I wish she had produced a boy as I wouldn't have a decision to make. So at the moment I think it will be a waiting game, I have a fixed idea of what I am looking for in my next pup and it is quite possible that she may not be right for me but still make a fantastic pet.

I would love to have this pup on web cam as well as Bellas but a) I only have 1 web cam and b) Both Betty and the pup are black, and Betty curls around her pup for the first couple of weeks so all you would see on the cam is a black blob!. Once it is up and about I will split the coverage between both sets of pups.

temporary loss of webcam

Just to apologise to those who are following Bellas pups on justin tv. My daughter is back in hospital at the moment so unable to have web cam running at the moment. Also very limited internet access so difficult to reply to emails. Hopefully back to normal by Sunday.

A Difficult 24 hours

Yesterday Frankie went to her new home, she has joined Mary and Simon with Fiki (one of Dollars pups), Zurie (a big std boy) and Ebbie ( a toy) in Cornwall. It was only a matter of minutes before she was tearing around the garden with Fiki so I am sure she will settle in very quickly.

Although I know that she has a wonderful life ahead of her with a very loving family, I am devastated and miss her terribly, it doesn't matter how much you tell yourself that you have done the right thing for the dog it still hurts. I am looking forward to seeing lots of photos and updates on flickr.com. I have already received an email saying that things are going well.

Last night I went to bed leaving Bella with 6 fat healthy pups, this morning I came down to find that one of the boy pups was fading. He had stopped feeding and his breathing was shallow. This pup had been born with a tiny hole in his palette, possibly because they were born several days early and it hadn't finished fusing, which we had hoped would close over in the following days as he was sucking well and there was no milk coming up his nose. Sadly this wasn't to be and we assume that he must have got some fluid on the lungs giving him pneumonia. I had no option but to have him put to sleep this morning. This is only the second puppy that I have lost through fading in nearly 20 years of breeding so it has come as a shock..

Bella is looking after the remaining pups very well, they are all gaining weight nicely and I am looking forward to them opening their eyes next week.

Oops

I obviously need more practice at sexing puppies, 1 of the white and blacks (no spot on head) is a boy. What a do-nut I am :-)

She just couldn't wait

Bella was due on 21.01.11 assuming she took on her 1st mating but yesterday she was a bit huffy puffy in the morning. I wasn't too concerned as when the girls are close things get a bit uncomfortable and they can have periods where they pant a bit. However by the evening, despite eating a large meal, she was definitely in labour. She was very fidgety and was panting quite hard, but no signs of contractions or pushing. Graham and I did shifts sitting with her until 5.30am at which point she was no further advanced and was not unduly stressed so we both fell into bed. When I got up to check her at 7.30am she had produced and cleaned 1 tiny, but healthy, black and tan bitch pup. By 10.00am she had obviously decided she was 'too posh to push' so off we went to the vets. There the fantastic team there delivered 5 chunky healthy pups and then spayed Bella. Mum and babies are doing well.

The final tally is, one black boy with white bib & toes, one black girl with white bib & toes, one black/tan girl with white bib and the surprises were three white/black/tan girls who I suspect will be roans. These pups will not be docked. There are photos of each pup on my flickr account (link on top right) There is also a link on the right-hand side of the blog for live web cam pictures, although this will not always be on.

Ladies in Waiting

Unfortunately I have to concede that Audrey is not pregnant. Last week I was 99% sure I could feel a puppy, but she is not showing and sign of an advancing pregnancy. I am so disappointed, both for myself and all those that have contacted me about the possible pups. I will of course try again on her next season, due in about 4 months. This will probably coincide with Dollar being mated but that can't be helped.

On the plus side, Betty is definitely pregnant, although she will almost certainly have a single pup again. Bella on the other hand is huge and she still has a week to go! I meant to take my camera on our walk this morning but forgot it, but as I promised Rosie I would take a picture of Bella, for Norman, I took a couple of shots on my phone. Once again the quality is not great but if you compare her outline to the picture in one of my recent posts it gives you an idea of her size, it's not just her abdomen that is swollen, her ribcage is also being pushed out.. She can't jump into the van anymore and I think I could probably run faster than her;-)

Happy Christmas?

Perhaps not the best Christmas and new year, Emily broke up from school and the following day went down with the flu, this was followed by a nasty chest infection which meant she spent the whole of christmas on antibiotics laid out asleep on the sofa, we took her back to the doctors as soon as we could who sent her to the hospital with suspected pneumonia. After a thorough examination she was sent home on 2 aggressive courses of antibiotics. Five days later she was still poorly so we took her back to hospital where she was admitted and treated for pneumonia. She is now finishing her recovery at home. I realise you don't read this to hear about my family probs but it explains the photos of Frankie, taken today, who was so pleased to see me she insisted on sitting on my lap, something she has never done before and knows isn't allowed :-)

Bella and Betty are both expecting pups at the end Jan, beginning of Feb. It is still a bit early to know about Audrey, should know by the end of next week so watch this space as they say.