Now that Charlotte’s babies are a few days old and starting to fill out a little, I took some time to photograph them with my phone tonight before doing their dewclaws. I usually use my “big girl” camera, but I couldnt be bothered – sorry. But they still look cute anyway I think.
*please note that none of these puppies are available at this time*
Enjoy <3
Fergie. (now 7.5oz)
Victoria (now 8.2oz)
Archie (now 7.6oz)
Kate (now 8.4oz)
Charlotte’s due date was Friday the 26th. We had done the xrays on Wednesday the 24th and we knew there were 4 puppies on board. True to timing, she started panting and nesting Friday evening around 7pm.
I woke up every 1.5 hours through the night to check on her. I walked her, and pottied her but there wasn’t much action happening. This is normal. Stage 1 can be long (just like a human – they are opening the cervix to “10 cm”). Around 4am she cried a lot so I ended up sleeping beside her from that point, with my hand on her as she slept and panted and shifted.
Saturday was much the same – watching her, but not much happening. we went on lots of walks/potty breaks. That was, till about 4:30pm. During one of our potty breaks, her water sack came out and she proceeded to pop it. “Awesome”, I thought. “We will have a puppy soon.” But, as the afternoon wore on, Charlotte kept panting and then would do an occasional push, but nothing worth noting.
In the dog breeding world, you start to worry when your dog has been pushing consistently for an hour. She hadn’t been doing that, but after 3 hours of waiting, it just didn’t feel right. By this stage, Molly and Abbey arrived. Molly is Charlotte’s ‘other mom’ (Charlotte lives in a guardian home with one of my closest friends).
Around 8pm, we spotted a little bubble – YEAH – a puppy was on it’s way, but then we saw feet. UH OH – that’s not usually a good sign. Feet without a sack means a dry birth, which is harder for momma to push out, and a bubble usually means there is another baby competing for space. We did the “wheelbarrow” technique to try to reposition the babies and called our vet. He said since there was a puppy so close, we should grab a towel and try to gently pull the puppy out. We tried to do this, however, Charlotte kept sucking it back inside making it near impossible to grab. I made the call to Dr Anders to do a c-section – he agreed.
At this stage, I will say a HUGE thank you to Dr Anders Thoreson from Klahaya Animal Hospital for being on call – I know this is not normal and it is SO appreciated.
As irony would have is, just as we pulled in the the Klahaya carpark, Charlotte gave birth to that birth puppy on Molly’s arm. In the breeding world we call that “bumpy road protocol” 🙂 haha.
Inside we talked about it – between the lack of pushing and the long labor, we decided to go ahead with the c-section and get the babies out. Better to have healthy babies alive than wait too long and have them die.
I was in the surgical room (far back from the clean area) to “catch” puppies and then i ran them out to Brianna, Molly and Abbey so they could rub them down. All 4 are healthy and strong – at first a little tired from surgery but it didnt take long to get them nursing.
We got 3 girls and a boy. 2 tri girls and 1 blen girl and 1 blen boy. 🙂 Born just before 10pm on Saturday the 27th. Mama and babies were able to come home an hour later and so I got up all through the night to check on their progress.
We are so thankful for these precious little lives and look forward to them growing up.
Since Charlotte is named after Princess Charlotte, it seemed only fitting we did a “Royal” litter in her honor.
Blen girl was born at 6.17oz. We are nicknaming her “Fergie”
Blen boy was born 6.49oz. We are nicknaming him “Archie”
Tri girl 1 (with the larger blaze) was born at 6.53oz. We are nicknaming her “Victoria”
Tri girl 2 (with the smaller blaze) was born 6.67oz and we named “Kate” since she looks so much like her mom.
**please note that none of these puppies are available at this time**
So, I have been a huge fan of a kennel in Australia called Karakush for a long time owned by Leigh and Helen Gibson. The consistency in their breeding program, and quality of their dogs is something to aspire to. I used one of their boys “Langrigg The Cake Boss” for my last breeding to Madison and was not disappointed.
A short time ago, a good friend of mine, Chelsea from Van Mar Beagles contacted me. She had been given the opportunity to import and own Puddin’ (Aus CH Karakush The Proof Is In The Puddin’). She is a beautiful adult beagle that Chelsea could have a litter from and therefore bring some of that bloodline into her own kennel. Well, she called to ask if I would be interested in owning her with her. It was a no brainer for me – of course I said YES! I am SO thankful to Chelsea for her generosity for allowing me to co-own Puddin’ and I know she will add something wonderful to both of our programs. Puddin’ is a 1/2 sister to Charity, whom we co-own together, so it seems like a wonderful extension of that for both of us.
Puddin’ arrived via plane. A huge thank you to Gemma and the staff at Pet Carriers International for coordinating a smooth and uneventful trip! Chelsea and her daughter picked Pud up from the airport and they enjoyed a night at a hotel and some time at the beach before heading home. Pud was un-phased by her long trip proving her wonderful temperament. She walked out of her crate, tail wagging and even though she had not spent much time with little kids was happy to make Chelsea’s daughter her new BFF.
I also want to take the time to sincerely thank Leigh and Helen for giving us the opportunity of adding one of their lovely girls to my breeding program. I’ve been a big fan of the Karakush dogs for a long time. I feel like Puddin’ will compliment what I have going on and really accelerate the plans I have moving forward.
As Chelsea said, “I am reminded that is truly takes a village to create a successful breeding program. I am so grateful to all the breeders behind all my dogs and the fact they are so generous to share a piece of their success with me. They have become cherished friends and I will never forget their generosity and willingness to allow a fellow breeder produce good dogs.”. I believe those sentiments wholeheartedly. <3
