Webbs Whiskers And Wags

Not Again

2011-03-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

I am sorry it has been so long without an update. Callies pregnancy was going smoothly. She was getting big and we were even able to feel movement. She was getting picky with her food and in true spoiled princess fashion wanted to be hand fed. Shane was more then happy to oblige. I on the other hand would mix her dry food with a bit of canned (filet mignon flavor of course) to entice her and she would gobble it up. She got milk, I set up the whelping box, even made some adjustments to the box to make it better. I replaced any items that were used from the whelping box. We were all ready for puppies. I started taking her temperature twice a day. Then on day 52 things changed. Her stomach suddenly seemed to be getting smaller not bigger. Then at 2:30 in the morning Sunday it happened again. She started having dark green discharge. I knew it meant she had lost a puppy. I was still hopeful to save the rest. I called the vet and he suggested I let her be for a few hours and see if she would go into labor on her own and deliver. At 7 in the morning I called back to inform him that she was not in labor at all. He agreed to meet me at the clinic, in a snow storm just like last time. Once there he did an x-ray and only one skeleton was just barely showing up. Definately not far enough along to survive. He gave her a shot of oxytosin and it really did not do much. So it was time to do another c-section. My daughter and I left to get the vet and his wife/assistant some hot chocolate just as they were taking her into surgery. When we came back they were just finishing stitching her back up. There was only two puppies again and one had died quite sometime before. The other while more formed did not have any hair or nails and could not survive outside the womb. And so I took Callie home with an empty incubator. She is currently on pain meds and antibiotics incase of infection. Once she is all healed she will be spayed. I would love to experience the joy of puppies but I could not bear risking Callie again. I love her dearly and will continue to love her until the day she leaves me. I am looking into every possible reason for this to have happened again and been looking into even more health testing available to use in the future with another female. I can only hope that something good can from this in future health testing. Making the breed even healthier than it is now.

33 Days

2011-03-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

The baby bump has arrived!!!

At this time the puppies sex has been determined and they are beginning to look like puppies. Their legs, feet and claws are developing now.

Callie is doing great. Just like last time she is eating more now. She is also sleeping more. She has been stretching out more too. In the photo above she is out cold. I was petting her belly and she just stayed there like that even after I moved. I think she may be carrying more puppies this time too. She seems to be showing more and getting bigger this time then last. Then again that may not mean anything. I know from myself with my first child I did not start wearing maternity clothes until my 8th month. But with my second and third I was wearing them by my 4th month. Once your body does it once I guess it just knows to stretch out and get ready. With all the snow we have had here in Utah and Callies undercarriage has been dragging in it. With her developing nipples this has been not so nice for her. They are very dry and cracking. So I have started putting some Bag Balm on them. Bag Balm is actually made for cow udders but it has been working great for Callie also.

Other then that not really much to report right now. Here are some pictures of Callie and Tux. We had a really nice spring day so we went out to play and I got some pretty good photos. Hope you enjoy!!!

Trying again!!!

2011-01-30T10:11:00.000-08:00

Ok so we skipped Callie's last heat cycle because of the c-section last May. Her and Tux were dressed in diapers, baby onesies, and belly bands for an entire month and were constantly supervised or in there kennels when I had to be gone. They really looked silly. She had been going into heat every 5 1/2 to 6 months. I was not expecting it again until the last half of February. Surprise, Surprise, she came into heat about a month early. She started on January 22 and we have had two good ties in the last three days. I plan on keeping them apart today and letting Tux recuperate. I plan on having two more ties this week. Even though they are the only two dogs in this household I still only do supervised ties. Callie seemed to handle the mating better last time then she is now. She has been more panicky this time. I have had to get on the floor with them each time to help keep her calm.

Since we have already had a couple successful ties and should have 2 more in the next few days I am planning on puppies. Pregnancy in dogs lasts 65 days. She should be ready to pop the week of April 3rd.

This litter is being sired by Tux, who is the son of CH Sheeba Super Trooper. Callie is the Grand-daughter of CH Majestic Just Tough Enough. Callie and Tux both have excellent bloodlines, make sure you check out their full pedigrees on my website. They have also both been heart checked and certified to be clear of any genetic defects. I am expecting blenheim and tri colors. I have had some inquiries for this litter and do have one reserved. If you are interested in being put on the waiting list please let me know. You can find a link to e-mail me on my website. www.webbswhiskersandwags.com

I will update as soon as there is anything to report. I will be taking Callie to the vet around March 1st to confirm pregnancy. I will not know how many to expect at that time. She will get an x-ray to get an idea of how many around the end of March.

I had to say goodbye

2010-08-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

It was time to say goodbye. Annabelle was 10 weeks old and was more then ready to go to her forever home. Her new owner is living in Southern California and since my husband drives a truck and goes there at least twice a week, we agreed to deliver her. So Sunday night I got all her AKC paperwork, sales contracts and health guarantee together where I wouldn't forget them. That night I let her climb in bed for a while and I will admit I cried knowing that it was the last time she would be there. So in the morning I got all her favorite stuff and loaded it into her kennel. I was so worried about having everything that she needed I forgot my own purse and make-up bag. We got to Pride Transport where my husband works and his load was not ready yet, so we made the rounds through the office showing off little Annabelle. She was a huge hit. As a matter of fact we already have some people on a waiting list for Callie's next litter. People were conducting meetings and when we would pass by they would come out in the hall just to visit with her. I have never been so popular. When it was time we loaded her into the truck and got her all set up for the ride down. It is a 12 hour drive. So I made sure the entire floor of his truck was covered in puppy potty pads and that she had plenty of food and water. This is what she looked like on her ride down.

She had her kennel and her favorite pink pillow. She slept most of the way, until we stopped to sleep of course. Then she was up and wanting to play. Like I said the entire floor was covered in potty pads but she chose to use the one right under my feet. So I had to ride the entire time with my feet up on the dash. I tried to keep thinking about how nice the trip back would be without all her stuff and the potty pads. It really did not help though. Anytime I thought about how I was letting her go I would cry. By the time we made it to Southern California I did not have any makeup left on and since I left my stuff at home I could not replace it either. So I looked a mess and then when we put her down outside to potty in the grass it was wet and then she found the one pile of dirt. So she had muddy legs. I am sure we were both a horrible sight. Once her new owner got there and I met her I knew that not only would Annabelle be taken care of I think she will actually be quite spoiled. I made it through the signing of the contracts without any water works but when that was done I could not control it and the tears were flowing. I had planned on getting some pictures of her with her new "Mom" but with my blubbering I completely forgot. I have asked her to send some pictures so hopefully I will get some to add on here soon. I can honestly say that giving her that last hug and watching her drive away was a lot harder then I ever thought it would be. I keep telling myself that it is just because I spent so much time with her and that the next time will be easier. Hopefully Callie will not have the problems she had with this litter with her next so I wont need to get so attached. If she does it will be her last litter. It is not fair to continue to put her through it. Of course I don't want to have to give up one that I have gotten so attached to again either. I am really hoping that I will get pictures of Annabelle throughout her life to add on here. I would love to see that Little Angel grow up.

So I guess that is it for the puppy blog for now. I will update as soon as I get some pictures of Annabelle though.

8 Weeks Old

2010-07-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe she is 8 weeks already!!! Time is just flying by. She has become so playful. I really have to be careful walking through my bedroom before bed. There is a cute little monster that will come out from under my bed to bite my toes. She has been having so much fun playing with Callie and Tux too. She got her first set of shots on Tuesday so she has been able to go outside and play now. I would have let her go out sooner as long as she stayed in my yard since I know that my dogs have had their shots, except that since we moved and I know there was a dog here before us that stayed in the backyard. I am not certain that he did have his shots. I did not want to risk it. But she has had a blast playing on the grass. I did manage to get a video and some pics of it as you can see below.

Once she is done playing she is totally out for a while, as you can see from the pictures below.

In this one she is just trying to be like one of the "big" dogs and sleep on one of the beds on the bedroom floor. The two of them are just so beautiful together. I will admit that I think she is going to be even prettier then her mommy. Her mask is just perfect with no freckles and gorgeous markings on her body. She will be an attention getter for sure.

More Photos

2010-07-12T18:44:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when she is playing she will just fall asleep wherever she is. I suppose if she had siblings they would play until they were tired and then just fall asleep in a pile wherever they were too.

Other times she does make it back to her bed. When she does sleep she is really out of it.

She has also decided that she really likes to fit her body into the neck pillow I bought her when she was smaller. She still fits. Nice and snug now.

I guess the flash disturbed her. But look at that little face!! She is so cute.

Alright so, as promised she did get her first bath this afternoon. My hands were pretty full with her but my 10 year old Jessica got some pretty good photos of it.

She looks just like a drowned rat!!!

So once she was all dry she was beautiful. All pretty white and fluffy. I thought Jessica had gotten some photos of her so I fed her dinner. Well needless to say Jessica did not get any photos of her all pretty and clean. But you can see in the ones below that her body looks wonderful. Of course her face and front paws are in her food.

It is hard to see unless you click on this picture and enlarge it, but the water is actually moving in the bowl because she will move the bowl around in her pen. She is a very aggressive eater. Very messy too.

7 Weeks old today

2010-07-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

I really have to apologize. It has been the craziest last two weeks. First of all we moved!! We are still in Tooele, Utah but we are in a bigger house with a bigger yard for the dogs to play. Everyone handled the move just fine including Annabelle. She still has her little pen set up right by the door to the backyard. However this is not a sliding glass door so she will not learn to use a dog door. I will start moving her pad closer to the door and eventually outside and see how that works. It should at least give her a good start on housebreaking. Everyone seems to have finally settled in. But we have also been dealing with a family issue on my husbands side. He has a sister who is 44 years old but still does not make the smartest decisions. She met a man on Facebook and he has become her everything. She has even left her two daughters for him. So we have spent time trying to talk to her and explain what she is doing and how it is going to affect them. We have also been trying to just show those girls how much they are loved by everyone else in the family. It has been a very emotional two weeks for me. My body is physically worn out from moving and I am emotionally worn out from dealing with his family. However I still feel horrible that it has been this long without an update.
So here it goes. Annabelle is doing wonderful. She is eating more solid food now. She has been eating Purina One Puppy Formula with just a little bit of water to soften it a little. She is no longer getting any canned food and no longer getting a bottle at all. She is a very messy eater though. She gets in it and gets it all over her face and her front paws. Callie really does not have an interest in cleaning her anymore either. So she will be getting her first bath tonight. I will try to get some photos of that to add here. It should be interesting. As you will see in the videos below she is very playful. Even during the middle of the night. She still sleeps in a kennel next to my bed, but she will wake up at least once during the night to potty and play for about half an hour. Luckily Callie and Tux don't seem to mind entertaining her at that time. So here are the videos, hope you enjoy and I will try to get some photos of the bath this evening.

In this video she is really wanting to get out and play. At the end she just looks so darn cute.

In this one I have her up in the front room and she is playing with Aidan. She loves to follow people and chase after them to play.

5 weeks old

2010-06-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

Ok so I did find the video camera. I got some really cute videos of her playing with Callie and Tux and even my hubby. But now I have to get them all downloaded on here. So in the meantime here is a few still shots of her. I will add too that anytime someone comes over to visit and they see the puppy that myself or one of the kids is holding they are really surprised to see her move. She is so cute that everyone just assumes that she is stuffed!!!

She may not have litter mates to sleep with but she does have Aidan. He was holding her on the couch when they both fell asleep.

One morning Tux got in bed with her and I and the two of them played. She really wanted to bite his nose. I know the pics are blurry because they were moving so much.

Obviously this is right after she ate and before Callie got to clean her up.

In this video she was playing with Callie and Tux. She really loves to try to bite their ears. They just hang down so nice. Tux let her play for a minute and then he just stole her bone and left. Not that she uses the bone. She would rather chew on fingers. We are trying to break her of that. But anyway, she got a little too excited to come over and jump on Callie and she fell over backwards. Don't worry she wasn't hurt. No animals were injured in the making of these videos!! ;-)

Ok so after that first video I realize it is not hard to upload it just takes hours for even a really short video. This is gonna take a while.

Actually nothing too exciting in this one. Annabelle wanted to play but Callie just wanted to clean her. You can here her growl at the very end though. In all these videos you can here my kids moving stuff around in the backround but you get the idea. It is really fun to watch her. She will be nice and calm and then all of a sudden her tail starts wagging and she just takes off.

Just some more pictures

2010-06-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

So I realized that I really didn't get very many pictures of Annabelle on here yesterday so I will try to make up for it now. I am still looking for my video camera too.
Anyway so the girls had gymnastics and as soon as they got home Lex got in the box with the puppy to hang out. She was still sweaty and everything so hopefully she doesn't get too mad about me adding these pics.

She just has the sweetest little face. I think she will be even more pretty than her mom;-)

She has been growing so fast. We have to use two hands to hold her now. She is weighing over a pound. Also it is kind of hard to see in this picture but she is testing out those little teeth on Lex's fingers.

So she missed the blanket but she was in the right area of her box and not going potty on her bed.

Once she was done she went and crawled under the blanket and cuddled with her "sibling" to go back to bed.

I tried to get some pictures of the morning feeding.

First she had to remember how to get her legs to move forward and not backward to get her where she wanted to go.

Once she made it there, she walked in it a little. Not as bad as the first time we tried it but she did get her feet wet.

She eventually got it though. Todays mixture was her regular formula with a little rice cereal and some ground up liver. Yummy!! You can see it is still really runny.

Week 4

2010-06-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

What a week it has been too!! This week I have been so busy. My two older girls went to Young Womens camp with our church group. So that took away two of my helpers. They left early Wednesday morning and I did not expect to hear from them until Saturday afternoon. However first thing Thursday morning I got a phone call from Alexis that she was sick. So I gathered up as much medicine as I could think to bring for her and headed up to camp. They were camping way up in the mountains above Park City. So it was about a two hour drive for me to get there. Once I got there she said she was feeling a little better and was really having fun so she didn't want to leave. So I just dropped off the medicine and headed back home. I was worried that she would call again and I would need to make another drive out there but she did ok. Then Callie got sick. Well an upset stomach anyway. Someone (no one will admit it) left a stick of butter on a plate on the table. You can imagine why Callie had an upset stomach. Just like a baby though when she doesn't feel good she just wants to be held. Then it was Fathers Day!! I hope all you Fathers out there had a great day. I thought that because it was Fathers Day I would get some pictures of Tux with his little girl Annabelle. It didn't really work out very well as he decided he had better things to do.

He doesn't really want to sit and cuddle with the little one but I didn't expect he would. He will potty her though just as well as Callie does. For some reason he thinks that is fun or something. Dogs are a lot different from humans. Tux has no idea that he is her father. Dogs have no Fatherly instinct. To be honest a lot of times Father dogs will kill there young. Or will upset the Mother enough that she will kill them. In the wild if a mother dog feels threatened and one of her babies is making noise she will kill it in order to keep the predator from finding her and the other puppies. This instinct is not completely gone. Cavaliers are a very gentle, laid back, breed though. So it has not been a problem for me. I would be very careful anytime you try to add a Father into the family. But just so he is not left out here is a great picture of him from last week after he got groomed. Poor guy really needed it too. With the new puppy he had been really neglected.

Some other things that have been happening this week...
I have tried to feed Annabelle some puppy mush. She has walked in it, face planted in it, and actually ate it. The first time she just face planted and sucked it up. The next time she walked in it then sucked it off her paws. Last night she actually tried to be more neat and clean about it. She put her mouth on the side of the dish and tried to just eat the dish. She still needs a lot of help but she is getting better at using her tongue to lap it up. Right now I am just using a mixture of Goats Milk and some baby rice cereal. When she is done it is a huge sticky mess. Callie & Tux really enjoy cleaning her up though.

I have expanded her home now too. She is still pretty wobbly when she walks but she does walk around her box. She did manage to escape the box once. She just climbed right over the little edge at the doorway. Once she did it once I knew she would do it again. I don't want her to be able to just wander the family room. She would get lost and never be found again in that room. There is always kids with blankets lying on the floor watching movies and laundry baskets getting filled with clean clothes to take upstairs and put away, not to mention the toys that get taken out everyday. So I built her a larger home. In her box she still has her bed area. Then I added a potty area in there. The yellow blanket there is where she goes potty. She has done really well with that. For the last 4 days she has gone pee on that each time. Puppies learn very young that they want to be clean and do not want to sleep in a potty. It is pretty gross though because the yellow blanket does not get washed very often. It has to smell like a potty. That way she is attracted to the smell of where to go. In this picture you can see that sometimes I look in there and don't see her right away. I think maybe she did escape. But no when I look harder I find her. In this picture her body is under the cream colored blanket and just her head is sticking out right by one of the frogs.

Then just outside the box is just another gated off area for her. Eventually I will be moving the potty area further and further away from her bed. You can see right outside the sliding door there is another gated off area for her. The potty area will someday be moved out there. I do not expect her to think that the green carpet is grass I am just using it because the deck does have some large spaces between the boards and I am afraid that her foot could actually go through. Also the wood gets very hot to the touch in the middle of the day. I don't want to burn her little paws. I still need a sliding door insert for her to use to get outside but I have some time before I really need to worry about that. For now she has still only gotten out of the original box once. It will make a nice play area for her. I also have a water dish in there. She has shown no interest in it yet but it is good for her to see Callie and Tux using it. Eventually her food and water will both be in there.

Now at night when it is time for bed I take her upstairs and put her in a kennel. The kennel sits on the bed right next to me so that I can still hear her when she wakes up and needs to be fed during the night. Hopefully this will make kennel training her really easy. She is learning that it is an ok thing to be in there. It is actually warm and comfortable. When she does wake up during the night I take her down to her potty area. I will set her in the whelping box while I go and make her a bottle. By the time I come back she has done her business and is ready to eat and go back to sleep until morning. She does have some really sharp little puppy teeth now. I know this for sure since one time when I was cuddling her she tried to nurse on my earlobe. They are very sharp little teeth. Normally when they get teeth the mother dog will stop feeding them as much and the breeder needs to start supplementing with the puppy mash. So I figured it was time to start trying it. Well, that's what has been going on this week. I am trying to find my video camera so I can get some video of her trying to walk. It is really cute and still pictures just do not capture it as well. Hopefully I can find it today, the kids were the last ones to have it though so there is no telling. Maybe I will add some video's in the next couple of days though. Until then have a great one!!

3 Weeks Old Today

2010-06-14T20:14:00.001-07:00

So after 19 nights I am finally sleeping in my bed again!!! I have a small kennel that Tux was shipped to us in, so I have been putting her in that at night. I do sleep with the kennel on the bed next to me though. I also sleep with a flash light and I wake up just to check on her all the time. She does seem to be able to maintain her own body temperature now though. As long as I am keeping the house around 75 she does fine. So as far as that goes she does behave like a 3 week old puppy. I think it is really interesting though to look back at pictures of Callie and Tux. I have pictures of Callie at 3 weeks. Notice how black her nose is and how alert she looks. Her eyes are much bigger.

Then you look at pictures of Tux at 2 weeks. His nose is just getting the black spots and his eyes still look sleepy.

Now look at the pictures of Annabelle from today at 3 weeks. I really think she looks more like a 2 week old puppy then a 3 week old.

She has got to be almost exactly a week behind. I have seen her get up on all four legs. She was very wobbly but she did it. Of course I could not get a picture of it. But once I got the camera out Callie decided to be really cute and sweet with her. So I did get some great shots of the two of them.

Anyway kind of a busy night tonight getting the older girls ready to leave on Young Womens Camp tomorrow. So that is it for now. Have a great night!!

Day 18

2010-06-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

First of all I will mention that "Little Angel" now known as "Annabelle" has been sold. She will be living with a Veterinary Technician in Southern California. I could not have picked a better home for her to go to. She will have two other dogs to play with and will be able to be with her owner all day since she can go to the Vet Clinic with her. Since she is spending so much time with people now I really don't think she would do very well in a home that she would have to be alone for any amount of time. Plus I can rest easy knowing that she will be getting the best possible Veterinary care whenever she may need it.

Well I really want to start singing "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. I can see all the obstacles in my way." Yes her eyes are finally open. Normally they open between 10-12 days. So she is almost exactly one week behind other puppies. You can also see in the picture that she is just starting to get a little bit of black on her nose. My kids thought she had a nasty bugger. I had to explain that it is just her nose turning black. She still needs to be kept warmer than just room temperature. Last night it did get cold here in Utah too. With eyes just opening I did not want to have the heat lamp on above the box and the heating pad was just not keeping her warm enough so she slept with me under the covers on the floor right next to the box. I am very stiff this morning since I was so paranoid about moving in my sleep. She wanted to be cuddled right up in my neck with her face right in my ear. So I pretty much just listened to her breath and make little sucking sounds in her sleep all night. She is eating a lot more now and for some reason she seems to think that she needs it more often as well. She has been eating every three hours again for the last two days. Most times you can start trying to feed "puppy mash" to help take some of the load off of the mother at 3-4 weeks. However she is no where near ready for that. I am thinking she will not be ready for that for probably 2 more weeks. She is still gaining weight and getting stronger every day though. I am not weighing her every day anymore but every couple days. I am going to be switching over to ounces now and eventually pounds. She is currently weighing 318 grams which is 11.2 ounces. She has made a lot of progress considering she started out only weighing 3.6 ounces. She has more than tripled her birth weight. I really need to get a bigger tupperware to weigh her in.

So I guess that is it for today. I will update again in a few days.

Day 15

2010-06-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

This is horrible!!! I knew I was slacking a bit and really needed to get on here and update but I honestly did not realize it had been so long. I totally apologize to those of you who have been wanting updates. The kids are out of school now which is a plus and a minus all at the same time. It is a plus that I have some extra hands around the house to help puppy sit while I run errands. But then it is also a minus because every time I do leave my cell phone starts ringing with one of my children crying on the other end "Mom, they wont share and let me hold the puppy too!!" She may be lacking in socialization with littermates but she is not lacking in the human socialization. Hubby even seems to be wanting to hold her more and more. He likes to watch her little yawns and how she twitches her ears in her sleep. Her eyes are still not open but I figure that she was just born early and so they needed more time to fully develop. They are less creased now and look like they may open at anytime.

You can see in the picture above that she is spending more time in her actual whelping box now. I knew I didn't build it for nothing. I moved the box to a more central location in the house, the family room. That way I can still cook and clean while still being within ear shot of her. I am still sleeping on the floor next to the box. But at least in the family room I can stretch out and there is carpet under me and not tile. I even had the whole family sleeping in there with me last night. The teenagers thought it would be fun to watch scary movies. When they were over it was not so fun anymore. I guess it doesn't matter how old and mature you think you are, sometimes you still just want your Mommy. Speaking of Mommy, Callie just does not have it in her this time. I mean she tries as best as she can but the hormones were just not there. If Little Angel cries Callie will go get in the box and lick her and stuff but just as quick as she got in she gets back out. Callie will stimulate her to urinate if I hold her bottom up to her mouth. (to be honest though Tux has decided he likes to do that too.) But when it comes to getting her to poop, neither one of them is anywhere to be found. So I take care of that part of her bathroom needs. Sometimes Callie will surprise me and go get in the box and lay down with her baby. She will even cuddle her. However as soon as she thinks she is missing something going on elsewhere she knocks the baby to the side and gets out without a second thought to her. She has no milk now. I was only able to get a few drops from her in the first few days but it is gone now. Little Angel gets all her nutrition from the bottle. She has become a little piglet too!!! I feed her at midnight and then I get to go to bed for only about four hours before she needs to fed again. When I got up last night at 4 am to feed her the sucking sounds actually woke everyone else in the room up. She really gets after that bottle. She has more than doubled her birth weight now, Yay!! I really wish that I had some other Cavalier puppies of the same age to compare her too. Just to see how well she is catching up. Anyway here are her weights in grams from this week and some pictures for everyone.

Day 10 182
Day 11 191
Day 12 206
Day 13 218
Day 14 240

Day 9

2010-06-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Ok so some amazing things have been happening the last few days. I was really frustrated with how poorly she was gaining weight. It seemed like she was constantly getting dehydrated and would have diarrhea. I was giving her Sub-Q fluids but I was beginning to feel like she was a pin cushion. My kids would cry and beg me to please not stick her again. Of course I had too knowing that it would save her life. But I did start doing some other research and found some web-sites that actually say they have had healthy puppies die from using the puppy formulas you can buy in the stores. Now I spent $30 on this can of formula that I have so I was not too happy to hear this. Seemed like most people that were listing symptoms were having the same problems I was. So I found several homemade puppy formula recipes. They all seemed pretty much the same. The recipe I am using is...

Puppy Formula
1 can evaporated milk
3/4 cup Purified Water
1 cup plain yogurt
1 egg yolk
1 tsp Karo Syrup

I could not believe the difference in her. I first fed that to her Monday night before bed. By the next morning her stools were formed and she was putting on weight. She was like a different puppy. She was stronger and seemed to have more energy when she was awake. Her belly seemed more full and she was more satisfied. For the first time in over a week I slept for four hours straight. She is eating a million times better which means she is sleeping better. I am so thankful other people have posted this information on the web.

Well it is getting late here so I better make this short. Here are her weights and some pictures from today. Enjoy!!
Birthday 102.06
1 Week 121
Day 8 141
Day 9 159

In her first week she only gained 18.94 grams. But in the last two days since I switched her formula she has put on a whopping 38 grams!!!!

We Made It Through The First Week

2010-05-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

It has been a very hard and emotional first week, but we made it. I will be honest when I picked her and Callie up from the Vet he didn't seem to have much hope. I know a lot of people like that. They figure that nature will just take its course and it is best not to intervene. I was determined though. That first day I did not even call her a her I just simply called her it. Hubby noticed it. He told me that he knew I was trying to not get attached. He was right. I had never even seen the little boy and I cried for him. But she just grabbed ahold of my heart and I have given her my everything since then. I am still an emotional wreck any time that she is not pooping when I think she should or she gets a little bloated. I just panic and I think I will lose her. These first two weeks are crucial to her survival. She is a little fighter though. When I picked her up from the Vet she was in a box with Callie and Callie did not understand that she had to keep this little squirmy thing warm or even avoid stepping on it. She was cold and being stepped on. We started warming her right away. She cried most of that first day. Now she acts like any other puppy of her age. She sleeps 90% of the time and eats and eliminates the other 10%. She does not really cry anymore because as soon as she makes even a little sound I am right there to pick her up and hold her close to my chest. She can not see and can not hear but she can feel my heartbeat and feel me breathing. It calms her very quickly. As much as she seems to love her "littermates" I have given her they can not give her that comfort. Speaking of comfort I have found some in great breeders on the internet. Whether I spoke with them in person (thanks again, Gabrielle of Eulenburg and Sharon of Cradle of Love) or just read their stories online it has been a great help to me.

She has not gained as much weight as I would have liked to see in this first week but I guess the main thing is that she is gaining everyday. Here is the weight in grams. She has gained almost 22 grams.
Birthday =102.06
Day 1 =96.39
Day 2 =99.22
Day 3 =106
Day 4 =106
Day 5 =116
Day 6 =121
Day 7 =124

Well as I said it has been a rough week and I am tired. So here are a few more pics and then it is off to bed for me. Hope you all are doing well.

Day 6

2010-05-29T13:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a rough day. Little Angel started to get really dehydrated. She was getting weak and didn't have much strength to even nurse. I weighed her and she was back down to 105 grams. She was fading. I syringe fed her and got 1cc in of esibilac. Then I syringe fed .5 cc of pedialyte. She wanted to just sleep after that. I made a sort of incubator. I started with a heating pad on the bottom, then a small hospital bucket on top of that. I then put a warm wet washcloth (for humidity) in the bottom of the bucket. On top of the washcloth I put a hot water bottle. Covered that with a towel. Then added her. I then covered the whole thing loosely with a blanket.

I had Jessica stay with her so I could run to the store and try to find a preemie playtex bottle. In all of my research I have found that most puppies will not take the pet nursers they sell in stores. (Nice time to find that out, now) But, most all puppies will take a preemie playtex bottle. The kind with the button type nipple. So off I went. I figured Wal-mart must have what I am looking for. Of course baby stuff is all the way in the back of the store. I go all the way back. No preemie bottles. Not of any brand. Nothing that I could see would be small enough. Apparently they don't even make the Playtex bottle with the button type nipple anymore. I went to every store here in Tooele Utah that might carry baby supplies. I guess no one here in my town has premature babies because I could not find any preemie nipples. I was in a hurry to get home too. So it was a mad dash in the store back to baby supplies and back out to the car to head to the next store. I also wanted to run to the vets office before they closed for the evening to pick up a back of Lactated Ringer's. Basically it is a bag of IV fluid. So I made it there and got the fluids and some syringes. I knew that with her getting so dehydrated I would have to Sub-Q fluids. That means that I had to inject fluids under the skin at the back of the neck. This will form a large bubble of fluid under the skin. The quicker it is gone the more dehydrated she is. The first dose I used was a full 3cc needle. That made a huge bubble on her little body. However that whole bubble was gone in less then an hour. She started to get better almost right away though. When I got back from my baby bottle hunt Jessica reported that my incubator did not work very well and the only way to keep her quiet was to hold her close and keep her warm. One thing is for sure she is not lacking in the Love department here at my house.

Last night Callie and I both slept right next to the box again. I did not keep her in the box though. I held her right against my chest and neck under the blankets and kept her as warm as possible with my body heat. She did so good though. After a few doses of the Sub-Q fluids it was time for the bedtime feeding. She actually drank 2.7cc's of formula. She had great suction too. Then she went to sleep and slept for 3 hours straight. It was really nice. When she woke up again I let her feed this time on Callie. I let her get as much as she can from her but Callie does not have much to give. I have milked her myself to see how much is actually there and it is not even 1cc from all four bottom nipples. So after half an hour of feeding with Callie I supplemented her the rest, and did another 2cc of sub-q fluid. She slept another 3 hours. My body was not sure how to take this sleep thing again. So in the morning I weighed her and she was back up to 109 grams. She still did not seem to be warm enough in her box even with the heating pad. So I planned on spending the day in the closet with her just holding in my arms under blankets. But then I got a call from a woman named Gabrielle. She is with Eulenburg Cavaliers. (Her web address is www.angasstar.com) On her site she has the story of one of her puppies that was born 10 days early. She also offers her e-mail address for anyone needing help with preemie puppies. I sent her an e-mail and she was getting back to me. She is actually on vacation with her family and took the time to call and talk with me. She said that it sounded like I was doing everything right. She did have a great idea for an incubator. So into my bra Little Angel went and off to Wal-mart to get the things we needed to build this Incubator. It has been great. Her temperature has to be kept at between 90 and 100 degrees. It also needs to be pretty humid to help avoid dehydration.

So here she is in her little incubator. Yes it is just a Rubbermaid bucket. Inside there is a smaller tupperware dish filled with hot water. There are holes all around the top of this to let the steam out and into the rest of the box. There is also a heating pad in half. I needed to make it so she could get away from the heat source. There is some "siblings" in there to cuddle with as well. I do keep a thermometer inside. You can see in the photo that it is 93 degrees and 39 percent humidity. The greatest thing about this box is that it is portable!! I have rejoined my family. I have been sitting on the couch with laundry to fold and actually able to watch all the season finalies from TV this week. Tonight I think I will set up the box next to my bed and actually sleep in my bed. She really has made a turn for the better. She is still getting sub-q fluids every 3 hours but the bubble is staying longer now. Maybe later tonight or tomorrow I can cut back on that. Her weight is up again today too. She is now weighing 116 grams. So here's to a good night and an even better tomorrow.

Day 4

2010-05-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Just something quick tonight. i am super busy not only with the puppy but now my youngest has a fever too. I tell you it is amazing the things mothers can do. if someone told me last week that this week I would only be sleeping about two hours a night and i would still manage to clean the house and cook, I would have laughed and told them they were high. Today has been a pretty good day all in all. Little Angel is putting on weight!!! I have started weighing her by the gram now. It is easier to see the slightest difference that way. So the weights in grams is as follows...
Day 1~ 102.06
Day 2~ 96.39
Day 3~ 99.22
Day 4~ 107

I just hope she keeps it up. Honestly I do not know how she is gaining anything with as much as she poops. Callie will not clean it either. Can't say that I blame her it is that mothers milk color and stinky.

I still have to put Angel on Callie to nurse. Callie will lay down next to her but Angel can not seem to find where to latch on by herself. I am also having to alternate which nipples she uses since she is the only one.

I have also added some soft toys to her box now. She is not ready for play anytime soon but this does simulate littermates. She needs to be able to learn to climb up and over things and it also gives her something warm to snuggle with and even climb under to keep warmer. She seems to like this much better and will stay on her heating pad now to sleep. I don't have to hold her all night.

Callie seems to get more and more interested in her everyday though. Given different circumstances I am sure she would have been a very loving and attentive mother right from the start.

Oh yeah and the front is back on the box and the pillow is out. I was so glad that Callie left Little Angel in there and doesn't seem to mind as much today. It is so much safer and better for her this way.

Day 3

2010-05-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

Whew!! We made it through the first 48 hours. During the first day Callie wanted nothing to do with little Angel. So I took over all the duties of a mother dog. That first night while Callie slept I did get Angel to nurse for a bit, but by the next morning Callie did not appear to have any milk at all. So I supplemented with Esibilac, 1cc every hour. I did not eat myself until after Alexis got home from school and I had an extra set of hands to help. Ramen Noodles cooked in the microwave was all I had the energy to make. I had barely slept. Angel did not want to be in the whelping box or even in the incubator I made for her with several warm water bottles to simulate littermates. She just wanted to be held tight in my hands. So there was really no way around it I had to stay awake and hold her. About 4 in the afternoon i had Angel in my bra and was finally giving Callie her sponge bath (she really needed it too). I put an old blanket on the floor in the living room with some large bowls of warm water and baby wipes and got to work. When I was all done with her Angel started to cry. Time for feeding. Suddenly Callie perked up and was very curious. I gave her her baby and just watched very carefully. Callie licked her all over her body. Got her to eliminate and then just looked at me. Angel can suckle but is having a hard time finding a nipple to latch onto by herself. She will route around down there for ever crying unless I help her. So I helped her and to my pleasant surprise Callie just laid back and relaxed. She even had milk.
Of course this is not where I wanted her to raise her puppy in the middle of the living room floor on an old blanket. I built that whelping box for a reason. It did not get used for whelping but it should get used to raise the puppy in. I did not want to disturb Callie though. It was a very precious moment so I just laid down on the floor next to her. I figured I could worry about moving them later. When Callie was done she just got up and left. Angel started to cry for her mom to come back and keep her warm but Callie did not seem to care much. So I scooped the little one back into my hands to warm her and help her feel secure. Now this got Callie's attention. Apparently she did not want to keep the baby warm but she was not comfortable with me doing it either. I took Angel back to the whelping box hoping Callie would follow. She did!!! I laid Angel in the box on the heating pad. She started to cry and Callie just looked at me like "Aren't you going to do something?" So of course I warmed little Angel in my hands. Callie stayed in the closet with me but would not get in the box. She actually seemed to get upset if I put her puppy in the box.
So this went on all night. When little Angel would wake and cry I would put her on Callie which she accepted and she even took care of the her bathroom needs. However I still could not really sleep as I had to keep this baby in my hands or nuzzled in close to my neck. I was so afraid to shut my eyes and accidently hurt her. But when Callie was feeding her I would actually lay my head down right next to them so I could hear as soon as she was done eating and I could take her back. So yes the sleep that I have gotten in the last two nights has been on my closet floor. Well halfway. I can not straighten my legs unless they go out into the bathroom. Not really very comfortable. Hubby keeps joking that I really just need to "come out of the closet." Very funny. Morning came and I got the kids off to school. I could not believe when my teenager tried to tell me that she was just too tired to go to school. Really?! I was up listening to you sleep all night in my bed. It was not a good morning to try that argument with me. As the morning went on Callie seemed to want Angel more and more. However she would still get up and just leave the little one to get cold. So I still supervised almost all the time. I say almost because I put Angel on her to eat and figured that was the best chance I was going to get to take a shower. The fastest shower known to man. I really needed it though. I let everyone else shower Sunday night since they had been out camping. I figured Callie was showing no signs of labor so I would be able to get up and take one Monday morning. Of course Mother Nature had other plans for me. So I had not showered since Saturday. I was desperate. As I said it had to be the fastest shower in the history of showers. I was very pleased to get out and see that little Angel was still quietly nursing. I really look forward to the days when I have time to use a razor again. Hubby is going to come home and think he married some amazon woman!!! I went downstairs to get my clean clothes out of the dryer. Came back up and Callie had decided that since she was crying she would just bury her in the blankets and just not be able to hear her I guess. I quickly got the little baby and was holding her for Callie once more. After a few more hours of this you feed and potty and I warm routine I decided to try the incubator again. I have a family and since Alexis cooked dinner last night I was sure the kitchen was a mess. Little Angel went in and settled down. Finally I thought maybe I can accomplish something. I took the incubator with me downstairs to the kitchen. This really upset Callie. She did not want her baby there at all. I brought her back and just put the incubator in the whelping box. I thought maybe if she was quite Callie would just leave her alone and not try to bury her again. Nope Callie did not want her in that box at all. I was getting so frustrated. I mean someone has to keep her warm. I could not just leave Callie to it as she still seemed so lost as to what to do. I ended up taking the front off of the whelping box again. I figure this way I could sleep in it with Callie and Angel and maybe then she wouldn't think it was so bad. Callie did lay down with me but she seemed so confused. She kept going out to her pillow and then back in. So I got her pillow and put it in the box with us. Finally she seemed to relax. She has been in there several times now. It is hard to see but she has even just held Little Angel and kept her warm. She is in between her front paws.a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gDYPDyyn2ps/S_3Wi6p2BnI/AAAAAAAAAFk/gXmIdSJ-OHw/s1600/IMG00115-20100526-1527.jpg">

I am hoping that after another night or two I will be able to put the front back on the box and just put her pillow on the side. It really should not be in there. Then maybe a few nights after that I can sleep in my bed and just get up every few hours to check. Wishful thinking!!! Anyway here are her weights from the last few days.

Birthday 3.6 oz
Day 2 3.4 oz (it is normal to lose in the first 24 hours I was hoping she wouldn't though)
Day 3 3.5 oz (back on the up and up, lets keep it going.)

And some pictures so you can see just how tiny Little Angel really is.

Sometimes Things Don't Go As Planned

2010-05-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday night Shane and the kids came back from camping in Idaho and everything seemed normal. Callie was showing no signs of labor and everyone was really tired so we all just went to bed. Then at about 3:30 in the morning I woke up because Callie was digging in her kennel frantically. I got up with her since I knew that this was an early sign of labor. I was excited at this point but not worried. It was 60 days from her first breeding but only 53 from her last. I figured that she must just be at day 60 maybe even actually ovulated a few days before breeding which would put her right at 62 or 63. But then at about 4 am things changed. Callie started losing large amounts of dark green discharge. Not a good sign as it usually means that a placenta has detached. You want to see dark green after delivery not before. I called the vet. He said that she still could be ok as long as she delivered in the next few hours. He told me that if nothing happened by 8 to meet at the clinic. So I started watching Callie and analyzing every movement and every sigh trying to figure out if she was infact in labor. She was not. She was more interested in sleeping. At 7 am I gave her some chicken broth and an extra strength Tums. Sometimes the protein and calcium will help move things along. I also tried to get her outside and moving. That was a big joke though. I live in Utah and even though it was May 24th it was snowing. Callie went out one door and right back in the other. Can't say that I blame her. So when 8 o'clock came there was nothing. So we were off to the vet. The vet did a vaginal exam and her cervix was open so we started some oxytocin (much like pitocin for human mothers). She got her first injection there and the vet sent one home with me. I was told that if there was no puppy in one hour to give the second injection and if there was no puppy after another hour it was time for a c-section. So we came home and got right in the whelping box. Callie started panting and having some mild contractions. I really thought the rest of the day would go smoothly. I was wrong. After the two shots of oxytocin and the two hour time frame she was still more interested in sleeping. So back to the vets office. We decided to do a c-section. I asked if I could stay. Of course I did not want to leave. I wanted to witness everything. But was told that it would be better for me to go home and clean up the mess from the night before and get the box ready to bring home puppies. They also said that she would need to recover there for a few hours and that would be a good chance for me to get some sleep. I left Callie there at the clinic and was told to call in about an hour to see how everything went. I got everything cleaned up and ready to bring home at least two puppies. However when I called the vets office and the nurse said "oh yes the Dr. wants to talk with you." My heart sank. I just knew that something was not right. The first thing he told me was that Callie was just fine. She had very strong vital signs and was just waking up from surgery and looking very alert. Then he told me about the puppies. She did infact have only two. One had died probably 4 days prior. He was decomposing and that is what caused Callie to go into labor early. Yes he did say early. About 5 days early. That poor puppy's body was completely blocking the birth canal. So the little alive girl behind him could not have been born any other way.
Happy Birthday Little Angel!!! We are calling her Angel because if I had to give her a full AKC name it would be Webbs On A Wing And A Prayer. Because that is how I feel about her at this point. She was born 5 days premature and since Callie did not carry to term and then had a c-section on top of that she has rejected her. She just does not understand that this little being is her baby. I was able to squeeze a few drops of colostrum from 4 nipples late last night and Callie was tired enough that when I put Angel there to suckle she did not fight it. So hopefully she at least got a little of the anti-bodies she needs.

Other than that she has been being fed 1ml of Esibilac with Nutri-Cal every hour. For those of you not familiar with what a small amount that is it is one insulin syringe. She has not taken very well to the bottle. We have tried it a few times even different sizes but it is not working out well. She does suckle on the syringe though. Of course there is no needle. As she suckles I just very slowly depress the plunger until she has gotten her full amount. Then it is time to eliminate. She was urinating with no problems yesterday and last night but she was not having any bowel movements. This concerned me. But at about 4 this morning all the pipes are working fine. I also soon realized that as long as I held her very close to me that she would stop crying. So I actually got to sleep for about two hours during the night with her nuzzled up to my neck and my hands over her keeping her very warm and feeling very secure. I do have hot water bottles and heating pads but it is not the same as being close to someone I guess. All day today she has been being carried around in my bra. Being fed and made to potty every hour. She is a very small 3.6 oz blenheim little girl. Normal size for a Cavalier newborn is between 5-6 oz. Callie no longer has any milk at all and really could care less about this little being so she is getting all her care from me. So yeah I think that the name On A Wing And A Prayer is probably fitting. I will update tomorrow with more pics and anything else that comes up. Also I will add that at this point I do not have her listed for sale. This is simply because I want to make sure that she is going to make it and have her vet checked in a few weeks and make sure that everything is fine with her before I offer her for sale. I will say that who ever gets her will be very lucky to have her in their family. She will be very well socialized with humans and probably very affectionate due to the hand raising. She also seems to have perfect markings at this point as well. It is hard to see since she really does not have much hair but from what I can see her mask is perfect. Can not tell yet whether she will have the coveted "Dutchess thumb print" yet but she is gorgeous either way.

The X-Ray

2010-05-19T21:31:00.001-07:00

Well I just could not leave this picture alone today. I started searching the internet for pictures of other x-rays showing puppies. I found tons of them and they usually looked just like this one that I found here on blogspot at Journeywithpugs.blogspot.com
This picture was obviously taken with the mother on her back. You can clearly make out not only the mothers spine and rib cage but the 6 puppies inside as well.

Now this is the original x-ray I got of Callie. She was laying on her side with her head to the left and her tail to the right.
I am not sure about you but I couldn't make out anything at all. I was really beginning to worry that she was experiencing a false pregnancy when I first saw it. All the dark coloring you see toward the top is her organs. But the Vet did show me the very faint outline of two skulls. However like I said it has been bothering me how unclear it was. I could barely make out Callie's ribs and they should be pretty obvious. So I took the picture and started playing with the contrast, brightness and exposure. I am still not confident in the results of the x-ray but at least now you can actually make out 2 skulls and 2 spines.

Ok so maybe you still don't see it. I will try to show you what I am talking about.

So as far as I can see. I see green puppy for sure. I can make out his head and even his spine attached to the skull. Then I see blue puppy's skull closer to her tail. However further down below green puppy I see another spine??? I have labeled that one in red. There is also still a huge area that I just can not make anything out in at all no matter how long I stare at this screen. So perhaps reds skull is in that area some where. There really is just no telling. Doing the x-rays late in pregnancy are supposed to give the breeder a bit of peace of mind. Knowing how many puppies you are expecting. That way you know when your girl is done and when she is just taking a rest. It really is important to know that because if she does retain any puppies or placenta's the situation can turn deadly for her fairly quickly. She may actually seem ok for a few days and then take a real turn for the worse. As a breeder I already love the puppies but my main concern is for my girl Callie. I have to do whatever it takes to make sure that she is safe. Having said that I do not think it would be wise to expose the developing puppies to any more radiation. However I am so unsure and nervous about this that I am thinking the best thing to do is to go ahead and start taking temps and watching for signs counting from the first day of breeding. Then once she does deliver whenever I think she is done I will take her to the vet for an x-ray then just to be sure there really are none left. That is the plan at this point anyway. I will start taking her temperature twice daily starting this Friday which is day 56 from the first breeding. I may be totally wrong and the vet may be totally right. She may not be due for another week and may only be carrying two puppies, the vet certainly has more experience then I do. I would just rather be safe then sorry. I would hate to think that I have an extra week and not be taking temps and leave the house for a while and come home to Callie in the middle of, or after whelping her puppies.

Maybe not as far along as we thought!?!

2010-05-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

What a week it has been. First of all I became a mother again!! No not the puppies. They are still safe and sound inside of Callie and hopefully they will stay there for about another week. I am talking about the baby bird I found in Jessica's room. Now Jessica is a lot like me and is a real animal lover. So after I took the kids to school and came home to get my shower I heard this strange noise coming from Jessica's room. There I found this baby bird. There were very few feathers on it so it is really still a newborn. All the bird did was make noise and look up at me and open its mouth as wide as possible to be fed. So I scooped the bird up into a little container with some of the doll clothes it was sitting on in her room and got in the van and headed for the school. I figure she found it somewhere and brought it home thinking she could care for it. I got her out of class and asked her where she got it from so I can put it back and hopefully the mother bird will continue taking care of it. Jessica seemed to be completely surprised and did not know anything about how it got there. So my next thought was to head down to the Veterinarians office. I thought surely they would have some idea for me about what to do with it, if not just take it off my hands themselves. No such luck. The Vet simply told me to take it home and feed it. He said you know grind up some worms and spit it in the birds mouth. Then he walked away. I must have had a look of complete shock because when he came back around the corner he was laughing. He gave me some little droppers for feeding and told me that I really could feed the bird any kind of cereal I had in the house just get it wet enough and soggy enough to be able to go into the dropper. He told me to feed it every three hours and keep it warm. Then when it is big enough just let it fly away. So I brought it home and got a shoe box, added some holes, put a warm towel in the box then fed the bird some warm baby rice cereal. The bird actually seemed to enjoy it. He then seemed to settle in and go to sleep. So I closed the box and put it in a safe place where there are no other animals. I then started looking online about how to care for this baby, and how long I would be caring for this baby. There I found information about these wonder people called Wildlife Rehabilitators. Apparently these people care for any wild animal in need of rescue. So I researched and found the number I needed, called and within 45 minutes there was someone at my door willing to take this baby and raise it so it would be able to survive in the wild and live a full life. At the time I was very happy and relieved to see the little one go. However, now I find myself wondering about it. Wondering how it is doing. We still don't know where it came from or how it got into my house. The only thing we have been able to think of is that the bird fell out of his nest and then one of our cats brought it in the house. It is amazing the cat did not kill it. Although our female cat Nala has been known to bring in mice from the cold outside in winter and then let them go to wander the house. I have had to catch quite a few and then let them go outside in the nearby fields. I think of all the cute movies where the animals all talk to each other and picture my male cat finding this bird and telling it "wow you are in real trouble. Come with me I know a lady that will take care of everything. She brought me back from the brink of death twice now."

This is not a picture of the actual bird that I had but it really looked just like these two.

Anyway enough about that I am sure if you are visiting this page you want to hear about puppies!!! Well I do have some news about the puppies. Callie had her x-ray today and we are expecting 2 puppies!! So not a huge litter for her first. That could be good or it could be bad. Good in the fact that being a first time mom and only having two will not be as overwhelming for her. Bad in that sometimes with a small litter the puppies are just too big to fit through the birth canal and so a c-section is required. I just really hope it all goes well and that everyone comes out healthy. I had planned on having a really cool picture of the x-ray on here showing the little puppy skeletons but, obviously that did not work out. Even at the vets office it was super hard to see them. When I looked at it her abdomen looked completely empty to me. The Vet had to point out the two little skulls. I did take a picture but no matter how hard I tried to play with the brightness and exposure I could not make out anything on the photo. So this brings up another matter. Callie is 54 days today from her first breeding with Tux. The Vet was asking about how many times they were bred and when the last breeding was. She was asking because she said that the bone density of the skeletons was just not that developed yet. So she is thinking that she did not concieve until that last breeding. Which now puts all my dates about a week off. So instead of being on day 54 we are thinking she is actually more like day 47. So this will put her due date around the first week of June. So now I am trying to decide if I should do another x-ray closer to that time or just stick with the one I have. I know it is a good idea to have some sort of idea of the size of the pups so you can plan on having any complications but do I really want to expose them to more x-rays? The Vet did say that she felt pretty good about there being two even though you could barely make anything out on the film so perhaps I should just leave it at that. But then again this being my first litter I would really like to more certain about how many to expect. I know I will rest a lot easier if I know she is really done and there is not one more puppy hiding in there. Decisions, decisions.

Week 6

2010-05-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

I suppose that this should be titled Week 6 1/2 since it is Tuesday already. This weekend was crazy so I did not get anything posted. Saturday was Alexis' last dance competition of the season. Sad for her but really makes my schedule easier. Her group took first again for their Little Rascals routine and the studio she dances for took first overall from all the other studios. Then of course Sunday was Mothers Day. I think Callie enjoyed me staying in bed with her while hubby and the kids made me breakfast in bed. Callie also got a special treat that morning, Bacon!!! She is eating the maximum I think she will eat now. Her food intake has doubled from what she used to eat. It seems to me that she gets bigger every day. She is having a hard time getting comfortable in the evenings now. When she lays down she stretches her back legs out as far as she can. Then goes from one side of the couch to the other trying to find that perfect spot. Once she does though she is really out. Sleeping a lot more sound then she used to. I have even heard her snoring. That used to be something only Tux did. The kids and I keep joking that her puppies are going to have to have huge mouths because her nipples seem to grow on a daily basis too. I also want to mention that we had a difficult time getting her to hold still for photos this week. Tux was not helping either.

I did finish the Whelping Box today. Hopefully it all makes sense to everyone now. There are three separate panels that make up the door. That way I can make it different heights as needed. My hubby did make fun of me though. We were talking about the floor. I told him that I took some wood and then covered it with vinyl tile that looks like wood. His comment was "So how much did it cost me to make the wood look like wood?" I assured him it was necessary. The original wood would have absorbed any wet messes, and with the vinyl tiles I can just wipe up anything and it will be completely clean again. You may notice the wood that is on the inside a few inches up from the floor. That is the Pig Rail. It is there for the safety of the puppies. With that in place if Callie was to get in the box and lay down she can not accidently pin one puppy behind her and suffocate it. This way there is a few inches for the puppy to either escape or just continue sleeping without losing any oxygen. I have it set up in the living room for now. I am just trying to get her used to it. I will be moving it tomorrow up into my closet. I was planning on just putting it in my bedroom but I have found her several times in my walk-in closet sleeping. I think she is trying to pick her own spot to deliver her little ones. So if that is where she is more comfortable then thats where I will put it. I can't say that I blame her. There is no noise in there, no TV, no radio and most important no children!!! I wish I could hide in there some days too. ;-) I figure they will stay there for the first 3-4 weeks then I will move them to a larger area with a doggie door to the outside and we will begin potty training the puppies. It will make it much easier for any puppy buyer if their little one has already learned to be clean and keep his potty area away from any sleeping, feeding, or playing area. More to come on that later. Until next week, Hope you all had a wonderful Mothers Day!!

Week 5

2010-05-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

The Baby Bump has arrived!!! It may not be too noticeable on camera yet but I can really feel it. Her appetite has really increased too. I have also noticed that when we go out to run at the field, she does not run so much as just jog a little now. It almost looks like she is beginning to waddle like a woman in her last trimester. At the beginning of the week she did give me a real scare though. I started to notice a discharge from her. It was mostly clear or maybe just a little milky. Of course since this is my first litter I was very worried. I called my Vet right away and was assured that it is normal in pregnant dogs. I was told that as long as it was not yellow (a sign of uterine infection) or stinky or bloody or brown or green she was fine. I felt a little better. I started wondering how normal is this really and why does it happen. So I began searching the internet for things like pregnant dog discharge. I found that yes it is very normal and what the Vet told me was true. I also found that no one really knows why this happens. There are a lot of theories on it though. Now with her having discharge you can imagine that her long feathering on her rear end was not so pretty and clean as usual. I decided a haircut was in order. I started just cutting the hair around it and making sure she did not have any really long hair on the inside of her back legs. Well pretty soon I decided to get out the clippers. I went ahead and shaved her belly. Some people call this a "Maternity Cut". She would shed the hair closer to her due date anyway I just did it sooner. It does make it easier to see how big her belly and nipples have gotten.
There are a lot of changes taking place in the puppies at this stage too. The eyes are now closed and the sex of the puppies has been determined. They are even developing whiskers and claws. I am not too sure if I would want a litter of puppies with claws inside of me for the next 3 to 4 weeks.

So I have not actually started the work on the Whelping box yet but I have got the design figured out. There is graph paper all over my desk with different drawings and sketches on it. I think I have finally came up with a design I really like. Going to Home Depot to price all this out was quite an adventure. I of course had several men coming up to me to ask if I needed any help. I politely said "No thank you. I am just doing some pricing to see if it would be cheaper for me to buy or build my next project." Now of course they could not just let it go at that. They would ask "Well what are you trying to build?" My reply was "A whelping box for my dog to deliver her puppies in." Now for some reason I got the same strange look as if I was crazy before they said "Can't you just use a box, like, a regular box?" Needless to say I ended up in lengthy conversations about it needing to be easy to clean and easy for Mom to get out while still containing the puppies and pig rails and what exactly those are. I almost think that after the first person I spoke with they told all there friends who worked there about the crazy lady with the strange box drawn out in her notebook, and so they all had to come and talk with me. Oh well, they were men what do they know about birthing anything anyway. The picture may not make any sense to you but it does to me and I have a real vision in my head. Some day when it is all done it should make sense to you as well.

I have also started getting my whelping kit together. Some of this stuff I have just had here in the house and some I have started to buy. I do still have quite a bit to get. I keep adding things to the list too as I think of them. At this point my list consists of...
A Rubbermaid bucket with lid (to keep everything in)
A notebook and pen (for recording puppy info during the whelp)
Hand Sanitizer (pretty self explanitory I think)
KY Jelly (to help with any lubrication needs)
Surgical Gloves (To make sure that everything is as sterile as possible if I have to reach inside)
Heating Pad (to keep the puppies warm)
Thermometer (for checking Callies temp more than once a day for the last week)
Scale (for weighing puppies)
Puppy Formula (just incase I need to supplement)
Bottle (same reason)
Alcohol Pads (cleaning and sterilizing of equipment)
Hemostats (for clamping cords)
Dental Floss (for tying cords)
Scissors (for cutting cords)
Ribbons (for identifying puppies if necessary)
Tums (to help with contractions)
Sterile Gauze (cleaning or to get a good hold of puppy if need to help by pulling)
Paper Towels (general cleaning)
Trash Bags (cleaning up the mess)
Iodine (for the umbilical cords)
Bulb Syringe (to clear fluid from mouths and noses)
Towels (to clean and dry puppies also used to stimulate)
Incontinence Pads (to whelp on)
Ziploc bad of kitty litter (to help spread heat evenly without any hot spots)
Pedialyte (to hydrate Dam or pups if needed)
Medicine syringe (for feeding pedialyte)
Nail clippers (those little claws might be sharp)
Flashlight (just incase the power is out)
Hot Water Bottle (to warm puppies incase power is out)

Now some of these things I may not need but I feel it is best to have it just incase I do need it. So since it is so lengthy that is why I am starting it now. I figure if I just buy a little each time I go grocery shopping it won't seem as pricey to the hubby. ;-)

Week 4

2010-04-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well here we are about the half way point. I can’t believe how fast the time is flying by. Callie went to the Vet today (day 28) to confirm pregnancy and just get a good check-up. We used palpitation to verify her pregnancy. This is only possible between days 27~31. At day 32 the fluids that are needed to protect the puppies increase and this makes feeling them impossible . You can still use ultrasound after this however it will not tell you how many puppies you are expecting and it is pricey. I figure it is best to wait and have an x-ray done during the last week and at that point you will know how many to expect. You have to wait to do the x-ray to give the puppies bones time to develop so they will show up on the film.
So the Vet did confirm that Callie is expecting. She also said that she is looking really good. Callie has been more tired. When she is asleep she is much more sound than she used to be. I can get up and leave the room and I don’t think she even notices. I have also started giving her more food. I have been giving her about a half scrambled egg every morning. The food bowls are getting filled twice a day now, compared to the usual once. In with the food I am now adding a multi-vitamin with some salmon oil. I have been reading all the labels though to make sure that I am not supplementing with calcium. I have noticed that she is developing some breast tissue as well. When I feel her nipples the tissue just beneath them is not as flat as normal. The puppies are going through lots of changes this week too. Their faces are taking shape; the eyes and spinal cords are developed. They have also grown almost double in size this week. Of course they are still only about the size of a pea. I am hoping to get started on building the whelping box this upcoming week. Hopefully I will add some pictures of that coming together next week. Until then enjoy these pics. I realize none of these pictures have anything to do with her pregnancy. There really is just not anything to see at this point. She will gain most of her weight during the last three weeks. Much like a woman will gain most of her weight during her last trimester. I will get a picture just as soon as there is an obvious belly bump.

In the movie "101 Dalmations" Nanny can tell when Perdita is pregnant just by looking into her eyes and checking to see how much tenderness is there. Well I have been looking and her eyes could not be more tender. As a matter of fact I think she may even be glowing!!

As for the Proud Papa, well, he is just handsome as always.

Week 3

2010-04-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well there really is not much to report for the third week. During this week the embryos implant in the uterus. I have just continued to exercise Callie like normal. We take our walks to the elementary school to visit with the children there. I have noticed a little change in her behavior while we are there. She used to love to be on the ground with a huge group of kids all around her just trying to reach into the circle to get a chance to pet her. Now Tux still enjoys this and actually wines until I let him go to play with them. Callie has started to be a little more careful with herself though. She is still extremely friendly and loves the kids but she is more content to sit on my lap and have a few come over to visit. It is almost as if she is afraid of being stepped on in her delicate condition.
Since there is not much to report at this time I will just add some great pictures that were taken this week.

It is spring here in Utah and we have had some beautiful weather. Of course this means shedding!!! I have seen breeders advertise the Cavalier as being a non-shedding dog. They are lying to you. They are average shedders. Of course they are small in size and so it is a lot less then say a Golden Retriever. Some of my favorite tools to help with the shedding are…

A shedding blade~ yes this does look like some sort of medieval torture device. But you just run the side with the teeth down your dogs head and back and it is just amazing the amount of loose hair that it can get out. I even had a cat that used to love it.

The FurBuster by Bamboo~ this tool comes in different sizes which is nice since dogs are different sizes. Again you just run the teeth side down along the fur. The fur sticks in this a little more than the shedding blade so you will have to stop and remove the hair more. But with that you can also put it in a pile a little easier than with the blade, which you will have hair flying around the room.

The 3-in-1 Grooming Glove also by Bamboo~ this is really nice for when your dog is relaxing or even sleeping. You just put the glove on and pet your dog. It can also be used wet while bathing. I also really like how it has a separate side that is a pet hair picker upper so you can clean up the couch where your shedding dog was sleeping.

The First 2 Weeks

2010-04-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

During the first two weeks after breeding you may not notice much of a difference at all in your girl. However don't let that fool you. There are lots of little miracles taking place. The embryos will enter the uterus. The cells will start being 4 cells and then will divide into 64 cells.
As far as things you can see. The Dam may have a little bit of slight nausea. Not unlike a woman with morning sickness. There may be slight changes in personality. She may be a little more moody or more affectionate. She may possibly be a little more tired. Of course this is all depending on the Dam. Some may not show any of these signs.
As far as things you can do. Just keep up what you have been doing. Keep feeding the same food and exercising the same amount. Do not give any meds or vaccinations at this time without your vets approval. Your Dam may need to add a little weight and get some extra nutrients during pregnancy. Sometimes all she needs is a little puppy food. But you should stop feeding puppy food about two weeks before the pups are due. Then start feeding it again after birth. I have heard some say that you should not supplement with extra calcium during pregnancy. Calcium should be given after the pups are born though to help with milk supply and to help the uterus contract back to normal size. Of course discuss this with your vet. If your Dam needs extra weight he will know which are the best supplements.

Callie has had a little nausea, nothing major. She does seem to have a slight increase in appetite. She seems more interested in human food right now. She will not leave the kitchen while I am cooking. Just hoping for something to fall to the floor maybe. Not really any personality changes. I don't think it is possible for her to be more affectionate!!! She does seem to be a little more tired though. I have added a couple pics of Callie from today. This would be day 14 for her. No signs of a baby bump yet, but I think it will be interesting to compare towards the end of pregnancy. I even got a good shot from above while we were out on our walk. You can see she still has her girlish figure. The paparazzi will keep taking photos until we have proof!!! ;-)

Pregnancy Calendar

2010-04-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would include a little more information about how this all works and the timing. First the Dam goes into heat. This is the bleeding stage. The amount of blood depends on the size of the Dam. If you have a very large breed you can expect a great deal more blood than if you have a small breed. This is just like a woman having her period. However a good breeder usually knows that she is coming into heat before this even happens. The Dams vulva will swell a day or two before the bleeding actually starts.

When the bleeding starts I like to put a diaper on. This keeps the house much nicer. ;-) If your girl likes to take this off I have found that a baby onesie works great. Callie would not be allowed on the furniture without hers.

A Dam should never be bred on her first heat cycle. This usually happens at about 6 months of age and she is still a puppy herself. She still needs to develop and does not have what it takes to develop herself and a litter of puppies. Either the Dam or the pups will suffer for this. It is best to wait until the third heat cycle. This way your Dam is 1 ½ to 2 years old and is mature enough herself to handle the developing puppies.
So your Dam is old enough but when is she fertile and ready to breed? It is about 12 days from when the bleeding started. The blood will not be a bright red anymore and more like a pinkish discharge. The Dam will mount the male or other females or puppies. She is also willing to stand still and will move her tail out of the way making it easier for him to penetrate. She will back her butt up to the male. If you have the Stud with you he will know when it is right. If you do not have the Stud and you are doing artificial insemination it is best to use a Vet. They have tests that can tell you exactly when is the best time. It is really important if you are doing artificial because the sperm will not live as long in the female as with fresh. Fresh sperm can live in the female up to 5 days. Where chilled sperm only lives 1 day and frozen sperm only lives a few hours. Eggs can live for five days as well.
So your Dam goes into heat and she will remain in heat for up to 21 days. By day 12 the Dams blood is more pinkish and by day 16 they have usually stopped bleeding. It is important to note that just because her bleeding has stopped does not mean she is out of heat. All it means is that she has ovulated. Her eggs can live for 5 days. So even though she is not bleeding she can still get pregnant. After the bleeding stops you still need to be careful for about a week.
So your Dam was in heat and you had a few Ties. When are the puppies due? It takes 63 days from ovulation not from when they were bred. As I said the sperm and the eggs live for several days. Also if you have the Stud with you then most likely you had more than one Tie. So how do you figure when the 63 days is. Well you really don’t know for sure. You can however narrow it down to within a week. You would take the first time they were bred and count 56 days ahead. It is best to keep a calendar of this. You will want to start taking your Dams temperature at least 3 times a day at that time. When the temperature drops whelping should begin in the next 24 hours.
So to sum up, your dogs breed, then wait 57 to 65 days.
Callie and Tux were first bred on 3/26/2010. So she would be due 5/21~5/30. I would expect puppies to arrive sometime during that week.

A little morning sickness...

2010-04-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

That's really all that I have to report for now. I have been checking her for any signs of breast development but nothing yet.
So in the meantime until I have something more to report I thought I would share something with you that I found about the Cavalier. From my experience this is totally true. However they are so darn cute that you seem to let them get away with all of it. ;-)

CKCS Property Laws

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my mouth, it's mine.

3. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

4. If I can take it from you, it's mine.

5. If it's mine, it must never be yours.

6. If it just looks like mine, it's mine.

7. If I saw it first, it's mine.

8. If you are playing with something else and put it down, it's mine.

9. If I am chewing something up, all of the pieces are mine.

10.If it used to be yours, get over it.

11.If it's broken, it's yours.

We Are Expecting

2010-04-02T12:21:00.001-07:00

We have had a successful Tie. Or what I like to call the "Two Headed Dog". When breeding the male dog releases sperm during what can only be described as the "Happy Feet Dance." Then his bulbus glandis (penis) swells. This makes it impossible for him to come out of the female. They are locked or tied. They can be tied for anywhere between 2 and 30 minutes. During the time that they are tied the male is releasing prostatic fluid. The male will lift his leg over the females back and turn so they are stuck butt to butt.

"The Two Headed Dog" has appeared around here a few times this last week. The first time was on March 26th. Of course I did have to be out of town. Alexis had a Dance Competition in Saint George (which she took first in). I absolutely did not want to have an unsupervised Tie. This is Callie's first time being bred, so I was unsure of how she would react. I needed to make sure that she did not panic and accidently hurt Tux. So I went and picked my mother up from Idaho. That way she could stay at my house for the weekend and supervise. I was told that almost right after I left we had a 17 minute Tie. Callie was a little scared at first and tried to kick Tux with her back legs. I told my Mom that she just needed to get on the floor with the two dogs and keep her calm. This worked wonderful. They both ended up lying down and almost falling asleep. The dogs were separated after that for about 20 hours. That allows for the sperm to build back up. They were not happy about it at all.
That next day went very smoothly. Callie knew better what to expect and although my mother was there to supervise she really was not needed for anything.

After I came home there was a 15 minute tie at approximately 10 in the morning. They were then separated again. Now later in the evening I had to be out of the house. I put Callie in my bedroom with food and water and shut the door. I let Tux have the rest of the house. This is what I came home to.
As upset as I was, I could only be upset with myself. No matter how well behaved they normally are without supervision at the time of heat they will do anything to try to be together. It does not matter if she is wearing a diaper and he has a belly band on. It does not matter if she is in a fenced in area. He will take her clothes off. He will dig under or climb over. They have even been known to make it work through chain link fencing. He will try to dig through carpet and padding and even sub floor to get to her. Her scent and his urges are just too strong. I should have known better and should have had them both in their kennels.

So we have had a total of four Ties in the last week. With that I am planning on Puppies. They should arrive late May or early June. I will post any changes I see in Callie as well as pictures just as soon as they are born.

Hope you enjoy.