Brody x Phoebe puppies: Three weeks

Growing, growing, growing..... 

They are a loud bunch, spending lots of time wrestling and playing. Phoebe is quite happy to have a little me time away from them now (not too long however) as they are voracious nursers. I keep those little nails as short as I can to make things easier on her.

Here is yellow collar female:

Blue collar male:

White collar female (giving Chris the hairy eyeball):

Black collar male:

Green collar female:

Pink collar female:

Red collar female:

Good Momma Phoebe:

First meals will be coming soon and then the real work begins. ;)

Havana seven weeks

Once again I am surprised at how quickly the time has passed, the little Miss is seven weeks already. She's a feisty thing and having a puppy this age is a bit like having a newborn, there is no concept of time. There have been many middle of the night wake up calls and outside we go.

And of course when you play as hard as she does you fall down and sleep wherever you are....

Have a great weekend!

Introducing: Am Ch Stoney's There's No Crying in Baseball

Sometimes great things just seem to fall into your lap, such was the case with Vinnie. I was talking to a friend of mine and she happened to mention that she had a five year old male GSP that she had bred coming back to her, and she was hoping to find him a good home. When she told me his pedigree I said I think he needs to come live with me. Two days later he arrived from Idaho and we are absolutely loving him.

He is so sweet, great with the kids, very obedient and an all around gentlemen. He finished his American championship with two specialty majors and we are very excited to see what he can bring to Braebrook.

I loaded Vinnie up in the van this morning and headed out for field training with the Vancouver Island Pointing Dog Club. Vinnie had never been on birds before so I was looking forward to his first training session. There are some great hunting dogs behind him so I was confident in his abilities. 

He started out a little slow, he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be doing but we persevered and worked on flipping that switch. By the end of the day he was actively looking for birds and hitting some very stylish points. I'm thrilled and can't wait to go out again. Poor Libby is in season so had to sit this day out.

Nothing like a refreshing swim after working birds on a hot day. Oh how I wish I had a pond of my own!

I am so glad summer has officially arrived. It's my favourite time of year. Hope you are enjoying the sun wherever you are!

Brody x Phoebe puppy update

The Brody x Phoebe puppies will be two weeks old tomorrow, I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone by. Other than Phoebe getting mastitis which thankfully I caught very early and was able to get under control with antibiotics, compresses and stripping the milk out things have been pretty straightforward.

Here are some pictures of the wee ones:

Blue collar boy. He was the first one born and the one I worked so hard to get going. Clearly he is none the worse for wear.

Blue collar boy again.

Red collar girl.

White collar girl.

White collar girl again...I think she was a little sleepy..so cute.

Yellow collar girl.

Pink collar girl.

Black collar boy.

Green collar girl.

A box o' puppies. I decided to take them outside as natural light is just so much better for picture taking.

My babies...

Phoebe is being an excellent mother. She has lots of milk, keeps everyone nice and clean and is concerned about the babies but not panicky...exactly what you want in your momma dog.

Braebrook puppies spend the first few weeks in my kitchen, right where I can keep a close eye on everyone. If anything starts to go wrong I can catch it quickly, and it's a great way for babies to grow up as they get used to the sounds and goings on in a normal busy household. Dogs are definitely a part of our everyday life here and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Havana at five weeks

I can't believe this little nipper is five weeks old already. Time is just flying by.....is that a sign of age?

I'm very pleased with how she's coming together, she's looking very good for a five week old puppy and with any luck she'll continue down that road. If you're only going to have one make sure it's a good one!

And of course being a singleton she's not spoiled at all......

The Brody x Phoebe puppies are here!

The Brody x Phoebe puppies started arriving yesterday at 1:30pm. At the time I was thinking "wonderful, a day time delivery..that never happens. Maybe I'll actually get some sleep tonight". Silly me, that's never the way it goes.

The first to arrive was a male and I thought he was dead when he came out. I worked and worked and worked.....rubbing him down, getting everything moving and gently breathing into his mouth. He finally rewarded me with a little gasp...and I have to tell you I could hear angels singing. I just kept working....another gasp....work work work..another gasp. He finally moved a little bit. So much fluid came out of his nose as I worked. I held him forward so it could drain while I continued to will him to live. It took awhile before he made any noise and the gasping continued but got much closer together and finally stopped altogether as he began to breath normally. A huge relief.

This is where he spent the next little while, warming up right where I could see and feel him. I'm very happy to report that he is none the worse for wear, nursing very well and gaining weight.

 The next puppy took a very long time to arrive....four hours to be exact. Phoebe hadn't been contracting hard, just a few random ones getting the puppy into position so I wasn't overly worried but when she finally did start contracting regularly...it continued for about 45 min with no puppy. Finally the sac containing the puppy showed just a bit and burst...but no puppy. She continued to work but nothing to show for it. I called my vet, gave her a shot of oxytocin, 25 minutes and still nothing so I packed her and puppy number one in the van to head to the vet and a probable c section. I barely made it out of the driveway and I heard a little squawk. I immediately pulled over and checked on Phoebe and sure enough there was a little puppy head coming out. We worked together right there on the side of the road and the first girl was born. I barely had time to get back to the house when puppy three (also a girl) was born. After that there was no more drama and they came about every 1 and a half to 2 hours. It was a very long night and I finally laid down for an hours snooze at 6am. Today I am beat but Mom and babies are doing well and just look at them.....all worth it. :)

Keeping warm with the heat lamp...

Being a breeder is tough work and mentally, physically and financially draining but I love it. Genetics fascinate me and I love the connection through pedigrees to the old dogs and breeders that have come before. On top of that I just love dogs, I love working with them and living with them....the sacrifice is worth it when you truly love what you do. 

The final puppy count for yesterday is seven, five girls and two boys and of course all red as expected.

The Final Countdown

I took Phoebe for her x ray yesterday and the vet counted seven for sure...possibly eight, they are jammed in there pretty good. We'll know soon! 

Havana's first day outside

Havana turned three weeks old on Friday so in celebration because the weather was outstanding we decided to bring her outside for her first time.

She was a little unsure at first....it's a big wide world out there...

But you get by with a little help from your friends. ;)

Overall it was a great success.

And Enya enjoyed the break from full time puppy watch.