Tienlung Boxers - 2010 Lily x Howie Litter

Away they went....and then one comes back.

2010-08-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

All of Lily's puppies have gone to their homes and are doing wonderfully well! Sadly, Boy #2 (his name is now Hugo), had to be returned because one of the young boys in the family is allergic to dogs. He's young, so they didn't realize beforehand...

So young Hugo has come back to the ranch...and is looking for a new home. If you happen to know of anyone looking for a (reasonably) well behaved red boxer puppy pass them along! :)

Young Hugo who's looking for a home

I am pleased to report that all the rest of the puppies are doing well, though giving their owners a run for their money. Not unexpected. LOL...these are, after all, boxers!

I hope to get some photos of up of all the puppies and their families soon - still too much to do to spend much time on the computer. I'm playing catchup on house work and yard work after three months of playing with puppies! /grin

More photos!!

2010-07-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

My trusty mom took my camera out the other day when she and Elora went out to say their good-byes to Lily's puppies. They're going to miss them!!

Waiting in the shade for Elora

Ok, puppies...let's go play!

Wee!! I can almost fly!

Ok...what next?

Bye-Bye Puppies

You're all bad!

Yeah? Fine! We'll go find something else to do!

A little sad...

2010-07-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

Today, Lily's first baby made her way to her new home. Though I know it's for the best, I'm feeling a little blue. I missed spending every waking moment with these babies because I had to work. My mom and my niece did a brilliant job with the puppies but I feel like I missed too much.

I'll have to work on winning the lottery so that I can stay home with my babies next year.

Aston, sweet red baby girl, have a blast with your new mommy and daddy, Trina and Brennan. Don't be too hard on them, kid.

Big kisses from Gramma KC...

Big day yesterday...

2010-07-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

Lily's babies had their first car ride, their first vet visit, their first needle and their first "off the ranch" visit. As expected, they had a blast!! :)

They all rode very well in the truck in our travels, and were super good when they went to see Dr. Ann. We took a bit of a detour to get some more dog food and pick up a shipping crate, then we were off to see Howie (daddy) and his family. The babies took over the whole yard - harassed Howie until he went and layed down, tried to take on the horses and took down Eva's hockey net. BUSY!!

Howie's mom took some photos and I have some on my phone, so I'll try and get some photos posted in the next day or so.

General Update

2010-07-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Just a general update on Lily's babies...

1. They are hell on wheels.

2. Digging is their fun of choice.

3. They sleep from 9pm until 4:30am in their crates - right now they're split into just two crates but will get split up even more as the days go by.

4. They LOVE their food.

5. They love to cuddle and give sweet kisses.

Bush babies...Part Three

2010-07-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Bush babies...Part Two

2010-07-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

Bush babies...

2010-07-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well, Lily's babies LOVE playing in the bush! They have a grand time sneaking in and out of the leaves, grass, weeds and logs that make up my "back yard". :) I hope you enjoy the photos!

Been a long 10 days...

2010-07-17T15:03:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!!

Sorry that the blogs haven't been updated for the past little while - I got sick with the flu on the July long weekend (sick for four days!) and then the following Thursday, I had to take Porsche into the vet with a mild case of eclampsia. All was well, and I've been fortunate that I was able to put the babies back on Porsche without a reoccurrence of her eclampsia.

So, I've basically been playing catch up for the past 10 days...but, the sun is shining today so I was able to get some photos of the babies...enjoy!

The joys of housetraining...

2010-07-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's begun - although, to be perfectly honest, it really started yesterday...the never ending trips in and out of the house, up and down the stairs to haul seven puppies outside for potty breaks. When the weather is nice, they just stay outside in their happy x-pen and enjoy the sun and fresh air for most of the day. But day's like to today? It's pretty much "in and out" to get the job done.

On the upside, most of the puppies either held their bladder through the night and/or used the litter box with shavings. I woke up to only two pees to clean up and no poops! Pretty sweet!

On an interesting note, the puppies enjoyed their first rain shower today. It wasn't planned! I don't take puppies outside in the wet until they're seven or eight weeks in case of chills or catching some ugly bug (most ugly bugs - parvo, for example - tend to rear their ugly heads when it's wet outside). I got up this morning and it was overcast but bright - none of that dark dingy feel to the sky that we get here when it's about to rain. So, out went the puppies...and down came the rain!

I quickly popped a tarp over their x-pen and let them stay out - it was a very short "sun shower" so barely enough to get anything wet.

As an aside, these puppies have very good startle recovery time. If you've ever dealt with a tarp (especially a new one) you know how loud and what a sharp sound they have. Well, I pulled out the tarp and shook it out - puppies scattered. I stopped, looked at them an in that fraction of a second, they were all right back under my feet (and by extension, the tarp) and happily stayed there while I continued to shake it out and use clips to put it in place. Not too bad for five week old puppies. :)

How the puppies spent the day...

2010-06-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

In the soft arms of my niece, Elora! :) She's here with my mom all week so the puppies will all be getting LOTS of cuddles!

Week Four Candids - Part Six

2010-06-28T19:36:00.001-07:00

And finally...the last ones!

Week Four Candids - Part Five

2010-06-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

And still more...I did warn you...

Week Four Candids - Part Four

2010-06-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

And still more...

Week Four Candids - Part Three

2010-06-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

And still more...

Week Four Candids - Part Two

2010-06-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

More photos from the weekend...

Week Four Candids - Part One

2010-06-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'm going to put up a few batches of these...I took a lot of photos this weekend! :)

Week Three Candids

2010-06-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some candids that I didn't get a chance to upload last week.

A BIG weekend for the babies!!

2010-06-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a big weekend for the babies! There was all sorts of goings on here at Rancho Tienlung! LOL

First, everyone had their first REAL bath. It was nice to see that all of the puppies took well to the experience with none of them scrabbling to get out of the sink. They enjoyed the mini massage that comes along with any good shampoo!

And then...

After they were all clean and reasonably dry, the babies got to experience their first nap in a crate. I put in a clean stuffy for them to cuddle with, and as each puppy was washed and dried, I popped them in the crate. No fuss, no muss...just went right to sleep. I left them there for a good hour or so until they were completely dried.

And then...

They had a visit from our friend Christine - she cuddled and Oh'd over the babies. The more hands that touch the better!

And then...

We had company today - my friend Sheri with her 5 year old Helena, her three year old Kayle and her 4 month old Victoria came for a visit. The kids haven't had much exposure to dogs, but it didn't take long for them to warm up to the puppies!

And then...(yes, I'm a fan of the movie "Dude, Where's My Car". :)

All the babies had their first nail dremmel done! They were all very good, weren't afraid of the dremmel at all and held nice and still while I shaved off all eight little stubby toenails!

I don't know about you, but I'm done! I got some photos of the puppies outside this afternoon (yet another little adventure!) and I'll try and get them posted tomorrow. I'm about four days behind on getting photos organized and up so look for a number of posts with lots of photos!

Night all! Have a great day tomorrow.

Aunty Slime...er, I mean Aunty Vala

2010-06-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Aunty Vala got to go in and visit with Lily's babies. She was actually very gentle, except the few times the puppies nuzzles her practically nonexistent nipples and she whipped herself around to put her nose to nose with the cheeky puppy. :)

And yes...in most of the photos, you'll find various amounts of "Vala foam" decorating the puppies. She was awfully excited (puppies are cool toys, you know!) and got a bit frothy around the edges.

All in all it was a great experience for everyone - Vala got to be the object of the puppies' affection and she got to *think* about squishing the movable squeaky toys!

Here are some photos from the moment...

Yum Yum!

2010-06-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well, though it's earlier than I like, I've started Lily's babies on whole food. They're getting about an ounce of raw hamburger twice per day. Since the little buggers have been in Lily's food bowl since they were big enough to pull themselves up and into a dog bowl, I didn't figure it was going to hurt too much to start them a touch early.

I'll be keeping them to just two very small feedings for the next week or so - just enough food to take the "edge off" their hunger so they don't chew the crap out of Lily's boobs. It's a bit of a vicious cycle...when the puppies get teeth, they start chewing on the momma's boobs, Because that hurts (ouch!), the momma is less eager to go in with her babies to feed them. Because they're getting fed less often, the babies are more hungry, which means they are more vicious to that tender "milk bar". Vicious cycle that seems to be happily ended with just two little meals a day. Lily has been very happy to go in with her babies today, so that's good progress!

Oh...and did I happen to mention that every one of the little piglets hoovers their little bit of hamburger faster than you can say, "snot"? /grin

Look for updated photos of each of the kids on the weekend. I'm having company on the weekend so I'll have extra hands to help get photos! :)

Tiger by the tail...

2010-06-20T15:55:00.001-07:00

This puppy was catching a few Z's with Tigger. :)

Sunshine and green!

2010-06-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

I took the puppies out for some time in the sun and the green grass. They enjoyed themselves! :)

Barking and Chewing!

2010-06-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

The puppies have found their legs, their voices AND their teeth!! :) This is when I feel bad for the moms...seven little babies cutting teeth on her boobs, her ears, her neck, her paws - basically any little bit they can get their mouths on.

I have given them soft and hard toys, but they're not quite old enough to be able to really use those items to their best ability.

The puppies were introduced to their "Aunty Vala" and "Gramma Macey" this week. Just tonight the puppies want to play with Vala through the x-pen - which is great as far as Vala's concerned. Lily? Lily's just happy the puppies are thinking about biting someone OTHER than her! :)

Mouthy little babies!

2010-06-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

Boy these are vocal puppies! If they don't like something they certainly let you know it! :)

Growling, barking, crying, whining, howling - these guys have the full range of canine vocalizations down pat already.

Almost time to get out the spray bottle!

Muahahahahahahaha! /evil laughter

....almost

We don't like...

2010-06-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

We the puppies, hereby declare...

We do not like:

the heat
being hungry
being scrubbed with a warm, wet washcloth
having our toe nails done
being held upside down or right side up - unless it's be to cuddled.

So say we, the puppies.

It's an exodus!

2010-06-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

It's hot here. For us, at least. For the three weeks of HOT weather we get every year, I've never bothered with an air conditioner. Except for a few hours in the mid to late afternoon, open windows and fans keep the house within tolerable limits.

Well, it's mid to late afternoon and the puppies have decided that they've had enough of being hot. As I was redcorating their puppy pen (I moved them to a different x-pen and had to put up new PINK! bumpers!), all but two of them slithered their way off their warm Pro-Fleece and onto my laminate flooring.

The exodus...

They're all passed out, twitching in their sleep with their (once) full bellies...almost time for Lily to come in for another feed!

From this morning...

Apparently weaning is starting early...

2010-06-12T15:49:00.001-07:00

...not really, but -

So I just fed Lily some ground chicken, bison and yogurt with water for lunch...she ate most of it and was sitting there nursing her babies. I turned around from the computer to check on everyone and what do I see but one of the plain brindle bitches with her head buried in the bowl lapping up the rest of Lily's lunch.

Ah! Nature at it's finest! :)

She's going bald!

2010-06-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

LOL...I thought perhaps Lily would avoid the "balding" that many bitches go through while they're lactating, but it wasn't to be. Almost overnight, the hair around her neck and the top of her back has gotten thin and patchy. It's completely normal, but not very attractive.

Oh well...it will all grow back after she stops nursing in about another month! :)

Weeble-Wobbles...

2010-06-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

...and we WILL fall down!

The walking/wobbling has begun. Everybody has their bellies off the ground in an attempt to get to Lily the fastest! Now that their eyes are open, they're starting to take stock of their world and are starting to notice things like the gate in and out of the puppy pen and where exactly IS it that momma goes when she leaves us??

My mom and I are in for it now!! LOL

Puppy photos for the day!

2010-06-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you who just can't get enough. :)

Dawn at the ranch

2010-06-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here are two photos that I took this morning around 5am. The glow took my breath away...

The barking has begun!

2010-06-07T17:48:00.000-07:00

At just over a week old, these little wigglers have found their voices! While they have always cried when they were picked up, or pulled off a boob, etc. they didn't bark. Today when I picked everyone up to do the "just got home and have to hold the babies" routine, each and every one of them said, "What?!" in a short, sharp vocalization.

"What?!" Not "Woof", not "Bark"..."What?!"

And people say animals don't talk!

Eyes are starting to open...

2010-06-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

I love not having to wait two weeks to see what's underneath the "hood". :) The puppies' eyes have started to open so by late tomorrow or Monday I should be able to tell whether their third eyelids are pigmented or not.

While there's no functional difference between pigmented and un-pigmented third eyelids (or haws), I'm hoping for double dark lids on everybody!

Fingers crossed, and I'll give you the scoop when I have more details.

Candid photos of the day

2010-06-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

Being home all day means I get a chance to pull out the camera. :) Enjoy!

Bye-Bye Bits!

2010-06-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

Horah! All the tails are gone! :) No more worrying about things I've never experienced. Now I'll be good for the next round! LOL

Here are some candid shots from the past week. Nothing too exciting. If I can get organized I'm going to try and take individual photos of the tykes.

Off to take the girls for a run...Lily needs a break, Vala needs the run, and Porsche needs the exercise!

The whole group at one week

Fat boy belly

Lily with her first "baby"

The tails are coming off!

2010-06-04T18:56:00.001-07:00

So I've been a bit nervous about this whole tail banding thing, never having done it before. I'm pleased to announce that the tails are starting to come off right on schedule! They look like shriveled up little corkscrews, but they're falling like flies now! :)

Both Lily and the puppies are taking this in stride and all seems well.

As tomorrow's the weekend I hope to be able to get photos of them. Have a great weekend!

Tails, Dew Claws and Fenugreek

2010-06-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

Boxers are docked at one to three days of age, and their dew claws are removed at the same time. This post discusses the process - if you are squeamish or have leanings toward animal rights, stop reading now...you're not going to like what's coming next! :)

Monday was tail and dew claw day...for my past litters, my partner in crime, Tamara, would come up and the two of us would do the evil deed. We had a great system...in ten years of docking and doing dew claws, we only had one puppy that got an infection in their tail. Pretty good odds. After having their "extra bits" removed, puppies went right back on a nipple and never once gave those bits a second thought...

This time around, however, Tamara was unable to come up to help, so I had to come up with another option. I had multiple friends who had banded their puppies' tails with good success so I thought I'd give it a try. I just couldn't imagine trying to teach someone else our old system! Too many steps!

Let me just say that banding is infinitely easier than cutting/gluing but the experience of having to learn a whole new process was totally nerve wracking! The same can be said of dew claw removal as I used a new tool to do that as well...I've never done dew claws before (ever) so I was weirded out to begin with. Don't ask my why removing little bitty dew claws is worse than docking tails, but it is.

I also started Lily on a herb called "fenugreek"...it is HIGHLY effective for bringing milk down in mammals - it is frequently used by human mothers who would like to breast feed but don't have enough milk naturally. One of the side effects of fenugreek is that once the bitch has had the correct dosage (for her), she begins to smell like maple syrup. Yup, you read that right, maple syrup...

So because Lily smells like maple syrup, so does her milk and so do the puppies. I couldn't figure out where the lovely smell was coming from - my hands smelled like maple syrup after playing with the babies. It's very cool!!

Anyway, I'm off to bed...5am comes damn early!

Some cute photos

2010-06-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some group shots of the kids...they're all doing well, even the little girl who was born a few ounces smaller than the rest. She's growing at the same rate as her litter mates and has figured out, very quickly, that if she eats when everyone else is sleeping, there's no competition for boobs, and she can go from one buffet to the next! :)

Sad Day...

2010-05-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

We lost one of the little fawn boys tonight. He was one of the last born and the hardest to get going. He wasn't a "do-er" from the start, poor thing.

So Lily's down to seven lovely babies that are all doing well, getting fat and enjoying life. Well, most of the time, anyway. We did tails and dewclaws today and we weren't very popular there for a while...with Lily OR the babies!

But it's all done now and they'll never miss the missing bits!

Puppies' first night...

2010-05-31T05:13:00.000-07:00

Everyone came through the night all fat and sassy! It's been cold here so I was glad that I had purchased a seedling mat (germination mat) to put under their blankets. When I woke up this morning everyone, including Lily were sprawled on top of the heat mat, content as can be.

I'm off to work this morning (thank you, Mom, for looking after the babies!) but I'll post some photos to the blog this afternoon when I get home.

The puppies are here! Finally!!

2010-05-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well, after a marathon delivery, Lily and I are happy to announce that we were blessed with eight beautiful baby boxer puppies!

The first puppy was delivered at 4:40pm on Saturday, May 29th and the final puppy was delivered this morning, Sunday, May 30th at 4:10am. To say it's been a long two days is an understatement.

On the upside, Lily was amazing...she never quit, never hesitated and although her pace was slower than molasses in January, she delivered her last puppy with more strength and energy as she did her first. Watching Lily whelp these puppies was a rare privilege...she never gave up - not once.

These are the treasures we were awarded for our hard work...

Four girls/four boys...four fawn/four brindle

How sweet is that??

1. A plain fawn girl - 15.3oz
2. A flashy brindle girl - 10.5oz
3. A plain fawn boy (flashy mask/plain body) - 15.3oz
4. A plain brindle girl - 14.8oz
5. A plain fawn male - 15.3oz
6. A plain fawn male - 12.5oz
7. Plain brindle girl - 14oz
8. Plain brindle male - 13.1oz

Now that Lily's delivery job is done, she's been napping and snacking since this morning. :) She's a good momma - all the babies have fat bellies and happy tails.

As for me, I went for a nap at 9am and got up at noon. It's time for another nap for me! Photos to follow when I get a minute or two...It's clean up time!

Latest Count...

2010-05-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

We now have:

A plain fawn girl - 15.3oz
A flashy brindle girl - 10.5oz
A plain fawn boy - 15.3oz
A plain brindle girl - 14.8oz

Everyone is doing just fine, all nursing like champs. Lily's taking a bit of a nap before she starts the next round. By the look of her tummy she has at least another three to four in there, possibly more.

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update as the night goes on (my literacy skills decline as my exhaustion level increases!), but I'll give a full report tomorrow morning.

For now, all's well...keep thinking good thoughts in our direction!

For my friend, Katie...

2010-05-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

Dearest Katie...

I received your email just a few minutes ago. I was so sad to hear of your present blogger obsession that I decided I needed to give you a quick update to alleviate your symptoms of withdrawal...

The puppies are coming! The puppies are coming!

So far we have...

A plain fawn girl - 15.3oz
A flashy brindle girl - 10.5oz

More updates as things progress.

Thank you for your kind email, Katie. I hope this helps.

Love always,

the still pregnant Lily

Lily's first baby...

2010-05-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

...is a squeaky toy!

I'd put a couple of toys in the box to keep her occupied during the day when I was at work. Tonight as she was getting very serious about digging herself a good bed to have puppies in, she stepped on the squeaky toy, and it did what all good squeaky toys do...it cried.

Well!! Lily stopped digging immediately and proceeded to lick and cuddle this squeaky toy. She's made very sure that the squeaky toy's bum is good and clean. LOL

She's going to be an awesome mom!! :)

Temperature drop!

2010-05-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

Lily's temperature has dropped, which indicates the cessation of progesterone production - i.e. the onset of labour. Yeah!!

If all goes well, we should have puppies on the ground in 24 hours or so.

Fingers crossed for an easy delivery! Please think good thoughts in our direction!

No babies yet...

2010-05-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

The time is drawing near, though. Lily's belly is huge and she's getting ready to have her babies - licking, cleaning, digging. In general doing everything she's supposed to be doing.

I, of course, am impatient and just wish she'd start already. LOL

Will update once labour starts! :)

It's like the movie, Alien...

2010-05-24T17:03:00.001-07:00

...you can see the babies rippling Lily's whole belly.

Creepy but cool all at the same time...my kind of fun!

Just a few more days...

2010-05-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

...and Lily can't wait! She's uncomfortable (she DOES have a bunch of little wigglers kicking the crap out of her rib cage and abdomen!) and sucky, but she IS a happy girl. Even though she can barely waddle, she's still trying to play and be silly in her usual Lily fashion.

I snapped some photos of her today...that's quite a belly! Any guesses as to how many she's having? :) What kills me is how much smaller she looks in photos than she does in person...in person it looks like she's carrying around a basketball in that tum-tum of hers!

So, Lily's all ready for babies now...she's bathed and groomed and good to go. The whelping area is all set up and she took great pleasure in digging to China for about 20 minutes yesterday.

According to Lily, all is well in the world! :)

The babies are kicking!

2010-05-21T17:57:00.001-07:00

Well, I finally got to feel the puppies move a few days ago and boy, are they moving!! Lily is NOT happy with this new phase in her pregnancy and is more than happy to lie still and have me rub her belly!

The little wigglers are VERY strong...and I can feel heads and feet pushing through Lily's skin when they roll around. It's pretty awesome. This is my favorite time! :)

Just five days or so until puppies come...My plan for this weekend is to get my living room rearranged and all set up for the whelping area. I just have a few things to pick up in Edmonton tomorrow and I'll be all set!

I'm SO excited!

Well there's no hiding that belly...

2010-05-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

...but Lily's still wanting to keep her babies to herself. She IS liking belly rubs these days, but..., "Please don't put your hand on my belly and expect me to make the babies roll over for you," she says.

I'll try and get some photos of Lily and her baby belly this week. Her activity level is still good and she happily trots around the field marking all the places the local coyotes have peed on! Lily's a happy dog.

Pictures of the pregnant momma...

2010-05-10T18:04:00.001-07:00

Well, we have sixteen more days to wait until puppies come. Though Lily's not sharing the movment of the babies (my favorite part!!), her babies are starting to make their presence known. Lily's belly is getting bigger and her ribs are continuing to spring/expand.

I can't imagine how large her belly's going to be by the end of it...the puppies do most of their growing in the last seven days! :)

Enjoy the pictures...I took them this afternoon.

Lily watching the action across the yard...

Lily enjoying a green snack...see that belly?

There's a cat?! Where??

Getting ready to roll in the grass with Macey looking on

Wide Load!

2010-05-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

Lily doesn't have much of an actually belly yet, but her rib cage just keeps getting rounder and rounder! That and her waist is disappearing pretty quickly...she's looking vaguely sausage-like.

I'll take a picture when she gets a bit fatter. LOL

Carrying a belly full of babies doesn't seem to be slowing her down any, though...she's still running the yard with the other girls at full tilt. :)

Some silly pictures of Lily

2010-05-02T10:03:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos of Lily when she was young and crazy - you can see her with another girl I bred, Shu.

Lily with her favorite hamburger toy!

Lily playing in the swimming pool in the hot weather.

Lily and Shu playing in the back yard.

Lily's still growing...

2010-05-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, she's as wide as a house now, though her belly hasn't dropped. Bit too early for that anyway.

I keep trying to feel the babies move but Lily would really just like to keep them to herself for now. She just lifts her head and gives me the "eye" when I put my hand on her belly. She looks at me as if to say, "Back off woman! They're my babies right now!". Silly girl - she's right, though.

Lily's nipples have also softened and enlarged and they're quite pink...it's a good sign that all the mammary glands are getting ready to produce copious amounts of milk for the babies.

Well, I'm off to spend some time with the dogs outside. Enjoy the weekend!

Pregnant Belly!!

2010-04-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

This is Lily four weeks after being bred...

I think there's puppies in there somewhere! What do you think?

Your Biology Lesson For Today...

2010-04-24T18:59:00.001-07:00

After attending Myra Harris' seminar not once, but twice (and wishing like hell I could have gone to see her this weekend in Calgary!), I have changed my bitch's pregnancy diet slightly.

In Myra's seminar she talks extensively about the parathyroid gland (read more about the parathyroid gland here) and its role in maintaining the body's calcium levels. When the calcium level in the blood stream drops below a certain level, the parathyroid gland releases, obviously enough, some parathyroid hormone which triggers the release of calcium from storage areas in the body, namely the skeletal system.

While most people think of calcium as "being important for bones and teeth", its biggest function in the body is maintaining muscle contraction (read more about the science here). If there is no calcium circulating through the bloodstream, there is no muscle contraction.

So...how does this apply to pregnant bitches?

What is labour??

Yes, you're right! Muscle contraction...lots and lots and LOTS of muscle contraction!

I feed my dogs a raw diet and a portion of that diet is raw meaty bones. The problem with feeding raw meaty bones during pregnancy, according to Myra, is that when you feed excess calcium (which bones have a plethora of!), there is always calcium circulating through the bloodstream as the body digests the bone. When there is always calcium circulating through the bloodstream, the parathyroid gland gets to take a break from doing its job. It gets lazy and sluggish. It goes on vacation...

So...you've fed a bunch of bone (or extra calcium for those of you who supplement during pregnancy) throughout the bitch's pregnancy. The parathyroid hormone hasn't worked in how many days/weeks/months...then the bitch goes into labour. WOW! That's a lot of muscle contraction...need more calcium...need to contract uterus to deliver puppies...

BUT!!! The parathyroid gland is still on vacation...it misses the 6am wake up call Monday morning its first day back at work. After the calcium that has been circulating in the bloodstream is used up there is none left because the parathyroid gland has been allowed to grow sluggish or inactive.

No calcium = no muscle contraction.
No muscle contraction = uterine inertia.
Uterine inertia = c-section.

So...the grand experiment! While my dogs are still on a raw diet, I have taken Porsche and Lily right off of raw meaty bones. They are eating organ meat, ground muscle meat, eggs, veggies and tripe, with tripe making up the majority of their diet.

I will be honest and say that a large part of me shudders to think that perhaps my bitches aren't getting enough calcium to make healthy babies...but then I give my head a shake and remember that tripe and liver and veggies all contain calcium. Not as much as raw meaty bones, of course, but that's the point, isn't it?

The hope is that by reducing the circulating calcium in their diet, I will be able to keep the parathyroid gland working hard throughout the pregnancy so that when the girls go into labour they will have more than enough access to calcium in their bones to deliver all of their babies naturally!

That's your biology lesson for today...I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I think I should have been a biology teacher! :)

Starting to get thick...

2010-04-23T17:14:00.001-07:00

Well, Lily's starting to get thick...her belly isn't getting any bigger, but her ribs are springing a bit and she's getting thicker through her loin. She's also eating me out of house and home...or trying to!

Tonight, I dug up an old tennis ball and she's joyfully chewing the crap out of it. Balls are Lily's "thing"...though they don't last long. LOL

Maybe...

2010-04-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Just maybe...I might be starting to see the beginnings of a "baby belly" on Lily. Won't be sure for another 10 to 14 days, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! :)

Lily's stomach as certainly kicked in...she's hungry all the time - even more than usual!

She's not slowing down any...

2010-04-18T17:01:00.001-07:00

Not that I thought for a minute that Lily would let a little thing like pregnancy slow her down! She's as wiggly and athletic as she always has been - jumping and leaping.

Still no sign of babies (it's early days for that yet), but I'm keeping an eye out!

She's cleaning!

2010-04-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on Lily...

Lily's started being significantly more interested in cleaning than she was before - her legs, her belly, her vulva. She's also turned into the biggest suck-tit on the planet. :) Lily sits in front of the couch with her back pressed into my leg and if I let her on the couch or the bed she snuggles right in and settles.

She's almost as bad as Vala (who isn't pregnant but who IS a suck 365 days a year!)!!

The girls are outside enjoying the sun today...the past week has been terrible for weather with gale force winds, rain and SNOW! /sigh At least the puppies will get to play in the sun! LOL

Is she or isn't she?

2010-04-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well, at this point I don't know for sure if Lils is pregnant, but my gut is telling me yes. Lily got a bit of a pot belly a few days after the last breeding - in the past that is a sure fire sign of pregnancy...that and her vulva has shrunk. The pot belly goes away in about 12 to 24 hours (so easy to miss!) but the vulva will stay soft throughout the rest of the pregnancy.

Just what you all wanted to read...information about vulvas. LOL...well, what you'll learn about me is that I'm all about the biology and nothing much embarrasses me. Just ask my good friends! They'll tell you!!

Lily has also started being very clean...lots of licking of her legs and body - something that she hasn't done a great deal of in the past. All good signs!

More updates as we progress!!

Photos of Howie

2010-04-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

I was able to find some photos of Howie for everyone to look at! :) You can see one of them to the right, and the other you can see on the Upcoming Litters page for Howie and Lily on my website.

I hope you enjoy the photos of Howie...he's a love. :)

Lily's going to have babies!!

2010-03-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a long wait since my last litter (almost four years!) and I'm happy to say that my long wait is almost over.

Lily (Boyarka's Water Lily at Tienlung) has been bred to Howie (Duran Tienlung's In The Hood). Puppies are due May 27th, give or take a few days. This litter will produce brindle puppies and may produce red puppies. No white puppies are expected.

Stay tuned for updates on Lily's pregnancy and also for some photos of Howie...if I can convince his mom and dad to slim him down a bit! :)