Lela's puppies

Saturday 8th May.

I am very aware I have not mentioned Lela's puppies in recent days and I guess It is because they are just quietly getting on with growing and giving me no reason to be concerned about them. They have reached a milestone today in that they are 2 weeks old. They are big puppies, not far behind in weight with Motsi's but I expect that to be the case in these early days as there are less of them and they can capitolise on Lela's abundant milk supply.. This afternoon I have wormed both pups and Lela and they have had their nails trimmed again. They really do just eat and sleep which is why It is so difficult to capture interesting photo's of them.

I will try and get more photo's when they are awake and a little more active.

Motsi's puppies.

Friday 7th may.

Mots's puppies are totally scrumptious and a joy to be with. They are very responsive with us now and last night Olivia and I spent all evening in the box playing with them. I am very pleased that they are all very similar in type. Yes Lincoln and Porsche are lighter but they all have beautiful strong heads and I love this.

I introduced them to milk this morning and as expected It was a very messy affair but they did attempt to lap and that was all I expected of them. Motsi was the main beneficiary of the milk but It wont be long before they go crazy for It.

Sadly the weather has turned cooler and Sunday is expected to be quite cold so I have delayed moving the pups out to the mud room. Our living room is quite pongy in the morning, but who cares, we certainly don't.

Motsi's puppies.

Wednesday 5th May.

Motsi's puppies are enjoying their introduction to solid food. I always start the pups on raw beef as It easy for them to eat, is relatively mess free and I feel It gives their gut a good intro to solid food and they love It. I always love that first moment when they are offered that first little bit of meat. At first they spit It out as they don't quite know what to with It but then, when they get the taste and smell of It, they go crazy and It is amazing just how much they can consume. This is the start of less demand for Motsi and boy does she know this. Ruby, her grandma was always the best of mothers but she was always happy to relinquish the responsibility of feeding to me. I suspect Motsi is going to be the same.

My only concern and It is a very small one, is Bently. He is a little smaller than the rest of the puppies so I am very mindful of his progress. I actually put him in Lela's box on Monday night for a while and even though she was very good and let him feed from her, she would not clean up after him. The fact he had just been wormed and started on meat I am sure, had something to do with It but I did not leave him with Lela for long. This morning he was reluctant to eat meat even though I kept putting It into his mouth. He reminds me of a Kasidi/Raiza puppy from a few years back. His name was Kodak and he really fell behind his littermates and for a while I was supplementing his intake. He continued to be small up until 8 weeks or so. He went to live in Canada with a lovely family and only last week I received amazing photo's of him in the mountains, in deep snow, while his family were skiing. He has matured into a really beautiful dark red very big boy. A lesson to us all that genetics determines the final outcome of how the dog develops, providing of course he is well fed.

Lela's puppies

Wednesday 5th May.

I am a creature of habit and I love my routines, this passes on to the dogs and every morning from, anytime after 08.30 they are agitating for their walk. Since the puppies I have had to adjust my routine to accommodate Lela and Motsi as they are ready for a big breakfast in the morning and they cannot go for a long walk on a full stomach. Our new walk time is around 10ish and the other dogs are not too happy with this new arrangement.

I still cannot believe Lela's puppies are not yet 2 weeks old, they remain very quiet, feed well and are gaining weight nicely. My daughter cut their nails yesterday and made new identity collars for them. There really is nothing else to say about them and I am looking forward to when they are up on their feet more. There eyes are opened which always changes their appearance and makes them look more dog like.

Lela's puppies

Sunday 2nd May.

Lela is much more comfortable about leaving her puppies now and looks forward to the walk in the morning. She disgraced herself today by rolling in something truly disgusting and was quite puzzled when I wouldn't let her into her lovely clean box with fresh smelling sheepskin. She was promptly hosed down. I love my dogs to bits but their fascination for all things putrid, whether they ingest It or roll in It is sometimes hard to tolerate.

I clean the boxes twice daily and wash the sheepskins so I am quite grateful the weather is much warmer as they can be put on the line to dry.

Lela's puppies are easy peasy, the smaller litter size makes a huge difference to both me and Lela. I never have to worry about there being few teats for the pups and the load is easier on Lela too.

There nails have grown incredibly in just one week so they will be cut this afternoon.

The picture today is of Elijah, a lovely boy who I think is going to be very similar to the 2 boys from Lela's litter last year, Murray and Cadbury.

Motsi's puppies.

Sunday 2nd may.

The last few days have been very busy, Mark back from Europe, my son back from Uni, acres of grass screaming to be cut etc etc, 8 dogs to look after and of course the pups.

Motsi's puppies have taken a huge leap in terms of their development, they can stand, their eyes are fully opened, they are making funny little growling sounds and they are beginning to hear. We put them outside with their mum for a short while yesterday, something which I will do increasingly now the warmer weather is here.

Today they will be wormed and tomorrow I will start introducing them to raw ground beef. Motsi is not a big bitch and although I am feeding her copious amounts of food the demands of feeding 10 puppies is now taking Its toll on her. This is the peak of milk output for Motsi. I am pleased to say she is happy to leave the box for longer periods of time now and the puppies can go a good few hours between feeds.

I am very happy that Motsi and Lela have continued their good relationship while they both have puppies. They are very laid back with each other and they share a natural curiosity for each others babies.

We have 2 puppies in Motsi's litter that are almost identical twins. They are Porsche and Lincoln and they are the 2 lighter wheaten pups . What is interesting is, they tend to hang out with each other too.I know we all have our preferences but I am drawn to these two puppies. Of course It is silly to start looking seriously at the pups at this stage but they are very eye catching.

They still spend much of their time sleeping and eating with small periods of wakefulness in between.

My copy of the Ridgeback Register arrived on Friday and I would recommend this quarterly magazine to everyone. In this spring edition there was a very interesting article on dewclaws and whether they should be removed. Back home we have never, as a rule removed them, infact this issue had never been brought to my attention until we moved here to the US. The conclusion was that the US is the only country in the world that routinely removes them but some big kennels are now leaving well alone. To quote Dennis Boyd from Ireland,'If over the millennia nature saw fit to retain dewclaws on canines," he muses" then is not arrogant of humans to think they know better"?

People who know me will know I am against any part of a dog being removed, be It tail docking, clipping of ears or removal of dewclaws. Using my own dogs as an example and my dogs run for miles everyday through sometimes rough terrain, I have never had an injury to their tail or dewclaw and I am in my 25th year of keeping Ridgebacks. The only recurring injury in my pack is torn toe nails.

Lela's puppies

Wednesday 28th April.

I can't believe Lela's puppies are only 5 days old. They remain very quiet, are gaining weight nicely and giving no cause for concern. I have removed Adam and Eves collars as they are easily identifiable by their white feet.

I plonked adam on the scales this morning and he is already over 2 pounds in weight. I also had to renew the collars of the other pups as they had outgrown them.

Motsi is very interested in Lela's puppies and frequently goes over to her box for a sniff. Lela, although a little guarded tolerates It and gets more tolerant with each passing day.

Buttons and Noah are very interested in the puppies, It is always the case with the younger dogs and I like to encourage this. They won't know whats hit them in a months time when they are being terrorised by 16 mobile sets of teeth.

Lela's discharge is much less today and this is a huge relief as I was becoming a quite worried and would have taken her to the vets today had I not seen progress.

Motsi's puppies.

Wednesday 28th April.

The puppies are 2 weeks old today. They respond to me when I get into the box which is very pleasing. Their hearing must be kicking in too because they are also responding to my voice. Motsi is the most tolerant mum, her babies continue to be quite loud when they want something but she remains as calm as can be.I have stopped weighing them because they all look very plump and are certainly very lively when they are awake.

Motsi refused to go on the walk this morning because It was snowing, so I didn't force the issue. She is eating well and giving me no cause for concern which is really good.

I want to digress from the puppies a moment. Terror struck our little corner of paradise yesterday. Last evening Olivia and I were sat at the table eating our dinner when all of a sudden she jumped up and screamed "my god mum there's a fox on the garden" I immediately grabbed the camera and was able to get the above picture. I then shouted to the dogs, opened the door and all of them, mums included ran out and chased the fox into the woods. They all returned around 10 minutes later. Meantime, I went out to to discover the grizzly details. My lovely hen Lucy, who in the past I had nursed back to health and so enjoyed a very special bond with her was dead, her feathers scattered around the garden. A second chicken, still alive but fighting for every breath was euthanased. My falconry experience taught me to never allow suffering so I promptly put her out of her misery. Another chicken is still missing and I have to assume the fox took her off somewhere. What is staggering is the sheer brazenness of the fox, she must have been very hungry as our property is marked by all of our dogs and in the past we have relied on this to keep our chickens safe from predators.

Motsi's puppies.

Tuesday 27th April.

The main thing to report today is the puppies have now opened their eyes and this makes such a difference to their appearance. They look like little dogs now. They are almost able to get onto their feet and can make their way around the box with ease. Still does not stop them from crying and being noisy during the night though.

I intend to have a very lazy day today hanging out with the pups. Motsi's puppies will have their nails cut today as they have become quite long and this can be quite painful to Motsi.

The photo illustrates how Motsi, like her sister, still keeps guard even when she has been let out for the toilet.

Lela's puppies

Tuesday 27th April

The picture posted here shows Lela's devotion to her babies, even when she is let out for a wee she runs to the window to check her pups. I have an identical photo of Motsi doing the same.

Motsi's puppies.

Tuesday 27th April.

Motsi checking out her sisters puppies.

Lela's puppies

Tuesday 27th April.

I weighed Lela's puppies yesterday and they have all gained at least 5 ounces. The biggest puppy is Adam who weighed in at just under 2 pounds which is pretty incredible.
Lela is a very intense mother but I did manage to persuade her to come on the walk this morning and I am so pleased she came as I do believe It is really good for the girls to get a break from their pups.

Her puppies are very quiet during the night unlike her sisters. She allowed Motsi into her box this morning, a pleasing indication that she is becoming a little more relaxed..

My only concern is the gunk she is still discharging but her temp remains within normal limits.

My new vetbed arrived from Canada this morning, when It is new It is very luxurious and has wonderful heat retaining properties. I really do recommend It to everyone as dogs love to lie on It and It lasts for years.

Lela's puppies

Sunday24th April.

Lela joins her grandma Ruby in the super league of mums, she is the most serene bitch and this is conveyed to her puppies as they rarely make a sound. She has been very stubborn about going out to the toilet as she does not want to leave her puppies for a minute. Trying to persuade her to go out this morning in the rain was difficult enough and she only did a wee so I will have to try again later and insist she do what she has to do.

She retained a couple of placentas during the deliveries so yesterday I gave her 1ml of oxytocin and she very quickly passed a huge placenta. She is still discharging so I will have to keep an eye on her temperature as this could be a source of infection.

Checks on the puppies for sinus were clear and I will weigh them this afternoon.

Motsi's puppies.

Sunday 25th April.

I have spent a lot of time with Motsi's puppies today as I feel they have been a little in the shadow these last few days. I have replaced all of their collars, checked them for sinus and weighed them although, I only have to look at them to see they are all gaining weight beautifully.

I had my best nights sleep last night, Lela's puppies are silent where as Motsi's are still very demanding. She is so tolerant but they are hard work for her. One thing I have noticed and I have never seen this before is she is able to bring her milk down a second time just minutes after the first time. The process works by the puppies latch on to Motsi's teats and they stimulate the glands by suckling and kneading, they do this for up to 5 minutes and then the milk comes in. This is easy to see as all of a sudden the puppies tails becomes erect and wag slightly and you can hear furious gulping. It is a quick sudden spurt and usually does not last for long. The usual pattern is the puppies then fall asleep at the nipple full and contented but these puppies, after their first meal then begin the process all over again and bring on a second download of milk. I have bred 12 litters now and this is the first time I have witnessed this.

Motsi would not go out on the walk this morning because It was raining so gave her the benefit of the doubt. She continues to be a very good mum and is even a little more proficient in her housekeeping.

Lela's puppies

Saturday 24th April.

In the end Lela's whelping was very uneventful, thank goodness, and she delivered 6 beautiful puppies between the times of 1am and 9.20am.
Her first stage of labour appeared to be much shorter than Motsi's but this is her second litter. Once again we had perfect ridges and no evidence of sinus which is always the worry in the early days..

I decided to call the puppies after old testament characters and am sorry she did not have more as I had a huge list of beautiful boys names. Actually, I am very pleased with the total number of puppies as 16 is going to be quite a handful in the coming weeks.

I am really pleased that the numbers and sexes of puppies worked out perfectly with my waiting list, because someone has dropped out I now have a bitch free but I am very happy to keep It that way as I always like to have a 'floater"

The puppies were born as follows.

1) Adam, dog, born 12.50am 1.8oz, perfect ridge, white to the dewclaw on both front feet, no evidence of sinus and no kink in tail.

2) Eve, bitch, born 01.23am 1.4oz, perfect ridge,no kink in tail, minimal white and no evidence of sinus.

3)Delilah, bitch,born 02.11am perfect ridge, minimal white, no kink in tail and no evidence of sinus.

4)Miriam, bitch, born 02.55am perfect ridge, minimal white, no kink in tail and no evidence of sinus.

5)Elijah, dog, born at 05.45am perfect ridge, minimal white,no kink in tail and no evidence of sinus.

6)Tabitha, bitch, born at 09.20 perfect ridge,minimal white, no kink in tail and no evidence of sinus.

Motsi's puppies.

Thursday 22nd April

Benadryl and ear plugs are my saviours right now, they ensure a reasonable sleep. I am happy to get up a couple of times during the night just to make sure the puppies have at least a couple of times where they are all attached to their mum at the same time.

Picture the scenario...puppy is in the corner of the box, nose squashed up. Puppy has 2 options:-
1) Turn around and find mum.

2) Stay squashed up against the corner and scream until grandma comes, picks up puppy and puts back with mum.

What does puppy do, you guessed It, number 2.

The next stage of development to look forward to is the eyes opening and this usually starts around day 9-10, I always feel this is a huge milestone and of course their hearing develops too. They look so differently when their eyes are open.

All the pups weigh over 2 pounds in weight now so that is very pleasing.

Lela's temp remains within normal limits so she obviously didn't take from her first mating. Last night we brought the second whelping box into the living room and all of the dogs lay in It except Lela.

Motsi's puppies.

Wednesday 21st April

The puppies are one week old today, almost double in size and progressing very nicely. I cant help comparing having a litter to having a baby in that If we remembered all of the details we would most probably never do It again. It is always an anxious time, for me anyway, as there is walways something to worry about in these early days. My worry at the moment is that Motsi has this strong urge to keep ruffling up the synthetic sheepskin I use in the whelping box. I understand her need to do this but It makes It quite dangerous for the puppies. When the fleece is laid out in an orderly manner they can get around the box very easily. When Motsi disturbs It they can become trapped underneath making them more susceptible to being trampled on, plus they sort of get lost and then become distressed.

Looking back through old books on breeding dogs the suggestion is, the breeder should always expect to loose at least one puppy in any litter. I have never lost a puppy yet and I know, the most conscientious of breeders have a high mortality rate within their litters It is because we take great steps to ensure the well being of all the puppies until such time when they are more independant. I was reminded of an e mail I received a couple of years from a guy in California who was about to have a first litter of puppies from his ridgeback bitch. I gave him as much advice as I could and directed him to my blog to give him an idea of a normal birth. The next day I received a mail to say he had woke up to find his bitch had given birth to 8 pups and only 2 had died. I was horrified but he appeared quite pleased.

I take Motsi's temperature every day in these early days as a rise would be an indicator that something is amiss. Retained products ie placenta can be a cause for infection and is quite common as is mastitis so I also check her teats and mammary glands.

Motsi is enjoying her walk with the rest of my dogs and I get immense pleasure seeing her running through woods enjoying the brief respite of responsibility from her pups.

Lela's temperature is still within normal limits so I dont think we will be seeing any action from her today and I am quite pleased by this. I am still in the process of catching up on lost sleep and another day is an added bonus as far as I am concerned. They will come soon enough. My second whelping box is good to go and we will bring it into the living room today.

Motsi's puppies.

Monday 19th April

Last night was much better for everyone I think. Changing Motsi's diet clearly payed off as the puppies were much more settled and I was up only 4 times with the, usual crying puppy at one end of the box wanting to be with mum who is at the other end. The relatively good nights sleep had put me in good stead for Lela's imminent litter.

Mark brought down our second whelping box from the barn yesterday so my job this afternoon will be to give It a good clean and bring It into the house for Lela. As I stated on facebook earlier, my house is a kennel.

The puppies are incredibly strong to say they are only 5 days, It really is remarkable to witness such strong life force.

Motsi's puppies.

Sunday 18th April

Last night was a poor one, at some point, It seemed all of the puppies had a period of crying and by 4am this morning I was almost crying myself because I was so tired. To date I have not caught up on all of the sleep i missed from earlier in the week and tiredness can make everything seem monumental when in realty It is not. As I type, all of the puppies are very settled and content, reminds me of the baby that sleeps all day and cries all night.

I have just weighed the puppies and their weight gain is excellent.All have gained around 7 ounces since birth so that leaves me to think the puppies are crying because the food I am feeding Motsi is not agreeing with them. They are all well hydrated and the whelping box is nice and warm...Motsi was not impressed when her breakfast this morning was her usual dog kibble titvated by a little canned tuna. She turned her nose up at It at first but later she returned to It and ate It.

All of the puppies are accounted for, even lela's who are due on Wednesday.

Here's hoping for a better night tonight.

Motsi's puppies.

Saturday 17th April.

We had to change the collars on the puppies today as they have already out grown them, a good sign they continue to do well.

Motsi, like all of my other dogs has decided that ordinary dog food is off the menu now she has puppies so she is being fed a diet of pasta, canned natural pumpkin for her unsettled stomach( too many placenta's)cheese, mackeral, tuna and cream just to name a few.

She appears much more settled today so I no longer fear there maybe another puppy to come. Just dont want to worry I give her mercury poisoning

Motsi's puppies.

Wednesday 14th April.

In the end Motsi's puppies came bang on time and I suspect she may have created a record in that she whelped 10 puppies in 5 hours.

I am always amazed by my own amnesia when It comes to the puppies which is why my entries on this blog are invaluable because we tend to forget the small details. Motsi started pacing and scratching around in her box on Tuesday afternoon, completely normal and It is what her mother mother Kasidi used to do. I persuaded myself that the puppies would probably arrive later that night so I stayed up with her. By morning she was tired with her exertions and promptly fell fast asleep for a good 3 hours. By around 11 am she started up again and I was fine until I read on the internet that the first stage should last 6-12 hours and anything more should be deemed an emergency and the vet called. Although common sense told me all was ok I started to panic. I rang my friend in MA for re-assurance and she told me what I already knew, no need to worry at this point.
By late afternoon her panting had become more purposeful and I realsed we were in business.

The first puppy was very painful for Motsi and all of my dogs, who were on the back garedn, responded when she let out a huge cry with the first puppy. He arrived at 5pm. Incredibly, by 10 pm It was all over, she had delivered 10 puppies, 7 boys and 3 girls and with the exception of one boy who has offset crown the ridges were all perfect.

Motsi is a good mum but I would be happier if she could relax just a little more. She seems loathe to lie really flat to allow all of the puppies access to her teats and she is favouring one side. My fear is some teats will get blocked and she will develop mastitus. Always something to worry about but that is the nature of the game. For me, no amount of experience and litters takes that worry away.

My other worry, especially with a big litter, is the fading puppy. Last night I was up to the puppies several times as It seemed there was always one crying. What happens in the larger litters is most pups will feed while one is asleep, when the sleeping puppy wakes the milk has gone. The puppy then cries because It is hungry. This only has to happen a few times and the puppy becomes to weak to feed and before you know It, a little puppy is going downhill fast.

I always have on hand a solution called stat. It is a very high calorie thick syrupy solution and is amazing at turning around weak puppies very quickly, enough so they have the strength to fight for their place at the 'milk bar"

I am very happy with the puppies this morning. They have all gained at least 2 ounces and all have nice fat stomachs.

Order that puppies were born.

1)Bently Male, perfect ridge, no kink, minimal white, no kink in tail and no sign of sinus. Wt 1.3oz

2)Legacy Bitch, perfect ridge,no kink in tail,minimal white,and no sign of sinus. Wt1.1oz

3)Cooper Male, perfect ridge, no kink in tail and no sign of sinus with minimla white. Wt 1.2oz.

4)Mustang male perfect ridge, no kink in tail and no sign of sinus. Minimal white. Wt 14oz

5)Jaguar male, perfect ridge, no kink in tail, no evidence of sinus and with minimal white. wt 1lb

6)Mercedes, Bitch, perfect ridge, no kink in tail, minimal white and no evidence of sinus, wt 14oz

7)Aston, Male, crowns offset on ridge but not hugely so, no kink in tail, minimal white and co evidence of sinus, wt 1lb

8)Lincoln Male, perfect ridge, no kink in tail, nosign of sinus and minimal white,wt 15oz

9)Eclipse male, perfect ridge, no kink in tail, minimal white and no evidence of sinus. wt 1lb

10) Porsche Bitch, perfect ridge, no kink in tail, minimal white and no evidence of sinus, wt1.1oz.

Motsi

Friday 9th April.

Motsi went for her X Ray yesterday and even though she had a full stomach and bowel we saw 9 puppies and my vet said there were most probably more. She is looking extremely rotund and I would not be surprised if there are more.


I originally expected puppies to arrive around the 14th of April but I suspect they could arrive sooner. As per my routine I took Motsi's temperature this morning and was surprised to see It had already dropped, this, together with the fact she has lost her appetite are signs that the onset of labour could be imminent. I think maybe Sunday/Monday.

The whelping box will come out tomorrow and then we really are in puppy mode. At the moment Motsi is lying with her mum and grandma. I am wondering if they know their baby is about to have her first litter.

Where has the time gone.

Monday 29th march 2010

My, where has the time gone. It has been nearly 2 years since I last updated my blog and in many ways I do regret this but........here we are, March is nearly over and we are expecting 2 litters of puppies in the next couple of weeks.

Last year was very eventful for us and in hindsight, I am sorry the events were not documented on this blog but I imported semen from a beautiful dog in Northern Ireland, IR/UK champion Veltkammmer Due To More Duo aka as Alfie. My main reason for doing this was to have a new male to add to my lines. It didn't turn out as I would have hoped, the semen, sort of became compromised along the way, but we did get a beautiful female puppy affectionately called Buttons and she will actually attend her first show next weekend.

I have been in-undated with puppy enquiries, I find people do tend to favour the more substantial Ridgeback and because Lela and Motsi only come into season once a year I decided to to breed both of them. Having previously stated I would never have 2 litters again I changed my mind especially as we are approaching the warmer months.

Motsi will be x rayed later this week to give us an idea of the number of puppies to expect and Lela will go a week later. Expecting puppies is always a very exciting time and I am really ready to welcome more puppies into the world. Both mums have been supplemented with folic acid to minimise the incidence of dermoid sinus, a condition which plagues our breed but fortunately, something I have never had to deal with.

The weather has been pretty abysmal these last few days but we are promised some serious sunshine for the weekend.

I have 2 young dogs that I am hoping to show this year. Friends will know I really do not enjoy the show world but I recognise I do have to get my dogs out there. I was approached by a young handler a couple of months ago, her name is Star Utter and she is from Syracuse and I have agreed that she can handle Buttons for me at the Syracuse show this weekend. I have been able to do a little work with Buttons but the weather had been the major obstacle so I am not expecting great things. Handling classes through my local club will start up in May.

I will also be attending my clubs awards dinner on Wednesday at a lovely Italian eatery in Oneonta, It was great fun last year with fabulous food so here's hoping this year's will be just as good.

Next update will be the news on Motsi's x ray.