Pregnancy confirmed!!

Galena had her ultrasound yesterday afternoon. We are happy to announce that YES!! We are expecting more puppies!!

The vet counted (most likely) seven little active healthy pups - give or take one.

Galena is due the week of July 25. So far we have a reservation for one of her puppies, so there are still lots available - but that is likely to change quickly enough. 

Here is the list of puppy guesses on her Guess How Many Puppies contest. We have a number of likely finalists - remains to be seen when the first pup arrives to determine the final winner. 

Name	# of puppies	date/time
Martin	4	28 July 14:30
Janet B	5	26 July, 19:20
Adrienne TC	5	27 July, 16:30
Melissa B	5	27 July, 17:00
Suzie Baril	5	27 July 18:15
Jennifer O	5	28 July 15:00
Barbara B	5	28 July, 23:00
Emma P	6	25 July, 17:00
Susan CB	6	26 July, 13:42
Sarah P	6	26 July, 16:30
Suzanne	6	28 July, 16:45
Tristan	7	27 July, 21:00
Amélie L TC	7	27 July, 17:30
Patrice P	7	27 July, 19:07
Karen P	7	28 July, 14:00
Joséphine L TC	7	28 July, 15:00
Monica	7	28 July, 16:00
Catherine C	8	24 July, 15:00
Katie GM	8	25 July, 16:00
Laurent L TC	8	28 July, 19:30

One (and a half) week old!!

The puppies are growing well. Some of their eyes are starting to crack open - right on time at the 10-day mark yesterday! By next weekend all the eyes and ears should all be pretty much open, though vision (and hearing) stays fuzzy for a while as the brain learns to interpret what the eyes take in. 

My original estimate of these puppies' size - based stricly on parent weights - was that they could be from 20-40 lbs, as Harmony is 20 but Hugo is closer to 40. However, I am revising that estimate downward now, based on the pups' birth weights and growth patterns to date. I'd say some may be below 20 lbs, and likely 30lbs at the high end. They weren't the smallest pups we've ever had - fiarly average - but are gaining weight at a slower rate than Phoenix's did!!

So far two of these pups are reserved, with continuing interest coming in. I'm sure they'll all be taken by the beginning of August!!

Here are some pictures: 

We have a winner!

If you recall, nobody (except me) guessed the right number of puppies for Harmony, so I converted it into a “Guess when the first one will arrive” contest.

The winner of this version is…

Katie GM, mama to Whiskey (from Topaz’s 2015 litter), who is an uncle to these pups!

Katie, you will soon find a $10 Timmy’s card winging your way through Canada Post. Raise an ice cap to these puppies

Ready to go home!

Okay, I missed the Tuesday announcement. What can I say – it’s been busy.

Here it is… (drum roll, please):

Our puppies are excited to join their families:

• Kinoko Ivy – Lai family in Ottawa
• Tazman Peanut – Cook family in Montreal
• Ash – Urback family in Toronto
• Cooper Indigo – Ramesh family in Markham
• Poppy Jasmine – Daigeler family in Ottawa
• Lavender – Okhrimtchouk family in Ottawa

The pups will join their new families over the weekend (just one or two more sleeps!) – four on Saturday and two on Sunday. Then we’ll move Harmony’s babies into the puppy corner and start all over again!

Happy puppy dreams!

Harmony's babies have arrived!

Harmony came to stay with us after the Doodle Romp last Sunday, in preparation for the birth of her first babies.

We monitored her temperature over the next few days, as a drop in temperature for a 12-hour period signals that delivery will take place within the next 24 hours. The drop was noted on Wednesday evening. Also, when delivery is imminent the mamas start to engage in “nesting” behaviour – digging at the blankets in the whelping box, trying to make a nice place for their pups. (And they might start to pee a lot…) This started happening Wednesday night – she was pawing at the blankets in the whelping box and generally acting rather restless. Then she didn’t eat her food on Thursday morning – a good sign she’s into labour.

We arranged to “tag-team” it for most of the day. I was home until 9am, then my son came home after his physio appointment (skipping school!) to stay with her until noon; then my daughter came home over lunch and her first afternoon period, heading back to school for last period at 2:00. I intended to come home right after my meeting ended at 2:30, hoping to be home by 3:00 but the meeting ended up going until a bit after 3 so my son got home again before I did. That meant she was alone for a bit over an hour. Grandpa was supposed to keep an eye on her during that time, but he fell asleep on the sofa. Of course Harmonychose that time to start delivering. By the time my son got home from school, two of the pups had already arrived, and he was just in time to catch the third. I got home just in time for #4.

We have

• Puppy #1: 2:06pm (appx), solid black male with a tiny white spot on his throat, 335g
• Puppy #2: 2:33pm (appx), gold parti female, 299g
• Puppy #3: 3:18pm, black parti tricolour male, 254g
• Puppy #4: 3:45pm, chocolate parti tricolour male, 287g
• Puppy #5: 4:11pm, red parti female, 235g
• Puppy #6: 4:32pm, solid black male, 295g
• Puppy #7: 5:08pm, black parti female, 285g

Harmony and Hugo, you make some amazing puppies!

These pups are all a good size – but not quite as huge as Phoenix’s (with the slight exception of the first one).

Babies and mama are all doing just fine.

And so the newest adventure begins!

Puppy allocation

So, the big day is upon us!! The puppies went through their assessment on Thursday and we received the write-ups yesterday. I spent the evening poring over the assessments and the families’ application forms to make the best matches possible. Over the course of today and tomorrow, the families will come and spend time with the two puppies we are recommending for each family. They will have to pick the one they think will suit them best. Not easy!!

By Tuesday I should be able to announce which pup is going to which family. There will be a last few days of waiting to get through, and then you will be able to take your puppy home!!!

Happy puppy dreams!

Last Call - Guess When Pups will Arrive (Harmony)

This is a reminder to get your guesses in to me for when Harmony’s first puppy will arrive.

The deadline for guesses is Monday 13 June at noon.

Send in your name and the date/time you think the first puppy will arrive (likely between 14-20 June, some time in the afternoon or evening).

Happy puppy dreams!

Upcoming Doodle Romps

Our next Doodle Romp will be next Sunday, June 12, at 4:00pm. If you haven’t already RSVPed, do so now so we know whom to expect. I hope the weather holds out and we have a nice sunny day – the May Romp was pretty darn cold, but since then we’ve been having better weather. Phoenix's puppies will probably join us on the romp, as they will be 7½ weeks old. 

           

For the summer, the Romps will be on:

Sunday 10 July at 4:00 (Phoenix’s pups will be gone, and Harmony’s should be around 3 weeks old)

Sunday 7 August at 4:00 (Harmony’s pups should be able to join us as they will be about 7.5 weeks old!)

Sunday 11 September at 4:00 (Harmony’s pups will be gone, but Galena’s pups might come, as they will be about six weeks old)

All the upcoming Romps will be on Sundays, as my son has soccer games on Saturday afternoons until the end of October!

Hope you can join us!

Six weeks old!

Phoenix’s babies are now six weeks old!! They are still super cute! Now that they have lots of pokey little teeth in their mouths, Phoenix is not so keen to nurse them because it hurts!! We have already been feeding them puppy food for a few weeks, to supplement the milk they get from mama and to get them used to eating out of a dish. At first, before their teeth came in, it was mushed up puppy food (kibble soaked in water). By now, we are just giving them straight puppy food, as they have teeth to crunch it with. They already know the sound of the food dish hitting the floor! When it gets put into the puppy corner, they all come running!

They are a lot more work for us now that they are this old. When they were little, mam would clean up after them. (In fact, when they are first born they can’t pee or poop on their own – mama licks them to stimulate them, and that makes them do their business. It’s a good way to keep the whelping box clean!!) Now that they are big and rambunctious, and eating a lot more, mama doesn’t do that any more, or not very much. So they do their business on the floor and we are the ones who have to clean up. We set out pee pads and they are pretty good at going on the pads, though they definitely do have misses. Dog poo is quite stinky (a lot stinkier than cat poo, for some reason), so we try to pick it up whenever we smell some. Thankfully, with the warm spring weather we can keep windows open too, to help keep the smell down. Over the next couple weeks we will start sending them outside and encouraging them to do their business there.

The next two weeks will be a time of big changes for them. First they will have their first doctor’s appointment, then get assessed for temperament, have surgery to get neutered, and then go to new homes. Wow! What an exciting (and kind of sc