Puppies on the way!

It has been a while since I have used this forum to communicate anything of interest to the dog-lovers out there. The time has been spent focusing on home and work. It’s been crazy busy at the office, and on the home front I’ve had my hands full with arranging childcare for after Christmas and finding a housecleaner to keep things in hand, since my previous Nanny/ housekeeper gave notice in late September. I’ve had the chance to spend more time working with the kids on their reading and school work, and take Mo & Phoenix for training.

But all that will change soon enough.

Galena in heat

Our girl, DragonRam Galena, went into heat in late November. We did progesterone tests last Wednesday and Saturday and determined that Sunday and Monday would be the optimal mating dates. After deciding that Kodiak, my earlier choice of studs, would be too large for Galena to do a natural mating, I settled on Springville Spirit, a lovely caramel parti boy who lives not too far away from us.

(Pix of Galena & Spirit as younger pups.)

Galena came to us from her guardian home mid-afternoon on Sunday. Spirit showed up for a date later Sunday afternoon and again Monday evening. He got down to business right away each time, and Galena was a very cooperative and willing partner. This was a first for her but she knew just what to do and was very happy to let Spirit do his job, even encouraging him with her playful behaviour.

The mating was accomplished within about 20 minutes each time. Afterwards Galena was even more playful than before, bouncing and batting at Spirit like a little hot cookie! It was cute to watch. She went back home to her guardians (and her brother, Carny, who was pining in her absence) later Monday evening. Now we just let nature take its course and wait for the puppies to appear!

Next steps

We will be doing an ultrasound likely in early January to confirm pregnancy and get an initial puppy count, followed by an x-ray the last week of January so we know how many to expect. The expected whelping date is around February 1^st.

These puppies will delicious shades of chocolate and caramel, with some solid and some parti (white with coloured spots). There is a slight chance of a phantom or tri-colour, but it’s pretty slim.

Guess how many puppies contest

As for our previous litters, I invite people to submit guesses as to (1) how many puppies will be born and (2) what date/time the first one will arrive. The person who guesses the correct number of puppies and has the closest date/time to the actual arrival will win a $10 gift card to Tim Horton’s (or, if the winner is 15 or under, to Toys R Us).

Stay tuned for news of the ultrasound early in 2013!