Guess How Many Puppies?!

With Galena being (we hope) pregnant, it is of course time for a new edition of our Guess How Many Puppies contest!!

As usual, we invite you to send us your guess of:

• how many puppies she will give birth to
• the date and time of the arrival of the first pup

The person who guesses the correct number of puppies, with the date and time closest o the actual arrival, wins a $10 Timmy’s or Chapter’s gift card!

This time I can’t pinpoint the date of ovulation – I had her hormones tested based on the timing of her previous three breedings, but she “ripened” a lot faster this time so by the time the test was done she had already ovulated. However, I can estimate that ovulation occurred between 17 and 21 September. Gestation is roughly 63 days, but she has given birth usually on the 60^th day post-ovulation. That would put her most likely whelping date between 16 and 20 November. As for timing, both her previous litters arrive in mid- to late afternoon, and as for number, her first two litters consisted of 8 and 6 puppies.

We will accept guesses until 6am on October 24. Once we announce the initial puppy count from the ultrasound, no more guesses will be allowed. That gives you three weeks to send us your guesses.

So go to it!

Puppies on the way!

So here it is, fall again – leaves are changing colour, kids thoughts are turning to pumpkins and candy (oh, and turkey and pie before that!), and this morning there was a definite hint in the air of colder days to come…

In the midst of all the fall busy-ness, I am happy to announce that we have puppies on the way!! Or at least, we sure hope we do. Galena disappointed us this spring by not becoming pregnant after artificial insemination, but this time we did it the natural way and that has always been successful in the past, so we have our fingers crossed. (And toes, and earlobes, and eyeballs, and… )

Galena was bred to our very own Cumin Chino on September 21 and 22 – over a week ago already! This was Cumin’s first stud job and he performed marvellously. Galena’s heat cycle progressed very quickly this time, so we were lucky not to miss it – Whew! We have to thank her brother Frisou for his strong hints that the time was ripe!

We will be doing an ultrasound on October 23 to confirm pregnancy and get an initial puppy count. Here’s hoping this one shows a lot of teeny-tiny foetuses developing in there!

This means that, if all goes as expected, we will have little wriggly bundles of fur arriving at our place sometime around November 18-21. We will get to enjoy them over the Christmas holiday season, and then send them off to new homes mid- to late January. Sure hope the puppy buyers come flocking in the depths of winter!

Galena and Cumin’s puppies will be delicious shades of chocolate – both solid and phantom (chocolate with tan muzzle, eyebrows, feet & butt) – as well as yummy caramel.

Watch for news of the ultrasound in late October!

Happy birthday Carny-Frisou, Zircon, Sapphire and Oliver

This was our second litter back in 2010 – FIVE years old now. Wow!

The three boys in this litter all live close by and we have had the good fortune to see them from time to time at Doodle Romps (or quite frequently in Frisou’s case, since he lives with his sister Galena who is one of our breeding mamas). Sapphire ended up in the Netherlands with another breeder, Upside Down Doodles.

My kids and I remember Sapphire as the little escape artist – she learned to climb the fencing we put around the puppy corner and so we would constantly be finding her where she wasn’t supposed to be, the little scamp!

Carnelian was the big baby of the bunch – the largest but the one who always wanted to be held and cuddled. Oliver (Jasper to us) had the softest, silkiest coat I have ever come across, in a lovely light caramel colour. Zirci’s human mama did therapy dog training with him and he has been working as a therapy dog now for about a year. Way to go, Zirci!

Happy fifth birthday!

Enjoy a lovely fall!