Nail clipping day

 Elsa

 Storm

 Gretel centre, with Ziggy on the left, and Bear on the right

 Storm asleep on top of Bear

 Ruby and Bella












I have just clipped 112 little claws, as they were getting quite long and scratching Darcy. A wriggly fiddly job but I'm rather pleased as I didn't nick anyone, and no-one got distressed about it (apart from Steve !)

Today's pictures

 Gretel flat out

 Charlotte with Ziggy - she's deliberately keeping her out of the way while the other puppies feed, because Ziggy just hit 900g, and is a very determined feeder. She barges all her siblings out of the way to get the best for herself, and so we like to give the others a head start.

Ziggy looking sweet and innocent, and not at all like the puppy I just described above!

Eyes opening already

This morning I was very surprised to see that Ziggy had both eyes open at just 1 week of age. Ruby had 1 eye open and Gretel half an eye. In a few days they will be able to see us - hope they like what they see !

The last 2 close ups in the current series

 Firstly, a little pile of puppies : Bear, Ruby and Bella

 And this is our boy, Storm. We gave up trying to catch him asleep and still, and Steve held him for his picture. Nice symmetrical face markings.

And this is Ruby - named after her 'mother-in-law' ie Shadows owner. They have the same colour hair, pretty much !

And this is Bear

Only two more to capture now - Ruby, who shouldn't be too hard, and Storm. My chances of catching him without a face full are slim, as he is constantly guzzling away in his determination to be the biggest puppy in the litter !

2 more close ups

 This is Bella.

And this is Gretel.

Close ups

 It is very hard to get close ups of them because as soon as you pick them up they start wriggling around, so you have to wait for them to fall asleep in a convenient position.
Hence the close ups will come day by day as I manage to get them.
This is Ziggy asleep under her mummy's chin.

This is Elsa - funnily she has 3 good close ups already as she always falls asleep in a photogenic pose ! A model in the making ?
They are getting black spots appearing on their noses today, which is the beginning of them starting to go completely black.
Darcy is doing really well - she has put on a kilo since Thurs and seems to be in no pain. In fact she started digging a hole under a tree this morning - which was a little annoyong as it required a lot of feet washing before she could go back in with her babies.

Happy mummy

 Look at these happy fat little puppies !
Darcy is doing an excellent job and has taken on all the feeding now. We are still checking them every 2 hrs though, to make sure they are all latched on and getting enough milk, and to make sure they haven't got 'lost' in a corner. That is getting less necessary as they are stronger and have a better sense of direction now.
She is recovering remarkably well from her op and doesn't seem uncomfortable. She is very protective of her puppies but still gets up to go out, and eat and drink, when she needs to.

 This picture is Darcy with Elsa (whose face you can see) and Gretel (underneath).

Growing well - milk's in

Darcy is producing milk well now, and so we are reducing the supplementary feeding gradually.
The puppies have put on 80-120g in their first day.
She is looking after them beautifully.
Off to bed now !

Puppy pictures

Darcy has been checked by the vet and is doing really well. She adores the puppies now and is feeding them herself, although we are continuing with supplementary feeds every 2 1/2 hrs until we can be sure she is producing enough milk for such a large and greedy litter.
Here's the litter - very hard to photograph them as they keep wriggling around (note - any pink noses will turn black over next few weeks):

 We have given them all puppy names for identification purposes - to be changed when they acquire owners. Many of them are named after our past boxers or friend's boxers.

Gretel - 17oz, 480g, Female

Elsa - 17.7oz, 500g, Female

Ruby, 17oz, 480g, Female

Bear (because she looks like a little teddy bear)- 17.7oz, 500g, Female

Ziggy - 20oz !!!! 580g, Female

Bella - 17oz, 480g, Female

Storm - He is such a wriggler I took 7 attempts to get this one blurred picture !

 Here is our only boy - 400g, 14.1oz.

Happy and contented

Add caption

Darcy returned home at 7pm - 2 hrs after her puppies. She was very woozy but has willingly accepted her puppies (who were complete strangers to her after the surgery). Ruby managed to get them all suckling, and hopefully her milk will soon kick in. In the meantime we are feeding them 2 hrly.
They are all very lively and healthy.

Off to bed for 6 hrs before my shift of feeding starts at 2.30am. Can't remember when I last slept.

Nightmare day

8.50am the fluid turned suddenly green, which means the placenta is seperating from the uterine wall and is cause for alarm if no puppy has arrived beforehand. I had her at the vets within 20 mins and she went in for emergency caesarian at 9.30 am - only coming into recovery at 1pm after having to have a hysterectomy due to extremely large uterus and excessive bleeding.
She hasn't yet been able to see or feed her pups but we have fed them some colostrum formulae and are just on our way back for the next feed (2 hrly)
We have 7 healthy vigorous puppies - a mix of red and white, and brindles. 6 girls and only 1 boy. The girls were all very large, and the size of them meant her uterus was stretched to the limit and could not contract - hence why she had primary inertia ie was unable to push.
We are exhausted and face the prospect of a few more sleepless nights, so please excuse the delay in getting any pictures up.

Still no puppies

7am No straining yet so still officially in 1st stage of labour. Fluid all clear, and vet confirmed this is therefore not amniotic fluid and so nothing to be worried about. The wait goes on.

Water

3am and finally some real action - gushes of clear fluid and mucus - just at the moment that I made myself some marmite toast - which I don't fancy now. May be Welli's lucky night !
Then I thought: the waters aren't supposed to break first and if they do the fluid is yellow. It isn't, it's clear. So technically the waters haven't broken and this is just some lubrication being provided. The amniotic fluid should remain in its sac until it emerges, and then break.

in the whelping box

1.40am and I have finally persuaded her that the whelping box is a suitable place to be.
I have just watched a few Boxer births on youtube - not sure why I hadn't done that before. The puppies were surprisingly large - so now I know what to expect.

Chocolate biscuits

12.20am Poor baby is so uncomfortable and here I am sitting watching her and eating chocolate biscuits - I am feeling very guilty. I really hope she loves her puppies and enjoys her new companion.
The whole process reminds me of the births of my children, although she is making a lot less fuss and not swearing at all - although I can see in her eyes that she'd really like to be swearing if she could just come up with the words.

pant pant pant......

9.50pm - nearly 3 hrs of very heavy panting. No sign of waters breaking. Having not drunk all day she is now drinking small amounts of water with some glucose and a little salt in it. Welli keen to help her with that, as he instinctively knows it has more calories in it than ordinary water (he is still on a diet).
Just been around the garden again, and she managed a wee - I watched anxiously, remembering Ruby's story of her first ever puppy being born right onto the mud and not onto her beautifully prepared whelping bed.
Back in the kitchen now for some more panting.

Lots of panting

7.20pm Slow day but the panting does now seem to be increasing. I have put the duty vet on alert and she says it is extremely likely the puppies will be born tonight - maybe not the entire litter but at least a start.
I've been through my check list (again) and checked all the equipment. I'll probably try and get a few hours sleep this evening before swapping duty with Steve - although I am too excited to feel tired at the moment.

Not much change

2.45pm UK time (not sure what time this blog works on but it isn't ours): If we go outside, for a stroll around the garden on the lead, she will do a lot of panting and shivering afterwards. Then after 20 minutes she settles down and dozes again. So I am walking her round the garden every hour to try and keep things progressing - it works for humans, so probably will for her as well.
The whelping room is up to a good temperature and the heated pads are both working. Now everything is in place there isn't much room left in the maternity wing for me - certainly not for me and a laptop and some work.
She has shown no interest at all in breakfast or lunch.
I'm going to have a power nap in preparation for the night ahead, whilst my assistant maternity nurse (Steve) keeps watch.

Some signs of action

All quiet at 3am and 6am but at 8am she rushed outside and started digging under a bush, and lying down and licking her bottom. She was most unhappy I made her come back in. She is having shivers, has rejected her breakfast, and her temperature has gone off the bottom of the chart at 36.3 C. No discharge or evidence of waters breaking yet.

She does not want to go in the whelping box – her 2^nd choice apart from the bush, is under the table. Seems a bit ungrateful when I have made her a 4 poster bed style cave in the whelping box. I will spend the day sitting in there with her.

So stage 1 has finally begun. I am expecting this to take a long time but maybe a puppy by tomorrow

Will keep you informed during the day

She stands like this a lot - lying down and sitting aren't terribly comfortable any more.

63 days from 2nd mating

OK, so maybe it was the 2nd mating that took and 'due date' is actually today. I think she's been holding off because she had checked out the maternity wing, and decided that I wasn't quite ready - I had forgotten to put a lamp in there so I could read quietly without having the full lights on. Now I have the lamp in place I feel things must surely progress ?
Temperature not particularly low this morning - although her temperature chart looks like a mountain range so I have sort of lost my confidence in that method of prediction. She ate very well yesterday and slept a huge amount.

Still no action

Another quiet night. Her tummy looks fit to burst and is really tight now. Temperature up and down - so much for the theory that if their temperature drops by 2 degrees the puppies will follow in a few hours. Her temperature chart just goes up and down several times.
She ate very well yesterday and is still relaxed and happy.

Today is DUE DATE

63 days from the first mating. However we had 3 matings 2 days apart and so we can't be sure which was successful. Her temperature has dropped to 36.8C again this morning but she is otherwise normal. Lovely sunny day for her to lie outside but we will be keeping a close eye on her in case she goes off into the bushes and starts digging a cave.

Up and down

Each morning her temperature is very low, suggesting whelping is very imminent, and then by evening it is back up to 'normal for the week prior to whelping'. She is sleeping a lot and is very relaxed. No signs of discomfort.

The beached whale

Whelping imminent - or is it ?

Her temperature has gone up and down from 37.7 to 37.2 C for the last couple of days - higher in the morning and lower in the evening. This morning however she is looking particularly serene and matronly, and her temperature has dropped to 36.6 C, which means (according to the books) 'whelping very imminent'. Having said that, she just enjoyed breakfast and a short stroll and is now sleeping - so clearly not experiencing any discomfort or pressure at the moment.
When she lies down the pressure of the puppies against her lungs means she takes very shallow breaths - but it isn't panting.
The sofa-bed is ready and I will be sleeping with her tonight - or not sleeping if things progress, obviously.
Time to give up wine for a few days, so we can be sharp and ready to drive to the vets if needed.

Temperature dropping

Darcy's temperature has dropped to 37.2 C and her spine and the top of her ribs are starting to be visible, as the weight of her belly pulls everything down. She's eating fairly enthusiastically though, and is very relaxed so I don't think they'll be arriving tonight.
She loves to lie on her side with 1 leg in the air so you can stroke her tummy and feel the puppies moving.
Weight-wise I am pleased with her condition - she looks well covered without being in any way fat. She isn't eating the quantity of food that the books suggest, but it is high calorie puppy food and she looks as if she's getting enough. I offer her 4 meals a day but she will only eat 3 - she's never been a keen eater.
We're keeping the walks down to 20 mins now and because the weather is lovely she can enjoy being outside in the garden a lot.
I picked up a mountain of newspapers today, from a friend who has been stockpiling them for me.

I can feel the puppies moving !

I am taking her temperature 3 times a day and it is currently at 37.7 degrees C, which is normal for the week before whelping. She is very chirpy - much happier than during the middle of her pregnancy.

I have done my Kennel name registration and we wait to say which of the 4 names we have suggested will be accepted.

Reading the most recently published book I find there is a huge amount of contradiction - for example the 'Book of the Bitch' says to leave the puppies suckling whilst thesubsequent puppies are born, as it helps to stimulate contractions; whereas the other books, and breeding friends, say remove the newborn pups to a seperate warm box when each new puppy is born. Another contradiction is whether to let the bitch chew the cord or to cut it yourself - the book says let the bitch do it, as there is no evidence it is related to umbilical hernias and it is an important part of the bonding process; everyone else suggests you cut the cord yourself.

Decisions to be made about the best course of action - but one thing I am totally agreed on is that we should not allow any visitors during th first 3 weeks, due to risk of infection and stress to the bitch and puppies. Losing puppies during the first 2 weeks is common and I will do everything I can to ensure this doesn't happen.

From 3 weeks the more visitors the better as the puppies learn all about the outside world and Darcy will become less possessive as they are weaned and she starts to resume her normal lifestyle.

In the meantime I will post lots of pictures on this blog.

Only 6 days to go until due date

Everything is now totally ready and Darcy is getting used to her whelping box. Note the 'canopy' we have recently added, to give more of a 'cave feel' and also keep it warm and cosy. Also note tray of medical bits and pieces all ready. Big comfy chair for me to spend many hours in - file open and ready with notes in. Dog breeding books mostly read. Heaters in and we are just testing the temperature we can get the whelping area to.
Diary mostly clear - we won't be leaving her alone for any length of time now.
She is feeling fine but tired and also restless - she just can't get comfy for very long. Still happy to walk and quite perky.

7 weeks pregnant - enjoying the sunshine and her morning amble

A lovely morning. She just ambles along slowly now, at the same speed as Welli (our 12 yr old Boxer). She is normally such an energetic dog but from the minute the vet said she needed to be kept on the lead to avoid injury (at 4 weeks) she has slowed right down, and behaved in a suitably matronly manner.
Her appetite has really grown, and she is now having 3 meals a day, and higher calorie food.
I am so glad no-one took a picture of me like this 2 weeks before my first baby !

Charlotte introducing Darcy to the whelping box. 7 weeks pregnant.

We disinfected the 'maternity wing' on Friday and have installed the whelping box. Darcy seems quite chuffed with her own private bedroom, and we are encouraging her to spend time in there each day. At the moment she'd still rather be cuddled up in bed with Welli, than be on her own, but that will change as due date approaches.

She is very perky this morning and seems to be back to her normal happy self after a few days of being quite morose. She was outside first thing, rolling under the cedar tree - which is her favourite morning activity.

Please do contact me if you are interested in buying a puppy, and I will email you full details of both mother and father. Both are very well bred, with good heart scores, and are also excellent family dogs. suzannevickery@dsl.pipex.com

Shadow (Tudora Glad All Over) - The Daddy

What a handsome boy he is ! And a very lovable character too.

Darcy at 6 1/2 weeks pregnant - not so streamlined !

 She's in a bit of a grump today and did not want to stand up for her photo. She's still enjoying her walks, and plays occasionally with Welli, but most of the time she sleeps or stares at me - I am beginning to feel guilty for her discomfort.

Darcy at 5 weeks pregnant cuddled up with Welli

Pregnancy developing

For the first couple of weeks there were no signs of change. Her teats started to grow in the 3rd week. The scan at 4 weeks showed 3 puppies, and we were told that there are often a lot more than show on the scan. Since then she has slowly filled out and then suddenly, at 6 weeks, her tummy seems to have grown and she looks most decidedly pregnant.
She has slowed down to the point where she can't even be bothered to chase the rabbits in the garden, and she has been even more affectionate and cuddly than normal.
The 'in-laws' came around today ! Ruby and Mike Spanswick visited to share their advice on the whelping and puppy raising business. It was lovely to see them and such a shame they are on holiday when the puppies are due.
I am wading through 4 books on dog breeding and taking notes on all the key details. The equipment is accumulating, and I will be setting up the maternity ward this week so Darcy has 2 weeks to familiarise herself with it all.

Darcy late 2010

Introduction

As we approach due date for our lovely Boxer bitch's first litter of puppies I wanted to keep a record, and also share pictures - so I thought I'd have a go at blogging. Quick bit of background : I have had Boxer dogs all my life and am totally addicted to them. They are adorable and adoring dogs, who are playful and active and great family pets.
We have had Darcy for just over 4 years -  she was bred by Marion Seeney and is registered as Maranseen Macrame. We used Ruby Spanswick's stud dog Shadow (Tudora Glad All Over). Puppies are due 3rd week in March and I thought it would be nice to share what I learn along the way.