Weekend Happenings

It is a busy weekend around here.

Those of you who are BMDCA members should have received an email (from me) alerting you to a ballot now available. Those of you not yet BMDCA members, please consider joining as a way to support the breed and to become part of our wonderful community; click HERE for membership info.

In addition to getting the ballot done and sent, I am also getting ready for the start of the semester — classes start tomorrow. Because of the pandemic, I am working 100% from home.

I wonder if working only in an office will ever be the norm again? Working from home has so many benefits, and in some ways is so much more productive. I hope that we emerge from all this with some kind of hybrid of past and current work environments. Besides, work from home assistants are so much cuter!

I was able to get a deal on these mats....

The mats will be covered with a piece of vinyl flooring and that will be Puppy Palooza Stage One.

Rosebud and the puppies’ very first toy (thank you Kay, Sue, and Lucas!) model the completed area — it is roughly 8 x 10.

Here is Daisy on the new mats but it will be Claire and her family who use Stage 1 — Daisy is just trying it out.

I hope you are having a terrific — and productive — weekend!

This and That

Suzanne and I took dogs for a walk yesterday…

Pozy, Sparkle, Sundance and Skylar (photo by Suzanne).

Quite the contrast from the mayhem in Washington DC. What a terrible, sad day for the United States. I must say that and acknowledge what happened — even in a blog about Life with Dogs.

Okay — and cats.

Today we have a report from Alex about Lupine from the Wildflowers. He shares, “Lupine is doing great.

We have started going to weekly one-on-one obedience lessons and she is picking up on everything just as quick as usual.

She hasn’t been weighed for awhile but our estimate is somewhere in between 60-65 pounds and she is in great shape.

Curly coats are normal for puppies and is not a sign that Alex puts rollers in Lupine each night.

Although she is by all means at a healthy weight and size, she appears incredibly small compared to our other dogs. We affectionately refer to her as our quarter-berner (Mesa was our half-berner so that title is taken).

She also refuses to let go of her last baby tooth, apparently sending the message that she wants to be the baby of the house indefinitely — which we will oblige, because we love her!

Thank you, Alex! Lupine is as beautiful as ever — and I am glad to hear she is also smart. It is fun to catch up on our puppies :)

And speaking of puppies…

That is Daisy’s measurement with three weeks to go. It is about the same as when she had two weeks to go with her last litter. In other words, either Daisy is eating too much or she is on track for another big litter.

This is Claire with two weeks to go…

It is becoming increasingly clear that Claire will also be having a big family. Puppy Palooza, indeed.

Please have a wonderful day — and a peaceful one.

A Hard Decision

I bet puppy millers, Greeders and the like do not torment themselves about whelping decisions. You think it would be simple — just pop out those babies and all is well.

Daisy

The decision about Daisy is straightforward. She will have a c-section because her litter is likely to be a big one, and that caused issues last May — we lost two puppies before electing for a c-section to maximize the odds the last four would survive (they did).

“Lost puppies” — it sounds like they were misplaced. No — not misplaced. Dead. That is what we are talking about. Still, lifeless, dead-on-arrival puppies who could not be revived. Birth is risky.

The rate of stillborn puppies in one large study was about 6% (Cornelius et al., 2019), with stillbirths more likely as litter size increases.

Canine dystocia — or difficult birth — can be caused by a variety of things, and it is related to stillbirths as well. The overall rate of dystocia in the Cornelius et al. study was about 24%, with smaller and larger litters both having more risk than a medium-sized litter.

A pre-birth x-ray can be done to count puppies, and help inform decision-making. I have never done one because I prefer not to radiate the puppies — even though I know the risk of doing so is low and there is benefit.

A c-section is less risk to the puppies than a natural birth — but more risk to the mom, and leaves her with an abdominal incision. Ouch.

A vaginal birth is better for the puppies’ gut microflora.

A c-section means they are nursing from a mom on some drugs for a few days — theoretically these are safe for the puppies but still…

The hormones associated with labor supports early mothering.

Claire and Rosebud

A whelping emergency at night could wind us up at a veterinary emergency clinic.

Elective c-sections are safer than emergency ones.

There is a pandemic — and Claire’s knee injury.

Do I proceed with a natural whelping for Claire because that is safer and easier for her, knowing I could be risking a puppy or two AND we could still wind up with an emergency c-section?

Is Claire’s comfort and the benefits of a natural whelping worth potentially losing a puppy or two?

You get the idea.

This is tough.

Cornelius, Alyssa J, Moxon, Rachel, Russenberger, Jane, Havlena, Barbara, & Cheong, Soon Hon. (2019). Identifying risk factors for canine dystocia and stillbirths. Theriogenology, 128, 201-206.