Week 7

Now that all the puppies have gone home, I have taken down the LIVE Puppy Cam.  I also have some Week 6 miscellaneous litter photos that I will be posting very soon.
 

Day 50 05/06/11

Today Jazzy and Jingles got to go home.  First Jazzy's Aunt Valerie, Uncle Wayne and cousin Katie picked her up, she will be going to live with them in Kansas for a couple weeks before heading to her final destination and real home in Arizona with the Eberts.  Then Jingles new daddy, Jason and a friend flew in from Chicago on a small private plane to the Vinton airport and came to Hickory Hollow in the airfield's courtesy car. What a fun trip they will have to remember for years to come.  Being a veterinarian, Jingles new daddy gave him a good once over and checked out his eyes, ears, mouth, belly, etc.  I guess he got a clean bill of health!! We also noticed that Jingles is just finally getting some ticking spots on his back which we are all very glad to see.  For a while there we thought he may have been a white Llewellin!! LOL.

After Jingles daddy left we snatched up Jordy and loaded him in the car for a trip to Rochester, MN.  Earlier in the week I became worried that Jordy might be hard of hearing because I was unable to wake him from sleep with any kind of noise. So, just to make sure he was okay and to relieve our worries we took him to Rochester for a BAER hearing test.  The test is very interesting, they attach three electrodes to him, one on the top of his head and one just under each ear, then they put a rubber cone down in an ear and pulse sound waves. The brain response to the sound stimuli causes a meter to go back and forth.  If the meter was flatlined then that meant he was deaf. We did a 45 second frequency test in each ear and then the gentleman doing the test printed out the sound wave responses/results sheet. Thankfully the test proved that Jordy must just be a deep sleeper because his hearing was fine and we were all very relieved. Jordy's new granddad Steve was there with us in Rochester to take him home to his new momma Kirstin in Mankato immediately afterward, so it was a great day for everybody!!
 

Day 49 05/05/11

Besides Jewel leaving last weekend, Jade is the first puppy to be picked up by his new parents.  The Boecker's couldn't wait to get their new little guy home and boy was he excited to see them. He couldn't stop jumping up on them and licking their faces.  Little does he know that his life is about to change drastically. No more Puppy Cottage and Puppy Play pen, it's HELLO BIG BEAUTIFUL WORLD!!  Justin and Jessica are first time doggy parents, so while they were at Hickory Hollow they practiced walking Jade on a leash around the front yard, making a few laps each.  By the time they rounded their third lap, Jade was really getting the hang of walking on the leash.  It's fun to see how good they are with him and what a great home he is going to have with them.
 

This week's milestone: Pups go home.
This is the week that all the puppies will fly the coop and begin their exciting new lives with their new families. While I will miss them, I am so excited for them and for all the adventures they will have.
 

Week 6

Day 48 05/04/11

It was a beautiful day here at Hickory Hollow, so I allowed the puppies to have a new adventure. They have been very investigative lately and were always curious when momma Daisy would disappear out the doggy door into the dog run.  Today I opened up the flaps on the double door and showed them the great big world beyond.  I have some really cute photos of the pups peeking through the door. Of course they were very timid at first, but once pulled through the door they romped and played outside in the run for a good part of the afternoon.  
 

Day 47 05/03/11

It's going to be a hectic week here at Hickory Hollow, these final weeks always are. The pups are way more demanding than ever before plus I have to get all the puppy documentation packets and CD Puppy Photo Albums created and ready to go.  Unfortunately with all that on my plate the blogs tend to suffer during this last week, so please bear with me.

Playtime in the Cottage is total chaos now. The pups are getting into everything and pulling and tugging on whatever they can find to make a play toy out of. Their favorite thing is the dirty towels in the laundry basket.  Not only is crawling into the basket a HUGE adventure, all the fun tug toys they find inside are a real treasure.  They will drag every one of those towels out and across the floor. Even though it's chaotic it's really cute because I imagine them being like little kiddos with a woobie blanket.
 

Day 45 05/01/11

Well, today was Daisy's BIG day! She was reunited with her mom and dad (Pat and Tim) who drove up from Kentucky to get her today.  They brought a welcoming party with them, Daisy's Llew sister Katie and her mini Schnauzer sister Lucia.  It was so fun to see Daisy reunited with her family!  Daisy and Katie jumped and played and kissed each other and ran circles around the yard and Daisy had more than enough kisses for Tim and literally cleaned his face for him, no need for a washcloth, Daisy's tongue did the trick!!

You may have noticed right off the bat that the Puppy Playpen is missing a member of Litter J.  Pat and Tim so graciously offered to bring Jewel home with them to Kentucky where the Shurtleff's will be picking her up from there in about a week.  Needless to say Pat and Tim are thrilled to finally have the opportunity to spend some time with one of Daisy's babies.  They have told me they will be working on potty training and some obedience commands during this short time they will have with Jewel.
 

Day 44 04/30/11

It's such a beautiful day here today that I really wanted to get the pups outside for a short while today to experience playing in the grass and feeling the warmth of the sunshine, but alas, the yard work took first priority and it by the time that was done the sunshine was gone :(  

The pups are still eating about 1/2 can of Science Diet mixed in with their normal kibble ration of 3 cups.  They eat it very enthusiastically, but then also want to suckle on Daisy for dessert.  She has stepped up her own weaning program and will now growl and get after pups pretty aggressively when they try to nurse. In fact, she got after Jazzy so badly that poor little Jaz retreated to a corner and sat there shaking.  I had to pick her up, hold her and console her to get her to stop shaking.  But when I put her down, she went straight back to her momma and tried to nurse again.  silly pups are hard headed at this age but will eventually learn.  It takes about 5 repetitions or more at this age for a lesson to set in. Patience is a virtue when working with young pups. :0)~
 

Day 43 04/29/11

Here's how the pups measure up today:

The pups were wormed again today and had their paw prints taken for their Birth and Development Certificates.  Sorry Kirstin, Jordy squirmed at the most inopportune moment and so he has a "double" print, SORRY!

I know you all are just dying to see the latest and greatest miscellaneous litter photos from Week 5 and I've tried to get some really cute ones of the pups playing, but I'm afraid to report the little stinkers are just TOO FAST! I'd see a cute moment and by the time my camera would focus and snap the photo, the frame would be empty, or I'd only capture the pup's rear end as s/he exited the scene.  

This week's milestone: Eye color changes from blue to brown.

This week, the puppies eyes will transition from their current baby blues to their final adult color, brown.
 

Week 5

Day 41 04/26/11

Well, the canned food has done the trick, pups have a healthy appetite again and are eating well and poops are back to normal.  WHEW! I will keep them on canned food for a little while longer.  Daisy will be leaving to go back to Kentucky this weekend so the pups will have to go cold turkey after Sunday.  

Also, more good news! Both Jordy and Jazzy's allergic reactions on their muzzles have cleared up. All it took was a few days of washing their faces after eating.
 

Day 40 04/25/11

The pups didn't eat to well today and I noticed a few had diarrhea. Maybe that's why Jordy has become "Mr. Poopy Pants" (instead of Grumpy Pants, LOL). I'm not sure they like the Earthborn Puppy food that I've been feeding so I am going to take a step backward and add some canned food back into their meal. Hopefully they will take a liking to that meal and start in again. They had been eating so well and then all the sudden one day they didn't and it wasn't just one "finicky" pup, it was ALL of them. Something must have been awry with the food.  All I can think is that the hot water I mixed in with their food to soften it didn't smell good.  Our country water sometimes smells like rotton eggs.  I've flushed the water from the 20 gallon hot water heater and it's been replaced with fresh, so hopefully that will help.
 

Day 39 04/25/11

I bet you've all noticed that the platform underneath the automatic waterer has been removed. I took it out today while I was cleaning out the playpen. The pups are tall enough now that they don't need it and it will help to keep the water bowl cleaner and fresher. Now the pups won't be able to step into the water bowl and contaminate it with pine shavings and other unmentionables.
 

Day 38 04/24/11

Good news is the last two puppies selected went just as well as the first three. Believe it or not the last folks on the list were thrilled to get Jazzy because she was their first pick all along and her name is staying Jazzy! By special request from them before the pups were born, I named one of the females Jazzy, who would've known that one would end up being their pup!! I love this stuff! :0)~
 

Day 37 04/23/11

Puppy Selection went well today.  The Boecker's came for one last visit and to pick their puppy, but I really think it went the other way around, Jade picked them!! He crawled up into their laps and fell fast asleep during their last visit and paid more attention to them again today than any of the other pups.  The first three folks on the pick list were delighted with their selections.  Hopefully the last two will go just as well!
 

Day 36 04/22/11

Well, as I'm sure you all are aware, Llewellin puppies tend to be prone to skin allergies. It's most apparent as puppies and most times they will out grow it as adults. Last evening, I noticed a few of the puppies seem to have minor rashes breaking out on their muzzles, but I couldn't find any blemishes anywhere else as I checked their chests and tummies as well. I don't know if it's due to the pine shavings used in the playpen as bedding or if it's possibly from the food. My suspect is that it's from the pine shavings.  I may try to switch them to cedar bedding to see if that helps any, but for right now I am trying to keep their faces clean and dry.  The pups that seem to be most afflicted right now are Jordy and Jazzy.  

I've posted some puppy profiles so you can read a little more about each of the pups individually.

Please remember that when reading these puppy profiles these are my current observations and are by no means a definitive explanation of how these dogs will turn out as adults.  They will need to be cultivated and can be molded into the perfect dog for your family with a little constructive and consistent training throughout their puppy months.

Just posted more misc photos from week 4 and Week 5 Puppy Portraits. ENJOY!  :0)~
 

Day 35 04/21/11

It's PUPPY SELECTION WEEK, and I know many of you are anxious for puppy selection to begin, but we will all have to wait until the weekend. The folks who have first pick puppy are coming to Hickory Hollow in person to sit with the pups and make their final selection. Things will probably move pretty rapidly after that, so stay tuned just a little longer!

Here's how the pups measured up during this morning's weigh-in at FIVE weeks!

Tonight after dinner we were doing another percussion session and Jordy joined in. He stumbled over Daisy's stainless steel bowl and it overturned on the concrete making quite the racket.  Jordy wasn't sure what he had done at first so he purposely went back and tried to make the noise again by pawing at the bowl and rocking it. He did that several times, taking a big step back each time at the bowls noisy reaction to his playfulness, but pretty soon he tired of that game and went on about his play. This is one of the noises that Jazzy wasn't too keen on and ran and hid, but not for long.
 

This week's milestones: Puppy Socialization / Puppy Selection Week - Pups will belong to a new family!

At the start of this week, the puppies belong to Hickory Hollow, but by the end of the week, they will belong to a new family! Even though they won't know it yet, they will have been spoken for by their new puppy parents and in a couple weeks will get to go to their new homes.

Now that the pups are old enough to have visitors, they will have lots of opportunities for socialization with our big dogs, adults and children. We will also concentrate on acclimating them to noises of all varieties during "percussion sessions" where they will endure rapping on pans, opening and closing of doors, music on the radio, and whatever else I can think of to condition them for life after Hickory Hollow.
 

Week 4

Day 34 04/20/11

Tonight after dinner the pups have a little playtime before they get "pooped" out, so during that time we had a "percussion session" as I like to call it.  I bang on all kinds of things, doors, walls, stainless steel dishes, etc making all kinds of racket. Most of the pups are a little disturbed by the noises at first, but by the time I was done (after a couple minutes of solid noises), the pups no longer care about the "background music" and continue to frolick and play and pounce on each other.

Once noise in particular was frightening for Jazzy, it was when I dropped the stainless steel bowl upside down on the concrete floor from just a few inches above the floor.  She tucked tail and ran from it and hid in a corner, but then slowly peeked out.  It took her a few minutes, but eventually she rejoined the group to frolick and play.
 

Day 33 04/19/11

The pups are doing so well with their weaning that I have stopped feeding canned food already and they are starting to eat dry kibble which has been soaked in water until it's soft. They are gobbling it down like they can't get enough. They are all sharing about 2.5 cups per feeding which expands in volume after being soaked. Of course Daisy, being the good momma that she is, still patiently waits for her pups to finish eating so she can clean up the dinner bowl.  That bowl is SO CLEAN by the time she's done with it that you can hardly tell any food was in it at all!! I should start calling her "Dishwasher Daisy"!

Day 31 04/17/11

The pup's personalities are starting to emerge now, enough that I will be sitting with them this week and taking notes on how they each interact with their siblings, how they react to new noises and their overall disposition.  I will be posting puppy personality profiles to help those who can't be here in person select a puppy that will fit well with their family, although how could you go wrong with any of these babes?  LOL!!

The pups had their 2nd worming today.
 

Day 30 04/16/11

The pups had very special visitors today.  Two families, one from Minnesota and one from Iowa came to see the babies.  They were beginning to form their opinions on which puppy they will select later this week when the pups turn 5 weeks old. Our visits were great and wore the puppies out! They are playing for 10-15 minutes now before they crash and hit the bed -- or zonk out in your lap. :0)~
 

Day 29 04/15/11

Since yesterday morning was such a whirlwind with the relocation to the Puppy Cottage, I didn't get their weights taken at 4 weeks, but I did get them done this morning.  Here's how the pups measured up today:

Weaning has begun!  The pups had their first meal of canned Science Diet softened to a mushy gruel with hot water this morning.  There was no hesitation to that meal. When they each discovered the bowl, they dug in with gusto.  No need for goat's milk with this litter. Daisy has had enough milk to sustain her litter without supplemental help and they are ready for canned food at this point.  They will be getting three of these meals per day.   

Day 28 04/14/11

This morning when I got up at 5 am to take care of puppies, Daisy had managed to get the carpet all folded up in the middle of the box and the puppies were laying on the plastic. I had quite the mess to clean up in the box, and running short on time (which seems to be my never ending motto these days) I decided to take the pups out to the Puppy Cottage.  Luckily I had prepared it the weekend before and boy did that come in handy on this morning.  I relocated the puppies and the LIVE Puppy Cam, which I'm sure many of you noticed, to the Puppy Cottage.  As always the pups were unsure of their new surroundings so they crouched low to the ground an cautiously made their way around all 4 walls.  When they discover the doggy bed they are in 7th Heaven and all curled up together to go to sleep.
 

This week's milestone: Rough Play / Weaning Begins / Move to Puppy Cottage

I am no longer weighing puppies on a daily basis now, however I will still weigh them weekly.

Right now the pups are so sweet and gentle and when they come to see you they are snuggly and want to be held and get some attention. For the most part, they like to crawl into your lap and go to sleep. In a few days, this will all go away and they begin to become little monsters (lovingly referred to of course). They will bite everything they can get their little mouths on including fingers, toes and their favorites... shoelaces! As their little personalities emerge this week, we will be posting puppy personality profiles in preparation for Puppy Selection Week starting next Thursday!
 

Week 3

Day 26 04/12/11

This morning as I was playing with the waking pups, I took the full door off the box and the puppies readily came to greet me, all smiles and wags! Yes, WAGS! They are totally wagging their tails now when you talk to them and pay attention to them.  They were all trying desperately to get to me and kept peeking out the door and over the edge of the box as if daring themselves to take the plunge out the door and onto the carpet where I was sitting.  They are becoming more and more active now and playtime is up to about 7-10 minutes before they crash and sleep for another hour.  

The pups are so big now that Daisy no longer lays down to nurse them, she sits up. Pretty soon she will no longer even sit to nurse and will only stand. Being a first time momma, it's amazing to me to watch her with her pups at different stages of growth and see similarities in how she treats them, just as I have observed HOPE do with her two litters.
 

Day 24 04/10/11

The pups had some very special visitors today from out of state!! It was fun to meet those folks and let them meet Daisy and all the Litter J pups as well as show them Hickory Hollow's Puppy Cottage where the pups will be moving in only a few short days. We anticipate visits from a few more out of state as well as local puppy parents next weekend too!

During the visit we were noticing how soft and thick these puppy's coats are. I think it must have to do with Splash as the sire, his pups coats (past and present) seem to be the thickest and most luxurious of any sire we've had to date. The thickest of the coats seems to be Jordy, Jade and Jewel at this point. Once I wrote that it also occurred to me that these are the largest of the pups too.  I wonder if it has to do with the fact they are getting more of momma's milk than the others?? Something to ponder... 
 

Day 23 04/09/11

First worming

The pups are so fun right now! I love sitting back and watching them develop personalities and try something new for the first time. The pups are walking around well now and are actually starting to get quite zippy. I wouldn't call their extra speediness a "run" quite yet, but it won't be long.

I seriously think this litter is a little ahead of the game in their development progress. They cut teeth earlier, they are larger and they are walking and playing earlier... or maybe it's all in my head.

Week 3 Puppy Portraits are now online. ENJOY! :0)~
 

Day 21 04/07/11

Here's how the pups weigh up at 3 weeks old:

This week's milestones: Play behavior

I know I say this all the time, but this is my absolute favorite time with the pups. Their eyes and ears are open and they are becoming playful and inquisitive about their surroundings. This week the pups will really start playing with each other, even though I think this litter is a bit ahead of the game as they started some of this behavior in the past few days. They will begin to exhibit play bowing, yipping, pouncing and chewing on each other. Their individual personalities begin to develop and they will begin to do some of their natural doggy behavior for the first time.
 

Week 2

Day 20 04/06/11

This evening I had the pleasure of "rocking a baby to sleep" so to speak. Near my bedtime I heard one of the puppies crying in the nursery, it was Jade.  He's actually my fave at the moment so I took him to my room and let him snuggle against my neck while I read a couple chapters of a really good book I'm enjoying right now called "Heaven Is For Real". It's a true story about a little 4 year old Nebraska boy that died, went to Heaven, met Jesus and came back.  It's a "must read" if you haven't done so already!  Anyway, Jade snuggled against my neck and cooed for a good hour or so before I put him back into the box with his siblings.  That did the trick, he fell right back asleep and then so could did I.
 

Day 19 04/05/11

This morning as I was weighing the pups I noticed that they were beginning to exhibit play behavior: pawing at each other's faces, biting at the neck and tackling. It's amazing how mild those actions are right now and how violent they will become in a few short weeks.

Since the pups are getting around on all fours quite well now and a couple of them tried to exit the box this morning, I added the half door to the box so I wouldn't find a little Houdini out on the carpet later in the day.
 

Day 18 04/04/11

Even though the pups ear canals are not all the way open yet, they are reacting to noises. I noticed when I whistled at Daisy some of the pups sat up and looked around.  Their hearing will continue to improve over the next few days as their ear canals deepen and finally open.  After that I will be making all kinds of interesting noises to help desensitize them. At this age, when the pups start hearing things, they are usually frightened by the noise and this is the reason for our conditioning.
 

Day 17 04/03/11

The pups cut teeth today!
 

Day 16 04/02/11

Today during playtime I allowed Benelli (fka Indee from Litter I) to meet her cousins for the first time.  She hopped right into the box and started sniffing the pups and interacting with them.  Then she laid down in the box and the pups tried to nurse off her! It was very cute. Being a puppy herself it was not what I expected but gave me a glimpse of what kind of momma she will be like in a couple years! I did happen to capture this little scenario on video, so I will post that soon. I also took some photos, so see Miscellaneous Litter Photos from Week 2 to see some of them. 
 

Day 15 04/01/11

Wow, pups are 2 weeks old already!! Time flies doesn't it?  Pups are steadily gaining weight as expected because Daisy is eating well and feeding her pups plenty of calorie rich milk.  Daisy is currently eating two meals per day, morning and evening at about 2 cups per meal.

Here's how the pups measure up at 2 weeks old:

Miscellaneous photos from Week 1 have just been posted along with the Week 2 Puppy Portraits! ENJOY!  :0)~
 

This week's milestone:  Cutting Teeth / Ears will open

Now that the puppies eyes are open, they will begin to see clearer and clearer each day. Supposedly they can only see shadows for the first few days, but pretty soon they will begin to notice me as I come into the nursery and will wander to the edge of the box for some love and attention.  

Just as significant as the eyes opening, the ear canals will deepen this week until they will become completely open and allow the pups to hear crisp noises and not just muffled sounds. Later this week, the pups will be noticeably affected by all the new sounds around them, so we must be very careful for the first few days to introduce them to noises gently and not harshly.
 

Week 1

Day 13 03/30/11

Today's eye opening update:

I've noticed it seems that Daisy's pups eyes not only opened faster over a two to three day period, but that both eyes stayed pretty much in sync whereas HOPE's pups in our recent Litter I had pups where there eyes were not at the same stage of openness.  Very interesting...

Day 12 03/29/11

Today's eye opening update:

The pups are all walking pretty well now and getting around the box without much difficulty. It's hard to believe that in a little over a week these pups will be running and jumping. They are also becoming quite vocal and can be heard squealing, squeeking, crying, growling and barking.
 

Day 11 03/28/11

Here's today's eye opening report:

Day 10 03/27/11

Oh my gosh! This morning during Super Dog exercises I noticed that Jade's eyes are both open about half way already!! This prompted me to start looking more closely at the other pups so that I can do an eye opening update!  So at this point, here is how the pups eyes look:

Just posted 1 week portraits! I'm sorry that they were taken a little late for 1 week, so a couple of the pups eyes are starting to open in the portraits. Also posted are the Miscellaneous photos taken during Birth Week! ENJOY!  :0)~

Day 9 03/26/11

Jordy was seen walking today!! He had his belly up off the carpet and slowly took two steps before he fell over. He also is quite hilarious during Super Dog as I've noticed that he has a very cute little rolling growl that he uses in protest during some of the exercises!! It's very funny.

Also, I noticed that Jade's eyes are starting to open. Both corners are now glistening...
 

Day 8 03/25/11

The division between the pups upper and lower eyelids are starting to deepen and become more pronounced as they prepare to separate this week, revealing the beautiful glistening baby blues beneath. It will be exciting to see them opening soon!
 

Day 7 03/24/11

The pups are eating well and growing fast. Here's how they measure up at 1 week old. For comparison to our recent Litter I, these pups are almost 1/4 to 1/2 pound heavier at this exact age.  WOW!

This week's developmental milestone:  Eyes will open!

I think the most exciting developmental change happens for the pups this week, their eyes will be opening about mid-week. Once they do, the pups take on a whole new appearance and personalities start to emerge.  The process starts when the crease between their eyelids starts to deepen until they separate, first at the middle corner of the eye and then working across to the outside edges.  The opening process can take a couple days from the first peak of the glistening eye beneath until we are able to entirely see those beautiful baby blues.
 

Birth week

Day 5 03/22/11

Unbelievable!! Last night was the first night I was awakened by the sound of a 5 day old puppy barking!!  Well, not the first night EVER, but the first night of Litter J, LOL!!  Over the next few days the pups will start to vocalize more and will find their voices.  Whining, whimpering and even barking will become more frequent as the pups age.
 

Day 4 03/21/11

I just can't say enough about what a good momma Daisy has become. She is very concerned about each and every one of her puppies and is very concerned when one is whining. She is quick to investigate even the smallest whimper.  It's neat to see how quickly she has become so dedicated as well as protective.  

She is quick to growl at the other dogs who might be lurking outside the nursery door just waiting to get a glimpse of the new babies.  All the adult dogs love puppies.  When the nursery door opens Daisy takes a stiff stance and blocks off the pathway into the nursery to both Duchess and HOPE, but will allow Quincy inside (Quincy is my 95# German Shepherd which has been dubbed "The Pupsitter" because all the momma dogs seem to trust him right off the bat when the other female dogs are not allowed anywhere near).
 

Day 3 03/20/11

Today was the start of the Super Dog program. If you don't know what this is, you can read more about it here:  Super Dog Program

I certainly believe that these methods of helping to stimulate the growth of the puppy's nervous systems do work, otherwise I wouldn't do them. Most pups don't mind being put in the weird positions, but some are uncomfortable with it and complain a little.  I only hold them in these positions for 5 seconds at most so it's over and done with very quickly.
 

Day 2 03/19/11

Pups had their dewclaws removed today. Umbilicords have dried up and have fallen off.
 

Day 1 03/18/11

Momma and pups are all doing well today. Daisy has eased into motherhood quite well for her first litter and is being very attentive to her newborns.  As I was taking photos, if a pup seemed distressed, Daisy would run over and investigate into why they were crying. She seemed as if she wanted to pick it up and take it away from me. She was restless until I put each pup back into the box. What a good momma.

All the pups gained significant weight overnight and I am very pleased with their morning weights.

The pups have now been revealed! Pup names and birthday photos are now online! ENJOY!

All five pups are healthy and doing great!  

Newborns are so tiny and delicate. At this stage all they do is eat and sleep and are never completely still. They tend to twitch, jerk and stretch even while sleeping. They also have instinctive reflexes to crawl, seek warmth and nurse.

Tuesday, August 13th, 2013

12:15 am - HOPE is really restless tonight, she's nesting and panting like crazy.  If I didn't know any better I'd think she was in labor right now and about to pop out a pup!  Needless to say I'm keeping an eye on her for a while. Weird though... I haven't seen the tell-tale drop in temp to 98.4 or lower so I'm skeptical, however I may have just plain missed it???  Usually when it drops it stays down and doesn't come back up. Her current temp is 100.0. Hmmmm......     

HOPE is definitely in labor!
3:20 am - presentation of the initial water sack
4:50 am - visible contractions are seen
5:18 am - hard labor begins

6:18 am - still having hard contractions but no pup after well over an hour. Gloved finger palpation indicates a pup in birth canal, but any forward movement gained on contractions is lost when contractions stop and pup retracts deep back into birth canal.  I suspect the pup is either stuck or the placenta has not fully detached and thus no further forward movement.

6:38 am - I'm getting worried since pup has been in birth canal so long, so I am calling the vet.

6:45 am - heading towards the vet hospital for the doctor to take a look at her.  I'm bringing along the puppy "ready box" with hot water bottle just in case she ends up having pups at the hospital I will have something to bring them home in.

7:30 am - Dr. Ryan Steen palpates puppy in birth canal and with gloved fingers tries to assist the pup in exiting the birth canal. He makes several good attempts to extract the puppy while HOPE aids with her natural contractions and when uneventful calls in a second female doctor with smaller fingers to give it a try.  Eventually Dr. Steen comes to the same conclusions as I did a while earlier.  He recommends C-section immediately and is worried about the viability of the puppy which is stuck. I agree.  

8:00 am - They take Hope in the back to start prepping her and the OR for surgery while Dr. Steen clears his calendar of his regular appointments.

8:45 am - HOPE  goes into surgery.  Being a prior vet tech myself, I am allowed to observe the surgery and assist the vet techs rub puppies awake immediately after they are taken from momma's womb.

9:05 am - the first boy which was stuck in the birth canal is brought out and handed to Ashley. He was covered in green goo and the placenta looked black.  Upon seeing him my heart sank, but bless her heart, Ashley gave it all she had, she used the bulb to suck fluid out of his mouth and nostrils and rubbed him intently and vigorously and I'll be darned if after about 5 minutes she didn't have that puppy screaming at the top of his lungs! He eventually pinked up and started squirming to get out of her grasp.  

9: 08 am - I am ready at the OR door to acccept pup #2 from the doctors. I immediately break the sac encasing the pup to let out the fluid and gain access to the pups head to dry it off and suck fluid from the mouth and nose as Ashley had done for the first pup. Then I started rubbing vigorusly too, pretty quickly the pup started blowing little bubbles out his nose which I promptly dried off.  I kept bulbing the fluid out of the mouth and nostrils and my pup luckily revived much faster than pup #1.  

9:11 am - Over the next 15 minutes or so, one by one all the pups were placed into the capable hands of all the vet techs at Frey Pet Hospital.  

9:24 am - The last little female pup #7 was not reviving as quickly as she should've been so I asked Ashley to work on her like she did pup #1.  She rubbed and rubbed and the pup didn't move.  I held my breath as I watched helplessly, praying to see some sign of life.  The pup was still pretty grey like they are when they are first born and haven't taken a breath yet and my heart was sinking.  Ashley got out the stethoscope and listened for a heartbeat and all hope was restored when she said she heard one.  She rubbed even hearder and bulbed the mouth and nostrisl again and again.  It felt like forever as we waited for some signs of life.  As a last resort Ashley did a couple long swings on the pup, from overhead down to between her legs she gently swung the pup with her head down a few times to let gravity help pull the fluid from her respiratory system. When the pup started blowing a few bubbles we knew we were heading in the right direction.  Then when pup #7 started crying Ashley put her next to the oxygen tube to give her even more support and within under a minute of seeing those first bubbles she had finally pinked up!!!

9:45 am - Once all the pups were pinked up and doing well, the umbilical cords were tied off with surgical suture and cut.  Once they were free of their placentas they were all placed into the "ready box" on a heated pad until they could be rejoined with momma in the recovery room.

I know I cried a few tears today over the joys of saving both pup #1 and pup #7 and told Ashley I wanted to hug her for what she did. I thanked all the vet techs for their participation.  Praise God for answering prayer! And I thank Him for Ashley and all the rest of the knowledgeable doctors and vet techs at Frey Pet Hospital who helped to save both HOPE and her precious litter today.

Here's the birth order list:

10:00 am - HOPE is finally out of surgery and moved to the recovery room where she is placed on a heating mat and covered with a heated blanket. One of the vet techs was sitting on the floor with her by her kennel, making sure she's okay, talking to her and softly stroking her head.  I am truly grateful for the heartfelt compassion that these great folks have shown HOPE.  

10:05 am - Dr. Steen told me that he did have a difficult time getting the placentas to detach from the first three pups during surgery, so he suspects that along with the fact the first pup was stuck was confirmation that doing the c-section was the right thing to do. He praised me for recognizing the signs and acting upon them to do the right thing. He says he doubts she could've had this litter naturally. Dr. Steen  did not spay HOPE during the surgery and says in the future she could have another litter.  

10:15 am - Once we got all the puppies in the ready box, I went to sit with HOPE in the recovery room.  She was still groggy and doped up, wide-eyed and seemingly confused.  Once I sat down next to her, she seemed comforted and eased up, layed down and releaxed.  

10:45 am - HOPE was introduced to her litter of puppies and they all were placed next to her so they could latch on and get some nourishment.

12:00 pm - HOPE is released from the hospital and we head home towards Hickory Hollow with a healthy litter of 7 pink-nosed puppies.   I'm so exhaused I can hardly stay awake for the drive home, but I'm thinking I will be able to hit the hay soon.

1:00 pm - I finally get the whelping box set up, heat lamp and heating tray warmed up and Momma HOPE and puppies settled into their new home for the next 4 weeks.  HOPE seems to be doing well, is walking around like she never had surgery and is taking good care of her little babes as she has always done.  I'm so impressed with her mothering skills.

3:00 pm - I begin to get worried about pup #1, he has been crying almost non-stop since the ride home from the pet hospital and refuses to latch on to momma for some nourishment. He feels cold and limp to me, so I need to make sure he's under the warming lamp.  Pups generally will only cry when cold or sickly, not necessarily when they are hungry, so first and foremost I need to make sure he gets warm and then reassess his situation.  Secondly, since he seems to be the only one that has not latched on for a meal yet, I gave him 1/3 cc Nutri Drops for puppies to provide nourishment until he decides to suckle.  I will keep a close eye on him today and keep trying to get him to latch on.  Some have suggested tube feeding and I had considered that, but I will only use the tube feeding method as a last resort.  Tube feeding is so traumatizing in nature for the little pup (and for me) to gag on it while it is being placed all the way into the stomach, not to mention the risks of aspiration are high which can further complicate the pup's health.

5:00 - 8:00 pm - I finally get a few hours of much needed rest.  By the time I actually went to bed my head was swimming and I literally could not see straight.  I promise to take puppy portraits and get the LIVE Puppy Cam going tomorrow... Just too tired...

8:30 pm - FINALLY got pup #1 to latch on and suckle!!  WHEW!! Again another Praise God moment among many this day.

11:25 pm - last check on pups before heading to bed for a FULL night's rest...  Pup #1 is doing much better now and has atually gained some weight since his first weigh-in earlier this afternoon. He went from 14.3 oz to 14.5 oz which is certainly a step in the right direction.  He also latches on more quickly when I mechanically open his mouth and put him on the teat. Now he readily accepts it and starts suckling whereas before would spit it back out. This time I even caught him using his front paws to instinctively kneed the teat to help extract milk.  I pray he will continue to improve and actually start finding the teat on his own to suckle.

GOOD NIGHT ALL!
 

Sunday, August 11th, 2013

It's time to play the Litter L Name Game!! Send me your "L" name suggestions for pups in this litter. If your suggestions are extraordinary or are unique enough, we might just use it to name one of our puppies!  Send your suggestions to puppies@hickoryhollowllewellins or join our discussion on Facebook.  It's fun to be part of the discussion!    
 

Saturday, August 10th, 2013

Since the whelping date is fast approaching, as of last evening I've been taking HOPE's temperature morning and evening to monitor her progress. Her normal temp is around 101.5 but this last week of pregnancy it drops to around 99 and hovers there until her due date. I'm waiting for the tell-tale temperature drop from about 99 degrees down to 98.4 or lower which will indicate she's going to whelp within the next 12 to 24 hours.   At that point I don't go anywhere and am pretty much house-bound until the little darlings arrive!

Also, good news! We finally got the LIVE Puppy Cam up and running wirelessly on the Hickory Hollow network. And although the firmware doesn't work quite like our last camera, we did get it published to our LIVE Puppy Cam page (coming onine soon).  Unfortunately with the way we had to broadcast this camera's live feed to the internet, the HD quality is lost in the upload process. The live feed looks great if you are behind the HHLS firewall on the Local Area Network, but as soon as it's broadcast up through a cloud service to the web it loses significant quality.  Hopefully it will still be better for our faithful viewers than the last camera.  
 

Friday, August 9th, 2013

Today HOPE had an x-ray to get a final head count on Litter L.  The vet counted 7 puppies, looking first for skulls and then the corresponding spines of each pup.  I concur with the vet.  

Here's the x-ray, see if you can count all seven for yourself!  (click to enlarge)

Also, if you haven't already done so, please join us on Facebook for more discussions on the topic and enjoy all the fun posts from other Hickory Hollow Llewellin fans. We've got a great bunch of folks on there. Here's the link:   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hickory-Hollow-Llewellin-Setters/131530150244398
 

Thursday, August 8th, 2013

Our new LIVE Puppy Cam arrived today and I've been working tirelessly to get it installed on the Hickory Hollow network and a port opened on our router to allow you all to see it from the internet. So far it's been a frustrating endeavor, whoever said Plug-n-Play should be easy was wrong on this camera! Fooey!   
 

Tuesday, August 6th, 2013

Bought a new LIVE Puppy Cam today, with Pan/Tilt/Zoom and in HD!! Can't wait to see how this one will work out as compared to the camera used for past litters. Stay tuned!  
 

Tuesday, July 16th, 2013

GOOD NEWS! As I'm sure you all have been anxiously waiting to hear, HOPE is indeed pregnant and is carrying Litter L.  Pups should be due around August 16, so we are at about five weeks gestation now.  Only four more weeks to go!

We confirmed HOPE's pregnancy today by ultrasound. The vet says that she counted at least 5 pups with healthy movement and strong heartbeats.  As in past litters, we anticipate more than the ultrasound usually shows, so we will be doing an x-ray in about 3 more weeks to get a total head count for the litter.  It always helps to know how many pups to expect on whelping day and takes away some of the guesswork and stress involved.  

Here are the ultrasound photos from today. ENJOY! :0)~

Sunday, June 16th, 2013

No breeding this morning before heading home, but we did get one final breeding last night before bedtime, so all is well. Now we just have to wait 28 days to confirm pregnancy.  Nothing will really happen between now and then, so stay tuned around July 17th or so.  
 

Friday, June 14th, 2013

All is going well, practically textbook perfect if you ask me!  HOPE's cycle is progressing exactly as expected and we've had successful breedings on day 8 (June 12), and day 10 (June 14) so far.  We hope to get one last breeding on Saturday night or Sunday morning (June 15/16) before she returns to Iowa.  
 

Saturday, June 8th, 2013

I met Jimmy's dad in Des Moines to transfer HOPE for her week of "vacation" partying with Jimmy next week in Kansas City.  Thanks Dick for meeting me, that saved me so much drive time! You're one in a million!

Dick reported that as soon as he arrived home with HOPE, she and Jimmy got frisky and the breeding has begun!  It seems she's standing earlier than expected, but a good thing that she arrived in Kansas City earlier as opposed to later in her cycle.  I look forward to regular updates on the progress from Jimmy's dad.
 

Tuesday, June 4th, 2013

HOPE is in heat and is scheduled to be bred next week, June 10-16, 2013. I plan to take her to Kansas City for her meeting with Jimmy this weekend.