briards
Coeurs Celestes
January 14
Last few days Skylar had another date with her lover Odin.
We hope for a positive ultrasound in 4 weeks.
February 7
This morning we finally got the confirmation that Skylar is pregnant. We are very much looking forward to another basket full of healthy sweet puppies.
February 23
Skylar is doing great. She is satisfied and happy. But oh, how hungry she is!
Nothing is safe from her anymore. Little by little she is getting more food now. She already has a nice round belly and the nipples are swelling.
The puppies now look like little dogs in the womb. Their organs are developed and sex is determined. The heartbeat can now be heard clearly with a stethoscope and we are happy to do that. Skylar is fine with it because she loves to have her tummy tickled.
March 7th
Our girl is having a hard time. She is also so very fat... wonder what beautiful things she will give us again. She has now gained more than 6 kg and her belly size has increased by 10 cm.
She hasn't eaten all of her food since yesterday. Her appetite was huge until then, but there is simply too little space left. We now just divide the portions over the day so that she still gets enough food, she will need it very much later when the kids are born.
She also needs to urinate more often than usual. Then go outside with her at night, which she likes very much because she has to go very much.
The last stretch now. The pups should be born from Wednesday (day 57) because then they are viable. They can stay with mom for a few days longer for me, but for Skylar I hope that she is soon relieved of her heavy burden. Can we go enjoy the uks.
Everything is ready. The whelping box has been standing for a week and all the stuff has been taken from the attic again.
March 16
After a long and hard day we can finally bring the happy news that Skylar gave birth to 10 beautiful healthy puppies yesterday. This delivery was heavier than the last and it took our sweet girl a lot of energy to bring them into the world. Have assisted her all this time and helped to bring these beautiful miracles into the world. Mom and puppies are doing well. Grab some extra rest and then enjoy.
The future owners will be personally informed.
21 March
Last Saturday our joy turned into great sadness. Skylar was not feeling well the day before and had been given antibiotics by the vet. At night she wanted to get out to pee and outside she collapsed on her legs. I carried her home and we rushed to the vet. There, after an IV and an ultrasound, it turned out that her belly was full of fluid, so she had peritonitis. We urgently went to the animal hospital in Waalwijk. She was operated on there. Her peritoneum was completely torn and there were two tears in her uterus. She is now still critical in intensive care. Had a blood transfusion this afternoon because she keeps losing blood. We hope that our girl will recover and become our old Sky again. We are now raising her puppies with the bottle and they are growing well. A tough job but we do it with all the love. Tomorrow they will be a week.
A few pictures from the first days.
March 25
Miraculously and we are so happy that Skylar was allowed to go home last Wednesday evening. She was making good progress and as it turned out she was getting depressed in the clinic we decided it was better for her to recuperate at home. She fought so much my girl and she has surrendered so much but she is so strong that she survived this. When she returned home, she immediately went to her puppies, ignoring the other girls, in the whelping box. So touching and the puppies immediately crawled around her. Unfortunately, she is no longer allowed to feed. Would cost her way too much energy and she really needs it to regain her strength. She also has a major abdominal wound and medication. She is sometimes allowed to visit the puppies with a recovery suit so that the puppies do not cause any damage. She does lie all day at the opening of the whelping box and she can clean them when they are bottled. Let's hope she's back to normal soon. We can enjoy the puppies. Of course we have our hands more than full with all the care for Skylar and the puppies, but we do it with all the love. In addition, we have wonderfully sweet people, family and friends around us who help us with this, without their laundry and even more intensively than it already is. The puppies are now 10 days old and slowly their eyes are opening. They grow like cabbage and are very satisfied. I will put all further information on a separate page PUPS.