27 April 2016
Early in the morning on April 18th, six robust and healthy Kensington Tibetan Terrier puppies were born here in Stowe, Vermont. Four males and two females out of Gigi x Oskar, a repeat breeding of what we did in 2014. All have forever homes and I believe I’ll be keeping one of the females. Her working name is Willow . . . but I think it should have been Angelina Jolie. I do believe that this lady in the making would be able to pilot a plane, shake down a fellow warrior and raise six or seven kids of her own. Time will tell.
This time, I believe that Gigi held her puppies until Day 60 in her body; hence, more development in utero. Additionally, I believe that her milk was fully ‘in’ at the time of birth and so? The newborn puppies hit the ground running! They are quiet and relaxed, well fed in the belly department, and are enjoying being handled and held in our hands and on their backs. This is great, as it is an indication of submission and relaxation, as opposed to will and obstinence. They get formally weighed and examined daily, not counting our happy visits, and have been introduced to the touch and sounds of children, traffic, women and one man already. Carroll and Barry have been here twice to visit their little man, Clooney. He is marked very much like my Oliver and has a terrific head. I am happy that he will be living close by, as I want to watch his development to see how closely it will follow my expectations.
It has been a crazy few days and this is not about to abate. Fortunately, Miss Kate will arrive on Friday to care for all of us and we get eight hours of her time, every week. Then, our favorite vet tech of all time, Jenifer, will arrive on Friday afternoon to overnight with Gi and the pups, as I drive south to NEWARK, NJ to pick up Beckham, a new male puppy I am welcoming from Sweden. He is a Shadeacre puppy, bred by Markus Gisslen and he has Waterley, Alilah, the infamous Rowan and a couple of other fine bloodlines behind him. I’ve admired Alilah and Waterley Tibetan Terriers since 2011, when I first put my hands on them, over in England. A lot of driving – but our good friend Cheryl will host us in the Catskills, on our way home. Yogi James awaits our arrival and I think I will bring the lovely Billie Jean and the fabulous Ziva, to keep the new pup company. My Jetta wagon has no rear seats and can be outfitted for adventures such as this. I will be able to set up a puppy pen with toys, a shearling bed, etc. and Billie & Ziva will puppy sit, as they have for other puppies before Beckham.
My, oh my. Add to that, our AI breeding yesterday of Ziva x Charlie . . . driving from Stowe, VT through Boston in rush hour traffic IN THE RAIN? The drive took five hours. So stressful and not at all what I had in mind. I built an extra half hour into my itinerary but that was a drop in the bucket. Barbara Berube waited patiently for me and Charlie was in fine form and it just might be that it was worth the wait for him. ;>)
How wonderful it was to meet another extremely intelligent holistic vet, Dr. Mark Russo – voted the “New Dr. Doolittle of Massachusetts” – at the Kingston Animal Hospital in Massachusetts. We discussed the arthritis in my hands. We discussed a raw food diet for canines. We discussed Dr. Mark’s heritage and his spiritual orientation – and he told me that his recently deceased father greeted him every morning upon his arrival at the animal hospital and told him what he should be doing that day. His contemporary reply to me was, ‘I didn’t listen to him then – and I don’t listen to him now’. ;>)
Oh, I love great vets. Dr. Matt Wilson in Topsfield is another wonderful small animal vet! Dr. Cindy Pratt at Lamoille Valley Veterinary Hospital is at the top of the heap, especially for reproductive veterinary medicine. Don’t even get me going on Dr. William C. Truesdale, down in Seekonk, Massachusetts. He introduced me to ‘collection’ methods in his tennis whites. And if you don’t know what I mean? Consider yourself happily uninformed!
Aza boarded with us for twelve days, while her humans were in Paris. We were gifted with a box of Laduree macarons, upon their return: the loveliest, most delicate and delightful confections, especially the rose petal flavor. Ooh, la la! Aza is out of the first Gigi x Oskar breeding in 2014. She was delivered with an arsenal of Stella & Chewy’s patties and other special foods, as her mum thought she might be depressed by their departure. Depressed? Not a sign of it! However, as a non food-driven girl, she was happy to share her meals and my kids got spoiled. We’ll get back to normal, soon. In the meantime? They’re munching on lamb bones, blanched green beans and AGA roasted broccoli and asparagus in garlic-infused olive oil. I’ve got a batch of organic sweet potato crisps drying in the AGA and made too much for dinner; hence, the broccoli and asparagus pour les chiens.
OK. I had thought I’d be writing about something else . . . but here, you have it. Everyone wants pictures! I am sleep deprived and excited; thoroughly committed to what we do and loving every minute of it. So grateful that I am able to have a team of three! to help with the whelping and overnight care – and daytime help and photography.
Aren’t we lucky? Yes! and I am grateful. We are so blessed!
And thank you, Markus! We love our Beckham. He will make you proud. ;>)
Happy spring!