Kensington Tibetan Terriers

23 January 2017

Newborn Tibetan Terriers; January 9, 2017.

The pace of Ziva x Yogi’s puppies’ growth has been steady, since they were born.  We have seven two week old puppies, averaging just a little over a pound in body weight.  Mr. Phelps is the biggest at 20 ounces and Rio is the smallest, at just under one pound.  Their coats are thick and glisten shiny black with accents of white, at their necks, on their forelegs and chests.  This litter is healthy and active, with a lot of bone.  They will be gorgeous Tibetan Terriers.  Eyes should be opening in a couple of days and with that comes full development of their senses of sight and hearing.  A whole new world looms ahead!

Still image from an ultrasound; March 21, 2016.

Some years’ back, we learned that the rise and fall of progesterone levels can identify specific biological happenings in female dogs.  With this information in mind, we’ve been using progesterone levels to identify ovulation and the theoretical ‘best’ times to breed.  With this next litter, we will see whether we can catch the dramatic fall in progesterone levels that will tell us how soon whelping will begin.  It would be wonderfully helpful to have a biological indication, in addition to the behavioral indications we watch for.  We are looking for a level of 2ng/ml of blood, which will tell us that we are 36-48 hours from whelping.  At 1ng/ml, whelping happens.

The AKC has recently developed a ‘Canine College’, through which anyone can take online classes and learn about many dog-related topics.  I’ve taken two of the beginning breeding classes and think it’s terrific to have experienced breeders sharing their experiences, along with the science that goes along with the stories.  These online classes can serve as that ‘second set of eyes’ we all want to have, when confronted by an unusual situation in the whelping box.

Jenifer Wagner was at my right side, this last litter.  She has been a great emotional support to me, in addition to her veterinary experience that always gives me the sense that we are ready for just about anything Mother Nature might throw at us.  I can’t thank her enough, except to say that without her help, it’s always much more stressful for me.

In the next three or four weeks, friends of ours will be expecting litters, too, and we look forward to being able to report on our experience with these new progesterone whelping indicators.  Every responsible breeder wants to be prepared and the more information you have, (I think) the better.

8 January 2017

So, here we sit.  It’s 4pm and I am in the AGA room in the antique end of the house with the lovely Ziva and her rotund belly, sweet Kodi, our rambunctious Lily Rose and ‘ever ready for a nose dive into the couch’ Oliver.

Ziva winning the Breed, under Becky

We await the arrival of Ziva’s first contractions.  And I am always nervous about such things, as I don’t want anything to go wrong.

This whelping will be a little different, as we’re utilizing a baby monitor at night to get used to Ziva’s normal nighttime sounds, so that I won’t miss a trick, as I did last time with Billie Jean.  I have been on 24/7 duty for 2 days and everything else is on hold.  Ziva is my focus, even with Billie out on the circuit this weekend.  She took the Breed yesterday but didn’t place in the Group.  I was disappointed – but someone else got to win.  Whoo hoo, for them!  ;>)

Since our last litter, we’ve switched repro vets, as I sold my Princeton, Massachusetts project last year – so now?  I’m way too far from Dr. William C. Truesdale in Seekonk, MA – and still too far from Broadview Animal Hospital in Rochester, NH and their WONDERFUL Dr. Michael Norris with his terrific repro vet techs – so, we’re working with LVVS in Hyde Park, Vermont for the first time and without any corroborating progesterone tests or gestational opinions from either Doc Truesdale or Broadview.  We’ve switched machines – from a Mini Vidas and two hour T/A – to sending blood out to an Antech lab and getting results 24 hours later, assuming that FedEx picks up.  And I’ve had that experience, too: ‘What do you mean, FedEx didn’t pick up the blood?  And I have to wait until Tuesday?  You didn’t know they weren’t going to pick up, the Friday after Thanksgiving?  So, I have to WAIT FOUR DAYS???  ARE YOU CHARGING ME???’

Seriously, caramelizing onions at a time like this?!

Not ideal – but, our new norm and we will get used to it and learn to work with the 24 hour delay.  And I’ve since told my evil twin to take a chill pill and so, she’s carmelizing onions and baking bread, to keep busy.  Better that, than, run her mouth.  ;>)

Once you’ve become accustomed to a 24 hour T/A, it becomes acceptable – even though I don’t think I’ll ever lose interest in the fastest T/A possible.  And progesterone levels are great determinants for determining both breeding windows and whelping immediacy.  However, with a 24 hour lag time?  I’ll be watching and listening to Ziva’s behavior like a hawk, nevermind hauling her off to have blood drawn tomorrow morning and schlepping the lovely through sub zero temps.

What, you worried? I was fine!

So, here, we sit.

For the last three nights, I slept on the doggie couch, as Ziva was beginning to ‘stick like glue’ and I am also finessing house training the lovely Lily Rose.  So, if Lily barks the right way, I let her out, so that I can praise her for doing her business outside.  Now, the flip side of that is also true: if she barks because she simply wants out?  I holler back (as though she understands me), ‘Stop it!  Go back to sleep!’  Nine times out of ten?  I am right and my strategy works.

So, I continue to sit, practicing with the finely tuned ear I inherited from my mother and doing my best to discern the nuances among the many barks that come from a crate confined puppy in the night.  Honestly?  Every day, I question my sanity.

Tonight is another night.  Our favorite vet tech in the world comes for dinner and we will order out and have PieCasso deliver.  I don’t think we have puppies in the immediate future – so, I should probably run out to do an errand NOW.  Jen and I will practice with the baby monitor.  The heating pads are on and in position in the new baby nest & in the whelping box, should Ziva decide that the couch is better.  I do not believe the puppies will come tonight.  But Monday or Tuesday?  Maybe!

We will hope for a gentle and uneventful whelping, sometime soon.  Keep you posted.