Piccolo has seven puppies in the hopper!

12 November 2019

And yes, we knew she was pregnant.  But yesterday we learned and saw that our dear GRCH Kensington’s Pic, Pic, Piccolo! is carrying seven very well developed puppies!  Obviously, we won’t know gender or coat color until they’ve arrived, dried and we’ve had a chance to study them – at least the markings will be quite apparent, upon arrival, and those markings will help us tell them apart.  As we bred sable Oskar to charcoal Piccolo, we’re hoping for at least a few sable coated puppies.  Fingers crossed!

Ziva’s puppies are several days more than four weeks old now and have begun their weaning onto a gruel of Royal Canin’s Starter kibble and water.  The proportions of kibble to water are very important at this stage, as the puppies’ digestive systems are not yet totally mature.  We present them with their gruel three times daily, while Lady Ziva continues with her sporadic nursing.  I actually think she prefers nursing at night, when the house is quiet and the lights are low.  Whatever she’s doing has to be more than enough, as her puppies are growing about 4 to 5% in their body weight daily.  Coats are glossy black with small white markings.  Eyes are bright and heads are gorgeous.  I am very pleased with our Beckham x Ziva puppies.

Koko’s puppies will be four weeks old tomorrow and so, they’ve recently been introduced to a canned Starter Mousse slurry.  The starter mousse slurry is the first step in the weaning process.  Next comes straight canned starter mousse and finally, the gruel of crushed starter kibble with water.  Koko is a wonderful mum, when it comes to staying with her babies to feed them and keep them warm.  But same as last time?  She’s just not that interested in keeping her babies’ butts clean and so, that job falls to me.  We call it ‘irrigation’ and since puppy stools are pretty loose, it dries like cement.  More than you wanted to know?  Oh, you have no idea how much there is to this process that you don’t want to know!  Irrigation baths are just the beginning.  ;>)

Leo was here boarding for five days, during which time we had him successfully collected and his semen evaluated.  He’s shooting live ones, whoo hoo!  At fourteen months, he appears to be mature with all of his parts in the right places and we look forward to using him with Lady Piper, come spring.

Life is pretty good, today.  I slept well and am still on top of the laundry.  We cleaned one of the puppy pens yesterday morning and had a full load for the doggie Bosch.  Being efficient always gives me satisfaction and being able to fit everything in the machine keeps my house smelling neutral.  And my dear friend Lady Cheryl arrives tomorrow to help with Piccolo’s whelping, during which time my current routine will go to hell.

The heavy wet snow is still falling and the roads are quiet.  The only traffic going by seems to be the snow plows and an occasional commercial vehicle.  I continue to clip puppy toenails but really need Lady Tracy’s help.  I can handle the fronts with my jeweler’s headgear – but it’s tricky for me to do the little rears and having a second pair of hands makes a huge difference.  Lady Tracy raises birds, so she’s well experienced with toenail clipping of tiny creatures.

It takes a village!  And I am grateful to have the village of Stowe, Vermont in which to breed and raise our Kensington Tibetan Terrier puppies.  Thank you, friends!

Next up?  We are watching Piccolo intently and keeping notes that will become part of her litter file.  She’s still eating, although very selectively.  Once she refuses her favorite foods?  I’ll know to expect puppies within 24 hours.  Then, we’ll watch for the ‘doe eyed’ look – you know, the ‘deer in the headlights’ stare.  And soon, the panting.  And then, the contractions.  She is seeming very much like her paternal grandmother Georgie Girl.  Gigi was a terrific natural whelper.  Fingers crossed for puppies during the day!

I must prepare Piccolo’s whelping room today, as I have a hunch we’re going to see puppies within a very few days.  We’re going to use my kitchen office, as that’s where the incubator and oxygen concentrating units are located.  Oranges to Buddha and fingers crossed for vigorous & healthy babies!

Thank you for your support.