Cordie's Weight Gain 📈

I've been tracking Cordie's weight gain during her pregnancy and I made a nifty chart. So far she's gained 8 lbs. from 36 to 44 lbs. She is happy, hungry and healthy.

Day 45

Are you ready to get a puppy?

Are you ready to get a puppy?

Sharing from Vizsla Puppies Facebook group -- A MUST READ!

Ready everyone??!! Before you buy your first puppy, take this test to find out if you can cope with living and looking after your puppy:

This test is best taken in the autumn or mid winter!

1. Buy a lead and tie it to a big stone, walk around dragging the stone behind you

2. Get up at 5am, go out in the pouring rain and walk up and down a muddy path, repeating good girl/boy, "wee wees...poo poos, quickly please"

3. Stuff your pockets with plastic bags and pick up all the dog poo you can find, obviously not your dog's as you have not bought it yet

4. Start wearing your shoes indoors, especially during muddy times

5. Collect leaves off the ground and spread them on the floor

6. Carry sticks and branches indoors and chop them up on your carpet

7. Pour cold applejuice on the rug and floor....walk barefooted over it in the dark

8. Drop some chocolate pudding on your carpet in the morning and then try to clean it in the evening

9. Wear socks to which you have made holes using a blender

10. Jump out of your favorite chair just before the movie ends and run to open the back door

11. Cover all your best clothes with dog hair, dark clothes with blond hairs and light clothes with dark hairs

12. Tip all just ironed clothes on the floor

13. Make little pin holes in all your funiture, especially chair and table legs

14. When doing dishes, splash water all over the place and don't wipe it.

15. Spread toilet paper all over the house when you leave the house and tidy up when you get back home

16. Forget any impulse holidays and/or breaks

17. Always go home straight after work or school

18. Go walkies no matter what the weather, and inspect every dirty paper, chewing gum and dead fly you might find

19. Stand at your back door at five in the morning shouting "Bring Mr Bumble and Mr Lion in, it's raining!"

20. Wake up at 3am. Place a bag of flour on top of yourself and try to sleep, while wiping your face with a wet dishcloth, which you have left next to your bed in a bowl last week.

Repeat everyday over 6 months and if you still think getting a puppy sounds like a good idea, congratulations, you might be ready to get your puppy! 😆😆😆

Homemade bone broth!

Nom nom nom! Homemade bone broth (chicken and beef) 🐔🐄

Tip: I strain mine with cheesecloth for a clear/gelatinous version!

Link: "How To Make Bone Broth For Your Dog" https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/how-to-make-bone-broth-for-your-dog/

Confident Crate Training

3 month old Cordie riding in the car

Excellent step by step article on Crate Training by Austerlitz German Shepherd Dogs https://austerlitzshepherds.com/2018/11/confident-crating-a-guide-for-the-new-puppy-owner/?fbclid=IwAR31psjWfSbYlzusxl3242jbqOYPgw7xFlwusjYYL8Jx-ttY925oRCAthrE

These are fool proof steps for nighttime crating . . .

Crate your puppy at night, but not alone. Puppies are sensitive to separation and will vocalize when they feel isolated.   This is very strong survival instinct that has it’s roots in the dog’s evolution, long before it was a pet. Here are some suggestions to bypass separation distress.

• At night, crate your puppy on your bed, or place the crate at bed height right next to your bed.   Your breathing and movement will help sooth a puppy and prevent it from feeling “lost” and alone.
• Provide a large stuffed animal, or Snuggle Buddy, for the puppy to cuddle with at night.
• For every night your puppy sleeps at least 6 hours without waking, you can move the crate 1 foot away from your bed until you reach the area of the bedroom where you would like your bedtime crate to be located.
• Put a tired puppy to bed with the last person to retire for the night.   Feed dinner at least 3 hours before  bedtime, and take water up 1 hour before bedtime.   Calmly walk the puppy for at least 10 minutes before putting it to bed.
• If your puppy is fussing at night, offer it a chance to potty. Keep nighttime potty breaks “businesslike.” Simply carry the puppy out, clip the leash on, and stand in one place for no more than 3 minutes while the puppy relieves itself. Do not talk, play or feed your puppy. Doing these things distract from the purpose of the potty break and can teach your puppy to wake you up for play and treats.
• Be consistent in the nighttime pottybreak protocol. You want your puppy to learn to “ask out” if it needs to void in the night (otherwise, it may learn to void in the crate) but you don’t want to teach your puppy that waking you up has ANY purpose other than going to the potty.
• When 3 minutes is up, carry the puppy back to it’s crate on your bed, place it inside, close the door and turn out the lights and go back to sleep.
• Repeat EVERY time your puppy vocalizes in the night crate, your puppy will learn to ask out only to potty during the night.  This process may take a week, so be prepared.
• Do not offer chews or pacifiers in the Night Crate.  Nighttime is for sleeping, and sleepy puppies need to sleep.
• Soothing music, scents (such as Adaptal)and a cool room will help puppies sleep.

Cordie Update Day 43

Cordie went for her "reverse progesterone" test on April 27th, unfortunately her number was 9.0 (needs to be above 10) and Dr. Williams recommended supplementing with Regumate* through the end of her pregnancy. Cordie started synthetic progesterone today, April 28th. We will follow up with an additional reverse progesterone test Monday or Tuesday to check her levels.

We also preemptively scheduled a c-section for Monday May 13th pending the puppy development and Cordie's situation. She will have an x-ray on Saturday May 11th (Day 57). 

Otherwise Cordie is doing well at Day 43. She is a hungry girl and is enjoying her extra lunchtime meal and home roasted organic chicken and homemade chicken broth. She also gets cottage cheese, sardines, kefir and cooked protein (i.e. salmon). Her kibble mainstay is Farmina N&D Grain-Free Chicken Recipe as well as ZiwiPeak Air Dried Food. 

Cordie has gained 6 lbs so far and is 42 lbs. (and 42.5 lbs. on 4/28!) 

Cute Cordie in the kitchen, Day 43 💓

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*Regumate for Hypoluteodism. Although uncommon, failure to maintain an appropriate serum progesterone level throughout pregnancy is a potential cause of fetal loss. Monitoring of the serum progesterone level allows accurate diagnosis of this problem. Serum progesterone levels above 2 ng/ml are required to maintain pregnancy.

In a normal pregnancy, serum progesterone reaches peak levels of 15-90 ng/ml by 15-30 days post luteinizing hormone (LH) peak. During the last trimester, serum progesterone concentrations decrease to 4-16 ng/ml before dropping below 2 ng/ml approximately one day before parturition. Monitoring of serum progesterone levels can be performed weekly if the levels are 20-50 ng/ml or daily if they are 5-10 ng/ml.

Treatment of hypoluteodism can be performed with injections of progesterone in oil (2-3 mg/kg IM every 24 hours). Alternatively, ally-trenbolone (Regumate, Hoechst-Roussel Agri-Vet Co.) at 0.088 mg/kg PO daily can be given.

"A Dog's Emotional Cup"

"A Dog's Emotional Cup" by Sarah Owings and Lili Chin. Inspired by "Emotional Cup" ☕ https://www.facebook.com/upbilitynet/

65 Ways Rabies Vaccination Can Harm Your Dog by Dogs Naturally

We recommend and follow Dr. Jean Dodds minimal vaccination protocol:  https://www.hemopet.org/dodds-vaccination-protocol-dogs-2016/ 

I do not give rabies until 12+ months old and my vet supports this decision.

"Did you know there are countless ways rabies vaccination can harm your dog – often permanently. I’m going to tell  you about just 65 of those ways below.

As a holistic veterinarian, our outdated rabies vaccination laws are one of the things that upset me the most. All over the US and in most of Canada, the law requires you to vaccinate your dog against rabies every three years. In most US states your dog’s first rabies vaccine must be a one year shot, with revaccination every three years after that.

None of these laws take into account the real duration of immunity of rabies vaccines, Studies by Ronald Schultz PhD show that rabies vaccines protet for a minimum of 7 years – and probably for the life of the animal.

And neither do the thousands of veterinarians in the US who are still vaccinating annually for rabies. They do this despite the fact that annual vaccination is neither required by law nor recommended by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) Guidelines.

Every Vaccination Increases The Risk Dog owners often accept the one-year rabies vaccine because it’s cheaper, and because they don’t know two important things:

The one year rabies vaccine is identical to the three year rabies vaccine, just labeled differently.

The rabies vaccine can harm your dog in many different ways. Every vaccination increases the risk of an adverse vaccine reaction happening to your dog."

Please read the entire article here: https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/65-ways-rabies-vaccination-can-harm-your-dog/

Time to reconsider "fetch"?

Many dogs derive a great deal of pleasure from chasing a ball, and many owners undoubtedly derive pleasure from throwing a ball and watching their dog having fun.

What many owners and their dogs don’t realize however is that this activity may not be as beneficial as it seems, and in dogs with underlying conditions such as arthritis this activity is likely to cause harm.

Read the full article: https://bharcsblog.wordpress.com/2019/04/14/whats-all-the-fuss-about-fetch/?fbclid=IwAR3ghXpU6ffj41KL7WYg14cjgKv79pp7r03-o2rry9Tk5wOSNqFir-lUAuo

In young puppies, the game of fetch is more complex, if you "Take your young puppy out with your adult dogs who already play fetch. Throw the ball or toy. Your adult dogs will do what they have always done; enthusiastically run out to fetch! And your smart puppy will do the smart thing; chase the adult dogs and have a fantastic time with live prey!

If you think about it; at this stage of the game, it’s a win-win. The adult dog gets the ball, which is what they wanted. The puppy has a fantastic time chasing the adults and doesn’t risk the wrath of the adult dog by trying to actually touch a prized object. And the human gets everybody exercised.

The problem shows up long term. Your puppy is learning to focus on running dogs rather than objects that you want your puppy to value. That’s not much good if your sport might involve working around other running dogs."

More reading: https://denisefenzi.com/2017/12/removing-your-puppys-desire-to-play-fetch-with-you/

Cordie's pregnancy 3rd trimester overview

DAY 40: JUST THREE MORE WEEKS!

Approximately six weeks in, the dam’s abdomen is extremely swollen and hard. You will be able to feel the pups moving and rolling around. At this point, the dam may lose her appetite entirely. Breeders should do everything they can to ensure that the dam is comfortable and eating a little at every meal. Try adding a little something extra to the meal, such as yogurt, broth, or a favorite canned food. Also, increase tummy rubs and massages (if she likes them.)

Around this time, the pup’s skin pigments begin to develop, and they continue to grow and grow. One suggestion is to make an appointment with your veterinarian to see how big the pups are at around day 45–47. Your veterinarian will help you to decide if a cesarean section (C-section) is needed.

DAY 47: MORE FOOD! - May 1st

A pregnant dam may eat up to three to four times what she would normally eat during the last week of pregnancy and during the first few weeks of nursing. Some dams will lose their appetites all together because of the size of the enlarged uterus. Either way, make food available to the dam at all times. If the dam seems to be losing her appetite, try to add tasty items, including broth, cottage cheese, yogurt, cooked (without seasoning) meats, and gravy.

DAY 55: X-RAY DAY! - May 9th

X-rays are an invaluable resource when whelping a litter, a couple reasons "why" I do radiographs on pregnant dogs.

• X-rays are generally done after Day 50+ of gestation, otherwise the skeleton hasn't ossified (calcified) enough to count the babies. 
• You can usually count puppies readily on radiographs, again +/- one puppy. (Count skulls, not spines! Most people count BOTH). Even then, someone can be hiding behind another puppy or along mom's spine. This helps me plan for the whelp and know what to expect. 
• The other advantage is that the skulls can be compared in size to the width of the dam's pelvis (not usually an issue with Vizslas).

DAY 60: IT’S GO TIME! - May 14th

When it is getting time for the pups to arrive, the dam may spend significantly more time in her den area or nesting site. Bring her plenty of water and food, and make sure that the den or nesting site is clean. Disturb her as little as possible; she needs her rest. You can help the dam by wiping the nipples with a warm wet washcloth and by trimming the hair around the nipples, vulva, and anus to help keep things neat and tidy for when the pups arrive.

When the nipples are gently squeezed, they will produce a milky fluid called colostrum. This is the first milk the puppies get, and it is an important nutrient that helps them grow and fight off pathogens.

Begin monitoring your dog’s temperature. The average temperature of a dog should be approximately 101–102.5. The temperature will drop to 98 degrees approximately 12–24 hours prior to whelping.

The drop in temperature, along with a discharge, indicates puppies are very near to arrival!

DAY 63: DUE DATE - May 17th

Complete Week by Week https://www.royalcanin.co.uk/discover/dog-pregnancy-week-by-week/

Cordie Day 40

Cordie Day 40 and 41 lbs. (normally 36 lbs.)

Understanding and Monitoring Canine Pregnancy

A brief lesson in Canine Pregnancy . . .

The only hormone required to maintain pregnancy in dogs is progesterone. Not only do we monitor progesterone in preparation before breeding -- but in problematic bitches, we use "reverse progesterone" (i.e. looking for a drop). Wen progesterone levels drop, supplementation can be considered in order to maintain the pregnancy. Choosing to administer progesterone would occur if the level falls below 5 ng/ml before Day 55, or declines more rapidly than expected in mid-gestation. Towards the end of the pregnancy, the progesterone level naturally drops in preparation for whelping. Chart below:

At Cordie's ultrasound it was decided we would monitor her progesterone levels on a weekly basis.  Here is a tracking of her progesterone results: 

4/13/19 - reverse Progesterone at 20 (at Chino) and will test in one week

4/20/19 - reverse Progesterone at 12.00 (at Chino) test Monday

4/22/19 - reverse Progesterone at 13.88 (Canine Cryo)

Her next Progesterone test is scheduled for Saturday, April 27th. 👌

Full article:  https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?id=3854215&pid=11196&print=1

TGIF

Can you see the baby bump?

Parents to be 👫

🥁 DRUM ROLL 🥁

Thank you to Natural Rearing for their advice and products, to Tanner's owners (Mary, David and Susan) as well as my breeder-mentors and friends --- I am thrilled to share that Cordie is expecting! 

Repro vet expert, Dr. Beckie Williams, at Chino Animal Hills Hospital confirmed there are puppies on the way! We will monitor her progesterone levels closely in preparation for the due date of  May 17th. Given her past history of reproductive issues, we may do a scheduled c-section; details to follow but rest assured no expense will be spared to ensure her health and well-being. 

In the meantime, Cordie will receive the best of everything (food, veterinary and general care) as her pregnancy progresses. 

I AM SO EXCITED! 😍

Golden hour with Cordie ✨

Ultrasound day will be 4/13/19

Cordie will have an ultrasound at Chino Hills Animal Hospital on 4/13/19. Ultrasound is the best technique to detect the pregnancy from around three weeks in, the ultrasound is safe and uses sound waves to create pictures of your bitch’s womb.

Ultrasound won’t tell you how many puppies are in her womb as it is extremely difficult to count them with what is resulting from that type of scanning imagery.

YouTube video of an ultrasound (not Cordie).

What is the Hearts Afire litter you ask ???

Litter themes are the norm when going to such great lengths to plan a litter and the 2019 Tanner x Cordie litter is no different. 

In a way, Cordie's AKC name was the inspiration for this litter theme since it has the word "heart" in it but I did feel the two dogs had an instant connection to each other; i.e. Tanner was exceedingly polite, and Cordie was very affectionate/flirtatious with him.

I found this quote online, “Of all the fires, love is the only inexhaustible one.” — Pablo Neruda, which lead to the word "afire" which means intensely interested or passionate which morphed into "Hearts Afire".

Each pup in the litter will have an AKC Registered name which must include the word "fire". Their "call name" can be anything but it can be cute if they tie back together. For example, Cordie's call name (full name: Cordelia) means "heart", and her AKC Registered name is CH Moonlight's Eat Your Heart Out, RN JH CGCA TKI. Make sense?

Here are some examples of names, but feel free to let me know if you come up with others!

Axel/Blue Boy - Moonlight Hearts Afire
Gabriel/Black Boy - Moonlight I See Fire 
Name TBD/Yellow Girl - Moonlight Fire on the Mountain
Moonlight Hearts On Fire
Moonlight Unforgettable Fire 
Moonlight Catch Fire
Moonlight Feel the Fire
Moonlight Fire of Love
Moonlight Playing With Fire
Moonlight Trial by Fire
Moonlight Fire Devil
Moonlight Ring of Fire
Moonlight Light My Fire
Moonlight Playing with Fire
Moonlight Red Hot Fire
Moonlight Ball of Fire
Moonlight Hot as Fire
Moonlight Light a Fire
Moonlight Play with Fire
Moonlight Fight Fire with Fire
Moonlight Fire And Rain
Moonlight Fire Sale
Moonlight Fire and Brimstone
Moonlight Fire Away
Moonlight Fire Down Below
Moonlight Fire Engine Red
Moonlight Fire in the Hole
Moonlight Fire in your Belly
Moonlight Fire the Imagination
Moonlight Set Fire to the Rain
Moonlight Fired Up
Moonlight Rooms On Fire

Link to list of SONGS with "Fire" https://spinditty.com/playlists/100-Best-Songs-About-Fire