Vet visit -- tail dock ✓ and dew claw removal ✓

On Wednesday, 5/15 the pups made a road trip to Chino Hills Animal Hospital. This time it was for tail docking and dew claw removal. 

Cordie came with us for the trip as it is best to let her nurse before and after the procedure. She stayed crated in the car but was evidently missing her pups as she did not want to eat the food I left for her while I went inside to discuss the tail length with Dr. Williams.

The babies had no issues with the procedure and all look good and are growing and gaining weight. 

Car rides are no big deal! 

Puppy Stage : Birth / Neonatal to 2 Weeks

Puppy Development: Neonatal (Day 1 to 2 weeks)

• Newborn puppies cannot regulate their body temperature and must be kept warm. If allowed to chill they can develop infections, pneumonia and digestive issues. The temp in the room is set to 76-80F degrees. Puppies were born and spend the first three weeks of their life in a temperature controlled nursery (i.e. upstairs spare bedroom). 
• Their eyes and ears are not open, and they depend upon smell and body temperature to find their mothers to nurse. 
• They sleep 90% of the time and when awake crawl in a circle, moving their heads from side to side to find their mothers. 
• It is paramount at this stage that the mother is not stressed so she can focus on the needs of her puppies. Cordie is a fabulous and doting mom. Eventually she will know it's okay to take a break from the pups to come visit the rest of us (and I encourage that) or take a quick spin outside to burn off some energy/go potty. Right now she is focused on the pups and I have to beg her to go outside to potty. 
• Newborn puppies can not relieve themselves on their own. Their mothers have to lick their bottoms to stimulate them to go potty (#1 and #2).

Hello babies!

The babies had their tail dock and dew claws removed by Dr. Beckie Williams. Here's a photo of them in the car ride (3 hours round trip!). Cordie made the trek as well, and she nursed them before and after the procedure. 

Boy - "Alfred" Black/White Collar 

Boy - "Axel" Dark Blue Collar

Girl - "Ainsley" Yellow Collar 

Girl - "Addie" Pink Collar

Girl - "Aya" Aqua Collar

Introducing the Hearts Afire litter . . .

The babies are here! On May 13th we welcomed the Tanner/Cordie babies -- 2 boys and 3 girls. Under the expert care and guidance of Dr. Beckie Williams DVM, we did a c-section to deliver the babies. Cordie's temperature dropped to 98F for 24 hours into Sunday, yet she was not showing any real signs of labor. Her progesterone had dropped indicating the puppies needed to arrive sooner, rather than later; and a c-section ended up being the right decision at the right time.

Myself and whelper-helper/sanity saver extraordinaire, Denyse, spent a marathon day at the Chino Hills Animal Hospital while they triaged a variety of ER cases before performing Cordie's surgery (finally) around 12pm. She came out of anesthesia and we wasted no time trying to get the babies to nurse. SUCCESS! Cordie took to them right away and immediately started loving and cleaning them. Couple hours later we arrived home to welcome them to the puppy room where she's perfecting her mothering instinct. She is a fabulous mom!!! (see Facebook post for more info: https://bit.ly/2VEMpDO) which she absolutely loves, and is producing milk for the babies. She is also eating organic roasted chicken, eggs and cottage cheese for calcium. 

Can't wait to watch these babies grow! Introducing the babies who all have "A" names, i.e. Hearts Afire 

Boy - "Alfred" Black/White Collar (coming soon)

Boy - "Axel" Blue Collar (coming soon)

Girl - "Ainsley" Yellow Collar (coming soon)

Girl - "Addie" Pink Collar (coming soon)

Girl - "Aya" Aqua Collar (coming soon)

They're here!

Quickly wanted to share that Cordie delivered five gorgeous 💙💙💗💗💗 puppies via c-section, two males and three females. Thank You to Dr. Beckie Williams and the staff at Chino Hills Animal Hospital. 

More updates to follow! 

X-ray Day! Take a peek at the upcoming Hearts Afire babies!

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).

Drum roll...🥁 Cordie had her X-ray today with Dr. Beckie Williams. How many babies do you see? Don't forget to count the skulls and the spines!

Cordie lounging around

Beautiful mom to be Cordie lounging around on a lovely Saturday morning, she now weighs 45 lbs. 

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 💓

---

*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.

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

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! 😍

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).