Daddy Tanner

We had a quick visit with Tanner last weekend, just getting around to posting these photos of handsome daddy dog.

More photos!

Alfred

L to R: Axel, Aya, Ainsley, Alfred, Addie

Axel

Addie

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).

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! 

Parents to be 👫

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

Planning, progesterone and dog sex (oh my!)

Cordie is somewhat predictable as far as her heat cycles go -- she came in season on March 2nd, which is a bit less than six months after her last heat. Plans were already in motion with Tanner's owner and co-breeder, Mary Grant, so I let her know right away about Cordie's heat cycle.

When doing any breeding, step #1 is to do progesterone testing. Good breeders do progesterone when organizing each breeding (whether "live cover" or an AI - artificial insemination breeding). 

What the heck is progesterone testing, you ask?

Basically, progesterone is a hormone produced by the ovaries that rises as the heat cycle progresses. Early in the canine heat cycle the progesterone values will usually read less than 1.0 ng/ml. The first significant, sustained rise in progesterone usually coincides with the "LH Surge". The LH stands for luteinizing hormone and is released by the pituitary gland in the brain. This is important because ovulation occurs about 48 hours after the LH surge. The progesterone value at the time of the LH surge is usually about 2-3 ng/ml. The progesterone will rise to about 5-8 ng/ml at the time of ovulation. Canine eggs are not ready to be fertilized at the time of ovulation and take about 2 days to mature. Once mature, the eggs remain fertile for 2 to 3 days and then begin to deteriorate. Of note: progesterone stays elevated for about 2 months whether the bitch is pregnant or not. We like to know when the "surge" is so that we have an idea of ovulation, when to breed, and to estimate the whelping day.

Cordie's first progesterone test was on Day 7 and came back at 1.5. We're looking for the LH Surge of 12+ to indicate ovulation. 

Day 11 her progesterone was 9.78 at Canine Cryobank, at this point we decided Cordie should meet Tanner and Mary arranged to take her to her home that day. 

FYI when progesterone goes over 10.0 we received advice to breed 2-3 times over next 5-7 days. 

Day 12 her progesterone 11.25 at Rose City Vet and Mary elected to test Tanner's semen, and we did our 1st Artificial Insemination (AI). 

Day 14 & 16 we did a second 2nd and 3rd AI at Canine Cryobank (Cordie was flagging all weekend, and flirting). 

Here is the happy couple at Canine Cryobank 💘

More details to follow . . . We will we plan to do an ultrasound in four weeks to verify a pregnancy. So please check  back . . .