April 6 Day 27

OK!  So give me a break! ;)    I settle in for the evening to work on my Blog.  Settle in means crawling into bed, Corsa on the left top,  Eureka on the bottom left, TinTin in the crate next to the bed (she doesn't like being crowded ;), Mica on bottom right and Nicke on the upper right.  Ah Nickel... She has a particular routine.  She moves to about 10 inches of my right shoulder, turns counter clockwise until her back is against me and collapses into my body.  I don't think she could get any closer.

But that's not all,  she insists that I put my arm around her so she can rest her right paw and chin over my right arm.  Sounds all fine and dandy doesn't it?  Except that how  on earth do I type on my laptop?  Sometimes I try to type only with my left hand.  I can do it, mind you.   Takes about 5 minutes to write one sentence (hence all my typos...L0L).  So what's a grand ma do do?  Should I move my arm so I can type?   Nah... I take the opportunity to give her belly rubs.  I think about how those little pups might be taking in the vibrations of their, eh hem...... great grand mammie!   I love to think that even at this stage of the game I might be having some cosmic relationship with them.  Yeah Ok,  so My therapist says that I have a God Complex.  but really!   ;^)

On a serious note, today I felt a puppy!  I palpated her tummy and could feel that tell tale 'walnut.'   I think that Nickel is carrying the pups high up under her ribs.  That's not uncommon in the beginnings of pregnancy and I don't think it has any baring on the number.  I only felt one, but I wasn't going to start poking around for more :)

Nickel has her ultrasound scheduled for Monday night.  I'll either be posting Monday (late) or Tuesday morning.... ha ha ha!  Like I could wait until Tuesday to tell everyone!

April 4 Day 25

Today is the 8 month Birthday of Ico,  Nickel's sister's puppies!  I can't believe they're that old already.  It was a fun day to celebrate because Mica has his sister visiting.  They have been playing nonstop since she arrived.  Boomer is here because I have them entered in a UKC show this weekend.

It will be Boomers very first time in a show but Mica tells me that he'll show her the ropes ;)  He was in his very first show two weekends ago.  He and I went up to Canada and Mica came home with his first CKC Point.  Doesn't Mica look like a big Bear and Boomer a snarky fox ... ha ha ha

                                      

A little about Nickel

Nickel is from my first generation Alchmy poodles.  She is TinTin and Nicky's daughter.  and Ico (mom of 2010 litter)'s sister.   Here is her pedigree (you can click on dogs to expand the pedigree):

Am/Can INTL Ch UGrCh Alchmys Magic Tin Nick-L Blues Am/Can RA JHD CGC TDI VC

FO UGRACH UOCH GR CH Tiger's Unique Magic Nicholas UD RAE MX AXP MXJ AJP NFP VCX AM CH Gailwyn Alexander So Unique AM CH Unique Opportunity UD CH Gailwyn Reach For A Star CDX Tiger's Jubilee AM CH Ale Kai Always Ready AM CH Tiger's Echo UKC INTL CH Bibelot's Tolka Tintanium Am/Can RA NAJ OAP NJP UAG-1 JHD TDI Bibelot's Cherod Tinsmith Bibelot's Sheffield Bibelot's Parchment CAN CH Blacktie Graphic Ag Of Bibelot AM CH Blacktie Shining On Lake Cove AM CH Graphic Sauvie Quick Silver TP

Here's Nickel's Dad Nicky:

and Mom TinTin:

TinTin and Nicky's litter was, as I said, my first litter.  I decided to raise the puppies on raw diet with minimal vaccinations.  Nickel and Stoli have been on a raw diet and vaccinated minimally so the up coming litter will be a second generation of full raw/minimal vacs.  This is important to me as I feel that both of these things impact the immune system of our dogs.

April 3 Day 24

It's amazing how fast the first Month goes.  There was so little happening and so few changes in Nickel the past 24 days just flew by.  The changes that she was showing were so subtle that I didn't know if I could believe them or not.  Well,  now there's no doubt!

I bathed her last night and with her hair wet you could really see her shape has changed.  She still has a tuck up but there is a thickness up high toward her back at her waist.    I'm surprised that she's showing sooner and more clearly than Ico did, but perhaps it's because she's in a Continental so her belly shows more.... OR... she is carrying more pups (yikes).   My friend Theresa said (soon after the breeding) that she had a dream with 8 puppies in it.  Nickel says, "Theresa! couldn't you have seen  6 or 7 puppies?!"

I have a little (silly) theory that moms have the right number of nipples for the number of puppies.  (I know that's not really true since some dogs have up to 15 or more pups with the normal 10 nipples... but humor me)  TinTin had only 8 nipples.  One was so tiny that it only had one pore that the milk came out of... it was more like a little tiny pimple. Eeks.   She had 7 puppies.  Boy did those pups work at that thing!


Ico had the same number and the missing nipple is in the same place as TinTin.  Fearing a family legacy of 7 nipples and one eccentric pimple, I did a thorough exam of Nickel.   She has the normal 10.

 That means 9 puppies, right?

Can you see the pooch starting?

Ok, since we're talking about nipples I'll have to tell you my silly story...

For my work I have to call the hospital nightly to find out whether I have a 'case' for the next morning (I run a Heart-Lung machine for open heart surgery).   I call the Operating Room Desk and the nurse tells me the schedule.  Sometimes they're busy so I may have to wait on the phone for a while.  

So.....  I was sitting on the couch with the *very* pregnant TinTin in my lap.  She was sitting up with her back leaning against me and front feet held up in the air.  I think she was about 50 days pregnant so her mammaries were getting well developed and I was rubbing her belly.   When I called,  the nurse told me that she had to put me on hold.   So I sat there, and sat there, and started saying to TinTin, " OHhhhhh I LOVE your boobies!   You siwwy girl,  I Looooooooove your boobies.... Ohhh I love your boobies."  I'd totally forgotten that I was on 'hold' until I heard the nurse saying, " Errrr,  Ah... Hello?"

APRIL 1 ... FOOLS DAY aka WEEK 3 aka Day 22

Working on the Puppy Development Time Line.   Having a hard time figuring out how to post it.

I'm Really very pretty much for sure convinced that Nickel is preggers.
1.  she's gained 2 pounds in the past 3 weeks!
2.  If you could see how she walks... Like a sailor  and Sits... Like a cowboy.. You'd be sure too :)  Her hips are as loose as you could imagine a girl who starred in the previous videos!

For the past few days she's been very low in energy and the last out of bed.  Today she's shown more spunk and played quite a bit with Mica.  Her behavior fits well with where she'd be in her pregnancy.  In the past two days her 'eggs' would have been implanting in her uterus and that usually brings on some nausea and discomfort.  By today they should be well situated.

I've had a hard time getting excited about this pregnancy since her last one didn't 'take.' I'm sure many of you will remember the disappointment I faced and the horrible experience she and I had with the incompetent vet who did the surgical implant.  At the time I couldn't let myself belief that someone would make such a series of mistakes  in the procedure.  In a nutshell I suspected that he not only was completely ignorant about the timing of a Frozen Insemination but that he mishandled the semen.  Well...... As it turns out, I recently learned that the State of Washington suspended his license!   A lesson learned about trusting your gut.  The silver lining in this story is that had Nickel's breeding 'taken' we wouldn't have had Ico's litter.  I adore all of the puppies from this litter.  I get to see most of them on a regular basis and of course, I have Mica.  He is an incredible boy and is going to be an asset to poodle breedings in the future.  I guess some things are truly meant to be.

I'm also totally excited about having puppies from the combination of Nickel and Stoli.  I think it's going to be an exciting combination.  Stoli's Joie De Vivre and Nickel's common sense and absolute stability.  We're all looking forward to seeing a few more 'number 9' tails too ;0D    I'll be keeping the tails natural.. which means  LONG and  I suspect that they aren't going to be very straight.

I'd like you to meet Stoli....

Also know as Mr. Man.   Stoli was born in St Petersburg, Russia March 18th 2008.  He flew with his brother Nikolai to the United states when he was 8 weeks old.  A very long trip for two little puppies.  Stoli's name, DomTotem Yakutskiy Almaz means DomTotem (breeder)'s Diamond from Yakutsk.   Yakutsk is in a very remote region of Siberia and is known for it's Diamond trade.

Here's a map with Saint Petersburg marked

A very quick view of the the City

WHY import a Poodle all the way from Russia???

I belong to a small group of Poodle breeders who's primary objective is to explore ways to bring genetic diversity into the Poodle population.  The group is made up of breeders from around the world and we are trying to share information, knowledge and resources to reach this goal.  The group consists of very hard working people who have dedicated their time conceptualizing, creating and developing a working plan to diversify our poodle population.   One example of their contribution is The Poodle Health Registry poodlehealthregistry.com/ ,  a ground breaking information bank for poodle health, pedigrees and breeding statistics.  I'm incredibly lucky to be a part of this effort and feel that I've been allowed to hang onto their shirt tails while they make many ground breaking advances toward betterment of the breed.  I'm forever saying that it takes a village to raise our poodles and this poodle breeder group has proven to be the quintessential Poodle Village.

My acquisition of Stoli was one way to support this amazing group of Poodle Breeders.  I co-own him with Karen Green of Desert Reef Poodles (in Utah)  http://www.desertreefpoodles.com/contactus.cfm and he lives with his 'forever family', Joanne and Jack Wike (and Stoli's poodle sister Belle) of Sequim, Wa.

Here they are:

Here is Stoli's Pedigree.  As you can see, it is made up of 3/4 old Russian lines that aren't seen in any other poodle pedigrees.  The other 1/4 (in black) are well know poodles that are found in a majority of white and silver lines in Australia, Europe and the US.

Click on Names to see continued ped:

Domtotem Yakutskiy Almaz

Dom Totem Cheshirskiy Kot Zvjozdny Malchik Dom Totem Inei Poel Dom Tarvos Veiviran In Silver Sakramento Zvjozdny Malchik Dom Totem Pandora Dom Totem Dom Totem Kalinka Malinka Martina's Rubi De Bohemia FIN/EST/DK/L CH Marechal The Real Mccoy NOR/FIN/EST CH Martina's Fervoroso Sakramento Zvjozdny Malchik Dom Totem Pandora Dom Totem

Dom Totem Cheshirskiy Kot (Dad)

Dom Totem Kalinka Malinka (Mom)

March 30 Day 19

Ok  today I'm going to catch us up on what's been happening inside of Nickel...  this will be Puppy Making 101.

As  you might remember from Ico's litter,  dogs are unique in the animal world since the eggs are ovulated before they are ready to be fertilized.  This means that they must mature for 3 days before they can accept the sperm.  This's why timing is important in a frozen surgical breeding where the sperm only live for about 7 hours.  In the case of a natural breeding (as we all know happened this time.. eh hem!)  the sperm can live up to a week.  So basically the sperm can be hanging around waiting for the eggs to develop.  Once matured,  the egg can live several days as well so you can see that timing is less critical. You still need to make sure the healthy sperm and egg are in the same place at the same time so a ntural breeding is usually done 2 to 3 times over the course of 5-7 days.

The birth date for the puppies can be calculated very precisely.  We count 65 days from LH surge or 63 days from Ovulation.  Nickel ovulated approximately March 11th so we can expect puppies to be born around May 13th.

Here's a picture of an oocyte inside the oviduct where it waits to be fertilized.









The eggs stay around the oviduct until they are fertilized.  After that they travel to the Uterus Tubes (or Uterine Horns).  They will stay free floating until around day 19.  For Nickel, Day 19 will be around March 30th.  On day 19 the eggs will implant in the uterus.  There will be waves of contractions which will distribute the eggs throughout the uterine horns.  Sometimes this will cause 'morning sickness.'