From this day on, it's safe for puppies to be delivered.
May 6 Day 56
Big girlie but still wanting to play :)
Just doing it in slow motion !!!!
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| 7 days still to go????!!! |
A LITTLE ABOUT STOLI's BOX WORK
By Joanne Wike
K9 Nose Work focuses on encouraging and developing natural scenting abilities while using the desire to hunt
and joy of treats, toys, and activity. Dogs learn to search for specific odors under a controlled step by step procedure while their people learn to read their signals. Boxes and treats or toys are used in the beginning. A scent (birch) is later introduced and searches include cars, outdoor settings, and entering a room. It progressively becomes more complex with different scents and more difficult searches. Some "hides" are in streams or buried. K9 Nose Work is becoming popular very quickly as people see their shy or frenzied dog focus and become confident, or like Bosun the Corgi that is losing use of his back legs and was dying from boredom. He uses a cart and now lives for nose work, one of the best in the class. If anyone is interested www.nacsw.net
The films of Stoli use a birch scent on a q-tip in a small tin with holes in the top. It also has a magnet so I can attach it under things or to surfaces. He made these look incredibly easy but our new class has us stepping things up and working on techniques.
and joy of treats, toys, and activity. Dogs learn to search for specific odors under a controlled step by step procedure while their people learn to read their signals. Boxes and treats or toys are used in the beginning. A scent (birch) is later introduced and searches include cars, outdoor settings, and entering a room. It progressively becomes more complex with different scents and more difficult searches. Some "hides" are in streams or buried. K9 Nose Work is becoming popular very quickly as people see their shy or frenzied dog focus and become confident, or like Bosun the Corgi that is losing use of his back legs and was dying from boredom. He uses a cart and now lives for nose work, one of the best in the class. If anyone is interested www.nacsw.net
The films of Stoli use a birch scent on a q-tip in a small tin with holes in the top. It also has a magnet so I can attach it under things or to surfaces. He made these look incredibly easy but our new class has us stepping things up and working on techniques.
Joanne and Stoli are waiting to hear if they got into a Nose Work Trial that is coming up soon. This is the very first trial of it's kind in this area and according to Joanne, "K9 NW is growing too fast! They can't keep up with all the people that want to compete. There were about 66 places altogether, 33 taken and a draw this afternoon for the remaining places ...well over 200 requests, minutes after lines were open to apply."
Cross your fingers that they make it in the Draw!! I know that they'll kick Poodle Butt in the trail!
May 5 Day 56
ONE WEEK UNTIL DELIVERY
Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) arrived (via over night delivery) today.
FFP is the non-red blood cell portion of whole blood. It is obtained via centrifugation, and frozen to preserve its immunoglobins and coagulation factors. FFP also contains fats, carbohydrates, minerals, and proteins in the same concentrations found in circulation.
Most people are familiar with FFP as a product given intravenously to treat a variety of clotting factors. What many don't know is that given orally or intraperitoneally, FFP is a source of globulins (plasma antibodies) which can help protect newborn puppies against common infectious diseases and boost the effects of mom's colostrum. It's been found that puppies given FFP within the first 24 hours of delivery tend to gain weight more rapidly during the first week are healthier and more robust .
It's possible to administer the FFP orally because within the first 24-36 hours of life, the gastrointestinal tract absorbs proteins directly into the bloodstream (they are not digested). Basically we're taking advantage of the puppies' natural physiology that allows it to absorb colostrum from the dam.
May 5 Day 56
OOKUS MOOKUS BUDDHA BELLY |
| Nickel says, 'Urp' |
May 4 Day 55
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| Day 55 |
Nickel's waist is 28 1/2 today. I think I already mentioned that she's only gained 9 pounds. I suspect that in the next week, with increased food and growing pups, she will gain quite a bit more. According to the Puppy development chart the puppies wont increase in size too dramatically the last week... maybe growing another inch in length. Energy is now being put into final development of organs, calcification of bones and hair.
Mom and Daughter... Still hanging out.
I plan to have Corsa, Eureka and Mica go to Cat's house next week. They will stay with their Auntie (and Poodle Goddess) until a few days after the puppies are born. We will bring them back to the house one at a time and see how Nickel feels about things. In the mean time, TinTin will remain at the house. I believe that TinTin will provide moral support for her daughter. There's always the chance that Nickel won't want TinTin in the area.... we'll see!
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| Nickel and TinTin |
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| Nickel (top) and TinTin chewing bones in the whelping box |
May 3 Day 54
WWHERE'S WALDO???
Ok
Ok
Ok, Now I've set the precedence... someone has to name a puppy Waldo.. ha ha ha
The Vet appointment went very well. She said Nickel looked great but that she could use a tiny bit more weight. Ha ha ha.. can you believe it? It made Nickel very happy :) I've intentionally kept her on the leaner side so the puppies didn't get too big and so she wouldn't have problems with delivery. Now is the ideal time to give her a little cushion. She'll be using a lot of energy producing milk for the pups and a little more weight will help her keep up with the calories. I'll also add raw meaty bones back to her diet. Due to the need for massive amounts of calcium during delivery it's important not to over supplement the mom's diet with calcium. Sounds contrary, but what happens is the extra Ca++ floating around in the blood stream shuts down the parathyroid. Once in labor, the mom needs the parathyroid to stimulate the release of Calcium from the bones and if it's shut down... well.. it can't do this. All Nickel knows is that she's thrilled to be eating more and chewing on bones again!
Ok Ok... what's the final guess? How many puppies... I'll tell you what. I'll show you the xray and You tell Me!! ;)
If you haven't seen this before, I'll give you a hint. First look for little round outlines of the skulls and then count spines. The spines can be misleading since sometimes you can see the ribs on either side and think it's two spines.
Just to make you feel better... the vet said that Nickel wasn't cooperating and the pups are all jumbled up making it hard to see.
Good news is that all the skulls look fairly similar in size... none are too big. The puppies aren't ready to come out yet and you know this since they are all facing in different directions and haven't started moving caudally yet. As a matter of fact (hint hint) there are some tucked under the rib cage still. Another hint is that the black holes are just intestinal gas... hee hee.. don't tell Nickel I told you.
Give up? Here are the pups that the Vet and I saw...
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| The pink lines are what look like spines without the skulls visible.... this 'could mean more puppies' or could be artifact |
Oh, by the way.... the Vet said she saw 9 puppies! I can only see 8 skulls but there are certainly more spines to account for :)
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