Our December 2001 litter diary
An action-packed drama unfolding on your screen!
This is archived material. we posted it to the web on the dates shown for people
to peruse. It's a good lesson in what to expect should you ever choose to breed
pups one day.
It's in reverse order, so the mating starts at the bottom of the page.
February 14 2002 Happy Valentines Day! Today little Yellow Choc female went
to her new home, locally in Narooma. She'll be much loved. The others were
fairly quiet this afternoon! Two more go tomorrow, one on Sunday, then the
others next week. Sad, but wonderful. We'll reorganise the puppy pics (which
have gotten quite out of control!) and re-vamp the site when time allows, so
come back sometime and visit! Thanks for all emails and for on-line support
during the ups and downs of litter having! We tried to photograph each one
individually, but of course a few have to be re-done due to blurriness or them
turning away. Enjoy.
February 5 2002 Friday was an eventful day. We loaded the car with the two big dogs on the back seat (they thought that was great, as they aren't usually allowed there!), and the nine pups in the "boot" (it's a station wagon!), and headed to the vet for a bulk order of immunisations, micro-chipping and a check-up. We stopped on the way and showed them to our respective worksites, and the pups obliged by standing on their hind legs in a row along the back "fence" in the car. Grabbed for the camera but too late! Then in and out of the vets, some howls from a couple when injected (we won't name names), then back home.... all took an hour or so. They were exhausted and slept for a couple of hours, then dinner and basically back to normal. We had some future owners and some other breeders come and check them, and received great compliments. Check the pics of their 8th week (puppics9.htm) for some shots of the breeder "standing" the pups, front and side views. By the way, we aren't just showing pics of our favourites, as we do try to take pics of all the pups. But we now have a great collection of blurry pics, and so you only get to see the clearer ones on the web.
January 22-30 2002 Talk about lively! We have nine little balls of energy for a lot of the day now. They sleep less and play more, and there's always someone awake. The screams around the neighbourhood when someone gets really bitten hard by needle sharp teeth are amazing (and that's just the humans!). Funny to think that years ago pups went to new homes at 6 weeks! Two weeks for us to go, but we know we will miss them. Serious lessons in shoe eating, clothes tearing and tail-hip-wagging are taking place each day as we get them ready for new owners!
January 18-22 2002 The pups have received many visitors, including several more buyers who have been delighted with the litter. Lots of action with playing with toys, having fun running around the pen, and eating, sleeping and excreting!
January 14-18 2002 We've been really busy with feeding 5 times a day, and slowly weaning the pups away from their mother's milk. So far so good! The chicken mince and the soaked dry, mixed with biolac, with some minced veges thrown in, the occasional cooked egg has made these pups happy little eaters! Every now and then terrible screams come from the run, as one or two fasten onto someone's ears or tail, or especially the soft part of their belly! It amuses the neighbours. The pups sleep through the night now, and they are all good at doing their mess down one end of the pen. Check the photos pages for the latest pics.
January 10-13 2002 The new pen outside is a great hit, with its toys and the extra space. The pups eat, then play, then sleep, then come out to play, then sleep, and before you know it, it's feed time again. Now having chicken mince for two feeds, and soaked dry food for one, all washed down with biolac milk substitute. This weekend we had heaps of visitors and Misty was the eternal proud mum. Woody pushed his nose into proceedings so he wasn't ignored. See the latest pups page for some individual pics, but they're very hard to photograph! More soon.
January 7-9 2002 It's all action stations now! The pups have graduated to their new "pen", and rumble around between feeds, snapping, barking, mouthing, chewing, as their little teeth push through. They've got a range of toys to play with, and the chewing rope seems the most popular. They love their farex, and will have some soaked dry food soon, as we begin the process of weaning them. Last night was the first night we've slept right through, as Misty must have fed them promptly and they didn't wake until 5am!
January 4-7 2002 All pups lapping biolac, running around, fighting, biting (with gums) barking and of course feeding from Misty. Truly a fun-filled day here (though the nights aren't so fun!). Two buyers have visited and confirmed their intention, and one of them is a local which is fantastic!
January 2-3 2002 The pups have found their voices, and we are woken during the night to barks, growls and finally a very demanding howl! Feed time! All goes well, new photos posted today.
December 31- Jan1 2002 Happy New Year! We all spent the night here with squealing pups as Misty had to have some anti-biotics for a slight milk problem in one quarter of one teat, and the medicine upsets the pups tummies a bit. We also started them rotating 5 and 4 on her, with the other having laps of biolac milk substitute. However today Misty is all better and the pups are used to the milk, both hers and the biolac, and weight gain is fine for all. They are up and walking solidly around the box, and even into playing with each other, barking and growling and sometimes playing with the toys and even some of the newspaper from the box. Photos coming tomorrow or the day after.
December 29-30 2001 We've really battled the heat, both during the day and at night. Still, we can't complain, compared to those suffering the bushfires, as we've only had light smoke so far. The pups had to be damp-towelled at one stage, as did Misty's mighty set of mammaries! This was then repeated at about 2.30am when we suffered one of those rare hot nights in Narooma. Other action during the middle of the night was two escapees from the whelp box, who must have scented Misty laying just outside and made a quick bolt for a free feed! We caught them and you can bet we punished them severely (hah)! All of them have eyes open a bit, and they can all get around on wobbly four legs now.
December 21-28 2001 Website host suffers crash! Lost website and lost email. Hopefully all systems go today. All pups well and thriving, Misty has heaps of milk and we rotate them to make sure they all get enough of the really full teats. Some of them are up on four feet sometimes, but they really only eat, excrete and sleep! No eyes open yet. We file their nails as it irritates Misty's belly. She had her stitches out, and has recovered some of her own self. We have promised her a swim on the weekend. More piccies tomorrow.
December 21 2001 This was a sad day, for during the night one of the little black males faded away despite our night-long efforts. It's called "Failed Puppy Syndrome" and our vet could shed no light on why this little one had to die. However, onto the positive side of the other nine who are really powering, keeping us awake with their calls and their little scurrying movements around the whelp box. Misty continues to be the best mother, but we can see she is keen to get down to the beach in the mornings for a swim with Woody. She'll have to wait till her stitches are out for that!
December 19 and 20 2001. The little ones continue to put on about 30-50g each, and Misty is feeding them so well. She's had some visitors and accepted them very well, her temperament is so wonderful! We have had some advice concerning the Chocolate surprises, finding that Driftway regal Oak apparently carried the Chocolate gene, and has passed that to Misty, and we already knew Tippler Jack carried it too. Still very hard to understand. We've found that so many people want chocolates that it is alarming, and we've taken some advice as to placing them and advised people who were looking for one accordingly. They really are an unknown quantity for us! Good news for us is that at least two pups will be placed locally, and the others mostly near us in the ACT and South Coast area. We've had enquiries from WA, SA, and QLD as well!
December 17 and 18 2001. All going really well, with Misty being the perfect mum, giving good milk to the growing pups, who have all put on 30 or more grams. Woody pokes his head into the whelp box and thinks they are all his, they have such dark colouring. Hard to photograph, but promise pictures by Thursday! Noisy little things they are, a lot different to the litter of 3 last time. Having a Ceasarian actually means they are livlier from the minute they got home, as they didn't have endure the exertion of the birth canal. No problem with Misty either, as i'm sure she's not so exhausted as she would have been with the labour of ten. Still, we wouldn't recommend the trauma of the operation in preference to a natural birth! More soon.!
December 16 and 17 2001. 10 puppies!!!!!! 6 males (2 chocolate and 4black),
4 females (2 chocolate and 2 black)!
The chocolates were a bit of a surprise! Delivery was by Ceasarian Section due
to the first puppy being "stuck" and not delivered within reasonable
time. All well, especially Misty who is now some 5-10kg lighter! More news later.
December 15 2001: Saturday night was full of activity, with Misty showing "nesting" behaviour in the whelping box, scrunching up the mats and the sheets many times during the night. This morning she refused her food, which is the very first time our perpetually hungry Misty has ever done that! Even last litter she ate right to the end! Tonight, Sunday, is goning to be the one. we've alerted the vet, and are all ready to go!
December 13 2001: Again we thought it was happening, but then all went quiet. Won't be long! Her mammaries are really full with milk now and drops are appearing on the nipples.
December 12 2001: Last night we slept next to Misty's whelp box as she was really panting and perhaps showing the onset of labour. But some time during the night she calmed down and slept through. Her belly is sticking out sideways now, and you can clearly see movement in there! Maybe tonight! Thanks to all those who've sent their good wishes to us and to Misty!
December 7 2001: Close to a week to whelp! Vet check on Tuesday showed all going well. her weight and condition seem fine. Her mammaries are now much larger, especially the front ones, though they aren't full of milk yet, just getting ready for it! Misty now gets her own walk in the mornings, as Woody is too boisterous and needs his beach run for the day. So, the routine is changing around the household. Have once again had a host of enquiries via the net!
December 2 2001: Under 2 weeks to whelp! All of Misty's nipples are now extremely large, but are not full of millk yet. she has had her walks shortened and now avoids the rough-house Woody tactics. This week we will have her checked at the vet. Heaps of enquiries from the net!
November 27 2001: 2.5 weeks to whelp! Misty is noticeably larger in the hip area, and is very keen on food. All going well.
November 25 2001: 6 weeks from first mating.
All going well. Misty's nipples have enlarged severely, and they sometimes slap
together when she runs. At the beach, she ignores Woody's efforts to run and
rumble and prefers to stay near to us. Whelping box is assembled in the coolest
part of the house, as these will be summer pups, and it's easier to warm up
a room compared to cooling it down. Misty's diet has been increased slightly,
and spread out over breakfast and her meal at night. Have had more than a dozen
enquiries over the net so far.
November 16 2001: 5 weeks from first mating. Ultrasound reveals beautiful
little puppies moving around... you
could see their spines... they are perfectly formed. The vet would only say "there
are more then four".
He also confirmed that Misty was well and in "very good nick". We now
increase her diet, and assemble the whelping box.
Stay tuned.
October 13 and 15 2001. Mating. A long trip for Misty up to Gunnislake
Kennels, near Sydney.
Hopefully some beautiful pups will come from this mating.
This means the litter will be due between December 15 and 18 2001.
All pups will be BLACK because of the genes the parents carry. For a good explanation
of this,
go to our links page and use the Choclabs link, navigate to their page on the
genetics of Labrador colouration.
Next thing for us: Watch for the signs of pregnancy, and an ultra-sound round the 4-week mark.