We expect two new litters of wirehaired dachshunds really soon!

In 2012 we are going to have two litters of puppies.

Keena came in heat on January 15, and we bred her to FC Tom vom Linteler-Forst on January 26 and 27. She should be delivering around March 28. If everything goes well (and with dog breeding you never know) pups would be going to their new homes around June 2-10.

Keena is almost seven years old, and this is going to be her last litter. She was examined by a vet prior to the breeding, had her full blood panel and x-ray done, and everything looks very good. She was declared to be in superb health and got a green light from our vets for breeding.

This is going to be our "T" litter.  Tommy does not have the gene for short coat so we expect all the pups to have wirehaired coats.

This picture was taken on March 20. It does not look like Keena carries a lot of puppies, I would say 3 or 4. We have an appointment with a vet on Monday, March 26, to check how many puppies she will be having.

Paika came in heat on January 24, and we  bred her on February 3 and 5. This is a repeat breeding of our very successful S-litter sired by FC Nurmi v Moosbach-Zuzelek (aka Moose) owned by Chuck Collier, MI. Paika's pups from this litter will have "U" names. Paika does not have the gene for short coat so we expect all the pups to have wirehaired coats.

These pictures were taken on March 20. Paika still has more than two weeks to go in her pregnancy. My estimate is that she will have 5-6 puppies, but of course I might be wrong!

Still waiting

Wednesday 10:50 AM
So far there is no change worth reporting.  Paika's temperature this morning was 99.0.
I washed her and trimmed her behind. Otherwise she has been sleeping all morning, and she is not showing any sign of being in labor. No panting, no shaking, no digging. We are still waiting.

Update 7:30 PM
Around 4 PM Paika walked into her whelping box, which now is lined with old t-shirts, towels etc, and things started to happen. She scratches and digs, throws up a little, and then goes back to sleep. We could be having puppies tonight or tomorrow morning. The below is a video taken around 7 PM.

Paika's temperature drops

This morning Paika's temperature dropped to 99.7 so most likely she will start to whelp within 24 hours, probably tonight or tomorrow morning. Now at 1 PM she is resting comfortably in the whelping box. She has not eaten anything yet today.

Update 10:30 PM
Things are pretty quiet. Paika has spent all day in the whelping box stretched out. She ate very little but enjoyed a mix of goat milk with vanilla ice cream. It should give her some glucose and calcium, both necessary for the whelping process. In the evening she started to breathe more heavily and dig a little bit. All these signs are completely normal and indicate that she is in the first stage of labor. This stage can last from 4 to 24 hours so it is hard to say when she will transition to the stage II.

She is in my den and there is a big desk between her whelping box and me, so I can't really see her when I sit in front of my computer. I set up a webcam on my desk and I can watch her on my screen without bothering her. This way I can do some work too and at the same time can monitor her. I like the webcam  (Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF) because I can change its position and tilt from the software without touching hardware. I can take pics and videos and the pic below is an example of mid-resolution shot. There are many options, but of course, the higher resolution the larger size of file. I can zoom on her too while she moves around the box.

I'll probably stay with her all night.

10:30 PM - Paika in the whelping box on her back.

Gilda is going to whelp soon

Yesterday I took Gilda for X-ray as she has been getting really big. It showed eight puppies. Normally Gilda is around 25 lbs, now she weighs 39 lbs and her belly touches the ground.

Today Gilda refused to eat breakfast and has not had anything to eat all day. I took her temperature in the morning and it was 99.8 (normal temp is around 101.5-102.5). It means that Gilda is going to whelp soon - tonight or tomorrow. It is a bit earlier than we expected but this is something beyond our control. Bitches whelp 63 days after they have ovulated so we must have bred her after she already had ovulated.

update on Keena - Sunday

Sunday 8 am
No puppies yet. Keena has not had anything to eat in the last 20 hours. From 12 am to 1 am she was very uncomfortable, was nesting and throwing up a lot, and it looked like we were going to have puppies last night. I stayed up with her as she did not want to be alone. But then she got quiet, and the rest of the night was uneventful. She is calm and quiet now resting in the whelping box.

Sunday 11:30 pm
So far things are going really, really well. The first puppy arrived at 8:10 pm, and it was huge at 13.4 oz. Right now we have 6 puppies - 3 females and 3 males. But Keena is not done yet. I'll post a more detailed report tomorrow.

update on Keena

Today is day #61 since Keena's first breeding, and she is getting ready. Her temperature in the morning was 100.5. She refused her regular breakfast, and the only thing she accepted were chicken gizzards.

She tried to eat a bit later int he day but then she threw it up. She is uncomfortable but quiet.


My guess is that she might be whelping tomorrow but probably not tonight. Last time she had puppies, two years ago, this preparatory stage took Keena two days.