No-nonsense approach to mothering puppies

We have not posted any updates for a couple of days as we were quite busy. Puppies are doing really well, and Paika is doing great too. I like her approach to raising puppies, and in the last 20 years I have seen many different styles of mothering.

She likes to be with her puppies, and she keeps the whelping box spotless, but now she takes long breaks away from the pups. If I am in my den, where the whelping box is,  I find her quite often in her own bed resting. If we are upstairs in the kitchen and dining area, she comes there too and spends some time with us. When Beth and Genti were here on Friday, she was schmoozing with them and their baby Dea. Puppies are not the only thing on her mind, but they are on her mind often enough.

Anyway, their eyes are still closed but they should be opening soon. When they do open, we will have to be careful with taking pups' pictures. You can't blast them with a flash when their eyes are very sensitive.

These are pups today's weights:

Blue pup 285 grams when born, now 590
Green pup 295 then, now 750
Yellow pup 275 then, now 655
Red pup 315 then, now 745
Pink pup 300 then, now 750

Pups are one week old

Are all these dachshund puppies going to be wirehairs?

You might wonder why these puppies look so different from Paika whose coat is longer. Well, puppies coats are very short for the first few weeks of their lives. With time differences between individuals will become more apparent. We are quite sure that all these puppies are going to be wirehairs as Paika was DNA tested for the gene that controls the absence/presence of furnishings. If you would like to learn more about it click here and here. BTW, the color of Paika and her puppies' coats is called "wild boar".

Day number 6 for the little pups

You probably noticed that their bellies are getting rounder... thanks to the good milk supply courtesy of Paika.

Puppies like to stay all cuddled together and close to their mom Paika. However, a mild stress is good for them, so a couple of times a day, when I change their bedding, I spread puppies in the whelping box. This way they have to do some "work" to reunite (they must follow their noses) and they get some exercise too.

Paika cornered!

Puppies are growing like weeds

Everything is going really well in the whelping box, and puppies are growing like weeds. Puppies were born just four days ago and these are their weights now. It is easier to do it in grams than pounds and ounces.

Blue pup 285 grams when born, now 380
Green pup 295  then, now 415
Yellow pup 275  then, now 397
Red pup 315 then, now 445
Pink pup 300 then, now 460

Paika is still spending all her time in the whelping box.

A video showing the whelping of the second puppy

This is a seven minute video showing the whelping of Paika's second puppy. The placenta was not expelled along with the puppy so I had to cut the cord to free the pup, which was already outside. I think that the real star of the video, besides Paika of course, was the first puppy. The original video is 11 minutes but it seemed a little long so I shortened it to seven minutes.

It is touching to see how Paika handles the delivery. She is able to focus on the first puppy, which is pretty demanding,  and the puppy that is being born. She is highly cooperative and has a complete trust in me (not all bitches are like that).

Pups and Paika are doing well

A couple of pictures taken this morning put a smile on my face. Is there anything better than happy and healthy puppies?

Last night I spent a couple of hours applying warm compress to Paika's breasts. I used Epsom salt (1/2 cup per 3 cups of warm water), and it looks like it helped a lot.The breasts are much better now though not completely normal yet. Paika and pups are getting some Bene-Bac, which contains healthful Lactobacillus acidophilus and other beneficial bacteria to support normal digestion.This is to counteract the effect of antibiotic that Paika is on.

All puppies are gaining and doing well:
Blue pup 10.2 oz when born, now 12.0
Green pup 11.2 oz then, now 11.8
Yellow pup 9.8 then, now 11.0
Red pup 11.0 then, now 11.8
Pink pup 10.6 then, now 12.0

This is our S litter, which means that all the pups in this litter will have their registered names starting with an S. We already had one S litter in 1995 that had 6 girls and 1 boy. Now we need some new S-names. 

Let your creativity flow, and let us know your suggestions for puppy names!

The whelping is over

Last night around 11 PM I gave Paika a shot of oxytocin. We were not sure whether she had more pups in her or not. She was having occasional contractions but nothing was coming out. After she got oxytocin she expelled a big placenta but no additional pups. Her contractions ended after that.Today we palpated her and we don't feel any additional puppies.

So we ended up with five nice puppies - four males and one female. We are really looking forward to all the fun we are going to have with them! Last year when we had two litters of pups at the same time, 14 in total, it was so much work. This year with just 5 it is going to be fun! I'll post some pics and video later.

Update 4:00 PM
Some pictures taken during and after whelping. Everything is going well except for the fact that Paika produces too much milk and two of her mammary glands got too full and hot. This condition is called galactostasis and it could lead to mastitis, a serious condition. I am trying to avoid it so I am keeping an eye Paika's temperature and started her on Clavamox.  I also put warm wet compress on the affected teats and milk them to give her some relief. Puppies are doing well, and all put on some weight. They have different ribbons around their necks, and to make things easier to identify the only girl she wears a pink ribbon.

Click on the images to see larger versions.

Today is the day!

Paika's water broke at 8:50 AM and the first puppy arrived at 10:30. It is a pretty big boy, weighing 11 oz (315 gr). Her maternal instincts seem to be excellent, and the boy is doing well.

Update 2:00 PM.
So far we have three boys - 11.0, 10.4 and 10.2 ounces, and everything has been going really well.

Update 4:15 PM
Two more puppies - one boy 9.8 oz and one girl 10.6 oz. Paika has been eating and drinking in between pups and seems to be in a really good shape. All pups except for one came out feet first, at a somewhat awkward angle, but nobody was stuck. The pups are very vigorous and everybody has been nursing.

Third boy coming out feet first

Update 10:30 PM
I believe that there is one more puppy in Paika but she has taken a very long break. The five puppies have full bellies, their bottoms are clean and they are very active when not asleep. Paika's temperature is normal, she has been eating, drinking and taking care of the pups. We are just going to wait and see what happens. Sometimes the last puppy is whelped quite a few hours after all the others.

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.

No puppies yet

I think Paika decided that she is going to hold on to puppies for a while longer. Last night she ate a big meal and drank a lot. She was turning her nose at everything I offered but when I opened a container of moist pre-prepared Purina Beneful dinner, she really went for it. Go figure. I noticed that in this late stage of pregnancy she likes novel things that she has never had before.

Since she did not act like she was going to have pups last night, I managed to get some good sleep in my own bed. Today she seems happy and pretty active. No sign of  any distress, no abnormal discharge. Who knows what the Mother Nature has in store for us but we are going to wait. The waiting game will be over when her water breaks and then things will have to progress at a certain rate, but until then we are going to be patient.


Thank you for all your support! We really appreciate it.

Update 10 PM: There is no change to report, and it does not look like Paika will be whelping tonight. She just ate her only meal of the day (her appetite is much better in the evening than in the morning). Puppies are moving in her belly, but obviously we have to wait longer for their arrival.

It is going to be a long day

Monday 10:30 AM

Paika is more uncomfortable and wants to be in eye contact with me.

I read my notes on Keena's last whelping, and if Paika follows the same patter, it might be a while. In Keena's case it took at least 36 hours from the temperature drop to the arrival of first puppy. So it looks like it might be a long day... It is too bad that John has an appointment in Albany this afternoon :-(  He is really good at pulling out stuck puppies.

Update 6 PM
No change in status quo. Paika is not eating and she is drinking very little. But she is not in distress, and her water did not break. I read my notes on Keena's first litter and as it turned out it took Keena three days to prepare for whelping. So I am going to relax as probably nothing is going to happen today. I might even sleep in my own bed.

Anyway, Paika likes to be touched and massaged, and this is a short video clip taken with our webcam.

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.

Good day for Paika

Today was a good day for Paika as she was pretty active. Last night she finally ate a full portion of Canidae, and today she has been eating pretty well. In the morning she ate some of Oma's Performance raw food. Later I went shopping for groceries and got her fresh chicken giblets. She really liked them.

She walked around quite a bit and once she came across a rabbit scent trail, her tail went up and she was ready to follow into thick brush. She does not look like she will be whelping soon. And this is fine with me as it gives me more time to get ready!

Getting closer...

Today we got a whelping box ready for Paika. It is placed in my den, and this is where Paika and pups will be staying for the first few weeks. Paika went right into the box and stayed there probably 40% of the time. She has been eating very poorly today even though I offered her a variety foods. Even though she usually has a voracious appetite, she is probably not going to eat much until she whelps.

Today I have been reading the latest book by Myra Savant-Harris "Advanced Canine Reproduction and Puppy Care", and I learned some new things. I highly recommend the book, which currently is on sale at amazon.

I think that Paika might start to whelp as early as Sunday.

Paika is most comfortable resting on the back

Paika on July 28 - 57th day from the first breeding

One week to go

One week before due date - Paika longingly looks ahead at the field where she used to run rabbits.

Paika looks big and full of pups. She is in a good spirit though, eats well and goes for walks.

Deworming during pregnancy

Today Paika was given 3 grams of Safe-Guard (fenbendazole) in order to prevent prenatal infection with roundworms. The treatment has to be given 3 days in a row. For more information on deworming a pregnant bitch go here or here.

Paika is getting big and losing her appetite

I am going to document here Paika's last two weeks of her pregnancy, mainly for my own records. Paika's projected whelping date is around August 3 so we still have two more weeks. Today was the first day that in the morning she would not eat her breakfast consisting of dry Canidae food (for all life stages). However, when offered canned Canidae, she ate it with gusto. Her appetite is not as strong now in the morning as it used to be. She gets now three meals a day.

Two more weeks to go

I took Paika for our usual walk last evening. It was really hot, and we went to the pond. She went in right away, and after she came out all wet, I could really see that her bell is getting rounder quite rapidly. Two more weeks to go!

This feels sooo good!

Nine more weeks until arrival of Paika's puppies

We have decided to have only one litter this year, and yesterday and today Paika was bred to Chuck Collier's Moose. More info about this litter is given click here. Paika and Moose's pups are expected around August 4. This will be our "S" litter.

2011 born-to-track puppies

We had two litters of pups in 2010, and now the pups are almost ten months old. They have done very well and we posted about them here and on our blood tracking blog. We are planning to have two litters in 2011 but it will be a while before they arrive. We will breed Paika and Keena, and they are due to come in heat in May. So if everything goes according to plan, puppies will be born at the end of July.

This nice e-mail came from Lynn and Ann Pierce from Louisiana.

We have two youth weekends for the first time and this past weekend was the first of the two. We had 13 people at our camp and with all the camps in the area about 40 adults (family and friends) and 9 youth hunters and more to come this coming weekend. It was great. We all meet at one camp "GUT-BUSTERS" to do all the cleaning, cooking, and storytelling.

The atmosphere is great and a lot of fun. Maybe y'all could visit us one hunting season, it would really be great and fun to have y'all over to do some tracking.

Rosette's first track was very successful. My great nephew shot the deer at the end of a food plot, it ran about 225 yards and went into the woods where he could not see the direction the deer went. It was not a very long track, but defiantly long enough. Rossette found the blood, tracked it with a hard right turn and then a large half circle which she followed right on line and found the deer in very tall grass. We could have found the deer ourselves, but it was a great training exercise for her. We waited almost two hours before we started the track. No one knew where the deer was and if it was hit or not. We only knew the area at the end of the food plot where it was shot at. My nephew thought he had missed it. I told him we always go look when anyone shoots at a deer. You never know if it is hit or not.

Rosette (Roulette von Moosbach-Zuzelek) at the end of successful track

Several hours before the above track my other great nephew shot a deer but it fell in its tracks. So I had my nephew pull it several hundred yards and hide it in the woods where no one of us knew where it was hidden.
Rosette followed the track perfectly right to the deer. This was a fresh track about 30 minutes after the kill.

For both tracks I had a hard time holding her, Rosette was all business and she was tracking with much enthusiasm and fire and she loved it. I did too.....

She loves the hunting camp atmosphere and she is great at the camp with the other dogs and everyone loves her. I am very pleased with her and she is a great companion. She is very mild mannered, laid back, and loves playing with the grandkids and great nieces and nephews. You did a great job picking her for Ann & I. She's just what we wanted.

Well, that's it for now.

Thanks and happy tracking,

Lynn

First recoveries for Quella and Mya (Quanta)

We sold three 2010 puppies to hunters from Ohio and two days ago we heard from the two of them.

David Bell who has Quella (Joeri/Keena) wrote:

Hey Jolanta, I just wanted to let you know that Quella is two for two in finding deer. The first track was 4 hours old. Quella seemed to be overwhelmed at first and I had to restart her three times on the 120 yard track, which had very little blood at first for the first 10 feet. I had to use flashlights at the time and I couldn't see any blood, but they were cheap led lights, which weren't very bright. The third time I put her on it she took me straight to the deer. She could have been right the first time, but I wasn't seeing any blood, so I re-started her on it. Well, to make a long story short on this track I believe the reason she was wrong the first time was that she was tracking the coyotes that had found the young button buck before Quella did (and they had blood on their feet).

The second time I took her out was on a call that was only two hours old. Quella found the deer with no problem at all, which was a training line for her (my firend shot the deer). The deer went around 125 yds with two wound beds and some decent blood at times. This time out I had my new coon light from Kelley's K Light Supply. It was their top light, with the G-2L Advantage Head on it. Quella took me straight to the deer and my buddy and his cousin were saying that they couldn't believe how good this little dachshund is. They were kind of laughing at first when they first seen her, but she made quick believers of her flawless nose work. Thanks again for a awesome dog. The tracks I mentioned were on the 4th and 5th by the way.

Bill Brown wrote about Mya (Quanta):

Jolanta, hopefully all is well with you and John. Were all doing fine and couldn’t be any happier with Mya.We all have her spoiled rotten and my labs love her too. She has been doing very well on her training exercises, not perfect but she has always ended well. She had her 1^st real deer tracking this past Sat. I knew where the deer was, about a 150yd job, had to get her on the blood a couple of times but she did extremely well. She got very excited when she got to the deer licked the wound and wanted to chew and enjoyed the piece of liver she was given. Can’t wait for her next tracking job, now that she knows the end results. I’ll keep you updated.

David and Bill, good to hear from you. Good tracking and hunting - keep us posted!

Jezy gets a taste of real tracking

This morning brought a nice e-mail from Jerry Davis:

Jezy [Quipster] went on her first two real blood trails last week. They were both good bow shots and easy tracks (75 yards or so long). Her desire to track was strong ! It was priceless to watch her astonishment upon finding the first deer. She was quite taken back and slowly circled the deer. Upon much praise and encouragement , she was then delighted to chew on the deer's tongue during the entire drag out of the woods. I think she really got the idea as she showed better focus on the second track .


She's made a great house dog and seems sure to become a good tracker as well. During our daily walks she is constantly "hunting" prompting my wife to comment that she was "born-to-track"!

Good job Jezy! These easy real tracks are a great training tool for puppies.

Quentin, now Radar, and his training

Radar (Quentin von Moosbach-Zuzelek) and his owner Craig Dougherty of Northern Whitetails have been doing well. In his first report Craig wrote "Talk about personality! This guy has it all. He is a real charmer and incredibly observant. He sure acts a lot more like my Lab puppies than the beagles I used to keep. He took to the crate like a champ and sleeps peacefully through the night. Housebreaking is coming along nicely and he answers to his name nicely."

The recent e-mail says: "Wanted to let you know that Neil and I are now "official" and legal having passed the NY Certification Test. Radar seems to be coming along nicely. Working him about 2x per week on different concepts. Did nicely on a 24 hr. trail last week in the rain. Worked him around the perimeter of a heavily used plot with lots of fresh sign the other morning. He showed plenty of interest in the fresh trails but with a little help stayed "true" to the 12 hr blood trail we were working. I am learning every day. Now wearing ring of clothes pin flagging around my neck when putting out a trail after learning how easy it is to loose track of a trail that you were sure you would remember a half day earlier. Have replaced my plastic puppy clothesline with a nice orange training line which moves through the woods better and picked up a wide tracking collar I had made from our local Amish harness maker (he happens to practice QDM as well).

Radar seems quite 'calm" when trailing. Nothing "frantic" like I have seen with some other dogs when they are working some kind of scent trail. You can generally tell when he is back on track after drifting off line but he doesn't make a real big deal over being back "on line" he just moves on without a lot of drift."

Update on the Q-puppies

Q-puppies are four months old now. Over the last few weeks we have received quite a few updates on the pups.

Let's start with QUENOTTE as she is the pup that we have kept. She is pretty small and when she had her rabies shot ten days ago or so she was 9.3 lbs. Her beard started to grow, and it is becoming clear that she is going to have the wirehaired coat very similar to her mom's coat - quite short and wiry with a medium beard. Quenotte is an easy going pup who sleeps during the night in her crate without any fuss. During the day she spends some time with us, and of course with the dogs. She is learning that not everybody cares to play with her, and if she insists on harassing older dogs, she gets corrected by them. The mild discipline is exactly what she needs.

She travelled with us to field trials in Michigan and it was a very good experience for her. She got to meet new people and see a lot of dogs. The picture below shows Quenotte schmoozing with Phil Ruggieri.

Quenotte is very affectionate and she just loved Phil Ruggieri

While we were running multiple dogs in Michiga, she spent her days in a pen watching her surroundings.

We take Quenotte on walks, and just yestarday she was swimming in the pond trying to get a feather floating there. We started with her easy obedience exercises and continue blood tracking training.

Quenotte

Quenotte

David Bells' QUELLA is doing well in training.



QUELLA



WALDO (Quantum) is helping Koren paint



Waldo's first canoe ride



Quick and his buddy Fitz



 Pam Ellenberger writes: Fitz and Quick are getting along very well. Quick never challenged Fitz and they have settled in together nicely Somehow Fitz know that he needs to be gentle with Quick. The biggest challenge we've had is to get used to a puppy this small. He can go through places that our cats don't even attempt! We've all decided that Quick is a perfect name since he can get into trouble in a flash. We love him & will stay in touch.

Rilla - before and after

We have received many e-mails and pics of Q- and R-pups and will be posting them really soon. Our trip to Michigan field trials has caused a big delay in our posting but we should be catching up in the next few days.

Below are three pictures of Rilla - before and after a grooming session with Sherry Ruggieri. What a difference! Thanks Stan for the fantastic pics. And congratulations on Rilla's first "real" deer. Stan wrote a week ago: "Rilla had two "finds" yesterday--both my sons filled their antlerless tags, and we let Rilla "find" them. It was fun, she did VERY well, and was only a little bit intimidated by the sight of her first whole deer."

Ruger is on his journey to a new home in Georgia

Josey Visnovske from Georgia was planning to come here to pick up his puppy on Friday evening. He was planning to drive from Maryland, where he was for his job, and next day he was to go back to MD to catch a flight back home. The hurricane Earl complicated things tremendously. So last night Josey came here after 11 pm, stayed with us overnight and left today at 7 am with Ruger in his arms...well in a Sherpa bag.

We hope Josey and Ruger make home tonight without further complications. Good luck to both of you; please stay in touch!

We have been receiving good feedback about puppies but have had no time to post it. Things should get better soon, especially after Saturday, when we are hosting a United Blood Trackers test here in Berne.