It had to be his decision

 Blaze, Mark, and Chance

After six years of hoping, praying, wavering, worrying, and fearing for Blaze to have puppies, I can proudly say that she is spayed.  In the last two years, I'd been favoring her to be fixed but I was waiting on hubby's decision.  After all it was really Mark's idea and he wanted it dearly because he missed out so much on Brut and Silver's litter.  He wanted to carry on the line and he has just fallen in love with our dogs so much, he was almost beside himself when Blaze came home from her abusive life and was still intact.  He is OK with the spaying, but is deeply sadden to have to make this decision.  He wanted it so badly.

Monday Memories-One Line

OK, so I have an inch think folder of info about dog pregnancies and births.  Silver's been in pre-labor for 19 hours and I've been up with her since 7:00am the previous morning.  Knowing things could happen any minute.  There was one line that I remember in that stack of papers that stuck in my mind:  Follow your dog outside, for how many times does a soon-to-be mother dog think she has to go potty and starts giving birth.  I remember laughing at the statement, it just cracked me up the possibility.  So I ran after Silver every time she had to go out with my flashlight in the midst of a bitter winter night, watching every move she made.

Next thing I know, Silver is squatting and next thing I know there is a bubble coming out of her.  I freak out.  In those few seconds I don't know what it was, but somehow something register to me that it wasn't a puppy.  I rush Silver back in the house and sure enough her contractions begin.  I wake up my husband and Silver drops Zappa in my husband's hands. (Monday Memories-Surprise!) Soon enough nine puppies follow and there is a total of ten.

Now the vet had told us that there were ten puppies for certain, but there was always a possibility of one or two that couldn't be seen on the x-ray.

Silver jumps up after the last puppy Fiona was born and is ready to go outside.  Her skin has snapped back into shape except for a bulge about the size of a puppy on her right side.  Is this where Fiona was?  Or is this the hidden puppy that couldn't be seen? (Monday Memories-Black Beauty Momma) Dog moms are known for having so many puppies, getting up and walking around and then give birth to more.  There can be an hour or more between puppies and we just weren't totally sure about this bulge and what it meant.

Then I remember the gray bubble Silver had expelled.  I run out into the yard looking for signs of it where she had squatted.  I check a few other places she had been.  Nothing is there.  I am baffled.  I know what I saw.  I am starting to panic.  Silver is showing all signs of being done giving birth, but after being up for over 24 hours now, I can't stop worrying about the possibility of this "lost" puppy and gray sac.  It has to mean something.

The vet says to wait.  If there are more puppies they will come.  If not, he informs us to take her to the vet and have her x-rayed.  I end up checking the yard a few more times.  I am scared and I can't seem to make any sense of that gray sac I know I saw.

Are all you mothers and breeders laughing at me yet?  It wasn't until almost six months later I was typing out my whole dog breeding and birth experience for my records,  when ONE line in my thick stack of notes finally caught my eye:  the gray bubble was her water sac.  Talk about a sigh of relief!  Finally the mystery was solved.  Out of all the information I had compiled it was only mentioned ONCE, just as the line about following your dog outside in case they think they have to potty.  If it hadn't have been for latter statement, I probably wouldn't have thought to go outside trailing after Silver, and would have missed seeing the mysterious water sac to know that the birthing process was about to begin.   How one line made all the difference in knowing what to do and while the other slipped from my mind and posed fear and panic that I would never get an answer to until many months later.  Funny how things work out.

Silver didn't have anymore pups.  We did end up taking her to the vet for x-rays just to be sure.  Another Monday Memories in the works....             

Monday Memories-Surprise!!

Silver and with her first four pups

Before and during Silver's pregnancy I read as much info as I could about the births.  I found everything I could and had piles of information.  I was also in contact with a breeder online to help get that hands on knowledge that can be lacking in written material.  Regardless of how much information you find, it is nothing like the real experience... 

When Silver was ready to give birth to the first puppy to be born we were both in shock when she gave birth standing up and Daddy caught the Zappa in his hands.  We removed the sac that is wrapped around the pups, rubbed him to dry him off and stimulate breathing until he cried and then cut and tied the cord.  I had read plenty about caring for a  newborn after birth, but what I was not prepared for was Silver was more interested in cleaning herself than her newborn pup.  We were told over and over by other breeders that Silver would know what to do.  After Zappa was born I was a nervous wreck, we had nine more puppies to go and it looked as if Silver was not going to nurse or take any interest.

I made a frantic run to the kitchen to throw together formula and a bottle.  Mistake number one, I bought powdered formula.  I was so nervous I struggled with trying to just read the package for the measurement.  Somehow I managed to pull it together and ran with a bottle back to the whelping room.  Only in time for the second puppy to drop in Daddy's hands.  We took care of this puppy as well while Silver took to cleaning herself again. 

We couldn't get the bottle to work.  So Daddy ran to the kitchen to pierce the nipple better, while Silver started to contract again.  As I was calling for Daddy, I caught puppy number three in my hands and had to do the entire newborn procedure by myself.  We were becoming real pros, real fast.  Daddy came running back with the bottle and it wasn't long after that puppy number four was getting ready to enter the world.

A miracle happened before puppy number four was born, Silver climbed in the whelping box and laid down to give birth to Chance.  She took care of Chance and when she was ready, we moved all the puppies in close to her and she let them nurse while she cleaned them.  Silver began to relax for a few minutes and we took a much needed breather.  We cried and laugh in relief as Silver finally took over her responsibilities while we watched in wonder and fear at the miracles that were before us.  Squirming around, crying and suckling on their mother and we still had six more to go...

The rest of the births went smoothly and were spaced further apart so that we were able to breathe a little and prepare as they happened.  The first four births were about 20 minutes apart, which may seem like a lot of time, it wasn't.  By the time we had the new one cleaned up and worrying about how to feed them, Silver would start contracting and we were doing the whole process all over again.

My research and reading paid off in many areas, but there were a few things we weren't prepared for.  Luckily everything worked out, the puppies were all healthy and Silver was being a good mom.  It is interesting some the things we didn't find in the books and internet, like Silver standing up.  I may have read that somewhere, but it was a completely different story when it was happening in front of your eyes.  We were both assured Silver would automatically take care of the pups, so it never occurred to us that she wouldn't and we were only semi-prepared to handle feeding 10 puppies if Silver decided she wasn't going to.  Thank goodness she came back to her senses or instinct kicked in.  As with everything in life, books only teach you the basic, it becomes a completely different ballgame when you actually experience it.  And what an experience it was!

Thoughts From the Other Side

Mommy Silver and Zappa at one week old.

When we got Silver we planned on her having puppies.  For those first four years before she got pregnant, Silver and I were instinctively in tune with each other.  I could just think her name and she would be at my side or at the door ready to come in.  There was an intense bonding when she was pregnant and became a mother.  No more different than any mother would be if their own daughter was pregnant.  When we had her spayed after having the puppies, it was like the bottom fell out.  She was five years old and I felt like I'd "lost" her.  Besides the physical problems she was having due to lack of hormones, there was an emptiness in her that made it difficult to reconnect with her.  It was if she lost part of her soul when that surgery was done and it took away the higher consciousness we had together.
  
Silver has always been a moody dog, but the sparkle never left her eyes, until she made that trip to the vet.  It was heartbreaking watching this beautiful dog's spirit dying before our eyes.  I had no idea the traumatic impact this would have on her.  Silver was born to be a mother.  Everything in her being was made for it and when we took that away from her, it was more than just an organ being removed, it was the center of her being.

It wasn't until almost a year after the surgery that she began to bounce back little by little.  Silver had lost the extra weight she had gained and her fur loss had diminished.  Her mothering sensitivity and nurturing care slowly began to show itself again.  She began to open to me and wanted to take care of me again, but that strong intuition had lost its previous intensity we had together before she was spayed.  She still knew before I did when I needed her, but now these were only moments of time.  I miss the electricity that was once there between us and I find myself a little saddened by once was.

It makes you wonder, when we spay and neuter what we may be taking away from our animals and our relationship with them.  Maybe this is the reason Brut and I are so utterly in tune with each other and how we understand each others vibes.  If you really look at it, these procedures are not a natural act of nature.  There is more to these organs than just reproduction, it is a creation of who we are.  If you look at it without the basic need to procreate, it is the most natural state of being for any creature.  Hormones are not the evil of life, they are the very being of creation.  Neither of us would be here or our animals without them.

There is such a hard argument to stop unwanted pregnancies, which I agree with, but have you ever stop to think what else you may be taking away?

**DISCLAIMER**-This post is neither for or against neutering and spaying, it is only my observation and personal opinion.

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Monday Memories-Puppy Pictures

Silver's pregnancy x-rays

Yes, they are really in there. Three years ago at about this time this is what we saw when we got x-rays to find out how many puppies were inside. Although they don't show up on this photo, each black dot represents the center of a puppy head.    These pictures were taken at 45 days from the first day of breeding and was too early for a clear definition of the puppies skulls.  Their bones were just beginning to calcify and only made a slight impression on the x-ray.  The vet took three different shots hoping for a clearer pictures.  Though this x-ray only shows four puppies, they confirmed at the time there were six.  We later got x-rays done at 54 days confirming there were 10 puppy skeletons inside.  Their heads were near the bottom while their spines went up to Silver's backbone. 

54 day x-ray.  

Can you find 10 puppy heads?

At about the seventh week I was able to feel movement from the puppies closest to the pelvic region.  I could lay my hand on them and feel this flutter under Silver's fur.  At eight weeks I was able to feel a few of the puppies individually, but there was nothing like seeing that first x-ray and having solid proof they were really in there.  It was one thing to feel and know, it was another to actually see them.  I was unable to take my eyes off the x-ray pictures as reality began to really sink in.  It was exciting and scary and humbling all at the same time.  We were going to be Grandparents!!

There is something about those moments that quiet you and thrill you all at the same time.  Silver's entire pregnancy was such wonderful and beautiful experience. We were so honored to partake in the journey of the beauty of life that was created by two such unique dogs.  It was worth all the worries and fear, to have all of the love that surrounded us each day about the true meaning of life.  

I can still not put into words how seeing those x-rays made me feel and I don't know that I ever could.  The beauty and mystery of it, I can never forget. 

Monday Memories-Precious moments

I... can't..stay...awake..any...

I still can't resist this picture because it was so cute at the time.  Chance was 3 weeks old, doing his duty and actually fell asleep while trying.    He was having a hard time as the puppies had round worms and we were just getting ready to treat the puppies for them.  

We treated them at 3, 5 and 7 weeks old.   Puppies are born with round worms and the get them through their mother's milk. Silver wouldn't stop nursing at 8 weeks, so we were back to the vet for more treatment.  I'd always wondered how the mother got them, because we had Silver checked before she got pregnant.  The vet told me that round worms lay dormant in the muscles until the mother gets pregnant and then they become active and migrate to the mammary glands and the placenta where it carries through the blood supply to the fetus, liver and lungs.

Little facts you may not have known.

                 We ending up having to separate Silver from her puppies to stop the round worm cycle.