Seven Weeks Old & My Favorite Pictures of the Week

March 8, 2024Leave a comment

Happy March! I can’t believe it’s March already, and spring is just around the corner. In between the long stretches of rainy days we’ve had recently, there have been several beautifully warm days. The puppies have moved to their outdoor pen, and they are loving the extra space to play outside on the warm days.

At this age there are three main things happening for the puppies:

1. Introduction to house training. For the first few weeks, most of my litters live inside. It’s nice to keep a close eye on them when they are teeny tiny. However, once the puppies are walking and moving around, it becomes logistically necessary to move them outside where they have more space. The indoor section of the pen is about the same size as what they had in the house. This space is temperature controlled and keeps them warm and dry no matter what the weather is outside.

In addition to that space, they have a door to go into a large outside pen. On days with pleasant weather, they spend a good portion of the day outside playing. On the rainy or cold days, they only go out to go potty and then head back in where it’s warm and dry.

Having their pen set up like this is excellent for basic house training. Already, the puppies are learning to go outside to do their business. They can go outside whenever they need to during the day or night. Since puppies are born with an instinct not to pee or poop where they sleep, most puppies learn very quickly on their own to keep the indoor part of the pen clean. Capitalizing on this instinct at a young age makes crate training and house training so much easier! This is building a great foundation and creating good habits that go along with the puppies to their new homes. The reports I’ve gotten back from families with our puppies in regard to house training have been overwhelmingly positive.

2. Another big development for the puppies is weaning. They are getting toward the end of the weaning process now. They are eating three meals a day of Life’s Abundance Large Breed Puppy Food, and they get a mid-day milk snack from momma. The food that puppies (and adult dogs) eat has a HUGE impact on their health. Puppies have young digestive and immune systems that are just beginning to develop. The immune system, in particular, doesn’t fully mature in dogs until 18-24 months old. It’s very important for puppies to have a food that is gentle on their digestive system and full of essential nutrients. It’s also important that the nutrients come in forms that the puppies’ immature digestive system can absorb. Many cheap and low quality dog foods contain corn. While corn does have nutrients in it that fill in the boxes for the nutrition label, dogs can NOT digest corn. Whatever nutrients are there come straight out in their poop, completely useless to them. Low quality foods are harsh on the digestive system, leading to more bouts of diarrhea and a weaker immune system.

This is why I feed my puppies Life’s Abundance. Here’s a quick summary of the good things that are in the food and the bad things that you will never find in Life’s Abundance products.

• A proprietary blend of vitamins & minerals
• High-quality, multi-source proteins for growing muscles & healthy development
• An antioxidant system with vitamins C & E
• Prebiotic fiber & guaranteed probiotics
• Omega-3 fatty acids for healthy skin & a shiny coat
• Enriched with DHA
• Dietary fiber to help maintain a healthy digestive tract
• NO artificial flavors
• NO artificial colors
• NO corn or corn glutens
• NO wheat or wheat gluten

3. The third thing that happens around this time is their vet check. All the puppies got a clear health certificate along with their first vaccinations this week. Routine vet care, vaccinations, and dewormings are important in keeping puppies healthy and setting them up for the best adjustment into a new home.

And of course, I can’t finish out a blog post without a few pictures of the puppies from this past week. Here are a couple of my favorites to brighten your day! I know I always gush over how adorable my puppies are. But really, look at these guys. They are darling! Four of these pups are available. If you’ve been thinking about getting one of our puppies, this is your chance!

Real Life Isn’t Always Pretty- Two Week Update

February 3, 20241 Comment

The puppies are two weeks old today, and… wow… it has been a rough week. I am very disappointed to share with you all that we lost two puppies this past week. The remaining five puppies and Oakley seem to be doing well now, but we will be monitoring everyone very closely. I will give you all a glimpse into the reality of the world of animals. Nature isn’t always kind. When working with animals, you can do all the right things, and yet losing some is inevitable.

It started last Saturday evening when the puppies were seven days old. We had been gone a good portion of the day, but when we got home that evening, we saw one puppy that was very weak and lethargic. It was surprising, since the litter had been thriving up until then. Also oddly, it was one of the biggest puppies of the litter. It was clear it had been a long time since he moved or nursed. Because he had been lying in one position for so long, his back legs had become very stiff, and he was unable to use them.

Because of the fact that he couldn’t move his back legs, we initially thought he had incurred a spinal/hip injury, perhaps by Oakley stepping on him. He had been okay in the morning when I changed the bedding, so it seemed very odd for a large, healthy puppy to decline so quickly. An injury made sense to us at the time. I spent the next couple hours massaging his legs, which did seem to help him regain some movement. I helped him latch on to nurse, but the outlook wasn’t great.

During the night, I got up with him several times to make sure he could move and nurse, but it was apparent within a few hours that he was too far gone to save. He passed away Sunday morning.

Jump to Monday, and I noted another puppy that was lethargic. When I weighed her Monday morning, she had lost weight from the previous evening. She had little interest in nursing, even when I helped her latch on. She seemed to be fading as quickly as the first puppy.

After making some phone calls, we decided to try treatment for “bad milk.” This was something I had heard of from other breeders before but never encountered myself. It seemed like a very odd phenomenon, but the symptoms matched.

It typically begins around day 6 or 7. Puppies, often just one or two at a time, begin to “fade.” They don’t act like sick puppies normally would, or at least ours didn’t. They don’t cry or show outward signs of illness or distress. They no longer have an interest in nursing, and they become dehydrated and lethargic. They will latch on but stop sucking after a few seconds, seeming to be more content just snuggling against mom and sleeping. Once they begin to show signs of lethargy, they deteriorate very quickly. It often (though not always) starts with the larger puppies, and then slowly spreads through the litter.

It is thought to be something in the mom’s milk, likely a bacteria that is harmless to her but slowly overloads the puppies’ systems. (This is why the bigger puppies who are consuming the most milk are often the first to get sick.) Oakley was showing no signs of illness- no mastitis, fever, diarrhea, lethargy, ect. She had a good appetite and was producing plenty of milk, yet something seemed to be slowly poisoning her babies. The symptoms matched up, so we immediately began treating Oakley with an antibiotic to clear out any bacteria in her milk.

I also tried to bottle feed the second sick puppy, but she had no interest in eating. I began syringe feeding her in hopes we could save her. I fed her around the clock, yet she became more weak by the hour. She finally passed away Tuesday morning after 24 hours of syringe feeding.

Meanwhile, two more puppies had lost weight from Monday morning to Monday evening. However, by midday Monday, the antibiotics were in Oakley’s milk. We are extremely thankful this came in time for them. They were still vigorous and regained their weight Monday night into Tuesday morning. Since then, all the puppies have continued to gain weight.

We will continue the course of antibiotics into next week. Once we stop them, we will very closely watch the puppies’ weights during the following days. If any of them begin losing weight, we may have to continue with a longer course of antibiotics; but, Lord willing, the remaining five puppies should be fine.

Some times, being a breeder means spending several nights up every few hours trying to save a puppy. It means making formula, feeding around the clock, carefully heating formula in a syringe, and painstakingly dispensing 1/2 a milliliter at a time. I don’t say any of that to pat myself on the back, but to show the effort breeders put into their puppies. I know many other breeders who put the same level of care, effort, time, and sacrifice into their dogs and puppies. When you see a litter of beautiful, thriving 8 week old puppies, I hope you can see the hours of sacrifice, care, and sometimes tears that got them there.

To end on a positive note, the prognosis for mom and puppies is very good. Once the antibiotics do their job, momma and babies will do fine from here on out. I will give them extra probiotics for the next several weeks just to make sure their digestive systems stay settled after the antibiotics.

Here’s a picture of Oakley and her babies. As you can see, they are growing and pudgy, and we are grateful to see it.

Meet Our 2024 Puppies!

January 26, 2024Leave a comment

It’s been a long time coming, and we are excited to introduce you to our winter 2024 puppies!

For many of you, this may be your first time meeting Momma Oakley. Oakley is our 2.5 year old Golden Retriever. She is spunky and sweet, and she is proving to be a very mellow tempered momma.

Our lineup of dogs that we are actively breeding has changed a bit. Duchess has joined Mia in retirement, leaving us with two younger females- Nova (Irish Setter) and Oakley (Golden Retriever). While we waited for Oakley to grow and mature the last two years, Nova was our only female that we were actively breeding. But for those who have been following along since then, she has proven to be a pickle! We had several failed breedings with her. She did have two litters, but they were both small (2 and 4 pups). It has been a long time since we have had available puppies! In the last two years any puppies we had were immediately claimed by families who had been patiently waiting on our waiting list.

But for the first time since the summer of 2021, we have available puppies! Oakley had a beautiful litter of seven puppies on Saturday, January 20. She has been taking such good care of her babies, and she is very tolerant (but watchful) of my young children handling her babies. All the puppies are gaining weight, and I am very pleased with how everyone is doing in these first few days.

If you or someone you know has been wanting one of our puppies, now would be a great chance! It’s been a long time since we have had puppies available for reservation, and I’m excited to see what new families we get to meet with this litter. It’s always a blessing to make new connections, and bless other families with one of our puppies.

Four Weeks Old

February 18, 2023Leave a comment

Happy Saturday! This week, the puppies passed the four week mark! They have been growing so much, and many changes are taking place.

The biggest thing to happen this week is solid food. I started the puppies on one meal a day of softened Life’s Abundance Large Breed Puppy Food. Over the next 2-3 weeks, I’ll gradually increase the amount of food they eat until they are getting all the calories and nutrition they need from solid food instead of momma’s milk. For now, Nova is still nursing them quite a bit, but her milk supply will quickly begin to drop as the puppies’ demand less from her.

We had a few warm days this week, so the puppies got to enjoy some of their meals outside in the grass. As you can see here, they are very eager! It only takes a few minutes for them to devour a yummy plate of food!

The puppies are beginning to explore and be more interactive, but they still sleep a lot. This is when socializing begins in earnest. This week the puppies got the chance to see and explore the outdoors. My children get to play with them. In the next few weeks, they will be exposed to a variety of different household sights and sounds. When they are exposed to a wide variety of things as young puppies, they tend to develop a calmer and less timid approach to new things and situations as adults. Of course, every dog is a unique individual, but I give the best foundation I can for a well-rounded and even-tempered dog.

Check back next week for updated pictures!

The Quiet Weeks

February 7, 2023Leave a comment

The last two weeks have been quiet, and that’s the best way to start off a litter of puppies. Nova has been an excellent mother, and the puppies have been eating, sleeping, and growing. My work has been very minimal. I take care of Nova, monitor the puppies’ growth, and keep their bedding clean. This will change, of course, as the puppies grow and begin to explore their world and begin to wean from mom. But for now, they are solely dependent on her, and she has been doing a great job. Their eyes are open, and their sharp, little teeth are beginning to grow in.

The best thing I can do for the puppies in the first couple weeks is keep their momma healthy and happy. Good quality food is the number one way to ward off infections and disease and ensure mom is healthy and has plenty of milk. Nova is eating Life’s Abundance All Life Stages dog food and is getting one NuVet Plus supplement a day. Currently, we are free feeding her, which means she can eat as much as she wants, so her body can make plenty of milk for her growing babies. Life’s Abundance food gives a great foundation of high-quality proteins, probiotics, vitamins, minerals, and everything else she needs. NuVet Plus is a supplement that gives an extra support to her immune system. This is important, since a momma’s immune system often gets stressed and run down during pregnancy and while nursing puppies. Because her body is working extra hard, it makes her vulnerable to illness, so we take care to give extra immune system support to keep her healthy.

In the coming weeks, the puppies will begin to explore. This is when the socialization really begins to kick in! Right now, the puppies get handled very gently a little every day. I usually pick them up, hold them on their backs, tickle their toes, and of, course, snuggle them close. Soon, they will get to experience all sorts of things including new sights and sounds, food, toys, outdoors, etc.

For now, though, they remain quite sleepy and peaceful. From left to right is Bailey, Paddy, Lucky, and Clover (female).

My children are very excited for the time that the puppies will be able to play with them. They enjoy petting them and holding them, but they know the real fun is yet to come!

Have a blessed day!

Winter 2023 Litter is Here!

January 24, 2023Leave a comment

Hello, everyone! I am happy to introduce Nova’s litter of Golden Irish puppies. They were born on January 19. It feels like a long time since we have a litter of puppies, but it’s exciting to get back into the swing of it. There are three males and one female, and they are all doing well. Nova is a great mom and is highly attentive to her little babies.

There are deposits pending on all of the puppies, but if you are interested in a Golden Irish puppy, please get in touch with me or Zach, and we can chat about matching you with a future pup!

Now, let me catch you up on life at our place. My last blog post is dated summer of 2021! Yikes. That’s a long time. So, here’s a recap of our last 18 months.

Duchess and Mia both retired. They are still here, living the cushy life. Timber is semi-retired and will likely fully retire this year. That is our first generation of dogs that have aged out of the breeding years! The last 18 months was a transition from our first generation to our second generation of dogs.

Our breeding schedule now is working with two younger females- Nova (Irish Setter) and Oakley (Golden Retriever). Nova had a single puppy litter last summer, and we are hoping to see a first litter from Oakley later this year.

While this 18 month transition was longer than expected, it came at a good time. Soon after our 2021 litters headed home, we found out we would be welcoming a third baby into our family. During my pregnancy and the first half year after our baby was born, we didn’t have any large litters of puppies.

And that’s just about it! New baby. Retiring the older dogs, and starting the young ones. You will probably see more of us and our dogs on social media again and here on the blog now that we will be having litters more regularly again. It’s shaping up to be a fun year for puppies!

Have a blessed day!

Pupdate!

July 12, 20212 Comments

The last couple of weeks have been a flurry of activity around here. It’s time to get you caught up!

First of all, Mia’s puppies headed off to their new homes! My kids enjoyed getting a few final snuggles in.

Reese is a pro puppy handler by this age.

Reagan, meanwhile, still employs the occasional chokehold. But, I assure you, no puppies were harmed or frightened during this process. 🙂 This puppy, as uncomfortable as she may have been, was completely calm and relaxed while Reagan figured out how to hold her. One of the benefits of being raised around young children is that puppies become very tolerant of inexperienced hands.

It was a little bittersweet seeing Mia’s last litter leave. Mia was the best momma dog we could have ever asked for, and she has blessed so many families with her offspring. I’ll miss having her adorable fluffy babies around, but I am also looking forward to having Mia enjoy her lazy, golden years.

Next up is an update on Duchess’s puppies. These little ladies have brought some unexpected challenges. The puppies developed a dry, itchy fungus rash on their skin. I am not entirely sure where they picked it up, but fungus and yeast rashes are more common this time of year with the heat and humidity of summer. Thankfully, this type of thing in puppies is very temporary and doesn’t cause any problems. I simply need to treat it and give the skin time to heal. This usually takes 2-3 weeks, and then things go on as normal!

The unfortunate part is that it means I will not be releasing the Irish Setter puppies to their new homes at 8 weeks old, like I usually do. My goal as a breeder is to produce healthy puppies- physically, mentally, and socially. When I hand a family a puppy, it is a culmination of weeks, months, and years of intentional work. I have striven to make this puppy as perfect as possible. So when my puppies develop a problem, even one as minor as a skin rash, I see it as my responsibility to take care of that before I am able to send them to new homes. I don’t feel comfortable releasing a puppy from my care that is not in its best possible physical, mental, and social condition.

That’s why we have decided to keep Duchess’s puppies two additional weeks in order to make sure the rash is completely cleared up before we allow families to take them home. That way, I can hand off the puppies to their new families knowing that I have done everything necessary to provide them with a healthy and happy puppy.

So my children and I will be enjoying these sweet ladies for two more weeks. Two more weeks of soft, wiggly puppies? It certainly could be worse. 🙂 Besides having small spots of dry skin, which are now well on their way to healing, the puppies are growing and playing and developing as they should. They are very active, social, and delightful. There are still two available puppies from the litter. If you have interest in adding a spunky Irish Setter lady to your home and you don’t mind waiting two more weeks to bring her home, please get in touch with me.

The puppies continue with their normal training, which includes an introduction to crate training, sound desensitizing, and socialization. They are doing excellent on the potty training front, and they have handled the crate very well so far. July is proving to be an good month for sound training opportunities. The puppies have been exposed to many different sounds, such as fireworks, thunderstorms, lawn mowers, etc.

I hope to get some updated pictures of the girls this week, so you can all see how much they have grown. Until then, here is a candid shot of Liberty, sprawled in the grass on a hot afternoon.

And that’s it for the pups! We’ve got some other things happening behind the scenes here with our dogs, so you can expect some updates on them in the near future. For now, our attention is on our five little red ladies.

Have a blessed week!

Three & Four Weeks

June 7, 2021Leave a comment

Time continues ticking by, and all the puppies continue growing. Here’s a quick update on both litters!

Duchess’s Irish Setter puppies are now three weeks old. At this point, Duchess still fully cares for them, but I will be introducing solid foods in the next couple days. All five girls are doing well. There is one that is a bit smaller than the others, so I’m supplementing her to help her pack on a little more weight. She’s feisty and active, though, and otherwise has no trouble keeping up with her big sisters.

Duchess healed very well from her c-section. Her staples were removed last week, and her incision healed very well. She is now back to normal activity, and she was cleared by her surgeon to have a future litter. We are grateful for her quick and easy recovery!

Mia’s Mini Goldendoodle puppies are becoming much more fun and interactive. They have begun to show interest in a few toys that I added to their pen, and I hear all sorts of yips, whines, and play growls throughout the day. Mia is being a wonderful and attentive mother, and I couldn’t be happier with how they are all doing.

Remember the little male puppy I shared about previously? He was born very weak, and I supplemented him for several days to keep him alive. That extra love and effort has paid off! He is fully thriving, and he is now the biggest of the litter. Seeing him growing and thriving makes my momma’s heart happy!

In the last week, Mia’s puppies got to start two very fun things- solid food and potty training.

They got to start solid food last week, and the weaning process will continue slowly until about 7 weeks old. Right now they get two meals a day of softened Life’s Abundance Small/Medium Breed Puppy Food. The food that puppies (and adult dogs) eat has a HUGE impact on their health. Puppies have young digestive and immune systems that are just beginning to develop. The immune system, in particular, doesn’t fully mature in dogs until 18-24 months old. It’s very important for puppies to have a food that is gentle on their digestive system and full of essential nutrients. It’s also important that the nutrients come in forms that the puppies’ immature digestive system can absorb. Many cheap and low quality dog foods contain corn. While corn does have nutrients in it that fill in the boxes for the nutrition label, dogs can NOT digest corn. Whatever nutrients are there come straight out in their poop, completely useless to them. Low quality foods are harsh on the digestive system, leading to more bouts of diarrhea and a weaker immune system.

This is why I feed my puppies Life’s Abundance. Here’s a quick summary of the good things that are in the food and the bad things that you will never find in Life’s Abundance products.

Life's Abundance Small/Medium Breed Puppy Food

Around the time I introduced food, I also started potty training. This is a later start than usual for potty training, but this litter is doing exceptionally well, despite the late start. I start the puppies on paper training, which teaches them the basic skill of recognizing a “potty area.” This foundational knowledge helps so much for later crate training and house training. What I teach them is that there is a specific place to do their business. They usually are quick to catch on to this concept, because dogs and even young puppies instinctively want to keep their sleeping area clean. In the next couple weeks once the puppies outgrow the indoor pen, they will get to move to our outdoor pen. Then they get to transfer this knowledge and learn to do all their pottying outside. I do all of this potty training work for two reasons. First, it’s so much easier for me to keep the puppies and their pen clean, neat, and sanitary. Second, it’s training I provide as a service to help puppies adjust more quickly once they head to their new homes. With this foundational knowledge, most families find that crate training and house training go much easier.

And that’s about it! Our weeks have been full of puppies and all sorts of other summertime things like picking strawberries, splashing in the sprinkler, and enjoying cookouts with our friends and families. Enjoy your upcoming week, and check back later this week for updated pictures of the Mini Goldendoodles!

Puppies, puppies!

May 19, 2021May 19, 20211 Comment

Good afternoon, everyone! It’s time for an update on all the babies that have been showing up around here!

Many of you saw on social media that Mia had a litter of seven puppies on May 7th. They are now a week and a half old, and they are all doing so well! I’ve been having some trouble getting pictures on my website, but I hope to have a new computer set up by this weekend. So hang in there, and you’ll get to see the puppies soon!

Mia has a litter of six girls and one boy, and there is a beautiful variety of colors. There are several dark red puppies, a couple medium red/golden, and one or two apricot. The male puppy is the lightest and curliest of the litter, and for the first few days he struggled a bit. In the first hours after birth, he was dehydrated and sluggish.

After puppies are born and are cleaned off, they should do a fair bit of squirming and squeaking. They are constantly seeking the warmth and comfort of their mom. If she moves away, they start squeaking and moving around, searching for her. However, the male puppy did not do this. While all his siblings were moving about and making noise, he lay on his side and was quiet. If I helped him latch on, he would nurse. Then he would soon get pushed away by another puppy, and he was too weak to push his way back in. For the first few days, I supplemented him with 2-3 bottle feeds a day of fresh goat’s milk. This helped him stay hydrated, and he quickly got stronger and more vigorous. Now, his weight has passed up some of his sisters’ weights, and he is fully back to nursing from mom. Success!

Mia has been taking excellent care of her babies. I have been checking her temperature daily to watch for any signs of infection, and I’m on the lookout for other things like mastitis, etc. Mia is my oldest girl (she just turned seven in April), and with age, comes a higher chance of complications. Also, I’ve definitely been feeling more anxious just because what happened to Jade is on my mind. So I feel like I’m on double vigilance right now! But Mia has been easy on me, and she is doing very well.

I am really trying to soak in the joy of these puppies, since this is Mia’s last litter. She will be entering into a well-deserved retirement after this. If anyone is hoping to get one of my Mini Goldendoodles, definitely get in touch with me soon! There are some available puppies from her litter, and it will be a few years before we have any more Mini Goldendoodles.

While Mia is doing her best to go easy on me, Duchess is keeping me on my toes! I am beginning to think she enjoys doing that. 🙂 I had guessed that she would have a litter at the end of the summer, but she surprised me by coming into heat a week after Mia did. We knew this would mean having two litters at the same time, but we did it once before, so we decided we could do it again.

So here we are! I’d like to introduce you to our Summer 2021 Irish Setters!

Not only was Duchess ready to have puppies several months earlier than I expected, her delivery brought some challenges, as well. Her labor started Thursday morning, and she very quickly had three puppies born. Then there was a fourth puppy born that didn’t breathe and was unable to be revived. (This is always sad and unfortunate, but it’s simply something that happens at times. Nature isn’t always kind!)

At this point, when I felt Duchess’s belly, I could still feel some puppies. So I waited, fully expecting them to be born within an hour or so. But several hours passed with no more puppies being born. During this time, I was giving Duchess oral calcium paste, which is something that gives energy and helps the uterus to have strong, efficient contractions. Sometimes, low calcium levels can lead to slow, difficult labors because the uterus muscle is tired and weak. After four hours of waiting, what appeared to be a retained placenta was passed. (Usually a placenta is born with or right after a puppy. On occasion, it can be retained in the uterus, which is not a good scenario.)

I thought perhaps the retained placenta had been the reason for the stalled labor. At first I was encouraged, because I began to see more contractions. I was very hopeful that this meant the remaining puppies were finally on the way. I don’t usually get too worried about my dogs during labor. I’m always watchful, but the vast majority of the time, dogs can deliver puppies naturally on their own. They are truly amazing creatures. Even when complications arise, some quick intervention at home can often avoid the need for emergency veterinary care. Often, but not always.

Two more hours passed, and there were still no more puppies. I was able to feel at least two more puppies, and I decided I had tried everything I could and I had given nature as much time as I could. Now it was time to get to the vet and get those babies out. I was still hoping that Duchess simply needed a shot of oxytocin (a drug that starts contractions- very similar to pitocin that’s sometimes given to women in labor). When labor is stalled due to the uterus tiring out, oxytocin can help finish labor naturally.

Once at the vet, they did an x-ray to assess how many puppies were left and where they were positioned. The thing with oxytocin is, you can NOT give it if there is a stuck puppy. The x-ray showed three puppies. There were the two that I had felt at home, and there was a third one, hopelessly stuck (the vet describe it as “folded in half”) at the top of the birth canal. This meant the only option was a c-section. There was no way that this puppy could be born naturally. I made the guess that this puppy was likely already dead, but I hoped that the c-section would save the other two puppies.

I left Duchess at the vet and went home to wait. After a few hours, the vet called. Duchess had done great through surgery, and they were able to save two of the puppies. The stuck puppy was indeed dead already. I’m not sure if the puppy was dead because it got stuck or if it got stuck because it was dead. Sometimes, for unknown reasons, a puppy dies in utero. Those dead puppies are notorious for causing problems in labor, and they often get stuck. I don’t know if this was the case, but it’s very possible. It’s also possible that the puppy somehow entered the birth canal sideways and died as a result of being stuck for several hours.

Whatever the case, I was very grateful to be able to bring home a tired, but otherwise healthy mom and five sweet puppies. Losing two puppies is sad, and c-sections are no fun. But, like I said, nature isn’t always kind. All things considered, everything turned out as well as it could have.

On a rather funny note, Duchess’s puppies are all girls! So I have a litter of 6 girls and 1 boy from Mia, and 5 girls from Duchess. I’m not sure what’s in our water, but we are bursting at the seams with girls!

Thank you all for hanging in there and reading all of that! It has certainly been a busy and unpredictable week over here, but a week full of many of God’s blessings. I’m hoping my next week is a lot less eventful than this one, but we shall see!

Also there are puppies available from both litters. If you are interested, please get in touch with me!

With a Heavy Heart

April 28, 2021April 28, 202110 Comments

This post was supposed to be a wrap up and farewell post for our Spring 2021 Golden Irish puppies. However, the farewell is much more bitter than sweet this time.

It is with a heavy heart that I am sharing about the very unexpected passing of Jade, our dear Golden Retriever and mother of the litter that just left for their new homes. She developed a uterine infection nine weeks after delivering puppies. By the time I realized what was wrong, the infection had already spread to her bloodstream, and we were not able to save her.

She passed last week on April 20, and I can still hardly believe she’s gone. Here’s a brief summary of her last days.

On February 17, Jade delivered a healthy litter of seven puppies. It was a very smooth and easy labor, and both she and her puppies thrived in the days after delivery. In the weeks that followed, she was a textbook perfection mother. Her puppies were all similar in size, and they gained weight quickly. She took excellent care of them, and I thought that she had recovered wonderfully.

In the first couple of weeks after having puppies, I keep a close eye on momma, because infection is always a possibility. In my experience, the risk of uterine infection is highest in the first week after delivery. By week two, it’s still a possibility, but my concern begins to ease. Then after two or three weeks, I always assumed the risk of uterine infection was over.

After the first two weeks are past, I mainly watch outward signs from momma to make sure her body is coping well and is not stressed from the work of raising puppies. Jade was eating and drinking well. She was acting normal. There was no throwing up or diarrhea. I also watch momma’s weight and coat. Being overworked by nursing puppies often manifests in weight loss and hair loss. Jade maintained her weight while producing plenty of milk, and her fur remained thick and beautiful. I took all of this to mean that her body was healthy.

The puppies were weaned after 7 weeks old, and her milk supply dried up nicely. At 8 weeks old, the puppies began leaving for their new homes. Jade was her usual, calm self, and she gently greeted each family and tried to soak up attention. There were absolutely no signs at this point that anything was amiss.

Then, on the morning of April 20th, Jade didn’t want to eat breakfast, and I could tell she wasn’t feeling well. By lunchtime, she was lethargic. I took her temperature, and she was running a fever. I called my vet, and scheduled an appointment for that afternoon as soon as my kids were up from their naps. At this point, I still had no idea how serious it was.

However, once at the vet’s office, they confirmed by ultrasound that her uterus was badly infected and that she was already septic. I was totally blindsided as I spoke to the doctor. I went from having a normal dog to discussing emergency surgery to remove her uterus or euthanasia in less than 24 hours. Jade was anemic and septic, and the odds of surviving emergency surgery were not in her favor. I struggled to take this all in. How could she be so sick? How was she already this far gone, and I hadn’t noticed anything up until that morning?

I asked my vet, “How could have I missed this?” His answer was the I probably didn’t miss it. These infections hit hard and fast.

We had two options at this point. One was an emergency spay. This would mean a transfer to another facility for overnight care. Because of her anemic and septic condition, she would need to undergo treatment to stabilize her before even attempting surgery- blood transfusion and antibiotics. If she could be stabilized well enough, they could do emergency surgery and remove the infected uterus. Then, she would have been hospitalized for several days to try to treat the blood infection. There was no guarantee that she could be stabilized for surgery. There was no guarantee she would survive surgery even with a prior blood transfusion. And there was no guarantee the sepsis could be treated afterwards. As much as I wanted to believe in any possibility of saving her, the odds were not promising for her survival.

Jade was always a very dependent dog. She hated being away from home and away from her “pack,” even for short periods of time. The thought of her being hospitalized for so long, away from her people and her pack and very possibly dying without anyone around her that she knew was very difficult to consider.

The other option was to euthanize her that evening at my vet’s office, a place she was familiar with and where I could be with her.

I was still in shock to be having to make this decision. To make matters worse, my husband had been away for a few days and was driving home and only due to arrive back around midnight. I called him and we discussed the options, and we both agreed that euthanasia was the wisest and kindest choice.

In the backyard of my vet’s office, Jade and I spent a few minutes sitting together in the grass. When she was given the drugs, she passed very quickly and peacefully, lying beside a friend and listening to a familiar voice.

I’m still processing everything; and at times, I’m still struggling with guilt, even though there’s likely nothing I could have done that would have changed the outcome. I’ve looked back over everything, wondering if there was a sign that I missed in the days prior to her death. Did I miss something because I was living under the false assumption that after 9 weeks, the risk of uterine infection is long passed?

However, even in retrospect, I can’t see anything that indicated she was sick. She happily greeted me at the door whenever I came out. She greedily ate her food at mealtimes. She napped in her favorite places.

It’s likely that in the day or two before I noticed she was ill, she was running a fever. There were probably no other symptoms, and dogs mask illness and injury. It’s part of their natural will to survive. In the wild, if an animal appears weak, sick, or injured, it quickly becomes a target for other predators. I once read that if you would rate a dog’s pain level on a scale of 1 to 10, it would be 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Meaning, they don’t show minor pain and discomfort. Once a dog is showing obvious signs of illness or injury, their discomfort level is already a 6. Because uterine infections come on so quickly and ferociously, Jade masked the mildly ill feeling and then got rapidly worse and by the time she felt sick enough to stop eating and lie on her bed, it was simply too far gone.

It’s been hard, and I miss her. But I am grateful for the five years we had with her, and I’m grateful that Jade’s memory will be alive and well for many years through the lives of her beautiful puppies. If you are one of the lucky families with one of Jade’s puppies, please know that you hold something very special and dear to my heart.

If I’ve learned anything through this it’s that life can change quickly. We never know what the future holds. But God does. God knows. He cares, and He provides. The most any of us can do is be faithful wherever we are today and spend time loving on those God has placed in our lives. You’ll never regret the extra snuggles with you kids, the late night chat with your spouse, or the extra game of fetch with your dog.

Goodbye, Jade. Your sweet, gentle nature was such a blessing, and we all miss you.