Day 1 group photos

Group photo. The girls are the merles, the boys are the blacks. All look to be brindle pointed.
Well the whelp went as normally as expected. The only issue was the last two pups got stuck in the birth canal as they got hung up with placenta from the previous pups. They were delivered without a sac around them, unlike the first 5, so were not viable when they were brought into the world. We tried our hardest! Live and learn. We did what we could for them and am happy with the four healthy ones.

Super huge thanks to my vet for being 'on call' for me when she wouldn't do it for anyone else, and also many thanks to Wanda for driving up the 3 hours to come give me some peace of mind with the whelp. Needless to say if I had to do it alone, I would have been a nervous wreck. It sure made me think twice about having any MORE puppies!

This little girl has the most interesting marking on her face. Where there would normally be a white blaze, she has blue! I've never seen one like that before so it will be fun to watch her (and the others) grow up and see what the markings do.....
I had to lighten up this photo to show you the head marking on the blue girl, and can assure you the black boy behind her IS black and not brindle :) Don't want any more rumors starting! >:)

Puppies are here!

Zoe free whelped 7 puppies (5 blue bitches, 2 black males) today. We had a few issues with some of the puppies and had three D.O.A. blue bitches (all perfectly marked, full white collars and blaze, with a tiny blue dot on the top of their head in the blaze, yes all of them!) due to placenta issues. Surviving are four healthy pups: one half mask blue girl, a blue faced girl, a mismark black dog and a black pup with nice blaze (more like a lightning bolt).

I'm exhausted. More about the whelp tomorrow. Puppies sure are cute but I don't know about this whelping stuff.....

Giving Thanks

I have truly met some amazing people in my years with the dogs, sheep, pigeons, college and high school. Every single person I've met has lead me to life lessons and for that I am thankful. I am glad that I am able to continue to meet new people via Facebook and Blogger, and reconnect with old friends who haven't been forgotten.

I absolutely love my family. They are a pillar of strength and guidance, showing unlimited love, respect, wisdom and laughter when its needed.

I thank my Heavenly Father for all his many blessings, both large and small: my health, a thriving business, education, friends, and most importantly, His forgiveness.

God bless you all on this special holiday and please take a moment to pause and give thanks for all that you are truly blessed with!

Counts are up

Zoe-momma was xrayed this AM and we have for sure 7 nice sized pups, with possibly an 8th hiding on the right horn. There are for sure 4 in the left horn and 3 in the right horn. My vet was very happy to see the wide pelvis and the already laxating of the hips for passing of the pups. It appears as though the first pup will come from the left horn and one in the right horn will be breech. Gosh its so exciting :)

I am hoping for 8, just because its my favorite # :)

Belly watch from 11.22.09

My heart drops a little every time Zoe pulls this pitiful face out of her handbag..........what have I done?! :)




Below...note the pitiful look?

Daisy

Daisy doesn't get a lot of face time on here it seems, although she does get a lot of photos taken of her! Here are some from just this past month....

Here is my dad with Oliver and Daisy. As you can see Daisy LOVES my dad.....this was taken tonight.

Happy Daisy girl....
hmmm...maybe not so sure of the camera?
Ok happy again.....
Daisy is always watching me ((and that big brown fluffy thing is MITCHAM who hasn't had much face time here either)(he equally loves my dad and shows him every time he visits))
Oliver, Daisy and Zoe taking some down time....
Zoe and Daisy chilling again.....

Happy 5th Birthday Sadie!!

Sadie Girl, the Princess, SG, aka my heart dog had a birthday today with ice cream, a nice long walk and even some agility training and sheep herding (the rams got out today!). Sadie as you all know, was in a terrible accident about a month after her four point major in St Joe, MO under Brian Meyer, back in April 2006.

Sadie loves her herding, agility and meeting all kinds of dogs and people. She is undoubtedly my first love who brought me to the Cardigan world and no one could ask for a better first dog. She has a VERY STUBBORN but loving personality and I've learned a lot from my little brindle girl.

Every night when we snuggle in bed I always tell her how much I love her and how grateful I had another day with her. She is really truly a gift. Thanks Sadie for a wonderful life experience!

Every day with her is a gift! Happy Birthday Sadie Girl! (And to Edward and Magic and the rest of the crew!)

Belly watch aka whale watch...

I've been so busy with work...I haven't had much time to blog...but I HAVE taken photos of Zoe's belly for documentation :)


Well here is Zoe on 11.10.09. Swelling and not afraid of showing it! She's such a hussy....

11.16.09 on her belly on the couch. She could STILL jump up on the couch this day.....

Today, 11.20.09. She has seemed to explode on the top side now to match the bottom. She also cannot jump up the ONE step from the back yard to the back door. She gathers herself but has hit her belly twice. NOw she just waits for me, wagging her tail and with her ears back submissively lol. I think we'll start pottying outside the front door (ok her not me....) Two weeks to go......

Litter Theme

I had someone ask me about if I had picked a theme yet. The obvious ones would be an "A" litter where all of the names start with 'A'. The other would be a 'first' theme or something but they all seem so over done. I'm terrible with making a theme of my own. My friend suggested I do a Twilight theme. Not like the movie and vampires. But something that has to do with twilight and night time. My original kennel name was Midnight Forest, as that was my pigeon loft name. Diana Mann had found the words Ebon and wald in Welsh to mean Black Woods. It was the closest she could find to Midnight Forest. I liked the idea of Ebonwald and it took! Thanks again Diana!

So I was thinking of names to do with twilight/night time/dark/forest/woods/trees and thought of a few names. But might you have suggestions?

Another theme i was thinking was personal all time favorite song titles. I have a few like "Poker Face" and "Yeah" but didn't know if those were really good 'registered names' so thought maybe lines from the songs like 'Lady in the street', 'Do whop that thing' etc.

That might be kinda fun? thoughts? ideas? names?

waiting list full

Isn't it fun having prospective puppy buyers contact you? Sure sure you get your head aches, or those who just don't fit the life that you want for your puppies.

I've had nearly 40 applications (no lie) and there are 18 people on this waiting list. Of course some are very specific in what they want (blue merle girl, blue eyes with a sassy attitude) but seriously what are the chances that they will get that? I feel much better with people who say " we dont' care the sex or color, we just want a healthy and happy puppy!"

Most of my puppy buyers had contacted me from a referral from other breeders (thanks for that by the way!) or from the CWCCA breeders directory. Nearly all of them said they found my litter to be what they wanted...even just pet puppies, they want healthy puppies from tested parents and from dogs that have no temperament issues.

With that being said I feel pretty good about the litter and I think any of these that are left on the list will be good puppy owners of my pups.

I'm thankful for those who are interested in the litter and those long time breeders who are supporting me with my first litter. You guys rock ;)

Belly watch

sometimes it looks like this....sometimes much bigger......

makes me nervous...lol

Someone is bored

ultrasound confirmed!

Zoe is confirmed pregnant :)

The vet said for sure six, but more like 8. I had some techs say that with her size already, she could have 10-11. I'm happy with 8! At any given time in the ultrasound we could see 3-4 sacs with moving babies inside!

Zoe has already gained several pounds. How much weight should she be gaining per week or over the entire pregnancy? She is typically 30 pounds.

What do YOU think?

My vote is YES! >:)