Keeping puppies warm.

We have lost a puppy on day 2.
 It is very difficult to say why but Jilly has lost 1 every litter she has had. You soon see there is one just failing. I have tried to put it onto the best teats, expressed milk and even given it lactol but nothing works. That puppy just cannot thrive. I have asked my vets advice he says it is "non thriving puppy syndrome". I feel that Jilly has just one bud that allows the egg to be fertilised and the puppy to grow whilst in her but once it is born it just fades. It's core temperature drops and eventually she pushes it out as she knows there is some thing wrong.

The rest are just gorgeous and thriving very well.

Jilly has unlimited food at the moment but lets face it she can have as much as she likes as she has all those hungry mouthes to feed.

We have our oil heating on 24 hours at the moment + Jilly has an oil filled radiator right by her.
The litter is on vet bed which is fantastic for keeping the puppies dry and warm.

Here they are.

Safely arrived and now resting. The whelping process can be very long as each puppy is delivered separately. There is limited time once the puppy is delivered for mum to clear the nose to enable it to breath. Here you can see mum and pups all doing very well and looking healthy.

Snow!! What fun!!

How they love the snow. It is the first time for Poppy, Toffee, Bella and Lulu. None of them understood how to apply their braked. Lulu looked like a white dog as she rolled in it.
The older dogs love it too. Gemma (our old girl) pops her tail between her hind legs and sets the charge and everyone runs after her. She can run like the wind even at her age.




Jilly, despite the weather has had her puppies today. She started around 12 noon and has just delivered the last on (we think). She has had a meal which is a usual sign that she has finished whelping. They all look great. One Golden boy and the rest are chocolate. The other dogs would love to visit the new borns but Jilly would object. She has no problem with us handling them though and my partner has done a couple of head counts as Mum can squash existing puppies whilst delivering the next.

Out for breakfast

One of my sons called me to our window this morning as there were a couple of pheasants on the roof of our dog pen. They looked lovely with the ice covering it too. We turned our attention to our lawn where there were 20 +.
What a beautiful winters scene.
We tried to take a photo but it didn't look great.
We threw some cornflakes (well is was breakfast time) but they all flew off. Lets hope they call again.

The horses find it hard to walk when the ground is so rutted and then frozen. Many leg injuries happen at this time of the year.

Out for breakfast

One of my sons called me to our window this morning as there were a couple of pheasants on the roof of our dog pen. They looked lovely with the ice covering it too. We turned our attention to our lawn where there were 20 +.
What a beautiful winters scene.
We tried to take a photo but it didn't look great.
We threw some cornflakes (well is was breakfast time) but they all flew off. Lets hope they call again.

The horses find it hard to walk when the ground is so rutted and then frozen. Many leg injuries happen at this time of the year.

Winter is here!

I love days like today. Clear sky and cold, crisp air.
I rode my lovely horse and he, despite his objections worked very well. We both sweated a bit !.
The hose has frozen so I had to barrow water to them all. My horses live out so have hard feed and limitless hay. We have clipped them and then wrapped them in rugs. This enables us to ride them, stops them sweating too much and  allows them to dry off much quicker before we turn them out again.

The dogs are all well. Jilly now heavily pregnant is in the porch. She has a heater on all the time just in case we have new arrivals. Puppies need the air temperature to be 18 degrees not to suffer from hyporthermia. Her due date is Monday (Gestation is 9 weeks).

All the dogs have extra rations and warm bedding. I gave the young dogs a new bed and by the time I can back onto the yard having ridden they had removed all the stuffing!!! What a waste that was.

Puppies on their way.

Please let me play!!

Jilly is looking very round. She is due her litter in a week but she would love to play ball. In fact she would play to the minute they are born if she had her way. Needless to say she is a very fit girl she loves nothing more than to play fetch. We are looking forward to the arrival of the pups as she is a good mum and has produced some lovely pups. Oscar the Dad is very laid back about the whole affair as his work is clearly done and he plays no further part other than to play with them when they get to an interesting stage.