Baskin Robbins Litter
D.O.B. May 17, 2024
1 male and 1 female
Green = Baskin (Pickwick's Double Scoop of Love)
Orange = Robbin (Pickwick's Love Potion #31)
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1 male and 1 female
Green = Baskin (Pickwick's Double Scoop of Love)
Orange = Robbin (Pickwick's Love Potion #31)
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D.O.B. Friday, May 17 for both Annie and Lilibeth! This means we will be sharing puppy party and other fun things! Given that it was just 3 pups with Lilibeth's litter and 2 with Annie's, the 2 combined almost create a 'normal' litter. (Actually, with pugs, singletons and small litters of 2 and 3 is quite common. You are really lucky with a 6-7 puppy litter.) All 3 of Lilibeth's pups were girls! I'll post all the pups here, (including Annie's), and some shots from the vet.
(Annie's)
Green = Baskin (Pickwick's Double Scoop of Love)
Orange = Robbin (Pickwick's Love Potion #31)
(Lilibeth's)
Purple = Lola (Pickwick's Never Too Old, Too Wacky, Too Wild) (Little Lola Lopp)
Black = Cindy (Pickwick's Always Welcomed With Holiday Cheer) (Cindy-Lou Who)
White = Kitty (Pickwick's Oh the Thinks You Can Think) (Kitty O’Sullivan Kraus)
(Annie's)
Green = Baskin (Pickwick's Double Scoop of Love)
Orange = Robbin (Pickwick's Love Potion #31)
(Lilibeth's)
Purple = Lola (Pickwick's Never Too Old, Too Wacky, Too Wild) (Little Lola Lopp)
Black = Cindy (Pickwick's Always Welcomed With Holiday Cheer) (Cindy-Lou Who)
White = Kitty (Pickwick's Oh the Thinks You Can Think) (Kitty O’Sullivan Kraus)
Day 1 (May 18, 2024) - The pups turned 1 day old today! They had their toenails trimmed (dew claws were removed yesterday by the vet) and nursed regularly. All are latching on well and the mamas are recovering from the c-section nicely. We have been alternating feedings (Annie, then Lilibeth) but as it seemed like milk was starting to come in more we started to split up and nurse simultaneously (2 and 3 or 3 and 2). I am amazed at how Lilibeth has been with this litter .... licking, staying still etc. ... she is a completely different mama than with her last litter. Honestly, I think Annie and Lilibeth enjoy having the company back there. It's so amazing their pups were both born on the same day. Meant to be! Here are the pups with their colors and kennel names, 1 day old . . .
May 16-17 overnight and early morning - No sleep for Amy last night. Lilibeth decided to join Annie in the "nesting" (digging at linens and loud panting with early contractions and discomfort etc.) from around 2 AM on. We decided to do a c-section with both girls for several factors. Both girl's progesterone was 0.6 so it was definitely low enough and, as it turned out, one pup was breech with Annie and there were adhesions from her previous c-section with The Flying Kilt litter years ago. There would have been complications had we tried to freewhelp. Alas, another factor was that if we tried to freewhelp and ran into issues (our vet won't be available this weekend ,,, his daughter is graduating vet school and will be joining the staff soon!), the local er vets here now all require a spay for all emergency c-sections. (Even if it's a responsibly bred, health tested, show pup who is 50 years into an important line who has won Westminster etc. etc. ..... such a sad decision to lump all breeders into one pile and it will have detrimental effects on breeds longterm). We do plan to spay these girls, and this was their last litter, but we don't like to lose too much blood with 2 surgeries, especially when they have so much to do taking care of pups etc., PLUS, well, not all vets understand anesthesia with brachy breeds like our vets do. It was the safest choice given the timing. Risking losing our girls is not an option. They truly are our children. So. Our gut and rationalization paid off this time.
May 16 Afternoon - So, the progesterone came back at 3.8. Vet said it was ok to proceed with a c-section but we have always been instructed by our mentors and other breeders to wait until it drops below 2. Since Annie was not showing any other signs yet (not nesting, no colostrum etc.) we decided to wait until tomorrow's c-section appointment (which was supposed to be Lilibeth's). Annie's temp had dropped to 98.5 this morning, but, again, no other signs. It's a risk because this could mean a trip to ER vet tonight, and not all vets are experienced with anesthesia for brachy breeds. But, we tried to listen to our gut and follow the advice of many other experienced breeders.
"Dogs typically enter stage I labor within 24 hours of a decline in serum progesterone to < 2 ng/mL, which develops in conjunction with increased circulating prostaglandins and is commonly associated with a transient drop in body temperature (< 99°F [37.2°C]). Monitoring serial progesterone levels for impending labor is problematic because in-house kits enabling rapid results are inherently inaccurate between 2 and 5 ng/mL. Commercial laboratories offering quantitative progesterone by chemiluminescence typically have a 12- to 24-hour turnaround time, which is not rapid enough to make decisions about immediate obstetric intervention. Progesterone levels can drop rapidly in a matter of hours. If progesterone is < 2 ng/mL, gestation is likely at term and labor is pending. Clearly, it is beneficial to obtain information about ovulation timing, minimally by determining the onset of cytologic diestrus (the diestrual shift), to evaluate length of gestation at term. Elective cesarean sections can be performed safely at >62 days gestation; earlier, neonatal surfactant is not reliably present."
All of this means nothing to Annie, except she got to eat breakfast after all! (Not that she's that interested in food right now, but the attention with Amy sitting on floor with her hand feeding her is pretty swell to Annie. "Bless your heart" is all that comes to mind right now with these 2 girls who are about to pop. Annie's tail is wagging still, though. She's the happiest and sweetest pug on earth (well, except for Lilibeth).
"Dogs typically enter stage I labor within 24 hours of a decline in serum progesterone to < 2 ng/mL, which develops in conjunction with increased circulating prostaglandins and is commonly associated with a transient drop in body temperature (< 99°F [37.2°C]). Monitoring serial progesterone levels for impending labor is problematic because in-house kits enabling rapid results are inherently inaccurate between 2 and 5 ng/mL. Commercial laboratories offering quantitative progesterone by chemiluminescence typically have a 12- to 24-hour turnaround time, which is not rapid enough to make decisions about immediate obstetric intervention. Progesterone levels can drop rapidly in a matter of hours. If progesterone is < 2 ng/mL, gestation is likely at term and labor is pending. Clearly, it is beneficial to obtain information about ovulation timing, minimally by determining the onset of cytologic diestrus (the diestrual shift), to evaluate length of gestation at term. Elective cesarean sections can be performed safely at >62 days gestation; earlier, neonatal surfactant is not reliably present."
All of this means nothing to Annie, except she got to eat breakfast after all! (Not that she's that interested in food right now, but the attention with Amy sitting on floor with her hand feeding her is pretty swell to Annie. "Bless your heart" is all that comes to mind right now with these 2 girls who are about to pop. Annie's tail is wagging still, though. She's the happiest and sweetest pug on earth (well, except for Lilibeth).
May 16 AM - This morning Jeff took Annie to the vet for a reverse progesterone test. If the number is low enough (under 2) we will proceed with the scheduled c-section at 11 today. She is about to pop, bless her heart. And no breakfast in case we do the c-section. We're waiting now ... should be a few more minutes. It's so nerve wracking!
May 15 - Appetites are not what they used to be ... Annie is so stuffed so all I could find that Lilibeth and Annie would eat tonight was MY sirloin steak I had planned to cook for myself. Alas, they enjoyed it (but only after I cut it up into small bites and hand fed them.) Insert eye roll here ;)
May 13 - Annie and Lilibeth went to the vet this morning to get their radiographs. It looks like Annie has 2 pups.
May 12
May 10 - 1 week to go!
April 15, 2024: Annie's ultrasound this morning at Hope Animal Clinic revealed, according to the veterinarian Dr. Fuller, that there are at least 3-4 pups!
March 16 and 18, 2024: Progesterone testing took awhile (so expensive!) but Annie finally decided it was time and her numbers climbed. Since Amy was out of town at the dog show with Eliza and Mr. Drysdale, Jeff took Annie to the vet to help with the AI's (#1 on March 16 and #2 on March 18).
If all is going well and there are pups, this is about the day we will head to do an X-ray (radiograph) to do a puppy count and check sizes, positioning etc. Day 63 from ovulation will be the following Friday, May 17th. These dates are always approximations and we are not sure if we will do a c-section prior or not. So much depends upon number and size of pups and other factors. But, it's nice to have a "ballpark" of approximate dates planned ahead of time.