The FF-Litter is Juicy’s first litter. That means you have to be very careful picking the right guy for her. He should be something very special because the first time is something special as well.
Because of the DD-Litter I looked very intensively into the Lochtaymor-lines for- and backwards of Harris alias Lochtaymor King of Diamonds. We used him for the DD-Litter in a tragic but successful way. Because the original wasn’t available any more – we used his last drop – I took the best alternative – his son Connor. And that’s pretty logical too, because Juicy is Ruby’s daughter, Ruby was the wife of Harris, so if Juicy and Connor get mated Ruby and Harris become grandparents even though it will not happen by their common children. So it stays within the family and that’s good as it is. And as I told you before the FF-Litter should become something very special -. and here you are. And there was another very important criterion the lover of Juicy had to meet. Juicy is a virgin and therefore she needs an experienced and elder lover for her first time. And Connor fulfills that criterion very well – he is twoandahalf months older than Juicy.
And their pedigree fits together very well – as you can see here:
This pedigree surely is bee’s knees or as we say ff – and ff means fino/finissimo, first class. ff is known since middleage – so says my “ Who-knows-it-all-megasuperintelligent“ – hubby. And he should know – old as he is. But whatsoever – we have to wait till we see if trhe little FF’s fulfil the promnise of the pedigree.
From theory to practice: Let’s have a look at the parernts of the to be FF’s . First the groom: O’Connor v’t Kaijershof called Connor or as Juicy called him in a moment of ultimate deligfht (when did that happen?): Ohhhhhhh Connor!
And then the bride: Dailuaine Zingapore Zling called Juicy:
On Ascension Day or – in Germany it’s Father’s Day too – the two got together and it made Zoooom. After twentythreeandahalf minutes of „Oooohhhhhh Connor“ Juicy was mated. And that it worked, we found out four weeks later. Juicy’s pregnancy ent by witout any problems – except for the very last days.
However, if you look at this picture – admittedly with the benefit of hindsight – you can see the drama to come. When this picture had been taken we all did not know what would come up to us. O.K. Juicy was rather round, however, everybody thought, well, it will be a big litter. The last ultrasound taken a few days before the expected whelping day didn’t show anything negative, all vital functions of the puppies were fine, everything seemed to be roger.
In spite of this Juicy felt worse from day to day. She didn’t show any signs of coming down into whelping, no significant temperature decrease, no panting, no false labor, absolutely nada.
I got more twitchy and panic with every second nothing happened. On the expected whelping day I decided not to wait any longer – they took off to the vet-clinic in Giessen. I couldn’t come along, I had to go to work. Instead of me Gabi, a friend of mine and nurse, came along, she is nurse at a human birth clinic, so she is an expert. As usual I didn’t put any trust in my hubby to handle this by himself, however, he was trusted with the important role as chauffeur. At the clinic the vet examined Juicy and the puppies and didn’t do a thing because everything seems to be o.k. But after they got the results of Juicy’s blood laboratory test they said: “Her progesteron level shows that she is in the whelping process, even though nothing’s going on. And that is an obvious indication for a cesarean!”
And off they went with Juicy towards the operation theatre. My husband and nurse Gabi made themselves a little comfortable knowing this will take a while. They weren’t anxious at all, everything looked like pure routine.
And then, almost an hour later, all in a sudden the door of the operating theatre banged open, one of the animal keepers raced through the hall in another room, rushing back with an oxygen cylinder. “What’s up?” – my husband and nurse Gabi wanted to know. ”No time, I’m in a rush – it’s critical!” – and the theatre door banged shut. My husband’s and nurse Gabi’s state of mind changed dramatically: “Holy shit, what’s going on in there?” Of course they didn’t know a thing, but what they knew was that this didn’t mean anything good just the contrary. From now on there was only anxiety, fear, scare and horror and overall the shitty feeling that you can do nothing else.
What was going on in there was that my Mom suffered a very seldom disease – canine maternal hydrops. This disease is so rare the clinic director told us afterwards that in his thirty year long career he never experienced a single case of it. This damned canine maternal hydrops leads to an enormous overproduction of amniotic fluid – as to say a tsunami of amniotic fluid . That’s why Juicy was so big, the total birth apparatus was flooded with amniotic fluid. Of course this had a bad impact on the puppies as well. Twelve people were fighting in the operating theatre to save the lives of them and Juicy’s. Unfortunately they lost four of those battles – four didn’t make it – they drowned in amniotic fluid.
And the four survivors were dancing on a razor blade. They all needed fresh oxygen and everybody got an IV cannula in his neck to inject all kinds of live-saving drugs. Well, so young and already addicted to the needle. What a perspective for their future.
Juicy wasn’t in good shape either, her uterus was so stretched by all these fluids, you could read a newspaper through the skin – no chance, it had to go! Juicy lost about 27 pounds during the operation and the pups were only a small part of it, the rest was this damned amniotic fluid and lots of blood. No wonder that her circulation almost said good bye. However, the professor and his team managed to keep her alive.
As shitty as this pic looks, as shitty Juicy was up to one day after whelping – so haggard and the tongue sticking out. I had to come with auntie Shiloh to the vet clinic. Shiloh donated some blood for Juicy and that saved her life, because her hematocrit level was absolutly down – near zero.
What happened to the pups in the meantime? They were cockered up with formula milk, got fed every hour around the clock. Late Thursday they were allowed to drink from Mom’s tits. A real mistake of our “milk-servants” – because from then on they went on strike with the formula stuff “Ugh, yuck, no way!” – they insisted on the real stuff. They only drank Mom’s milk – no more formula, no more artificial milk.
The next two pics were taken at the clinic too. They look rather poor as well – o.k. – they were taken by me and my Methusalem-style mobile.
On Friday – two days after birth they all could leave the clinic, because Juicy recovered pretty well with her new Shiloh-blood. The little ones could have gone earlier, they recuperated much quicker than Juicy, but following the old device “Home is where the milk-bar is!” – they stayed with Mom.
However, we have to thank that phantastic team of vets and animal keepers at the vet-clinic Giessen. Without their competence and engagement the puppies and Juicy weren’t alive anymore. Back at home there was only one direction: straight uphill!
From apocalypse to apotheosis – that’s the motto our beloved photo-tour through 8 weeks puppy life. After drama came felicity – all that made it developped phenominally – fabulous pups with a fabulous temperament, the one and only fab four (Sorry Beatles).
Coming back from the picture trip it’s time for the official beautyshots:
Finally the inevitable Qote out of the breedwarden report:
“Friendly, trusting, active, proper puppies with excellent coat, pigment and costruction, very well socialized. Wonerful family breeding, the dogs are well integrated in the family clan. ”
That’s the way it has to be!