next time...

I should add that FiFi is expected to go into heat again either late January or late February depending wether she follows a 6 or 7 month schedule -- last 2 heats have been at 7 months.

So a breeding would be either mid Feb or mid March.

Bad news....

Well, there'll be no puppies this time.

We did the ultrasound, found nothing, but kept our spirits up while we waited for the blood test, as pups can "hide" sometimes. The blood test only had a little bit of the pregnancy hormone, so the vet speculates that due to this (and her behaving so pregnant a week ago), that she was pregnant, and either reabsorbed or miscarried the fertilized eggs. It could be due to the twisted uterus and messing around with that, releasing stored toxins (vet's words). The vet highly recommends that we NOT do another implant, but do a live breeding next heat. This is the only way to find out IF FiFi can get pregnant at all, otherwise we'll keep second guessing.

So now my fattie will be put on a diet, and get back to her normal exercise routine.... I threatened her that she could run home from the vet, she's so fat, LOL....

To everyone who was waiting for a puppy, I'm very sorry. I'll get in contact with you.
I'm so depressed right now.....

tic toc

Well, I'm just waiting for the ultra sound on Friday. FiFi looks pregnant, but I'm trying not to get too excited, just in case...

Today I got all her papers, show pictures and test certificates collected and organized into one ring binder so it's easy to access. I also printed out Boss' information so it's ready to photo copy IF we actually have pups. I want to send home a folder with all info and tests I have of both parents with each pup when they go home. I'm still holding off on sanding and painting the whelping box for now.... if good news I'll be doing that next week-end.

Just a quick update.... Pregnancy test will happen Friday 9/11 (blood test), with a possible ultra sound afterwards.

So today we went to get the 6 staples out of FiFi's belly... took just a little over an hour to get there, 3 minutes to get them out and about an hour back, today was a free visit though, yeah, and with the hybrid worth it.! All is well. We're told to take it easy still till the vet sees FiFi.. no ball play just long walks. I know I'm just looking for signs... but she seems hungry... I know it is too early to have increased appetite, and it may just be stabilizing after the diminish at ovulation time... but it seems different to me.
Next I need to schedule the ultrasound.....

Back home

I'm so glad I didn't go to the vet alone... FiFi kept trying to stand up in the car while recovering... it was now 10:30pm... silly girl wanted to know where we were... once home I had to put a cone on her for the night, remembering how she licked the holter electrodes off around 5 am when we did the holter test (we only got 13 hours) ... no chance this time to cause trouble! She stood like this for 15 minutes before I could coax her to lie down. Where did my beautiful show dog go, look at that top line, LOL .... did I bring home the wrong dog? I slept on the floor on a mattress, but we both didn't get rest until 4am after she had some homemade chicken broth and realized that she could lie on her side up against me and be comfortable. We slept till 8:30am.



So for the week-end she's being kept very very quiet in the kitchen/dog area. No jumping, running, whatever. When one of the 5 of us can hang with her she has the cone off, but otherwise it's ON, which she absolutely hates. When we take it off she's SO happy, and ready to chase critters in the yard, obviously feeling great!!!



So far so good. Other than hurt self esteem she's good.. no bleeding or oozing. I am wondering if the cone is too big though.. but the smaller one was too small the vet said.... More soon....

The Implant

We had a 8pm appointment Friday night.... I was worried and excited at the same time. We had hoped we could watch, and we were allowed to see everything. We saw FiFi's "date" under microscope, she went out as a light, steady heart and normal bleeding during everything.



It was very strange seeing my big strong healthy dog lying on the table limp and out - it kinda scared me and I couldn't help thinking of the terrible day when I will loose her.....

Everything went well, with one hick-up. Her left uterine horn was normal, but the right one had a large extrauterine cyst with adhesions causing right uterine torsion. The vet broke down the adhesion, aspirated cyst and corrected the torsion, then inserted second half of sperm.



We will now have to keep a closer eye on her pregnancy if it takes, she may need a c-section, only time will tell. The vet said that if we had done a normal breeding she may not have taken, or only conceived in one horn causing a small litter.... Mother Nature... oh boy....

I can't sleep! I've been tossing and turning for the past 2.5 hours. I keep thinking about the upcoming implant. I worry that the sperm all died because her progesterone stalled. And then I worry that something goes wrong during the implant... I can hear the waves now, maybe they can lull me to sleep finally....

Who's the guy?

I should announce who the stud for FiFi's litter is.

Ch. Alpha's The Conquistador, aka "Boss", bred by Susanne Smith. He lives in Alabama and is stunning IMO.

I think the combination should produce some very nice pups. The pups will all be dominant black and vWD carriers. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the breeding takes between Ch. Alpha's The Conquistador and Ch. Wingate She's A Rainbow RN, WAC.

Finally, she has ovulated. The progesterone test this morning read 5.6. The implant will happen 8pm on Friday night. Not ideal for the vet, but we think it is the best time for the eggs and the chilled sperm that has been sitting in the fridge for a week at that point on "an extension".

Well, here's my first blog ever and hopefully first of many regarding this exciting breeding. This is meant for me to keep track of things and "think out loud", and for friends and family to check in and see what's going on.
FiFi is in heat (finally - she's a 7 monther judging on the last 2 heats), and we've done 3 progesterone tests so far. Semen is at the reproduction vet on a 10 day extender, because at first her progesterone seemed to go up really fast, but was stalling today. Another test will be done Monday am, and hopefully we will do the implant Tuesday or so.