The Baby Daddy: CH Lochwynde Jag-View Xing Jordan

I realized this blog was missing a picture of the stud responsible for this litter. With beautiful parents like Jordan and Lauren, how could the puppies be anything but spectacular?

Mystery Girl

Would anyone like to weigh in as to the coat variety of this little girl? I know it will be apparent soon, but it's been hard to determine if she's rough or smooth. Her eye patches are fading, but it was never prominent like her brothers'.

"The Scream" Collie Puppy Version

A Longer Video

Here's a video of the puppies' birth day--nothing graphic for those who are squeamish! (Kristen and Seth, are you still sure you don't want your ol' aunt in the delivery room??)

4/22 The video isn't playing correctly--too jerky and the effects/transitions aren't showing. I'm trying to figure out what the problem is as it plays fine on my computer before I upload it to YouTube. I've edited the video from 9 minutes to 4 minutes, thinking the length was the problem, but that didn't fix it. Add a comment if you have any suggestions!

Great Place for a Nap

Just a short clip--I'm still working on a longer video!

One More

Just Pictures

Here are some pics from Tuesday

Conflicted

  This morning, I took Lauren's breakfast in while she was happily nursing the puppies.  She couldn't decide what to do--stay in the box with her pups or eat??  She chose her breakfast and who could blame her?  Braised liver and cottage cheese at 7:30 a.m., mmm, mmm, who wouldn't go for that!

  I know how she feels.  It's almost time for me to go back to work :(  I'd much rather continue to stay home these pretty spring days, watch the puppies and smell the lilacs on the breeze.  What could possibly make me leave this for the library~oh, yeah, I need the paycheck!

Great Day

  Lauren has really relaxed and acts like an old hand at this mothering thing now.  Today's project was to get our old girl, Sophie, who's a house dog, to not get worried over the meeps and squeaks coming from behind the door.  She had been banished to the play yard & kennel during the delivery and through the week-end, had to be carried up the steps to our room at night so she would stop reacting to the nursery sounds, which would stress Lauren.  Sophie also seemed to be relaxed today and be confident that Lauren has everything under control in the next room.  Now that Sophie doesn't have to be in our room, the cats are happy, the regular schedule is back in place and all is right with the world.

  The traumatic part of the day was the puppies had their dewclaws removed.  They sailed right through it, was more annoyed over having their sleep disturbed.  I was the one who had a hard time with the procedure!

  The box I used on Friday (a Yuenling beer case size) to take the crew to the vets was a bit cramped today, as the puppies have grown and lengthened so much in just 3 days.  Puppies and beer--two of our favorite things here at Hillcroft!

Just Chillin'

  Does this look like a hard working bunch, or what?

48 Hours Later...

These little guys are growing by leaps and bounds!  Everyone has settled in with very few bumps along the way.  Lauren is very clear on her wants and determined to have her way.  I'm always concerned about the puppies getting chilled, but I finally understood that Lauren found the room too warm (no need for that space heater, thank you very much!) She's been a bit unnerved by a few things this week-end--the thunderstorms, the vacuum cleaner--but all in all, has settled down nicely and is a terrific mom!

Oops...

  While I really do know the difference between boys and girls, it seems I had the count wrong on this litter.  We have 5 boys and 3 girls.  I must not have looked at the second born as close as I thought--but it was not even 7 a.m. and I barely had one cup of coffee by then!

  The puppies had their first car ride and first trip to the vet.    They've been pronounced hale and hearty and admired by all in the office.

  In these pictures, the pups are going on 12 hours old.

They're HERE!!

  

The puppies have arrived!  Typical Lauren, she went into labor and started whelping with intensity, actually at "Jie speed"--you library people know that means I had my means full trying to keep up!  Two puppies came within two minutes of each other!  The first five were born in less than 1 1/2 hours, then we had a two hour break after which Lauren popped out 3 more.  I think 8 will be our final number, with 4 males and 4 females.  Mama is taking a well-deserved rest while the babies are having a good lunch.  This is the most vigorous litter I have ever whelped!  Everyone weighs between 8 and 10 ounces, but I have a lousy scale and they move so much, it was hard to get an accurate weight.  All the puppies are extremely active and strong and good nursers.  I can see their little tummies filling and rounding out as they nurse!  Lauren is an excellent mom and very proud of her new brood!

More pictures later, and maybe a video by the end of the week-end!

Still Waiting

  After thinking that true labor was just about ready to start, Lauren's demeanor changed, her temp went up a bit and she was ravenous once again.  She had a peaceful night while I barely slept again, keeping one ear open for the sound of shredding newspapers!  This morning, her temperature was back down and she's again refusing food.  In fact, Lauren acts like I have filled her bowl with the most rotten of food from the bottom of the trash heap!  She has spent most of the morning alternating between sleeping hard and issuing disgruntled sighs and grumbles when she's awake.  She doesn't seem to want me to hang around just now so I've left her with the radio, which she seems to find soothing.  Her energy is short lived.  I took her out for a potty break  and a little exercise and she wanted to walk to the end of the field.  Once we got there, though, Lauren refused to move again. (didn't know she had such a stubborn streak!) Lots of cajoling got her back in the house where she wanted to explore the tv room and hassle the cat while I got her fresh water and put her leash away.  Then she wanted to wedge herself behind the wood stove which is going full blast to keep the delivery room warm.  Another bout of stubborness displayed until I got her back in her whelping box .  I think a nap is in order (for me!) before we deal with the afternoon!

Getting Ready

  Lauren has decided to have puppies sooner rather than later.  The puppies dropped yesterday, she picked at her meals and today won't eat at all.  I came home for lunch from work to check on Lauren and decided that it would be best for me to stay with her.  Her temperature has dropped and she was a bit apprehensive.  After sitting with Lauren for awhile, she settled into her whelping box and started sleeping hard for the job ahead.

A couple of hours later, Lauren acts like things are getting ready to get going.  Her panting has increased, she gets restless and can't get comfortable.  She's ripped up her newspapers and shoved them around her box.  I've seen a couple of ripples as the puppies move about and she glares at her stomach--not her usual sweet expression!

Tired girl

  Lauren seems to find these puppies to be a drag already!  She quickly loses energy, even for her favorite activity--eating.  Playtime with her buddies now consists of walking around the yard a bit, then settling in the sunshine for a nap.  But sometimes, even that's too much as this picture shows--apparently she had to take a quick nap while strolling on a spring evening!

Puppies!!!

  In January, we had the opportunity to co-own CH Jag-View Reflections of Faith (Lauren) with our handler, Ellen Russell.  It was love at first sight!  Lauren's everything we've been trying to achieve with our breeding program.  We brought her home and she immediately settled in and took over!  We call Lauren our "full-tilt gal" as she does everything with enthusiasm and boundless energy.

  Within a month, Lauren came into season and Ellen had already chosen her suitor, CH Lochwynde Jag-View Xing Jordan, a beautiful smooth collie with the same fun loving personality as Lauren.  A friend and I took Lauren to NC and got to spend a day visiting with many beautiful collies, plus get a preview of spring!  Two weeks later, David and I picked Lauren up and crossed our fingers.

  Almost immediately, our pretty girl started showing signs of pregnancy.  We were hopeful, but didn't want to get too excited as many of our girls have disappointed us in the past.  As the weeks went on though, I was becoming confident that Lauren was indeed pregnant and took her to the vet for confirmation last week.  A quick ultra sound showed that Lauren is pregnant!!  We saw four puppies within seconds, but everyone thinks Lauren will have a much larger litter.  This blog will record her final couple weeks of pregnancy, delivery and progress of this much anticipated litter!