Puppies?? OH, YEAH!!!!!

  Jewel had her ultrasound this morning.  We were sure she is pregnant (or else the best false pregnancy in dog history!) but anxious to get an idea of how many puppies are in that every growing tummy.  I read in one of my books of a breeder that uses a tape measure to get an idea of how many puppies were in a litter.  I've meant to try this before, but would forget to find the tape measure until a few weeks after the breeding. For Jewel, though, I got the tape measure and measured her within the first week of being bred to Evan.  She's to be measured right at the last rib and each inch increase equals one puppy.  Her starting measurement was 22 inches.  By yesterday, it was 28 inches and we still have 3 weeks before her due date!  I didn't say anything about this experiment to my vet until Dr. Robbins was counting puppies on the ultrasound screen.  The first puppy showed up the instant he touched the scanner to Jewel's tummy.  And such sweet words to hear, "oh yeah, she is pregnant".  From there, we just saw one heartbeat after another...three...four...five...six...seven?  Dr. Robbins wanted to re-count, but the puppies started to really begin moving and rolling.  He was looking for the heartbeats and I was watching the shapes dart in and up, in and out of view on the screen.  Finally, he pronounced it would be a litter of seven, plus or minus.  He guessed we could go as high as nine, definitely six.  I explained the tape measure experiment, which he found very intriguing and wants me to let him know Jewel's final measurement.  A high tech machine versus a tape measure--we'll see which is more accurate!

First Public Outings

  Jackson has made his first public debuts!  He's been to the vet, then two fun outings. A week ago, he made his first trip to Casanel Winery where he was a big hit with all De Souza's, of course!  (actually, everybody he encountered) It was his first experience with a leash and collar, but after just a couple of minutes, he acted like it was no big deal and walked like an experienced pup!  Our club had a private wine tasting and spent the afternoon enjoying wine, and relaxing with our dogs.  Jackson acted as if he's been to club events many a time.  He enjoyed meeting people and the other dogs.  He pestered poor Dylan for a bit, but Dylan, being the good sport he is, tolerated it for as long as he could, then just slipped away from Jackson.
  The other day, we took Jackson along for dinner at Lowry's Crab Shack.  Again, he was perfectly behaved, had a great time and got lots of attention.  Other than trying to play with stray crab part and a cigarette butt, he was content to play with his toys and watch the activity around him.  One person thought he was a huskie puppy (?????) but everyone thought he was beautiful.  We do, too!
  Here he is at Casanel:

Taste Testers

 Our club, The Northern Virginia Collie Club, is going to have a booth at the Virginia Scottish Games as part of the Dogs of Scotland.  There will be special events for Sunday and I'm wondering if Jackson is old enough to participate in the "Terrier Wannabe" races.  The club is hoping we can raise some money by having a raffle and selling treats.  I've been going through some dog cookbooks, picking out recipes.  I'm thinking about making pretzels, biscotti and different cookies.  I think my first three days of retirement will be spent baking!  The first recipe I tested from the Three Dog Bakery Cookbook was Blue Blue Berry Berry Buns Buns.  Our dogs loved them!  I took some to share with the club's dogs at our taste testing at Casanel Winery, but they didn't seem to enjoy them as much.  Our dogs don't get lots of special treats so they might not be good barometers for testing recipes!
  Sasha definitely thinks I'm spending too much time on this project.  I need to find a cat treat cookbook to appease her hurt feelings (and to get back my dog cookbooks):

5 1/2 Weeks Old

Two Firsts

Baby Blue Boy had two milestones today--first solid food and first time outside.  He definitely enjoyed his breakfast and did like being outside at first, then wanted the comfort of something familiar!  He snuggled into my chest as soon as I picked him up.  His first outdoor adventure wore him out-he has slept most of the day!

Plotting His Escape

  Baby Blue Boy has discovered that there is a world outside his whelping box and he knows he's missing out on some important action!  He has started throwing himself at the entrance of the box, which has boards to stop him from escaping, hooks his elbows on the top, then wails and cries about missing the fun that is happening just beyond his reach.  I hope he will stay in his box until this week-end when I will have time to get the other room puppy proof.  Aunty Jewel is staying there right now, but she probably won't mind moving into the nursery side.
  Jewel came into season a little sooner than I expected but the timing turned out to be perfect.  We have chosen CH Jag-View It's How You Play as the sire for her litter.  It is a line bred cross and should improve the head qualities where Jewel is lacking.  Both Jewel and Evan have the happy, fun personalities that we like in our collies and nice movement.  Evan is a tri smooth but is rough factored like Jewel so this litter should have both coat types.  We think Jewel is pure sable which will make the puppies sable, but tri factored.
  I tried something a litte different with this breeding.  Both Shannon (Evan's owner) and I had commitments that made it very dicey to get Jewel to Evan.  To better pinpoint the day of breeding and hoping it would coincide when I was off work, I took Jewel to the vet's for cytology exams.  It's not as exact as progesterone, but Jewel seems to have a very small window for breeding and we didn't have time for the vet office to order the progesterone test.  Saturday's test showed that Jewel had started into her fertile period and Dr. Robbins thought Monday would be the optimum breeding day.  What great timing!  I was off work and Shannon was also available to do the breeding.  Jewel and I took off for the four hour drive to Brookneal.  It was an easy drive and the scenery is so pretty through Charlottesville and Lynchburg.  There were a few sprinkles around Lynchburg but the sun came back out in Brookneal.  The breeding went well and we were back on the road by 2:00.  Within half an hour, I hit rain, not too bad a first, then torrential downpours!  I kept thinking of David's trip back from Tennessee with Sadie and hoped this was a good sign that we had another successful breeding.  This litter would be due two weeks after I retire.  Surely, that's another good sign!

Big Blue

Baby Blue Boy is now 3 weeks old!  We call him the Puppy Prodigy as we don't think any other puppy (including all those whelped at Hillcroft, so this is a big boast) is as smart as this guy!  His eyes and ears have been open for a little while now.  I think his eyes are very dark blue, but it's still hard to tell.  At the tender age of 2 weeks and 2 days, he was able to stand and piddle on his own!  He quickly went from walking to running, although he's still a bit unsteady at both modes of locomotion.  He barks and growls, was actually very vicious sounding towards my sister when she visited this past Wednesday.  At least, as vicious as a toothless, four pound, 2 1/2 week old can be!  His teeth have now broken through the gums (watch out burglars!) and he is busy gnawing on toys, the pig rail, sometimes his legs.  He will also "patrol" the whelping box, marching in a circle, stopping to growl and bark at whatever trespassers must lurk near the pig rail.  Under the pig rail has been his favorite place to sleep, but the growth spurts of this past week have made it very difficult for him to squeeze beneath.  This has been a hard transition for the little guy and he appears to have a bit of a temper.  There has been quite a bit of screaming and yelling as he tries to stuff himself under the rail, bumping his head in the process.
  Yesterday was his first meet and greet of what we know will be an adoring public.  We hosted a family reunion and many of my cousins wanted to tour the kennels and of course see the puppy.  Sadie is not thrilled with strangers near her baby so she had a long walk while everyone snuck in to get a peek.  Of course, they couldn't resist petting and a couple cousins wanted to hold him.  Jacob was so gentle with the baby!  He did a great job holding him.  The puppy was good with the unfamiliar sounds and hands of company but did snuggle into my neck when I took him to put him back in his box.  Then, he put on his "tough guy" show for the audience, barking and growling!

On "patrol":

Attack!:

This board won't keep him in much longer!:

Happy puppy:

Almost nap time: