Diary of the
"Jazz 'n Blues" Litter

What IS she feeding me these days???? 
This was taken just a few days before whelping.

February 27, 2007 (Tues):   I received progesterone test results from my vet telling us it was TIME to get Jazz to her male in waiting, CH Nipntuck Cimarron's Blue Moon, aka "Blue".   The blood drawn the afternoon before came back 11.2 ng... this should be perfect timing for the breeding as it was estimated that she ovulated either Saturday or Sunday and it takes ~3 days for the eggs to ripen and be ready for fertilization.   In retrospect, I should have gotten Jazz into the clinic on Saturday for a blood draw, but was just sure she'd "tell me" with a little more confidence when she was ready for boys!    Oh well, it's today or not...   We headed out the door as soon as I hung up the phone with Blue's owner, Laura Steward, DVM.   The pressure was on Blue.... leaving her there was likely not worth it as she'd probably be past her fertile point in another 2 days.    We headed home after the breeding, and ran into a nice little snowstorm at the top of White Pass.   Whew, that was about the quickest breeding I ever did.     Now it's a matter of wait and see.....  I will take her measurements at her chest, last rib and waist to compare to at weekly intervals from here on out.  This will help me to determine if she's pregnant or not since I won't increase her food until the 5th week.   I don't want to end up with a fat girl in 2 months either way!

March 10 (approx 2 wks post ovulation): Jazz left some green "urp" in her crate this morning.... gosh, it's only been 2 wks at the most since ovulation.... could this be morning sickness, already???
Normally my girls don't feel punky until 3.5 wks....    Two days later, she began heaving in my office... a good catch by mom (that's me) into a bunch of kleenex spared the carpet!  My oh my... is it?   I decide to email the agility trial secretary and pull her entries from the Moses Lake trials which would have been her debut in agility at the end of March.  This "urping" continued for two weeks, and her appetite was quite poor in the mornings especially... Yes indeed, she must be pregnant!   

March 24 (~4wks post ovulation):   I attempted to palpate today but Jazz is awfully tight in her loin.  I think I felt some walnut sized fetuses, but I am really not sure.....  she definitely acts the role, and is increasing a tiny amount in girth (0.5-1.0 inch), but from experience I know that next week should tell me much more...

March 31 (~5 wks post ovulation):  Jazz finally got her appetite back 4 days ago.   Poor girl!  She is finally able to eat her normal rations again.  Despite a very poor food intake the past 2 weeks, she has increased in girth by up to 3.5 inches at her  last rib!!  Yes, it's time to start feeding puppies!!!!  I increased her normal rations by 15%, guessing that she's carrying 8 or more if these measurements hold true.   I do NOT want big fat puppies or a fat mom to cause me extra problems at whelp time.   The puppies should now measure 18-30mm long, according to my references.

April 7 (~6 wks post ovulation):   Jazz's belly is definitely dropping.  Wow, she is really getting big... she has increased by 7.5 inches at her last rib and 4.5 inches in her waist!  This is a far bigger increase than measured with any of my other girls (litters of 7 and 8) on record from the past 8 yrs!    The fetuses weigh approximately 6 grams and are ~45 mm long now....   I increased her food another 15% today.

April 14 (~7 wks post ovulation):  The puppies are kicking!!!!  Jazz is slowing down, but was still willing to do her full 3 mile walk today (one of the last walks she did take though).   Her food has been increased by 1 C now, to 3.5 cups per day.  Her belly is getting bald looking!  The babies will have no trouble finding the faucets when the time comes.   All horseplay and jumping is now curtailed (as well as possible), and Jazz now must use a ramp to get into and out of my car if she travels with me.   Her baseline temperature is 99.7F today and her girth is up by 9.5" at her last rib, 7.5" at her waist.  

April 21 (~8 wks post ovulation):   Food was increased to 4 C today, which is 160% of her normal daily intake.  By the feel of her ribs, she should come out of this at a really good weight-- not skinny, but not too chunky either.    However, by 4/24, Jazz was really not eating well, and nowhere near the 4 C.  Just no room in there!   I'm taking her temperature daily, and it's holding right about 100F, thankfully!

April 26 (~day 60):  Jazzy's temp dropped to 98.4F this morning.  The pups are now out of the woods so if they want to come early, they should be fine.  But, most likely we'll have another day... it's a long uncomfortable night for both of us.  

April 27 (~day 61):   All day is miserable.   She's been in soft labor.  Jazz's temperature is still holding in the 98F range, and I noted a mucous discharge at 9am, and again at 230pm.   Saw a more watery discharge at ~4pm.  I think she's starting into harder labor now, so I pulled out my arsenal of vanilla ice cream (energy and calcium for both of us!), and made some famous Mother's Pudding! We are ready!

The first pup arrived at 720pm, was a small black boy at 13.4 oz thankfully!!! I always fear that we'll have a big pup first.  I still had to assist as Jazz was not fully dialated yet.   By midnight, we had 7 puppies-- all black, and all male but for one!   Now where is that chocolate gene???  Weights are great ... all very vibrant pups, ready to nurse right away.  I count my blessings and decide that Jazz is going to take a midnight break...  NOPE-- Grandma Gala let me know otherwise with a woof (I was checking email!) to get my rear downstairs again NOW!!!   It's a chocolate boy!  Yea!   And the pups kept on coming....  she obviously had 3 or 4 left in her after #8 was born (based on the bulges in her belly still)...   Number 11 puppy came, and all looked normal at first, but the little black girl had a birth defect and died within an hour or so.  :(    At ~415am, I saw more water break, and wow, I was exhausted.  So was Jazz. Her eyes had a glazed look.  We both closed our eyes for what was supposed to be just a quick cat nap, but I awoke to  see we'd been napping nearly 45 minutes.   NOT GOOD as I knew there was a puppy still inside.   I quickly did a digital exam, and felt a paw and nails.   Oh no....   surely it's dead by now, but now it's a matter of potentially needing to save mom and anything else that may still be in there.   I packed up the surviving 10 pups into their warming box, grabbed Jazz and zipped off toward the Emergency Vet in town ~11 miles or so away.  I forgot my cell phone so I couldn't even call in advance!  Darn me for falling asleep... Anyhow the staff at Pet Emergency Services was right there, ready to go to work on Jazz.  Dr. O'Mally tried to feel for a pup, but nothing was there.  She then took 2 xrays which indeed showed a big pup, breached, just as I figured.. but he was way up the uterine horn!  Okay, so he must have moved because I KNOW what I felt!  A shot of oxytoxin quickly induced contractions and produced a big black boy rear first-- 16.5 oz-- and oh my, he was JUST FINE!!!   Breathing on his own and everything!    It was an unbelievably good ending to a very long night!  And well, it was now 6am Saturday morning.  We thanked the vet and her tech, paid our bill (gladly!) and packed up the kids and headed home... with a little extra bonus pup, the way I saw it!     Final live count was 7 Black boys, 2 Black girls, and 2 Chocolate boys! 

Monday, April 30 (2 - 2 1/2 days old):   I took mom and her pups to my vet for dew claw removal.   Good thing I didn't wait another day!!!  Gosh, they were strong little buggers to hold.   As soon as Dr. Matt was done with them, they were fast asleep...   I also had Dr. Matt check Jazzy over as I had a bit of worry concerning possible mastitis onset, just as her sister did last fall.   He agreed to keep up the hot packs but hopefully with all the nursing it will correct itself.  So far, so good!!!!   They are a very content group as you can see below.  Puppies are being weighed daily and I started the "Early Neurological Stimulation" (aka Super Puppy) program at day 4.

 































May 5, 2007:    Woohoo!!!  We're ONE WEEK OLD!!!    Nanny Anne says we are one beautiful bunch of pups.   Everyone continues to nurse well,  and boy do they let mom know when they are hungry!   Jazz is starting to feel better about leaving them for short periods, which is nice... she needs to stretch too.  The pups are getting more mobile.  Before long, she's going to have a hard time getting in and out of the box with all those gremlins buzzing around!   Jazz's appetite is really coming around, which is good since she needs ~2.5x her normal food intake this week.  It takes roughly 100 calories per pound extra to nurse this gang!   

Saturday pm, I submitted our AKC litter registration online (they were back to me in *4* hours with a litter number and that is even with the stud owner doing her part too!)....  and on Sunday, Jazz was treated to a nice shampoo as she is already blowing coat!!!  Yikes, she's going to be bald at this rate about the time families start coming to see their puppies!!!!!  

May 12, 2007:   The puppies are 2 weeks old today (and Great Grammy Gala is *12* years old-- the big girls had apple cake for her birthday!!!).    Eyes are open now, and everyone is much more vocal and mobile at this point.   It looks like a bunch of weebles wobbling when they are awake now....  Puppies and mom were all wormed w/ pyrantel today as a precaution, did my normal loads of puppy laundry, clipped the puppies' nails, loosened any collars that were getting snug and did a little bottle supplementing to the ones that didn't seem to get enough.  Poor Jazz.... she's 60# and yet feeding 21# of puppies!!!!   She's already eating 3x her normal allotment of food, but that amount increases daily to keep up with milk needs.  I need to get caught up on general housework... hopefully this next week things will ease up a bit!














May 18, 2007:   We're headed on 3 weeks old!!!   The "mob" is definitely getting more mobile, vocal, and demanding.   Puppies are averaging right about 3# now, and already started on a little bit of puppy weaing gruel (Royal Canin Baby Dog 30) this week.   Jazz just can't keep up, and milk or formula alone wasn't seeming to satisfy the buggers.  Now they are much more content.   Oh, and teeth were already coming in by earlier in the week, so we had a little bit of fussiness for that reason but not much.  I spent some time setting up the garage pen today and received all of my vaccine and supplies (microchips, etc) ordered through Revival this week.   We are set.    As soon as the pups seem ready for more "leg room", I'll start putting them out in their playpen.    Then potty training can begin....  This week 7 mo old cousin "Sonya" has really gotten into "helping" Jazz.   She's been very gentle and is proving to be a great little babysitter already, just like Mata!    Thankfully Jazz has no qualms about the extra help and seems to actually enjoy the company.  I took these photos while changing puppy (poopy!) blankies in the box.. too cute!













May 21, 2007:  Yesterday, the puppies "told" me that it was "TIME".... Time to stretch their legs a bit, discover new textures and new "digs".... time to be BIG PUPPIES!!!!!!    Yes, what started out as a 2 hour trial run in the new puppy playpen (in the garage) appears to be permanent!   They LOVED it.  I really didn't think they would be ready as they are only 3 weeks old, and range from 2.5 to 3.8 lbs.   That didn't matter a bit.  I was so proud of them.. they are even catching on to the "Potty Pool" already!!!   Not that they have alot of room for error as the ex-pen surrounds the 5' potty pool (w/ pellets-- think puppy litter box) and a large crate filled w/ a soft blankie and lots of soft fleecy toys, both adjoined by a small "foyer" between that is covered with dog show matting (easy clean up in case of accident!).    But, they also SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT in the crate!!!! Here are some photos of them after their first meal of puppy gruel (ground Royal Canin baby puppy drowned in milk/formula) out in their playpen, followed by a thorough face cleaning by 12 yo Great Grandma Gala who loves those sweet "Mush Mouths" (and was probably after some dessert for herself!).   Don't worry though, mama Jazz does nurse in between the "nanny meals" still!  


















Til next time....!
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Stay tuned til next update!!!!!!
April Fools or Not?:  Jazzy is 5 wks postovulation and looking a bit round for not eating well the past 2 weeks!
The pile gets bigger...
Anyone have sunscreen???
I think I need one of these beds...
So that's how that works.....
Hmmm.. clean this ones' face or this one's butt... decisions decisions....
Jazzy, you need some mothering too!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We can't believe we ate the WHOLE thing!
Great Grams Gala gladly cleans up the "Mush Mouths"....
Jazzy feeds the 11 "piglet style" now that they can all reach-- though it's a stretch for the little girls!  She also is trying to clean up after them still even though I told her that was my job now!