Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

This week we got a congratulations card on our upcoming litter from Janet and Andy and their golden Logan. (Just ignore the broken middle finger please).

This got Barb and I thinking that there was not too much time left before Emma’s due date of 8/08/2008. So like any excited parents or grandparents to be, we got started on cleaning and rearranging the whelping box area.

First to go was all my wine and beer making equipment.

Multiple trips to the pool shed, and I had a new place to develop cool summer drinks through better chemistry.

Then we had to pull up the old linoleum, bleach the floor, and let everything dry.

Next we put down new linoleum…

Then we placed another layer of tiles on the whelping box floor and then put the box together again.

Barb repainted the wall where we keep the white board with key information, and the room was done!

Our nursery is now sanitized, easy to clean, and ready for puppies and company. A lot of work as usual but at the same time it is very satisfying to know that Emma is over half way along with her pregnancy.

Having a portable ultrasound at our home is a definite plus. We have my son Michael and his company (GE) to thank for donating this very nice laptop unit for my mission work. Despite being a few years old it has a lot of features. The only drawback is that it came with no instruction manual. So I bumble around trying to figure the buttons out.

Today we scanned Emma again (or tried to). The technique is definitely not the same as in humans where you have an absence of fur and a cooperative still patient. Despite having Emma tired out after her run, she had her own ideas about a belly full of jell and just wanted to lick it off.

Still, we definitely confirmed that there are at least seven to eight puppies inside her and probably more. Despite the light reflex from the screen, you can make out the two puppy sacs on the very top right side of the screen. Inside each of those dark black circles is a baby puppy growing.

To give our readers something to compare, here is the ultrasound photo I took of Emma’s last litter about a year and a half ago. This equipment was not portable and much more costly. Hence the better photo of the two puppy sacs. Plus she was much farther along in this picture.

At the end of this effort, Barb and I were content. She definitely has a nice sized litter growing.

And for our recent clients, we have found that three or so of the folks on the top of the list have changed their plans or got other dogs. So that should give some hope to those who contacted us more recently.

Life rarely grants you all that you want, and it surely could have been worse news. But we were extremely hopeful that we would have a double litter situation. Especially when I noticed that Emma and Riley started to hang together more than usual. And nap together which they had never done before.

But… We have to finally acknowledge that our Riley is not pregnant. It hasn’t been a fun week here after we found that her first ultrasound was negative. We had put so much effort into her breeding that even after the second ultrasound, I still wasn’t satisfied. We did one of those 100$ dog pregnancy tests that I just learned about, but had to wait four days for the result. When it came in negative today, I did a third ultrasound here at home and it still was the same negative news. Bummer squared.

We then put the scanner on Emma with both of us holding our breath. Easily recognizable puppy sacs were seen in both horns of her uterus. Smiles broke out on both of our faces. Our wish for puppy squeaks again in our home is a good possibility now. She would be due about August 8th.

So now that there is a pregnancy documented, we can show you some of the photos of our stud, Mulder and his entourage here.

Here he is arriving at our home after Barbara picked him up from his owner, Berna Welch at Cape Cod.

Our two youngest females, Lucy and Solo, even though they were not in heat, certainly enjoyed the presence of a kingly male in their home.

He was very calm while visiting us for Emma’s surgical insemination. We really enjoyed his stay. Despite the long trip from the Cape, and his coat not being washed and brushed for the ring, you can tell from his stance and stature that he is a champion show dog. He also has a very gently nature as evidenced by the fact that our 20 year old cat found him easy to take a walk with!

Then it was back to the Cape and home for him after Dr. Huntington had worked her magic with Emma at the Vet Hospital.

Now for the hard part. We know that we have a lot of very patient clients and friends, some of who have been waiting over a year for one of our puppies. We thank you for your faith in our work here. IF both our dogs had conceived, we would have had a chance to make everyone happy. As it looks now, one litter will not be enough to leave everyone happy. Due to our being superstitious from our recent run of bad luck, we will not be taking any deposits or making promises until the puppies safely arrive and the number and sexes are known. For those that may not get a puppy this litter, I promise to work with them and our three closest breeding friends to find a good match. After our two failed breeding attempts last year, we promptly placed four of our clients with beautiful puppies from another breeder.

A wonderful day to all.

While we wait to see if our breeding efforts are successful, life goes on here. Last week we had the final work done on our pool. While this task may not seem like a proper story for a dog blog, our dogs’ summer revolves a lot around swimming and fetching in our backyard. If you are a fan of the Discovery and History channels on cable, it is fascinating to see just how projects are completed in all walks of life. So here goes…

We have been waiting for a break in all this wet weather to finally get this huge concrete hole in our backyard turned back into a soothing water feature.

At the end of last week the weather gods gave us a chance, and the plastering crew arrived from Massachusetts.

“Shooting the pool” as it’s called, is a highly skilled craft that must be done right the first time. There are very few crews of quality available, and so we were waiting on this highly regarded team.

Then begins the careful task of smoothing and shaping the plaster before it dries into a seamless surface. Notice the shoe covers on the worker below.

Of course the girls were distressed that they couldn’t be part of the action. Every so often they managed to get into the backyard and give some golden licks to the crew.

The rain decided to pay us a visit at the end of the day, and so special efforts were made to allow the plaster to dry fully.

Now the pool needed water, and quickly so that the plaster would set properly. So no garden hoses, but instead very expensive water tankers arrived and the filling began.

5 tanker loads it took to fill this 40,000 gallon structure. Chris Padua, our pool foreman and friend now after 15 years of servicing our pool, gave his thumbs up at the close of this day’s work.

The real overseers however, were our goldens who came out to inspect everyone’s work.

We still haven’t been in the pool however. The plaster has to set properly for a week and the ph of the water has to be adjusted to allow this to happen. So everyone continues to wait. And like all children, the dogs push the boundary of “no swimming allowed yet”, and manage to get the feel of the water with their paws while not technically swimming.

The dogs and I get up by 5 AM every morning now. Everyone is fed and then we have to wait an hour or so before everyone has digested their breakfast enough to go safely for a walk. Of course they don’t know why we are waiting so they get a little antsy. I usually use this time to weed or water the flower containers. This Saturday morning they got a little more rambunctious than usual. I was out watering and suddenly Riley comes out of the garage with a Bud in her mouth.

Not to be outdone, Solo then has a can too and starts licking it on the lawn.

Before I could say “Hold On Now”, a few canine teeth had found their way into the sweet nectar, and they were all having a drink.

This was not behavior that I wanted to encourage, so we quickly ended up back in the kitchen. Chewing on buffalo bones kept everyone in order until the waiting time was up and we could go for a run.

Going out to the garage to investigate the source of the beer was a must. There I found an old case of beer from a party last summer. One of the dogs had decided to tear off the top and help themselves.

Sometimes our Goldens’ behavior is so adolescent like, it is amazing. I have now taken to keeping my small camera in my pocket at all times. Otherwise I would have no proof for the sometimes crazy mischief our animals find themselves in.

PS: On the breeding front, it will be the last week of June before Riley has her first ultrasound to determine if she is with pups. Emma’s ultrasound will be the first week of July. I have never understood why there is not a pregnancy test for dogs. Hopefully someday someone will tell me why!