24 Hours

The puppies have crossed 24 hours, and they seem to be doing well. Each has gained over an ounce from their birth weight (I'm so tired, I spelled that "wait" and had to go back and fix it- haa). So I'm hopeful that for now, they will continue to be OK. I'm seeing the slightest fuzz of fur on their toes and muzzles now. The red boy is a bit slow in the eating department, so I'm supplementing him a bit. Thankfully he took right to the bottle (I am now the proud owner of every brand of baby bottle Walmart carries in the baby section). The Playtex bottle worked like a charm, and everyone is happy! I just keep watching and waiting for some sign that the puppies are either out of the woods, or taking a bad turn. Right now, they are looking healthy.

I want to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers for the boys and Syd, and for the puppies who were lost before they ever got started. Yesterday was tough for me, and the events were so quick it was surreal (until about the second time my alarm went off at the 2-hour increments). I'm so happy to have the two boys, and relieved that Sydney is OK. I also feel thiankful that if the other puppies were not able to make it, they didn't linger on and struggle.

Syd has taken to motherhood quite nicely, and I might even call her an over-achiever to the point where I have to tell her to knock it off on occasion. She'd really rather lay on my bed and have me deliver her puppies to her there for nursing, but we're going to have a talk about that one. Stay tuned for Sydney's bedtime story that she tells the two baby boys.

Early Delivery

Syd's puppies are here. Yes, they are here 5 days early. Like 58 days after ovulation. Syd's temp dropped last night, and this morning (sparing you the reason I took her to the vet) she had an emergency c-section. She was carrying six puppies (5 dogs, 1 bitch), but one was not alive from the start. Five were 'breathing' and we got three to cry. Two were trying hard to keep breathing, but they were just too early. In the end, by the time I left the vet, I have two boys, and I'm going to do my best to keep them going strong.

It was not a good morning when I was carrying Syd to the back for surgery, and Dr. Becker said, "We just have to hope for the best" when he's usually so optimistic and reassuring. After all was said and done, he thinks it's very lucky that two puppies are doing as well as these boys are.

Basically, in a nutshell, Dr. B says that one of the puppies was trying to abort, and in doing so, it detached all the pups (? it was really stressful, so I might have butchered that explanation).

Syd is doing OK, she's still very groggy, but she's let the boys nurse twice, and she did sniff one when I held it up to her. Her eyes got really wide, and I have no idea what she thinks it is, but she was not growling or trying to get away from it (yet!).

So keep these two baby boys in your thoughts and prayers, I don't think they are by any means out of the woods yet. Nothing like worst case scenario, damned if you get them out, damned if you don't for the first litter.

It's Official!

As long as everything continues to go well, we WILL be hearing the pitter patter of Sydney-Mick puppy feet the day after Thanksgiving!!!

I was such a wreck at the vet today, I made Dr. Becker write it down and fold it up for me. I didn't watch his face as he palpated, and he really played it up, asking how many days from first or last breeding, etc. I was really discouraged, but he's quite the actor, because I got out to the car, and unfolded the paper to a big YES!!! written across it.

Slow It Down

How do you slow down a Cardigan who usually moves at the speed of light? Easy. Put a diaper on her and her back legs are suddenly rendered useless.

I never would have guessed

-that Sydney has such an affinity for Vall-pups! She's not exactly "best friend" material for the most part. It takes her a while to warm up to new dogs, and even then, she is pretty bossy about how the playtime games are run, etc. When Hawklet arrived, I put him in an Xpen in the living room, and Syd was nearly wiggling her body in half on the other side of the pen. This morning I was holding the Hawklet and let her sniff. She had zero concerns, so I put him down and they were instantly off and running. Amazing to me, especially since Vallhunds are very vocal in play.

Um, did anyone notice Syd let the Hawklet flip her??? Who knew she was such a Vallhund groupie???

And yes, I'm aware that it looks like a tornado came through the living room. For some reason, Vallhund puppies like to drag dog blankets, beds, toys, etc. all into one pile. Both the Vall-pups in residence do this. The tan blanket? Well, that was dragged from Nick's kennel, around the corner from the kitchen, through a baby gate doorway, and into the living room. Oh well, it makes for a cushy play zone!

Good Girl, Sydney

Sydney with all her goodies from the NADAC trial this weekend. NINE events entered, SEVEN Qs, TWO new titles (TN-N and NAC), one Jumpers leg, one 1st place, five 2nd place, one 3rd place. The rest of the photos (Kevin Devine Photography) can be viewed here: http://hurrikanecardigans.shutterfly.com/1566

And now, for the newest method of Weave Pole Training, the "Weave and Woo"

First we have the WEAVE portion:

Then we finish it with the WOOOO portion:

Sydney's Rules for Play

I will admit, I really have absolutely no idea why Sydney and Darby are so compatible. Not because of Darby, but because of my little "angel" Sydney. Syd desperately wants someone to play with her, but she plays SO rough, the other dogs just cringe and run away after a body slam or two. And Syd is *very* persnickety about play. "OK, now you will run to the left corner, then I'll chase you and knock you over, and then you get up and chase me back to the other side of the yard, and then you spin around and I'll tackle you." She organizes and runs the show when it comes to play time. And oh, if you DARE to not follow Syd's rules of play, well, then there is heck to pay.

One of the KEY rules to Sydney play is "You will not flip the Sydney on her back." If anyone dares to play and Syd flips over for some reason, she will get up as her evil twin and grab whoever it is by the face and tell them they'd better not do that EVER again.

In nutshell, Syd has some play issues.

1. She plays WAY too rough for the other dogs in the house.
2. She must make all the rules, and those who don't follow will catch heck.
3. She isn't really much on other girls. Period.
4. No flipping Syd on her back, EVER.
5. No flipping Syd on her back, EVER.
6. No flipping Syd on her back, EVER.

So, when Darby came along, I was very watchful and never let Syd and Darby into direct contact for quite a while. Darby is so amicable I was afraid she would walk into a Sydney Play Trap and get herself chewed up and spit out. So we did gradual introduction, through the fence of the dog yard, then with Darby on leash with me and Syd running around, then both loose and me with the rake (I felt like I was at a herding lesson), and then finally I let them play for a few minutes at a time, then put someone in the dog yard so that every session ended on a good note. I wasn't sure how Syd would be because Darby is a girl, but I was hoping that maybe being a puppy would work in Darby's favor.

Nowadays, I can put Syd and Darby outside together for hours, and there are no problems. Syd is so happy, and Darby is smart enough to handle Syd. When Syd gets really wound up, Darby will still engage in play, but she uses the A-frame, or under the deck to put some space between them for just a split second, then she pounces out and tackles Syd. Yes, you heard it right, Darby can tackle Syd. The first time I saw Syd flip over on her back while playing with Darby, I sucked in a breath and prepared to go save Darby from a real discipline session. But when Darby let Syd get up (yes, you read that right), Syd just did a play bow and took off running for another chase. I'm sure my heart stopped beating for a moment.

I even have it on video, because those who know Syd best would never, ever believe that she and Darby are the unlikely best friends, and this clip even catches (gasp) Syd, flipped on her back! I wouldn't believe it either, if I didn't see it myself every day!

This Is How I Roll

and slop, and run, and splash.

Ugh. THIS dog really doesn't even remotely resemble my pretty girl in the photo to the right on the blog, or the Redemption photo from a couple of weeks ago. Syd is never happier than when she's sloshing around getting dirty. And for some reason, with the torrential rain we've had over the last week, the mud has a different consistency, more like paint than mud, and it seems to be sticky, too. But how can I get mad at that happy face?

Stupid Human

Some days it doesn't take any imagination to know exactly what my dogs are telling me. This morning was one of those days!

Because Sydney needs lots of structure and lots of activities to work on impulse control, one very simple exercise we do is at feeding time. When I have time, I ask Syd to work for food, and I feed her by hand. Most mornings, though, that doesn't happen! So, instead, we work on our start line stays that will hopefully help in agility. I put Syd in the hall, I stand at the doorway, and I ask her to BACK up, at least 5 feet, and then DOWN. I set the food bowl down, and then I walk away from her, back toward her, turn my back, feed another dog, etc. All that time, she has to stay where she is, in a down. Then at some point, I give her the, "All done, Good girl" release, and she jumps up to snarf down her breakfast.

This morning, I went through the routine, and was already picking up some of the dog bowls in the kitchen, when I heard, "Bark, Bark, Bark" from Syd. I thought that was strange, she should be in the middle of inhaling her breakfast. I walked out of the kitchen and around to the hallway and realized that WOOPS, I never did give the release word, and Syd was still plastered to the floor in her signature SPLAT down, just staring at her food bowl 5 feet away. So, I guess we can all translate the Bark Bark Bark, your version probably isn't very far off from mine!

Telling Secrets

Have I ever mentioned how much I love this dog? The sweetest moment of our adventure to the Lake of the Ozarks last Saturday, Kane telling secrets to my friend's daughter, Ashley, resting his chin on her shoulder, just checking to make sure she was OK. Of course, Ashley was up to no good, that orange tube is a water blaster, and she was parked at the edge of the dock, blasting her dad, brother and sister in the head with water! But she looks sweet in the photo, if you don't know what she's up to. :-)

I'm sure this sweet face would never be up to any trouble! And what you can't see in this photo is Gizmo cruising the edge of the dock, because Ashley had, um, a bit of "casting trouble" and her hot dog bait was flopping off the hook and onto the edge of the deck 9 times out of 10. Never fear, Gizmo was always available for clean-up duties. No hot dog went to waste!