Well, the pups have finally settled after Chakotay's anti-biotic is out of her system! There is now a little mini fan in the room that is almost permanently on (thanks, Sam, for the loan of your huge one).
Their eyes show no sign of opening yet, but every now and again I can see the slits are dark lines.. just waiting to part!
The little red boy spends his life upside down with his pins in the air...
Big fat red girl is like a hippo/ beached whale/ rhinoceros/ thug SCREAMER that throws tantrums half the time...
Black girl is the sweetest thing, but her little legs are like flippers propelling her around the box at a rate of knots!
To all the prospective puppy owners, I thought that you would like to see the photographs, videos, and updates of the Mackland puppies while they are still with me. These Border Collie & Shetland Sheepdog puppies are lovingly bred and raised in my home. This blog lets me show you step by step how your baby is raised. It highlights each step from mating to 8 weeks old. I hope that you all enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoy having them in my house!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Thanks, Doc!
Well, the vet is pleased with the babies. She did a thorough examination of all of the pups. And yes.. she was surprised at their size! haha
Chakotay had her stitches out, and she looks great. She was very happy for the vet to poke around and pick up all the babies.
Also, I opted to have her vaccinated with Nobivac, an added protection against Parvo (as I am sooo neurotic). There is soo much Parvo around PE at the moment! It will carry through to the puppies while they are with me.
I am sure everyone wants to see pics again, I will try and make a plan tonight or tomorrow!
Chakotay had her stitches out, and she looks great. She was very happy for the vet to poke around and pick up all the babies.
Also, I opted to have her vaccinated with Nobivac, an added protection against Parvo (as I am sooo neurotic). There is soo much Parvo around PE at the moment! It will carry through to the puppies while they are with me.
I am sure everyone wants to see pics again, I will try and make a plan tonight or tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Vet check
It's still incredibly hot here, although we got some summer rain this morning.. the pups now have a FAN in the room... Chakotay looks pleased :)
The vet is booked for tomorrow for a vet check, and to take out Chakotay's stitches. She will be coming to the house.. I think she is going to get a fright with the size of the pups!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
It's sweltering in PE...
It's so, so HOT today! The poor pups were moaning! Shame they are so uncomfortable! So today, they had their first "swim"....
After they were dunked in a basin of cool water, they slept so peacefully!
I can see another one coming on later.....
After they were dunked in a basin of cool water, they slept so peacefully!
I can see another one coming on later.....
Monday, January 27, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Photos @ almost 3 days
The pups are almost 3 days, and this evening I managed to get some pics, with no lights.... very difficult as the pups were squirming all over the place. Chakotay hopped up onto the bed and lay behind the backdrop and occasionally peeped around to see what we were doing.. :)
Little Finny
Prince Harry
Mariah
Early antics
Of course puppies are HUGE time wasters! I sit and stare and fiddle half my life away....
You would think that, as these little slugs are only about 3 days old, they would just lie there and squeak and drink and poop and be shuffled around by mom... think again!
They each seem to have little quirks starting to show....
Mariah
...besides the screaming when she wants something, when she drinks she is a thug, climbs on everyone and if they are not attached to a teat, they get shoved out of the way and she takes over. If they are attached she rolls onto her back and slides down the pile having a little tantrum
Prince Harry
He appears to be a sweetie, but keeps disappearing! One moment he is drinking, and the next he is in the corner of the whelping box. I turn and straighten something and all of a sudden he's in the next corner... He seems to have some sort of teleporting gift... When he is drinking and mom licks him he moans like a drain!
Little Finny
The piggy in the litter. She's almost always on a teat. When mom leaves the whelping box, she joins Harry in a corner (before he teleports)...
You would think that, as these little slugs are only about 3 days old, they would just lie there and squeak and drink and poop and be shuffled around by mom... think again!
They each seem to have little quirks starting to show....
Mariah
...besides the screaming when she wants something, when she drinks she is a thug, climbs on everyone and if they are not attached to a teat, they get shoved out of the way and she takes over. If they are attached she rolls onto her back and slides down the pile having a little tantrum
Prince Harry
He appears to be a sweetie, but keeps disappearing! One moment he is drinking, and the next he is in the corner of the whelping box. I turn and straighten something and all of a sudden he's in the next corner... He seems to have some sort of teleporting gift... When he is drinking and mom licks him he moans like a drain!
Little Finny
The piggy in the litter. She's almost always on a teat. When mom leaves the whelping box, she joins Harry in a corner (before he teleports)...
Mmmmmmm... burp
Tuesday is chicken neck day at the spar at the end of the road... and they have huge ones!! I swung by yesterday and picked up some :) Chak is eating like a queen!
Also, my Royal Canin delivery of starter mousse arrived in good time. I will use it to wean the pups later :)
Dew claws
As their is soo much parvo at the vets at the moment I don't want to expose the babies to it unnecessarily, so I have a booking with a vet nurse tomorrow evening.
She will be coming in to take off the babies dew claws at home :(:( but it's quick and they will forget about it in no time! It's not painless, but their nerve endings aren't all fully developed yet, so better than nothing.
I prefer to do it as there is no chance of later injury while working/ playing - so if I can avoid painful operations later, I will :)
She will be coming in to take off the babies dew claws at home :(:( but it's quick and they will forget about it in no time! It's not painless, but their nerve endings aren't all fully developed yet, so better than nothing.
I prefer to do it as there is no chance of later injury while working/ playing - so if I can avoid painful operations later, I will :)
Fatties on Day 3
All the babies are over 400g now, I will post the exact weights later.
Chak is a great mom, it's a mission getting her out to the toilet for more than 5 minutes!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
The nicknames...
I actually have no use for nicknames in this litter, they could just be red boy, red girl & black girl...
But, not to break with tradition.... here they are:
Mariah - Mariah Carey - a friggin high pitched screamer
Harry - Prince Harry the redhead
Finny - just a little replica of her big sister Finn!
Time stood STILL yesterday!
Literally!
My stupid watch stopped :(
Anyway, I had friends there with watches, plus a cellphone that told me where I was because I was soo deurmekaar!
Chakotay began panting on Sunday late morning, but it was very mild panting, and it was VERY hot in PE, so I just watched her. By the afternoon I put her in the bathroom so it was very cool to check, and sure enough the panting continued.
It went on into the night with heavy-ish panting and no contractions so by the time it got to 1:30am I put her in the whelping room and lay down with her for an hour. I set my alarm for every hour so that I could monitor her.
Monday...
By 5am I was exhausted, and so was she. She went to lie in the en-suite and I lay down again for another hour before I could phone the standby team to come and join me. at 6am she was in the bathroom still, and I asked her to come to me. When she stood up there was a little pool of "green". She went to the whelping box and then I saw a contraction (her back foot quivered). I went to look at the "green" and it did look like something was happening (I know when the placenta detaches it is a green-black liquid), so I phoned the vet. He told me to give it 45 minutes and if no puppy, then I was to meet him at the practice at 7am.
The cavalry arrived and the 3 of us watched Chak, nothing, so off to the vet we went. He scanned her and saw 4 heartbeats, but said they were slightly slow, so he wanted to do a caeser. The second vet was called and then Chak was operated on at 8am. Unfortunately they lost the first puppy, a little black and white girl. The other three were alright.(2 reds and a black & white). I opted to spay Chak at the same time, as the vet asked, and I was not planning another litter from her.
We were able to take them home and get them warm and on the disoriented Chak at 9:30.
I am very happy to have them back safe and sound!
My stupid watch stopped :(
Anyway, I had friends there with watches, plus a cellphone that told me where I was because I was soo deurmekaar!
Chakotay began panting on Sunday late morning, but it was very mild panting, and it was VERY hot in PE, so I just watched her. By the afternoon I put her in the bathroom so it was very cool to check, and sure enough the panting continued.
It went on into the night with heavy-ish panting and no contractions so by the time it got to 1:30am I put her in the whelping room and lay down with her for an hour. I set my alarm for every hour so that I could monitor her.
Monday...
By 5am I was exhausted, and so was she. She went to lie in the en-suite and I lay down again for another hour before I could phone the standby team to come and join me. at 6am she was in the bathroom still, and I asked her to come to me. When she stood up there was a little pool of "green". She went to the whelping box and then I saw a contraction (her back foot quivered). I went to look at the "green" and it did look like something was happening (I know when the placenta detaches it is a green-black liquid), so I phoned the vet. He told me to give it 45 minutes and if no puppy, then I was to meet him at the practice at 7am.
The cavalry arrived and the 3 of us watched Chak, nothing, so off to the vet we went. He scanned her and saw 4 heartbeats, but said they were slightly slow, so he wanted to do a caeser. The second vet was called and then Chak was operated on at 8am. Unfortunately they lost the first puppy, a little black and white girl. The other three were alright.(2 reds and a black & white). I opted to spay Chak at the same time, as the vet asked, and I was not planning another litter from her.
We were able to take them home and get them warm and on the disoriented Chak at 9:30.
I am very happy to have them back safe and sound!
First official Australian Red's born in South Africa!
I am pretty overwhelmed at the response to the news of Chakotay's reds born yesterday. These will be the first to be registered as born in SA.
Well done, my Chak, we made history :)
The "Red" litter consists of an ee-red & white boy, a black & white girl and an ee-red girl
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Day 61 & 62
Chak went on a last little outing for a preggie photo to match a previous one :)
Afterwards she tried to herd the Aussies... it was quite hard to get her to calm down!
Afterwards she tried to herd the Aussies... it was quite hard to get her to calm down!
The whelping room is ready!
Friday, January 17, 2014
Panting
Woke up at the crack of dawn (or before) to extreme heavy panting.. jumped up and hurtled across the room at
a rate of knots looking for Chak... panic set in when I couldn't find her.... after a few seconds of squinting around, I still couldn't see her, she wan't in her bed, wasn't on the mat, or on the wooden floor, not in the passage... and still PANTING. Shite, damn dog (my hair facing 5 directions, no contact lenses, me still 88% asleep... panicking, picturing a puppy sprawled on the floor because I didn't hear an entire night of early labour)... back into the room where the panting is the loudest (AM I DOFF??)
OH
No Chak...
...but I did find the old red aussie appearing to be in advanced stage of labour, even though spayed and in her senior years...!
Flip, still couldnt see chak, she must have gone out to pee...
Got back into bed ...then noticed her sleeping quietly on the bed next to where I was... sigh
(hand smacks head)
OH
No Chak...
...but I did find the old red aussie appearing to be in advanced stage of labour, even though spayed and in her senior years...!
Flip, still couldnt see chak, she must have gone out to pee...
Got back into bed ...then noticed her sleeping quietly on the bed next to where I was... sigh
(hand smacks head)
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Stay tuned
I have opened a Whatsapp chat group for news while Chak is having the babies, and for snapshots and little videos.
To be included, please send your cell number to me on nadineshortland@gmail.com so that I can add you.
To stop receiving info, you simply delete the chat.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
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