Chuckleberry Finn

Monday, July 25, 2016

Friday, July 22, 2016

Some photos I found on my phone from the WINGS birth

Have had a rough night :(
The little dark faced boy continued to lose weight while the others started picking up nicely. I was a bit concerned and the vet nurse suggested tube feeding (tube directly into the stomach). The vet came last night and did one for me. Sam and I then fed in the night, but the little boy didn't make it to morning :(:( I am so sad :(

Thursday, July 21, 2016

G

Well, G's supercream treatment went to waste... she decided to dig a big cave for herself in the garden and is full of sand and dirt................... ugh!
Her temperature is high (38°C) so we don't expect much anytime soon. I am hoping for the weekend.
G is eating reasonable well, but isn't too keen on her puppy food - she prefers Hills tinned food and chicken necks right now :)

Babies are drinking :)

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Update

OK a quick update... This is one TIRED Nadine speaking!

Babies are doing well. I got no sleep last night as I had to stay up to supervise all the feedings... Journey is a terrible mom, doesn't like to clean the babies and isn't charmed about feeding them either! She only stays in the box because her painkillers have worn off and it would hurt to leap out! hehe 
But having said that, she does lie still for me to put the babies on!

In case anyone is wondering whyyy I did 2 litters at once... it's sure as hell easier having 1 mess mess to clean up over 8 weeks than 2 sets of 8 weeks' messes! And shelties are so difficult to get pregnant that both were hit and miss! Also their litters are so small, that even 2 litters of 4 each is manageable :)

meanwhile, G is due this weekend. She got a nice bath today at lunchtime, and a "supercream" treatment to make her feel nice. She is still eating a lot! The chicken necks and hearts are disappearing FAST!

Girl 2

Girl 1

Boy 2

Boy 1

The wings have hatched :)

BOY 1

BOY 2

GIRL 1

GIRL 2

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

New babies!

Jouney's litter has arrived by Caesarian section early this morning!

4 beautiful babies - 2 girls, 2 boys!

We had a really stressful time as she went into labour - she just couldn't get the first pup out!

All are now doing well. Will post individual pics soon!

Friday, July 15, 2016

The last few days

The girls are not happy chappies, especially Journey! She can barely fit any food in, yet she is hungry all the time. Today they are both gnawing on some pig's trotters after their Hills puppy food and boiled egg for breakfast! Lunch will be a little more puppy food plus some chicken hearts and rice... then supper is puppy food and pilchards (ugh)!

Journey eats the little pellets slowly (don't know where she puts it), but when the extras are added she makes a plan to wolf it down!

G is very quiet and sweet as usual. She is still not very big, so wondering how many can be in there...

The whelping room is being made up this weekend. The boys and their crates will have to vacate the premises to make way for the medical ward :)

Journey's babies

I have created a whatsapp group for the birth of Journey's babies. They are due in 6 days time :):):)

The group chat will act as a live feed while the action is happening next week. And in order to not clog up other feeds, everything will go on to the whatsapp group until it's over, at which point I will do an overall update everywhere else. The group is open to everyone that is interested, but people need to apply to me to add them - so it is by request only (bearing in mind  that the birth could take place in the middle of the night!). I will be showing pics and videos on this group chat.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Dollar at 5 weeks pregnant (JHB)

First pic of babies!

It's not a great pic (cell pic of the doc's screen) but we had a checkup last night as Journey is very uncomfortable. Doc says the tummy is very big for such a small girlie!

We did a scan and could clearly see 4 heartbeats that are VERY strong! One puppy was moving it's jaw a lot (perhaps yelling LEMMIE OUT). Another pup was moving its back leg vigorously.
Next we did an x-ray and could see 4 skulls and spines, and a lot of poop! Doc says he reckons 4, but not to discount another pup that could be hiding behind the poop!

The pic above shows 2 skulls next to each other on the bottom just above the 2nd nipple, one skull in the middle at the bottom and one on the right at the bottom.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Picture pedigrees - litters due July 2016

WINGS

HARRY POTTER SWEETS

Walkies...

I took the girls for a stroll at the same time as I took my other dogs out yesterday.. they were NOT charmed at the use of the leads while everyone else was running free!!

Journey is really starting to look round, and I can feel the babies moving a lot inside her! G is still quite petite (just a slight paunch showing)...

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

FOOD etc

The rest of the food arrived for the 2 litters... and my entire salary just went out of the window! But the neat thing is... we got a lovely dog bed from hills to go with it!

The girls are all doing fine. Kennel cough did hit my household, but still only 1 border ocllie actually coughed. Some of the shelties are snivelling and clearing their throats, so it's not too bad! They are all warm and snug at night, and all eating well,

The 2 pregnant girls have eaten about 100 chicken necks each and they're still going strong! The hearts and livers should arrive this week - 10kg!! That should see them through a bit :)

They are still getting their eggs every day (Journey no longer chews anything, she is in such a hurry to get food down, it goes in WHOLE! I'm surprised she doesn't choke.............

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Update on the Mackland household

The 2 Sheltie girls are on Puppy food now. They are eating like pigs! The egg a day is going down really well, and they cannot wait for mealtimes. In fact they are scoffing so fast that I am beginning to think they are not getting enough, so they are getting lunch every day as well!

Yesterday I got them a real treat... they will have a chew on these at lunchtime today!

It is a bit stressful at home at the moment, the neighborhood is rife with Kennel Cough, and I am waiting for all of mine to go down with it, I have consulted 2 vets and neither seem too worried if the pregnant girls get it, as it is an upper respiratory infection and won't harm the pups. The best I can do is treat their discomfort with select medications. Already I have had 1 border collie cough mildly, and a couple of Shelties are clearing their throats.... Holding thumbs it isn't too bad.

Both girls are extremely affectionate at the moment. G comes to me every evening for a tummy rub (this is not usual). Journey is showing quite a bit at the 5-week mark - she is positively round!

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

It begins....

The 2 Sheltie girls are being spoiled... an egg a day shared between the 2 of them, and I also bought 10kg of chicken necks!!!

And last night they got chicken hearts and rice!

Friday, June 17, 2016

Sheltie puppies on the way!

Reece x G puppies: CONFIRMED
Reece x Journey puppies: CONFIRMED

G is still early, but it looks like a minimum of 2 puppies.
Journey's litter looks to be 4 puppies!

I cannot tell you all how thrilled I am at this news! There have been so many ups and downs in my life regarding shelties and breeding. Thanks to all that have supported and helped me along the way. Now lets all pray that everything goes well for my girls :):)

Our lives will change from 21 July!

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Sheltie Litters: COI

REECE x G

Inbreeding: 0.38%

Inbred/linebred (calculated on 10 generations) on:

REECE x JOURNEY

Inbreeding: 4.51%

Inbred/linebred (calculated on 10 generations) on:

REECE x DOLLAR

Inbreeding: 2.50%

Inbred/linebred (calculated on 10 generations) on:

Another successful Sheltie mating!

Pups would be due 07 August 2016!

Thursday, June 2, 2016

SHELTIE PLANS

Hold thumbs everyone... the litters I have been waiting for are possibly just around the corner! If all has gone according to plan, then pups will be expected mid year...

Reece x Journey - AI done (pups 25 July)
Reece x G - natural matings (pups 28 July)

STAY TUNED for the outcome of the scans on 17 June!

And then the Gauteng litter:

Reece x Dollar - mating planned for this weekend

HOLD THUMBS!

Updates on BC pups

Thanks, everyone, for the many, many updates on all the STARS!
I have 1 pup still at home, and she will probably be going on the weekend.... lots or organising for an export! If she is anything to go by... yours are all little loonies too!!! My toilet brush will never be the same again!

So this is over and out from the BC litter side..... next up, if all goes well... SHELTIES!

The next BC litter will be bred by Sam Wainwright (also in PE). The list is almost full.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Border Collie Database

The STARS litter has been registered on the International Database (Anadune). They will appear on their next update, so feel free to have a look in a few days time!

www.anadune.com

Friday, May 27, 2016

Piranhas!!!

I decided to get some meaty bones to keep the pups occupied and not scream at me...
SUCCESS!

They are piranhas!!