I don’t think I am alone as a breeder when I find we can have no pups for quite a while and then – all of a sudden – two litters arrive at once. A new litter is always a big event, usually involving sleepless nights and much excitement for human and canine alike. But these two births were more eventful than most.

Kirra’s started whelping on February 16 and it was textbook – or so we thought at that time. She’s been getting special attention for two weeks and when the day to whelp arrived, everything was running smoothly.

Kirra was in our home in our ensuite and after a few hours of pre-labour reassurance and encouragement, the clever girl had two little pups without any assistance needed. They were born two hours apart on the afternoon of February 16.

Kirra has had a litter before and, despite her more than ample size in the tubby-stakes, she only has small litters. Her first litter in fact was just one puppy, which caused great amusement as we had been anticipating a big litter of five or even six going by her size.

(My experience is dachshunds are either food inhalers (piggies) or not at a ratio of about 50:50. Kirra falls squarely in the category. )

Anyway, we were thrilled to see the safe and uncomplicated arrival of two delightful little girls, as pictured below.

Clever Kirra giving birth to her two little girls on 16/2/12

Others not as lucky

The following day, on February 17, we would not be so lucky. Poor old Tandi had not hatched yet, and we had thought she would go before Kirra.

By lunchtime I decided it was time for a veterinary assessment, so I took Tandi to the vet at Maffra for a progesterone test. After an anxious one hour wait, the test revealed she was effectively in labour – yet despite this result we had no signs of any action. Cindy the vet recommend we don’t take the risk and a C-section followed soon after. Great news was all five pups and mum alive and well after the surgery.

The dopy proud mum of five, Tandi, about to head home after her C-section

More to the Kirra tale

Two births in two days was quite exhausting for our family, especially with Tandi’s complications whereby one waits, observes, wonders, worries and eventually seeks medical opinion and likely intervention.

Both me and my husband were sleep deprived with our two new mums in our ensuite and our girls’ bathroom (they now live in Melbourne). I was getting up every couple of hours to check Tandi’s pups. She was lying on them, worryingly, possibly because she was still a bit lethargic from the anasthetic. And David had been the unfortunate one to discover the accidents of both mums (despite regular toilet breaks) and duly was washing floors at all hours. Which of course is no big deal and all part of looking after our lovely girls pre and post pupbirth.

With the mums and pups all settled, we weren’t too impressed when we were woken by one of our cats requesting to be let in at 4am. We know which cat, as they each have their own special method of inspiring us to rise from the comfort of bed. Sidney scratches the glass of our bedroom window in a racy paws style, Smudge digs her claws in the flyscreen and rattles it (ripping it as she goes) and Benny … well, Benny vocally expresses his displeasure and desire for action.

It was Smudge last night, and both us humans were grumpy. Dave took the opportunity to check the girls while he was up and he called out, “Didn’t Kirra have two pups?”

To our utter delight and disbelief, Kirra had given birth to another puppy! Two days after the other two! I stand to be corrected, but I have never heard of this and neither has our vet or breeder friends.

Not only did this little girl arrive exceedingly late, but she is – most remarkably – incredibly thrifty and strong. She just latches on and sucks non stop!

Pictiure says a thousand words. A non-plussed mum with the unexpected arrival of little miss suction cup!

Doesn’t get any better

There is nothing like new life and those wonderful unexpected happenings to remind breeders (or indeed, sleep dprived young parents) why this whole business of new life is so rewarding and uplifting.

We were both tickled pink, to put it mildly.

It was then Kirra’s turn to visit the vet later that morning to make sure there weren’t any more little critters taking their time to appear.

‘All clear’ was the verdict. And now we have eight delightful babies whose pictures you will be able to follow as they grow in their first eight weeks of life in the eight weeks ahead.

Forget smiling for the camera, Kirra's checking out her xray result! Wants to be certain there's no more coming I guess. Pictured here with Seth the vet.

Footnote

Some of these pups will be pre sold, as we are transitioning from the waiting list method to the exclusively online sale system. But by five weeks of age we will make it clear which pups are available for selection by their new families online.

When the kids were little, Raggy Dolls was a TV show I particularly enjoyed. I’ve posted the You Tube intro for the show, and the intro song says it all.

It was this song that started running through my head recently, after a 15 year absence from my life. It came to me from nowhere as I looked with disbelief at the tiny imperfect puppy in my hand. Perfect in every way – except for the fact that one of her front legs was two thirds missing.

Little three legged raggy doll - still hard to get an unblurred puppy pic!

In seven years as a breeder I had never been confronted with such deformity. Perhaps I’ve been lucky in that respect; I don’t know. Whatever the case, luck surely wasn’t with this little mite at some stage during her development in utero.

I write this story here for two reasons. Firstly, to share with you how I handled this as a breeder; the scenarios, questions and answers I wrestled with in seeking the best outcome for puppy. Secondly – and most importantly – to find this little raggy doll a loving home.

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As a dog breeder it is not uncommon for people to make contact with us after their beloved family member has passed away. The pain of their grief is enormous and sometimes I grapple with what words to choose that might help ease their burden.

In some cases people make contact when heart rending decisions need to be made: do we or don’t we put our dog to sleep? Other times the dog has passed away and people ask if I think they should get a new dog. The main thing they tussle with is the notion of not wanting to be disloyal to the memory and love of their dog just gone…not wanting to ‘replace’ their dog.

I thought I might share what my thoughts are on these two questions with you all, and I do so as I currently wrestle with the grief of losing our beautiful truck of a dog, Percy, a few days ago. Percy was put to sleep in my arms at home, at just five years of age. [Read more...]

Something that has truly dogged the canine medical world is: ‘how to treat wounds that won’t heal’.

As recently as today, I asked my vet what to do about dog ear-edge scabs that won’t heal.

Her reply?   ‘It’s very difficult. Some suggest vaseline.’.

Well, I have devised something much better and I share with you here. Please note I am simply relating what has worked for me, and why I believe it has worked. Whether or not you apply this information to your dog is completely up to you.

Here goes.

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This is a follow up to an article published in this Journal a few weeks ago, titled “Blindness test flawed?‘‘ Any breeder who has ever modified their breeding program based on DNA test results alone could find this interesting.

Dog breeders, dog clubs and legislators are turning to DNA testing as a definitive guide to breeding and law making. But what if the tests are meaningless?

Dog DNA testing is currently embraced as gospel, such that dog associations have made DNA screening of certain breeds and diseases obligatory.

criminal law.

Such is the universal acceptance of the dog DNA test result.

Valuable and scarce purebred genetics might be lost - and for no good reason.

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