Kisses from mom

Clover decided that my sleep is over-rated, start day by getting Lori up extra early and then continue to stress her all day panting, huffing, refusing all food or water, scratching in every crate and blanket, try to fit ones enormous body into small, dark places, finally appease Lori by eating a couple of meatballs,  then vomit them up on not just one, but two area rugs....wait to deliver first pup until 9:30pm.  Continue delivering pups until 4am before falling into a deep sleep in a warm box with 9 pups cuddled up next to her.  Allow Lori to sneak off to bed for a quick nap, then move the pups around every time you sense Lori is about to nod off.  Look innocently at her as she bounds out of bed and into the room to see what the noise is all about.
More photos of the family on Clover's Blog Click Here

Soon

Our first pups since last summer are due to arrive soon.

Sad stuff

The breeding of dogs involves many things, hard work, joy, perseverance, frustration, excitement, anticipation, stress and sometimes sadness.  This week we have been working our way through stress, frustration and now sadness.  Our seemingly charmed breeding of Hazel to Cutter, we thought his stud dog days were done, it had been a couple of years since Cutter had successfully sired a litter and several years since we had Cutter pups due to arrive at Dinsdale, ended in sadness.  Hazel encountered complications with the birth that resulted in an emergency C-section and the loss of all the pups.  This is a first for me and one I could of done without experiencing.
The first evening was difficult, Hazel was confused and cried most of the night, figuring it was post surgery pain I gave her some meds and hoped she would settle...she didn't.  Then is dawned on me, even though this was her first litter, she obviously knew she was missing pups.  I gave her a stuffed tug toy and she rushed into her kennel with it, laid down curling her body maternally around her 'puppy' and quietly went to sleep.

Hazel and beloved puppy-toy

Hazel is slowly on the mend, my biggest worry right now is trying to dry up her milk production and avoid mastitis,  although mentally the stuffed toy has settled her, stuffed animals don't nurse and Hazel has huge milk production.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to dry her up, please pass it along.
The other issue, she is very protective of her 'puppy' my other dogs are not allowed to look in Hazel's crate without maternal growls and insults being thrown at them.  Fiddle is not amused.  I'm hoping her hormones will subside more quickly then if she actually had pups to raise.  On the plus side, keeping this puppy clean should be a lot easier then what I am use to with a new litter.

Oh the pain and the torment

This is my handsome boy Beamish, beard frozen after plunging it in a bucket of water.  I 'normally' love this boy, but currently, when I have females in season, he is not.....hmmmm how to word this delicately?...the object of my affection.  When females are in season Beamish becomes a walking male hormone, a VOCAL, quivering, stammering, pacing, whining, howling, hormonal male.  He takes the prize as my all time TOP butt headed male, and believe me he had to surpass a lot of butt headed males from over the years to take top position.

Love ya Beamish, well... I will love ya in about another 10 days when everyone is out of season.

Sleepy

If you ever wondered how a dog breeder knows a female is ready to be bred....just look at their bloodshot eyes, sleep deprivation is a big clue.  Apparently the egg dropped last night around 4am and the boys began howling and whining to let me know that we have fertile girls in the house.  No need for progesterone testing around this place to tell if now is the time for making puppies....Grrrrrrr I need to buy new ear plugs to survive the next few days.

Trinny Lady in Waiting

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, Trinny is here along with Finn in the hopes of producing future little Trinny & Finns. Today I did a little grooming on Trinny to tame her wild and woolly eye brows. I don't think Trinny was very impressed even though I think she is looking very pretty. Hopefully Finn will find her irresistible soon.

Blast from the past

Finn arrived at Dinsdale yesterday. This former Dinsdale resident has caused quite the stir amongst the schnauzer ladies. However, he isn't here to charm the pants off the resident ladies as much as they are enjoying him. Earlier in the week Trinny also arrived with the hope that she and Finny would....'enjoy' each others company. With any luck the result will be Trinny & Finn pups in August. Cutter is not so charmed (understatement) to have Finn back at the house.

Why so long between blog posts?

Our two newest Dinsdale residents are taking up a lot of time. What's wrong with the above photo? Sure it looks sweet and maternal, however, those pups were weaned three weeks ago from Fiddle! We have a slight set back, Fiddle seems to think her two monsters need additional mothering, go figure. Fiddle has always been a good mom, in the past she has drawn a bold line on how far her mothering duties were to extend. She doesn't have any milk left, but this little morning bonding ritual is something that she and the pups seem to crave. After that they are off playing with the other dogs and generally causing mayhem to all around them. My sweet Clover has turned into a little devil dog, I find myself changing her name to Clove, or, Cloven One. Quiz is still a bit of a mommas boy, however his confident bratty side is emerging a bit more daily. Quiz seems to have a big boy crush on terrier Token, she loves to play with schnauzers that are her size, however she is finding his amorous advances a bit annoying. I think Quiz is about to be dealt a terrier reprimand especially if he tries tugging on her tail again, sigh a broken heart for Quiz. Video of our Ultimate Mom below. Obviously Jewels (sporting a sweater) does not approve of her granddaughter Fiddle's extended nursing regime.

Happy St.Patrick's Day

This day last year Lia was giving birth to our St.Patrick Day pups. One year old Beamish sends his siblings a big green birthday wish! In the spirit of the day I have posted a photo of our newest Dinsdale resident, Clover, that's her sitting down. She will be staying with us while all her siblings leave for their new homes this weekend. I loved the name Clover and it was one of the festive names I gave to one of Beamish's sisters initially. I decided I had to have a Clover of my own in the future and it fit this little Fiddle daughter perfectly.

ahhhhhhhh

There is nothing quite like new puppy faces. Abby's pups arrived on Wednesday, to see more photos of the new family click here

Two Fat Ladies

...well not really fat, Juno and Abby are both due to deliver within the next two weeks. I set up their nursery blogs so everyone can follow the events. Abby's Nursery Blog Juno's Nursery Blog