Skarlet x Rock Puppies Born

Obviously Skarlet did not hear the vet say that we should expect puppies next week.  Skar started having a change in behavior, wouldn't eat and then her temp dropped.  Uhhhh moment of  panic as I was not in any rush, before that time, to set up her whelping area.  Well, I started cleaning the floor, laying the tarp out, putting up the pen, filling it with sheets etc.  Skarlet was showing signs that she was uncomfortable, but no labor signs.  We sat down to eat dinner and she would come see us and then go back to my closet, where she had chosen to spend the day relaxing.  I put Connor to sleep around 8:00 and then let the other dogs in the house.  The immediately ran over to the closet.  I went to tell them to get out when to my SHOCK there was Skarlet with 2 puppies.  That girl is quiet as a church mouse when it comes to giving birth. I moved her to the whelping pen along with her puppies and Murray pulled every piece of loose clothing out to check for more puppies. 

A couple hours later she had another one and then they came at a pretty even pace with the "last" one (so I thought) coming at 1:00 am.  I gave her a shot of Oxytocin to make sure there wasn't a last one and she never had a contraction after that.  I took her potty and put her back with her puppies where she fell asleep with them.  It was now 2:30 am and she was sleeping and I was tired, so off to bed I went.

I went to show Connor the puppies this morning at 6:30 am.  To my surprise Skarlet was just starting to clean the sack off of another puppy.  WTF!!!!

Our final count is 3 boys (2 red and white and 1 red merle) and 4 girls (2 red and white and 2 black and white). I will take pictures of all of the puppies, but here are some from last night.  I know that I am missing the 4 girl in the picture, but she looks very similar to her sister.

Skarlet being a good mommy

The Boys

The Girls

Skarlet and Her Puppies

I just got  back from Skarlet's vet appointment where we x-rayed her belly to count for puppies. When I went in I was hoping for 5 or 6 puppies to be seen on x-ray.  Well, we got better news than that.  We could count 6 FOR SURE skulls and spines, 1 MOST LIKELY skull and spine and 1 MAYBE skull.  My vet puts her at having puppies next week or weekend.

I am so excited and can't wait to see what she gives us.

A Boy and His Dog

I took this picture at the Sheep Thrillz trial the other weekend.  I absolutely love this picture of Connor and Fusion.  Connor is 3 1/2 years old and Fusion is 10 months old.

Hot hot hot

Well not much training going on here.  It has been so hot here (between 95 and 110).  We get some exercise in the morning and a quick swim in the afternoon and then a major exercise in the evening.  Basically the dogs are swimming 3 times a day.  Thank goodness for the pond or we would be sitting inside.

 10 points if you can hit the kid with the ball.?  Hey she's done it before!

I'll protect you kid.

I dare you to hit me with the ball mom.

Haaaa haaaa she missed and I got it

Mom sucks at trying to hit the kid, but heck I keep getting the ball.

The Loch Ness Monster does exist.

Skarlet has really been hanging in the pond lately.  She will go sit in there for time on end.  It must feel cool on her belly and also take the weight off of her.  She goes in on Monday for her 

x-ray.  I am crossing my fingers that we have at least 6 puppies.  

Off to go wash the mosquito spray off of my body.  Better to have mosquito spray on than mosquito bites.

The Weekend Happenings

I had a pretty good weekend overall.  Murray was out of town on business, but my friend Lori came down, so I wasn't lonely.  

It was super hot on Saturday and we ended up spending quite a bit of time in the pond with the dogs and Connor and our Mike's Harder Lemonade.  :-)  We worked Havoc and Wyatt on the sheep in the morning and I helped Lori with some training stuff for Rumor. 

Lori, Karen and I dropped Connor off at the sitters last night and had a girl's night out in Sisters.  It was actually really nice to hang out with some friends as I don't do it that often.  

Lori left this morning and Murray is now almost home from his business trip.

So, what do you do on a hot day?  You play in the water.  Skarlet is fun to take pictures of because she and Connor love to play in the pool together.  Connor splashes water and she tries to get it.  Connor cracks up the entire time.  Skarlet is about 2 weeks away from having puppies.  She is pregnant with Rock's puppies and I am SUPER excited for the pups to come.

You can see her belly a little in the pictures.  She is such a fit dog and held great form while being pregnant.  I am hoping for at least 6 puppies to be born.  Some boys and some girls would be great.

Rumor is here for a stay with us while she is bred to Singe.  She and Connor have hit it off and she is now his special dog and he has special rules with her that the other dogs don't get to have.  Connor and I were cuddling up on the recliner this afternoon and Rumor hopped up with us.  This is about the time that Connor gets P.O.d and tells the dogs to get off.  He turned to me when Rumor got up and said "Mommy, it is ok, she can lay with us".  He then cuddled with her and made sure she was comfortable.  Boy is he living up to his name.  Connor means Dog Lover.

I actually caught a picture of Rumor standing still for a short period of time.

The next series of pictures are "typical" Rumor.

Great Cleaning Tip

I hate dog hair on carpet.  Ok, I hate dog hair on floors, but this pertains to dog hair on carpet. We still have one room in our house (bedroom) that has carpet.  The day we rip that out is not soon enough.  7/8 of the house used to be carpet when we bought it.  Now it is Pergo and Tile.

So, if you hate dog hair on carpet like I do here is a great tip to get almost all of it up.  Get a spray bottle (buy it at a hardware store) and fill it with about 1/8 to 1/4 fabric softener.  Fill the rest of the bottle with water and shake lightly.  Spray that mixture on your carpet and let dry (about 15 minutes).  Once it has dried then vacuum it up like normal.  The fabric softener releases the static charge of the dog hair and it comes up much easier.  We have a Dyson and this gets even more hair up than the Dyson alone.  Not to mention my room smells soooooo clean after.  I also do this on the recliners where some of the dogs like to catch a nap.

I have also discovered the Pledge Pet Hair "thing".  It is the one where you move it back and forth on your couch and it picks up the hair.  It really does work and I use it almost everyday.

Happy Cleaning

Single Mom

I am a single mom until Sunday.  I would never want to be a single mom  permanently.  It is always nice to have an adult that comes home to you for an adult conversation.  It is funny because when the entire family is here, along with the dogs, I fell like I am always going, going, going.  Tonight Murray had to head out of town for business and I am home with Connor (3 1/2 years old) and the dogs.  Ok, so I have our dogs, boarding dogs, rabbit, sheep and horses to care for, but it is too quiet here.

Luckily my friend Lori is coming here tomorrow and will be here for the weekend.  She is bringing Rumor and Wyatt with her and Rumor will stay here for a bit to be bred.  I set up the exercise from CR Back Yard Dogs and will be doing some training this weekend.  We will also train Havoc and Wyatt (littermates) on sheep.

Saturday night should be fun because Lori, Karen and I (maybe Angie?) are having a girl's night out at the Horse Races.  No kid and no dogs, just fun!!!

As I was setting up an agility exercise in the field tonight Connor and the dogs were running around.  I laid down after and just watched them.  I was cracking up at their (dog and kid) antics.  My dogs are sooooooo tolerant of Connor it is not even funny.  The funniest relationship to watch is Connor and Singe.  I do NOT humanize my dogs, but the relationship Connor and Singe have is a love hate relationship, like a brotherly relationship.  They both antagonize each other.  They like to be with each other, but then it turns into a "fight".  I just laugh at them when they are together.  Fusion is kind of like that with Connor, but she is much sweeter about it.  She doesn't antagonize him as much, but they do both bother each other.  And then there is Kate.  Kate just ADORES Connor to no end.  She looks at him with her goo goo eyes and they have a very special relationship.  Kate can do things to Connor that no other dog can.  It is very funny because she is my heart dog.  I love watching the interactions between dogs and kids.

Off to do my motherly duties now.