What an incredible journey it has been thus far. Petra came in season on the day I showed her at the National Owner Handler Series Finals in Florida. I got her brucellosis test at the International Canine Semen Bank trailer for a pre-breeding screening.
When we got home from Orlando, I schedule for a progesterone test December 21st to get a baseline on where she was in her season. She was already at a 3! When they spike to 10, it's time to breed. Here is a really great article that explains dog ovulation.
We waited a few days to see if she would "flag" for Rocky (poor guy, he got lots of treats and snacks for being a good boy), which she did on Dec 23rd. So Christmas Eve, James and I were headed to a hotel in Louisville, KY to meet up with Oakley.
We had a blast during our little vacation. Petra approved of the king sized bed. We doordashed amazing Mexican food, we shopped at the local outlet mall, and oh yea, we had two successful "ties" with Oakley and Petra. Petra was complete "textbook" when it came to being bred. We bred her on day 10 and 12 of her cycle, and she was very happy to do so.
Dec 27th after the second tie, we headed home to wait. My gut told me that Petra was pregnant, I think that bitches tend to stop bleeding early if they are bred, but this is just a wives tall. She was ravenously hungry after being bred, and way more interested in treats.
As soon as Petra was bred, she starting a prenatal chew called Oxymate. I had heard of the Breeder's Edge products from an episode of PureDogTalk, a podcast about the purebred dog fancy. Dr. Marty Greer is a frequent guest on the podcast, and I have learned so much from her interviews.
Feeding wise I have kept Petra on her regular adult kibble and raw, but I have started adding salmon oil and Answers Raw Cow Keifer for extra probiotics and calcium. Day 42, her diet will change to puppy food. I am following this recommendation of feeding puppy food on day 42 from the education kiosk at Royal Canin.
Now to wait to see if she was pregnant, I took this picture of her at day 17. Not much had changed, her coat was looking wonderful from the extra supplements! I thought to myself, I should show her at the UKC show in Shipshewana later that month.
Now there is another wives tell that says a bitch's gums will turn pale around 21 days. This is because implantation is happening and the her white blood cell counts are going up. If you ever want an inside look of your dog, check their mouth.
On January 16th (day 22) Petra's gums went pale and the morning sickness started. She was not into eating at all during this week. I was feeding her my normal regiment, and she did not want it. Rocky ended up eating her leftovers and looks pregnant himself. A good friend that Rocky is.
This week of pregnancy made me slightly nervous, I knew it could happen, but it's not fun when your hopefully pregnant dog won't eat. I ended up feeding her whatever she wanted, pizza, cheese, treats. She did finally eat entire of meals of plain Primal Pronto Raw. I was happy when this week was over and she started eating her normal food for awhile.
The baby bump started on Jan 22nd ( Day 28). I still felt like, I could maybe show her at the UKC show coming up, but I doubt she would do well! She was back to being ravenous again, and I was very happy to feed her. Not overfeed though! I don't want a fat dog whelping.
Speaking of fat dog, we have Petra enrolled in a weekly Rally class to keep her active. She is also allowed to freely run in our back yard as much as she wants. I am going to make sure she goes on walks, just need it to warm up more.
Most people get an ultrasound of their dog around days 30-32 to confirm pregnancy. We had some illness in the household and some bad weather around this time of Petra's pregnancy, so I held off on calling the vet.
I went ahead and said she was pregnant on day 35 because she kept getting bigger! So I posted my litter announcement to Facebook and the Website. I was a little disappointed that none of my computer game nerd friends caught the Skyrim reference of the ad.
I am going with a Skyrim themed litter where the names are Dragon Shouts! How cool of a registered name is Unrelenting Force? It's awesome! I have a positive reaction from the whippet fancy of the cross, which I just said "a very special dog bred to a very special dog."
I am very happy for a mostly uneventful pregnancy so far. Today is day 40, thi picture is day 38. Sunday will be day 42, where we'll see the pregnancy progress much faster. Her food will change, her supplements will change, and I will make the last minute purchases and arrangements for whelping. Feb 22nd (Day 59) we will x-ray her to see how many potatoes she is baking in there.
She says she's got this!
Comments