The Breakout ~ C-Section For Guilty

Posted on November 12, 2019 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

November 6, 2019 was the scheduled breakout day for the reforms. Guilty and Moses puppies will be delivered via a planned c-section. Guilty’s last litter was born this way because she was having 9 puppies. This litter I opted for another c-section because it was going to be a small litter and I wanted to be prepared for any problems that may arise being that I live 50 miles from my reproduction clinic.

We arrived at Veterinary Village at 12:30 pm to have pre-surgical testing done.

Blood was drawn so a clotting panel could be run, I had her pre-surgical chemistries and CBC done a few days before. A progesterone test was ran as well to make sure the timing was right on the delivery.

A ECG (electrocardiogram) was done pre op as well to make sure her heart was in working order.

A pre-surgical ultrasound was done to check for puppy gut motility and to check their heart rates. The puppies were doing great so it was time to prep for surgery. An IV Catheter was placed and different medications were administered.

Guilty was hooked up to the monitors to check her blood pressure, her oxygen level, heart rate during surgery. She was hooked up to IV Fluids to flush her system out while under. She was hooked up to general anesthesia and oxygen to keep her sleeping during the procedure. A technician was visually monitoring her as well.

An incision was made into the abdomen and uterus brought out

When I had a radiograph done a few days before surgery it was believed that at least 5 puppies were in there. After the Dr. brought out the uterus all the puppies were in the right horn. Each uterus has two horns a right and left, usually the eggs get dispersed between the two and attach to each horn. Not this time for Guilty, all 5 puppies decided to cram into the right side which made it very big. After all the puppies were out the Dr. checked the other side and she could put her fingers up in it so it wasn’t blocked.

This happens to be puppy number two. Once the doctor removes the puppies from the uterus she breaks the sack around the puppy, she then removes the placenta and hands the puppy off to the staff so they can clear the airway and get the puppy breathing.

The uterus after the puppies were removed.

The staff clearing the fluid out of the airway’s, wiping the puppies off and warming up

After clearing of the airway, wiping the puppies off and warming up the staff checked the puppies over for deformities. They will check in the mouth and make sure the puppies don’t have cleft palates that will cause a problem in the future. The third puppy born was very small compared to the first two, when his mouth was checked he had a full cleft palate. He wasn’t small due to the cleft since he wasn’t nursing yet as he was getting all his nutrients via his umbilical cord so something else must of been going on with him besides the deformed mouth. I made the decision to put this puppy to sleep. I have never had a cleft palate in all my litter, I keep thinking that my mentor told me once that if you breed long enough you see many thing and she was right. It’s unfortunate that this had to happen but nothing could be done to prevent this. Hopefully I will never have another one. Two more puppies were born after that. They were healthy.

Dr. Allmann suturing up the uterus and putting everything back in place. She then proceeded to suture up the abdominal wall and skin layer.

Once the airways were cleared and puppies doing well they removed the placenta and weighed each one along with putting their id collar on.

Guilty is finished and ready to be moved to recovery

Because Guilty wasn’t producing milk like she should I wanted the puppies to have plasma before they went home just in case Guilty didn’t produce mile and colostrum in the time needed to be beneficial to the puppies. The plasma will do the job of colostrum.

Sporting my tshirt from Moses family. This is their kennel.

Thirty One bags make good puppy carriers

Once home I did need to start bottle feeding as Guilty still didn’t have any milk

After seeing that all 5 pups were in the one horn and how big that side of the uterus as well as how big the puppies were I made the right decision to have the c-section done. It’s so much easier on the mom and pups to do a planned c-section than to do an emergency one. All pups and mom recovered nicely. I had to administer plasma two more times in a 24 hour period, I needed to bottle feed every 2-3 hours for 2 days until Guilty’s milk came in. By Friday afternoon Guilty’s mild started coming in and the puppies could nurse on her. I haven’t had to bottle feed since. The pups are all gaining weight and doing very well.

I thank the staff at Veterinary Village for another job well done, from the surgical AI to the c-section. Thanks for all your knowledge and professional staff.

Spay Day For Momma Bear ~Glory

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Glory turned 7 last December, she provided me with 3 wonderful litters. She had a total of 29 puppies, 4 passed away either at birth or shortly there after, 1 passed away as a puppy and 2 passed away as young adults. That leaves us with 22 bundles of glorious joys filling their owners hearts with love. One of those bundles lives with me. Guilty has become a mother herself giving glory 9 grand puppies. Now that I have Guilty I’m my breeding program I feel it’s time to retire Glory. We’ve had some invasive breedings, and whelps, for the most part everything turned out fine so it is at this time I don’t want to take a chance that I breed her again and have something bad happen to her since she is now a senior dog. I also don’t want to leave her intact to risk an unplanned pregnancy or worse a pyometra so I decided to have her spayed. This happened yesterday.

A little morning play with the pups before her surgery. Glory will be spayed at my work which is Harmony Pet Clinic. This year marks 17 years of business and I have been there from day one. My boss will be performing the surgery and of course I will assisting.

Glory had pre anesthetic bloodwork done and it was all normal. We want to make sure her internal organs are working up to par. Once the bloodwork is done and checked she is premeditated to make her groggy so we can place an IV catheter to administer the induction medications and to give her IV Fluids during surgery. She is induced, clipped and prepared for surgery in the treatment area.

Once prepped she is moved into the surgery suite where she is hooked up to gas anesthetic, IV Fluids, heart monitor, blood pressure, pulse ox. She is asepticly scrubbed and ready for the spay.

The laser unit was used to do the cutting during her surgery. It cuts and cauterizes so there is less bleeding.

Glory’s uterus was well used. It stored all her fat reserves. The uterus is the reddish tubular area in the above picture. The yellow subastance is all fat. A young uterus is normally the tubular structure without all the fat attached.

There were numerous blood vessels in the uterus and broad ligament. Since there was so much fat a lot of “tying off” of the vessels had to be done. Most vessels got double ligated so no bleeding would happen after the uterus was removed. Doing this took time to make sure other structures weren’t hidden in the fat and only the uterus was removed.

Glory had a small lump on the side of her abdomen. This was removed since she was under already. The lump was just a benign fatty lump.

Glory was doing very well under anesthesia so I did a dental cleaning and polishing on her teeth. She had mild tarter on her teeth and one pre molar had a piece fractured off of it that needed to be smoothed off so it doesn’t keep building up the tartar. She came in with all her teeth and she went home with all her teeth.

Glory had a normal recovery, she was given pain medications and pretty much slept it off during the afternoon. She was still very groggy when I took her home which is normal since we finished up with her early afternoon. Once home she ate a little supper and up to bed she went. She can sleep it off tonight and should be back to normal tomorrow. Then the fun starts, after a spay she needs to be kept quite for 14 days while she heals. Once the 14 days are up and her incision looks good she can go back to normal activity. I chose to spay her now so when the weather warms up she will be healed up for training and then we can enter her in hunt tests this summer without having to worry about her going into heat and having to withdraw her entry. The biggest plus is that now there is one less intact girl in the house to drive Gambler nuts during their heat cycle.

A big thanks to Harmony and Dr. Johansen for doing such a great job on her surgery and taking such great care of us.

Guilty And Norman’s Surgical AI

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Monday December 3rd was the day according to Guilty’s previous progesterone tests that she should be ready to be bred via surgical insemination. Guilty came into heat on November 16, we waited 8 days before we started progesterone testing. The progesterone testing would tell us her hormone level so we knew where she was at in her heat cycle. We drew blood again three days later then another three days later than one day later. According to those results she ovulated sometime Friday night. After ovulation the eggs need time to mature while doing so the progesterone levels continue to rise. For a surgical AI the progesterone should be between 20-30ng/ml that way the semen is introduced right when the eggs are mature so they can get down to business and attach. Now that isn’t an exact science to the high level as some bitches have gotten pregnant over that level when I asked Dr. Greer about the timing for the surgical ai.

We arrived at Veterinary Village in Lomira at 3 p.m. to start all her presurgical testing.

Blood was drawn first to check her progesterone level today to make sure everything was right on track. Pre surgical bloodwork was done as well to make sure her internal organs were working up to par and that the surgical procedure would be safe for her.

Guilty watching the staff at work.

Second was a ECG – Electro Cardiogram to make sure there were no abnormalities with her heart.

Mom, am I gonna carry the golden child I keep hearing about?

Guilty is getting very very sleepy, she was given her pre anesthetics to make her sleepy for her IV cathater and induction medication before her general anesthesia.

Prepping for her IV Catheter placement.

Placing the catheter, this will be where the induction anesthetic goes and the IV fluids during the surgery.

Dr. Greer sporting her surgical attire! I had given Dr. Greer some Guilty shirts and she chose this occasion to wear it. I was totally surprised. I wore Veterinary Village’s International Canine Semen Bank shirt in honor of Norman who is on ice at the clinic.

I told Dr. Greer that she was really clever thinking of wearing Guilty’s shirt, that I didn’t even think of that. She said “well I can fix that”, and she tossed me my own shirt. Dr. Greer delivered Guilty into this world on 2/6/16 this day is going full circle.

Norman has entered the building.

And so it begins, Guilty is getting her induction anesthetic.

Shaving her abdomen so there is a sterile field for the surgery.

Saying hi to Norman, he’s on dry ice waiting.

Moving Guilty into the OR and prepping her for surgery.

Dr. Greer starting the procedure.

Thawing Norman getting him ready to come back to life.

Double checking one last time that it is indeed Norman in the tube.

Warming Norman up.

Checking Norman under the microscope to make sure he is alive and kicking before implanting. No sense implanting dead semen.

Dr. Griffiths transporting Norman into the OR, Dr. Greer said Guilty’s uterus looks great.

Drawing up the semen.

Guilty meet Norman, Norman meet Guilty.

Two thumbs up! Norman is in place.

Finishing up the surgery.

And she’s done! Time to recover Guilty.

Guilty is in recovery, waiting for the anesthetic to clear her system and then she will wake up, once she swallows they can remove the breathing tube.

Hello Guilty, the golden egg is in place, you hopefully will carry the golden child.

We were able to leave the clinic shortly after she woke up. Once home daddy took care of his little girl. Guilty recovered nicely from the surgery. Now we wait for the ultra sound to confirm a pregnancy in 30-33 days.

A huge shout out to the staff at Veterinary Village for another job well done. Thank you Dr. Greer and Dr. Griffiths for all that you do, you have a great staff and us breeders would be lost without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Today Guilty Meets Norman

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Today at 4 p.m. Guilty will meet Norman. A surgical artificial insemination will be performed at Veterinary Village by Dr. Greer. This has been a long time waiting, many years of planning to break out Norman’s frozen semen to just the right gal.

Guilty-

Norman –

Well wishes to Guilty that all goes well during her procedure and hopes that we will have little ones in the future. Stay tuned for an update in 30 – 35 days.

HRCH Sand Spring Norm Of Caroway MH

UNJ U-CH Sand Spring Guilt By Association JH CGCA CGCU THDN TT

Early Neurological Stimulation

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

On day 3 of the Niners life I started doing their Early Neurological Stimulation with them once a day for the next 16 days.

The information below is taken from the article by Carmen L. Battaglia. You can read the full article here.

Newborn pups are uniquely different from adults in several respects. When born, their eyes are closed and their digestive system has a limited capacity requiring periodic stimulation by their dam who routinely licks them in order to promote digestion. At this age they are only able to smell, suck, and crawl. Body temperature is maintained by snuggling close to their mother or by crawling into piles with other littermates. During these first few weeks of immobility, researchers noted that these immature and under-developed canines are sensitive to a restricted class of stimuli which includes thermal and tactile stimulation, motion and locomotion.

Methods of Stimulation The U.S. Military in their canine program developed a method that still serves as a guide to what works. In an effort to improve the performance of dogs used for military purposes, a program called “Bio Sensor” was developed. Later, it became known to the public as the “Super Dog” Program. Based on years of research, the military learned that early neurological stimulation exercises could have important and lasting effects. Their studies confirmed that there are specific time periods early in life when neurological stimulation has optimum results. The first period involves a window of time that begins at the third day of life and lasts until the sixteenth day. It is believed that because this interval of time is a period of rapid neurological growth and development, and therefore is of great importance to the individual. The “Bio Sensor” program was also concerned with early neurological stimulation in order to give the dog a superior advantage. Its development utilized six exercises which were designed to stimulate the neurological system. Each workout involved handling puppies once each day. The workouts required handling them one at a time while performing a series of five exercises. Listed in order of preference, the handler starts with one pup and stimulates it using each of the five exercises. The handler completes the series from beginning to end before starting with the next pup. The handling of each pup once per day involves the following exercises:

Tactile stimulation – holding the pup in one hand, the handler gently stimulates (tickles) the pup between the toes on any one foot using a Q-tip. It is not necessary to see that the pup is feeling the tickle. Time of stimulation 3 – 5 seconds.
Head held erect – using both hands, the pup is held perpendicular to the ground, (straight up), so that its head is directly above its tail. This is an upwards position. Time of stimulation 3 – 5 seconds.
Head pointed down – holding the pup firmly with both hands the head is reversed and is pointed downward so that it is pointing towards the ground. Time of stimulation 3 – 5 seconds.
Supine position – hold the pup so that its back is resting in the palm of both hands with its muzzle facing the ceiling. The pup while on its back is allowed to sleep. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.
Thermal stimulation—use a damp towel that has been cooled in a refrigerator for at least five minutes. Place the pup on the towel, feet down. Do not restrain it from moving. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.

Benefits of Stimulation

Five benefits have been observed in canines that were exposed to the Bio Sensor stimulation exercises. The benefits noted were: 1. Improved cardio vascular performance (heart rate) 2. Stronger heart beats, 3. Stronger adrenal glands, 4. More tolerance to stress, and 5. Greater resistance to disease. In tests of learning, stimulated pups were found to be more active and were more exploratory than their non- stimulated littermates over which they were dominant in competitive situations. Secondary effects were also noted regarding test performance. In simple problem solving tests using detours in a maze, the non-stimulated pups became extremely aroused, whined a great deal, and made many errors. Their stimulated littermates were less disturbed or upset by test conditions and when comparisons were made, the stimulated littermates were more calm in the test environment, made fewer errors and gave only an occasional distress sound when stressed.

Conclusion

Breeders can now take advantage of the information available to improve and enhance performance. Generally, genetics account for about 35% of the performance, but the remaining 65% (management, training, nutrition) can make the difference. In the management category, it has been shown that breeders should be guided by the rule that it is generally considered prudent to guard against under and over stimulation. Short of ignoring pups during their first two months of life, a conservative approach would be to expose them to children, people, toys and other animals on a regular basis. Handling and touching all parts of their anatomy is also a necessary part of their learning which can be started as early as the third day of life. Pups that are handled early and on a regular basis generally do not become hand-shy as adults.

References: 1. Battaglia, C.L., “Loneliness and Boredom” Doberman Quarterly, 1982. 2. Kellogg, W.N. & Kellogg, The Ape and the Child, New York: McGraw Hill. 3. Scott & Fuller, (1965) Dog Behavior -The Genetic Basics, University Chicago Press. 4. Scott, J.P., Ross, S., A.E. and King D.K. (1959) The Effects of Early Enforced Weaning Behavior of Puppies, J. Genetics Psychologist, p 5: 261-81.

Welcome To The World Little Puppers

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Saturday was a big day here at Sand Spring Chesapeakes. It was the day we would be welcoming Glory and Bears puppies into this world via a planned csection. If your my Facebook friend you got to see the live feeds of the procedure. If not I will be doing some blog posts on the experience.

Glory was ready to have the pups enter this world.

The csection went great, no problems at all. 9 little puppers were born.

Glory was so alert after surgery, she woke up really fast and the puppers all got to nurse at the clinic.

The niners are adjusting well to their new life at Stancerville.

We couldn’t be more proud of Glory she is a wonderful mom and we have 9 precious little lives we get to care for before they go to their new homes in April.

Puppy Preparations

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Once I found out Glory was indeed pregnant I began to prepare for the arrival of the puppies and their aftercare. Each day I would do something to get ready, I felt like I was the one having a baby and was nesting.

Prepare, who needs to prepare?

Modifying the whelping box.

The first thing I did to prepare was I bought a Lovett’s whelping nest. It’s the black circle in the above photo. It is a puppy heater, it has a lip on it, the puppies will gravitate to the warmth and all lay in the nest to lay warm keeping Glory cool as she lays by it and not on it. Keeping the puppies in one spot will hopefully keep Glory from laying on them. The nest is receded into the whelping box so I had to have John modify the whelping box by building a sturdy stand to set it on so the nest could lay flat in it. Once modified I set it up in the bedroom to get Glory used to it being there as that is where she will start out raising her litter.

Glory and Guilty approved.

Plugged in and made sure it would heat up to the correct temperature.

Soft mat put in the box to keep Glory comfortable and a whelping pad put over it.

The whelping box is all set. The whelping nest is heating up to the proper temperature so I put a mat in the box for Glory and a whelping pad over the mat and nest so the puppies weren’t laying right on the hard plastic. The nest has a red light that lights up when working so you know that it’s heating.

Whelping supplies.

More whelping supplies.

I dug all my whelping supplies out of the closet and went through them to see what I had and what I needed to get.

New puppy collars.

I sat down and made some new paracord puppy id collars.

Goodwill run.

Photo props and toys.

Glory and Guilty checking out the toys.

New jester hats.

Of course I’ve had to stop at goodwill and check out there puppy socializing toys and picked up some new hats that were on clearance. Have to have photo props for the pups as they grow and move around.

Blanket supply.

Fixing the holes.

I went through my blankets and fixed any that needed to be fixed.

Washing the toys.

I sorted through all my toys and washed them up and threw out the ones that weren’t safe.

New puppy scale.

I bought a new scale to weigh the puppies on, each day and even sometimes twice a day I weigh the puppies and make sure they are growing and not loosing weight.

Pee pads.

Of course there will be lots of peeing when they learn how to walk so bought a big supple of pee pads.

Glory doing yoga.

Glory doing yoga to keep herself limber, actually she thinks all these preparations are boring.

Second measurement of the pregnant belly.

The first measurement was done on 1/24/18 which was 33 inches, one week later on 1/31/18 she was up to 36 inches, she gained 3 inches in one week, she is really getting big.

Puppy belly.

Puppy bump.

A week after the surgical insemination Glory got an infection next to her surgical incision. The above photo is the before and after pictures of her boobs. She has healed up so nicely from the surgery. You can’t even tell anything happened.

Toys, toys and more toys.

Bigger toys.

Cardboard tunnel.

I got the rest of the toys out of cold storage, these toys will be used to enrich them as they are growing. They will be used to socialize them and will be used to get them used to different noises as some of them play songs and talk. I replaced all the batteries in them and cleaned them with waterless shampoo.

The romper room.

Activity center.

I got the romper room set up, this is where the puppies will go at 4-5 weeks of age until they go to their new homes. I set up the activity center for them to play with as well. These items they can play with, it may startle them but they will learn how to recover from new situations and will become confident puppies when out in the real world.

Temperature station.

I got a temperature station so I can monitor the temp and humidity in the bedroom. The pups have to be warm the first couple weeks of life as their temperatures are not at the normal temp when born, their temps raise and are up to 100 in two weeks.

Glory doesn’t want to eat her meal.

Glory lays flat out most of the time.

Latest measurement 37.25 inches

Latest picture taken of Glory this past Wednesday.

Glory is full of puppies and I think she is ready to have them. She doesn’t want to eat her meals like she should because there is really no excess room in her belly. I am happy with my preparations and had fun doing them. I’m sure there will be more preparations to come after the delivery and as the puppies are growing but for now I am set. Glory’s planned c-section is scheduled for tomorrow. I pray that all goes well and that she has a great recovery and that the puppies are all healthy.

The Puppy Count

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

How many puppies can you spot and how many pounds of poop does Glory have?

Guess we will have a more accurate count on Saturday.

Got Milk?

Posted on February 7, 2018 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Why yes yes Glory does.

Glory’s right on track producing milk for the arrival of her puppies Saturday.

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Moving On Down The Line

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

This weekend we were at one week until Glory’s puppies are arriving. Friday when John was home he first saw the puppies kicking, so on Saturday I watched the pot for boiling and got some videos of the puppies moving.

I’ve been measuring the biggest part of he belly for the past couple weeks. The first week her measurement was 33 inches and then last Wednesday it was 36 inches, I measured again on Saturday and it was 37 inches.

I could sit all day and just watch the puppies move, it’s such a great experience and takes my breath away.

I weighed her today and she weighed in at 91.5#, she started at 73#. Two years ago when I bred her she was 84# at delivery. So we will see how many she has on Saturday.