The Highs and Lows of Breeding

Yesterday at noon the ultrasound on Mamba’s pup showed a strong and healthy heartbeat.  The vet’s advice was to relax and be patient let mother nature take her course.  That evening Mamba ate very well, had a normal temperature, so we relaxed and said it is not time yet. By Noon the next day she was still eating but I was feeling nervous, she started having mild contractions but not going through the normal labor signs, I gave her some oxytocin, no reaction at all to the oxytocin…this was not a good sign.  I brought her back to the vet office for another ultrasound, this time the puppy was dead.  🙁  Now we had a new problem, how to get the dead puppy out before things went septic, more oxytocin, nothing, a little sedative, forceps,  and a lot of diligence on the vets end and the fetus was out, the pup had been dead a while my guess not long after we left the vets office a day earlier. It is so sad, I never knew this puppy but I did know this puppy, I knew this puppy from generations, from dreams, and hopes, and best made plans. I am so sorry we lost you little guy.

This is bad enough, but today I discovered that one of Inga’s males the first born boy was dehydrated.  I asked myself why, I knew he was eating well, I paused a second, took a breath, oh no, I opened his little mouth and there was the answer in stark and horrid reality. I only looked a nano second but that is all I needed and  the image is burned in my brain. He has a cleft palate.  He will not live.

You may think as a breeder I am used to this,  I am not.  I know this is normal and it is a part of breeding, I feel like I failed these little guys. I am so sorry little ones, Godspeed.

Laying on my kitchen counter is a “smudge stick” it is a tight bundle of dried white sage and cedar.  Someone thought it might be beneficial for me.  It is an American Indian tradition. http://www.wikihow.com/Smudge-a-House   I looked at it lying there and I thought what else am I going to do with this. So I went through the whole house, I put the smoke around me, I put it into every corner of every room, I put it around  the dogs and puppies. The dogs were all rather interested in it and not afraid of it except Gavin, he checked it out then said get that the hell away from me. After all that “smudging” it was still smoking, so I went outside and “cleansed” the old building site, it was still smoking, so I sat in the middle of the old building and watched it burn out as mourned the loss of the two little guys and dogs that have passed, and allowed myself to think about Allie and Maika.

After I was sure the smudge stick was completely burned out, I  left to visit Mos in the nursing home.  The nurses were whispering to each other after I walked by, they kept popping into the room while I talked to Mos…odd they don’t normally do that.  I left and picked up a pizza, the pizza girl didn’t even look at me and then all of sudden looked up at me and gave me a strange look. Hmmmm.   I came back home and walked into the house, it smells like …..smoke?…no it smells like pot…no it wasn’t …but it has that same kind of heavy sweet smell. I grabbed my shirt and took a whiff, yes I just reeked of the smell. I had carried the smudge stick around so long I didn’t notice.  God only knows what Caitlin will think when she comes through door tomorrow!

No that is not the high of breeding, it just gave me something to do while I mourned. The highs of breeding are 7 wonderful  neo-nates that I have the great pleasure of watching develop into delightful puppies with boundless energy and enthusiasm for life.

xoxo