Friday, May 23, 2025.

Yesterday we saw that Ginny had come into heat, so I immediately made an appointment with the vet to take a swab for bacteriological examination and for mycoplasma.

The results of this always take a few days and if antibiotics are still needed, you have to be quick with taking the swabs.

Waiting for the results.

 

Monday, May 26, 2025

Made an appointment to determine the progesterone. The result was still low. She was still in the early stages of her heat. Determine again on Friday.

 

Friday, May 30, 2025

Back to the vet to determine the progesterone. It had risen slightly, but was still quite low.

We had the results of the swabs in the meantime and they were good. That is always nice to hear.

In consultation with the vet, we decided to only have another progesterone injection on Tuesday, because it was still very low.

 

Sunday 1 June 2025

Richard, Mike and I went to Radewijk, because the Old English Sheepdog championship club match was being held there. We still had puppies from Xanthy at the time and they had already been vaccinated and were also almost 7 weeks old. We took them with us, so they could socialize nicely.

Joey and Leanne took care of the other dogs. At one point they indicated that they had separated Xavi after all, because Ginny and Xavi were circling each other a lot. Ginny was also already moving her tail to the side.

And in order not to take any risks, they had separated Xavi, because he is Ginny's father.

I still couldn't believe it, because she was still so low.

 

Monday 2 June 2025

Xavi was already very excited and just wanted to go to Ginny. Ginny, on the other hand, was right up against our stair gate where Xavi was sitting behind and was also whining. Was she perhaps already further along? We will know more tomorrow.

 

Tuesday 3 June 2025

To the vet to determine progesterone. I told the vet that I hoped she would be able to mate today and tomorrow.

We had chosen Chris's Cassanova, because he mates naturally and produces offspring. Ginny needed this.

However, Chris is going to Denmark on Thursday with another male to participate in the Euro Oes. Exciting.

At 13:00 the vet called that my prayers had been answered and that her progesterone was at 14 and we had to go to Belgium to have Ginny mated.

At 17:00 I was with Chris in Belgium with Ginny. There was a natural mating and they were paired.

I was happy about it. Back again tomorrow.

 

Wednesday 4 June 2025

We went to Belgium again and luckily there was a natural mating and a connection again. Now we have to wait and see.

 

Thursday 26 June 2025

I am very careful, but I think Ginny is pregnant. Her nipples are changing colour and getting bigger, thick mucus is coming out of her vulva and in the evening she sometimes has to be pulled along on the walk.

We have an ultrasound on 30 June 2025.

 

Monday, June 30, 2025

At 9:00 am I have an appointment for an ultrasound. Mike came along, because he wanted to be there.

Even though I had a feeling that she would be pregnant, it is still very exciting.

Ginny was as happy as always at the vet and was on the table very quickly.

The redeeming word came quickly. She is pregnant. I just got emotional. Our beautiful girl who has already won so much is finally pregnant.

Mike and I were so happy. We saw about 4/5 puppies.

To be sure, we arranged an x-ray for the exact number.

Once we were on the bus, I immediately sent a message to Richard and called Chris.

We are really super happy.

 

 

Ginny had already had that 2 days of not wanting to eat and took a long time eating. Sometimes she also left some.

I immediately replaced the adult kibble with puppy kibble when I got home and instead of 2 times she now gets 4 times food.

Now she eats everything. The portions are now smaller and energy-rich food.

We keep a close eye on her.

 

Wednesday, July 9, 2025, Day 36

Ginny is growing well. She's already developing a nice belly. Her nipples have discolored considerably and have grown quite large.

She still pulls on the leash during her morning walk. However, she's sometimes a bit quieter in the evenings. She's still a wild, energetic little lady when people come in.

She no longer runs and plays wildly with Xanthy, Indy, and Xavi. She ignores them and goes off to do something else.

She also takes her rest when needed.

She still eats puppy food four times a day, which is going well. When it's time to eat, she lets you know by constantly walking to her food bowl.

 

Wednesday, July 16, 2025, Day 43

A week has passed. Ginny is gaining weight well. She's become much calmer during the day. She still has her moments of hyperactivity, but she also takes her time to rest.

On Friday, I washed her backside a bit because I thought she smelled a bit. Especially with this heat, I thought it was wise to do so.

I washed her backside thoroughly, and then I noticed her anus was quite bulging. I didn't do anything else. She had had diarrhea on Thursday, and when she went outside after the wash, she had diarrhea again and kept straining. I thought that was strange. I then checked her discharge, but it was normal and didn't smell. I did notice her vulva was quite red, though.

I decided to take her temperature just to be sure, so she didn't develop a bladder infection. However, when I tried to insert the thermometer into her anus, she screamed in pain. I thought that was strange. The vet was already closed, so we agreed with Richard that we would go on Saturday. I wanted her to check her urine and anal glands.

We were able to go on Saturday. The vet looked at her gums, which were a nice pink. Then she looked at her discharge and agreed with me: it didn't smell and it looked normal.

Then she wanted to take her temperature, but she screamed again. The vet then checked her anal glands, and they were indeed extremely blocked. It took a while for both the left and right anal glands to empty. Fortunately, there was no fistula or abscess. Everything was fine. We did do an ultrasound just to be sure to check the heartbeats and/or whether there was any fluid in the uterus, which could indicate a uterine infection, but that also looked good. We saw a few heartbeats, and they were very strong. I was so happy and relieved. We were able to go home.

Afterwards, Ginny is eating well, and her stool is also very good. I was nervous, but she's doing really well.

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2022, Day 49

Ginny is lying down more and more. She's really taking it easy. She doesn't like the food anymore either. She eats it because she's afraid the others will eat it.

She won't eat the puppy kibble without anything anymore. We mixed some training treats in with it, but after a few times, she wasn't interested in that either. On Sunday and Monday, we mixed mousse into the kibble. She ate it quickly the first two times, but then it took her longer again.

Starting this morning, we got and gave her Energique meat for puppies. The other dogs really turn their noses up at it, but not Ginny. She does go to her food bowl and eats it pretty quickly. I wonder when she'll stop wanting it. Luckily, there are other flavors available.

She's gaining a lot of weight. Her mammary glands are growing well. They're filling up.

This morning I washed our Xavi, and when I was done, I felt Ginny's belly. I thought it might be too early to feel any life, but to my surprise, I felt light kicks. As I said before, that makes me really emotional. Now you actually have proof that there's life growing in her belly, and so early.

Of course, we've already experienced it with Xanthy: the puppy born to me becomes a mother herself. That's also very special. You really develop a strong bond with her.

With Ginny, it feels especially special because she was born to us on August 8, 2021, and that was our very first litter. I've been away to shows with her a lot, and she's won many titles, so that bond is even stronger.

She's my big champion, and I really hope we can keep a daughter from her, but we'll have to wait a little longer for that.

It's getting more and more exciting now. We're going to have an X-ray on Friday, and then we'll know how many puppies she's expecting.

 

 

Saturday, July 26, 2025, Day 53

Yesterday we had to be at the animal clinic in Dieren at 8:45 a.m. We were going to take an x-ray of Ginny's abdomen to see how many puppies she was carrying.

We assumed Ginny was pregnant with four puppies, because the ultrasound hadn't really shown any fetuses in one of the blisters.

The x-ray was taken, and the vet and I counted five. So it had turned out to be a puppy after all. We were so happy. It was all good. Size-wise, it looked good too.

I agreed with the vet that I would let them know when Ginny gave birth. She was also very curious. It's so nice how involved the vets and assistants are.

I was supposed to receive the x-ray by email.

Today I cleaned the entire maternity ward again. A thorough scrubbing and tidying. Then I set up the whelping box and prepared the supplies needed for the birth. The maternity ward is all set. This evening, Ginny checked out the room and smelled it. She walked into the whelping box on her own and was smelling everything. Afterward, she lay down with me for a while, and I felt another puppy moving in her belly.

Who knows, maybe we'll have puppies next week. For now, they have to stay put for a while.

We're counting down the days and thinking about what it will be like, Ginny, with the puppies.

 

 

Monday, July 28, 2025, Day 55

Today is still a quiet day. Ginny lies down a lot, but she still wants to be near me. She's getting a little more exercise starting today, because we can feel her spinal cord a bit.

She still has a firm gait and just goes along nicely when we're out for walks.

This afternoon I shaved her belly and around her nipples and gently cleaned them.

I also felt one of the puppies kick again. Ginny is doing well.

This morning we received the X-ray by email.

 

 

Saturday, August 2, 2025

From day 55, I started taking her temperature to see if we could detect a drop in temperature.

We took her temperature both morning and evening. Everything remained stable until Friday morning. Normally, she was around 38.0, and now she was 37.4. Then we did it again an hour later, and she was at 37.3. Another hour later, and she was still at 37.3.

Then I quickly cleaned and mopped the maternity ward again. After that, I checked her temperature again. It had risen to 37.8. So we knew she would go into labor within 24 hours.

I had already decided to move Ginny to the maternity ward starting Friday evening so she would have more rest.

Mike was still with us early in the evening, but at some point he left. She was very restless. She wanted to go outside a lot to pee and kept straining. Inside, she couldn't find peace and whined a lot. I let her out for the night and put down my mattress.

I had a light on, but she remained restless. At one point, I heard her moaning every now and then. That was around 1:30 a.m. I put the mattress away, and I knew the expulsion phase had begun. I had sent Miranda a text, but she hadn't heard it. I didn't want to wake her by calling. So I thought, I have to do it alone, and why not now?

At 3:30 a.m., she started straining harder and longer, which resulted in a puppy being pushed out. However, it was large and remained somewhat stuck. I decided to help her, but it hurt her so much that she bit me. This is not like Ginny, because that's not her style at all.

The puppy was finally born at 4:10 a.m. This was a male weighing 528 grams, so I completely understand that she was in pain. She latched on immediately after weighing, and that went well.

The placenta also arrived nicely. Then she started pushing again, and puppy number 2 arrived at 5:10 a.m. It was a small female weighing 284 grams. The placenta arrived immediately afterward.

It took another hour, and then another large male arrived at 6:10 a.m., weighing 476 grams.

The placenta also arrived, and quite quickly, female number 2 arrived. She weighed 440 grams and was born at 6:50 a.m.

Miranda arrived next. We still had to see if number 5, which had been seen on the x-ray, arrived, but that didn't happen. I took Ginny outside for a moment so she could pee.

We discussed injecting oxytocin to get the contractions going again. After the injection, this wasn't the case, so we knew there were no more puppies. Miranda went home, and Richard and I cleaned up. Then she lost her last placenta, which was also great.

After cleaning up, Ginny could go back into the whelping box.

She gave birth to beautiful puppies—no white  black. She can consider herself a proud mother.

 

 

The males

 

 

The females

 

 

Sunday, August 3, 2025

The night went well. Ginny is very alert; she hardly wants to leave the whelping box. She reacts to every little sound she hears. Even though she's in the whelping box, if she hears something, she wants to look and smell to make sure nothing's wrong. This caused me to take those mouse naps, because you have to make sure Ginny doesn't lie on a puppy.

The puppies actually only lie with her. Nice and warm and cozy. Every now and then they lie on the heating pad.

Ginny ate and drank a little this morning and last night, but today she doesn't want to eat or drink anything else. She's only occupied with the puppies and only wants to be there.

I also offered the food in the whelping box. She ate the litter box twice then, but not again after that.

The males have gained a lot of weight, the females a little less. They certainly haven't lost any weight. The puppies are happy and have nice full bellies. They pee and poop well.

We've also come up with names for the pedigree. This time, we were thinking of something sunny and a holiday. We have two favorite countries for holidays: Italy and Spain. We wanted to use the place names of those countries.

We wanted the name to begin with an E. This led us to place names in Spain, because they have beautiful names that sound nice.

So, here are the pedigree names for the puppies:

First, the males:

 

El Toro From Bobbers Love Of Beauty                      El Casar From Bobbers Love Of Beauty

 

And the bitches:

Escamilla From Bobbers Love Of Beauty                  Estivella From Bobbers Love Of Beauty

 

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

The puppies are gaining weight well. The difference between the large male and the small female is becoming increasingly noticeable.

I slept a little better last night. However, I noticed some hardness around her nipples. I massaged them well and then immediately put the large male to the breast. He drained them quite a bit, just like he did with the other nipples. Still, I wasn't entirely reassured. I took her temperature. 39.7... I thought that was a bit high. We waited another hour because Ginny is overly concerned about her babies, plus it's very warm here. That could be the cause. After an hour, I took her temperature again, and it was 40.2. We then called the vet and were told they could come. I had to take the puppies in the thermal box, otherwise she wouldn't be coming.

At the vet, she had a temperature of 39.9, and she did indeed notice some hard spots.

She then underwent an internal examination, but everything felt fine, and the discharge looked normal and didn't smell. We then looked at the x-ray we'd taken before the birth. This vet had examined it together with another vet, and they only saw four. Richard, the vet, and I discussed what we were going to do. Richard still wanted an x-ray to rule out any remaining puppy material, which could have caused a uterine infection.

Fortunately, this wasn't the case, and even the uterus looked nicely shrunk. So we suspect it's the beginnings of mastitis (inflammation of the mammary glands). That's easily treatable. She's now on pain medication and antibiotics.

Otherwise, she's doing well. She's now sometimes outside the crate, and she'll be on a more regular feeding schedule.

 

 

Thursday, August 7, 2025

Ginny is doing well. The temperature had already dropped on Tuesday evening, and by Wednesday afternoon it was back to acceptable levels. Her mammary glands feel supple, so I'm glad we sounded the alarm in time.

She's still a sweet little mother. She's out of the whelping box more at night now, but at every little sound, she's back to lie with them or feed them.

The nights are also getting a bit more peaceful. I'm sleeping a bit more now, which is really nice. The puppies are gaining weight well. They're growing right before your eyes.

Pigmentation is also developing on their noses and a little on their lips.

Other than that, it's all sleeping and eating. They're getting faster and faster, though. Their eyes are tiny, but it will take a few days before they open.

 

 

Saturday, August 9, 2025

The puppies are one week old today. Not much is happening during this period, as the puppies are just sleeping and eating. They are crawling through the whelping box faster and faster, though. We're trying to increase the time between feedings; they can now have eight feedings a day. It will take a while before that becomes regular again. We're waiting to see when their eyes and then their ears open. Those little beady eyes are often such a beautiful sight.

They're still gaining weight well. The little girl is doing great.

Ginny is also doing well. She just has antibiotics tomorrow, and then that's over. Her mammary glands are still very flexible. She's also eating her puppy kibble four times a day again.

So we're happy and satisfied with how things are going.

 

 

Monday, August 11, 2025

Ginny had her last antibiotics and painkiller on Sunday. She's doing well. She's eating very well and has plenty of milk for her puppies. Her mammary glands feel soft. So that's going very well. The only downside is that she doesn't feel like feeding at night. She does respond to the puppy sounds, but then I really have to move her a bit in the whelping box. She does lie down right away and feeds her puppies diligently and washes them as well.

There are now three hours between feedings, and that's going quite well. Every now and then they come early or are still sleeping.

The little girl and the male with the most black doubled their weight yesterday on the eighth day. I think the other large male and probably the day after tomorrow the white-headed female will double their birth weight.

They are very content and sometimes snuggle up to each other. Their eyes have become a bit more slit-like.

We've hung the lamp higher again, because it's already quite warm in this room. It only cools down a bit at night.

We'll have to wait until their eyes open. I often find that a beautiful sight.

 

 

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Yesterday, the last puppy also doubled its birth weight, so we're very happy about that. They're doing well. They're still just sleeping and eating. Every now and then, there's a bit more activity in the whelping box.

They're already standing on all fours and walking around a bit. It's all still very uncontrolled, but that makes it funny sometimes. They suddenly fall over.

The heat lamp is off during the day because one male kept whining after nursing from his mother. When I took him out of the box, he was quiet. Now that the lamp is off, he often goes straight to sleep and is much calmer. It's warm outside, and the ambient temperature in the maternity ward is good. I still have the heat lamp on at night.

Their eyes are slightly open, but not completely. They're opening a little more every day.

Mother Ginny is doing well. She has plenty of milk, and her mammary glands are flexible. She's doing exactly what a mother should do: washing and feeding. She's very active when she's out walking and enjoys meeting people because it gives her attention.

We're very happy with how things are going.

 

 

Sunday, August 17, 2025

The puppies were 14 days old on Saturday and were therefore dewormed on Saturday. As a result, they had diarrhea all day. It's also warm in the nursery and therefore in the whelping box. Two of them are still having some stomach problems today.

We removed the heat lamp today. The ambient temperature and the temperature in the whelping box are good.

They all have their eyes open, and some are already responding to sounds. A certain sound makes them very alert and they start barking. Ginny still needs to get used to these sounds, as she doesn't recognize them yet.

They're also getting more confident walking. They're really becoming little dogs. They're interacting with each other now and then. This is only increasing, and they're making sounds during these interactions, which Ginny then checks on to make sure everything is going well.

The number of feedings is decreasing, so they only need to be fed once a night. That's so nice, because then I can also get a few hours of sleep.

Next weekend, the puppy's prospective owners are coming to visit. They're really looking forward to it and are already counting down the days.

Otherwise, they're doing very well; despite their diarrhea, they're gaining weight well and are very active and alert.

Ginny wasn't feeling well yesterday either. She wasn't keen on eating, which was unusual. I think the heat is also bothering her.

Other than that, she's a good mother.

 

 

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Another week has passed. The puppies have grown well. They sleep a lot. Today they are 3 weeks old.

We've had a lot of impressions this week. Thursday was Mike's birthday, and we had some visitors. The puppies were very restless that day and squeaked a lot after feeding. They were hot. I then set up a small pen next to the whelping box so they could get used to having an area outside the whelping box. They liked that, because after they were able to get out of the whelping box, they were quiet.

 

 

On Friday afternoon, the first new puppy owners came to visit to meet them. They thought the puppies were still small, as they look bigger in the photos. They were very happy and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

The puppies were very calm that day and slept a lot. They were content.

On Friday evening, Joey and Leanne came over for Mike's birthday. First with the big male, but he was very active, and then with the little girl.

 

 

On Friday, I also started giving them mousse and formula. This was because it seemed like they were still hungry after drinking from their mother. That day, I tried it a little in between at first, but this morning, Ginny fed the puppies and then gave them the mousse. At 3:00 PM, they had mousse first, and then Ginny fed them. They've definitely gained weight.

On Saturday afternoon, the second new puppy owner came to see the little rascals. We talked a lot, laughed, and of course, cuddled. That afternoon flew by too. Great new people for our puppies. The third one is coming tomorrow afternoon. We know they're great people too, because we've met each other before. Mike spent Saturday evening in the small pen with the puppies, so he could easily cuddle them.

 

 

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

They now get the mousse with every feeding, starting last Monday in a trough, and Ginny still feeds afterward. They're gaining weight really well now; it seems like they're growing every hour. When I help Ginny feed in the morning and then look in the box, I see they've suddenly grown so big. The night is good for them; they now sleep through the night. Their last feeding is at 11:30 PM and then they report to bed at 6:00 AM, or they wake up when I set the alarm for 6:00 AM.

 

 

The puppies are hardly in the crate anymore, only at night. They love being outside the crate. They even play with each other every now and then, and I really enjoy that. Starting tomorrow, August 27th, we'll be clearing out the maternity ward and moving it to the kitchen. Ginny is really looking forward to that now; she misses the other big dogs. It will be exciting for the puppies again, as there will be six big dogs at once, which is quite impressive.

For me, it's a relief, too, to get back to normal a bit.

 

 

Friday, August 29, 2025

We've been busy again these last three days. On Wednesday, the puppies moved into the kitchen. They were very impressed with the adult bobtails, new sounds, and a different playpen.

We first set up the puppy playpen and then brought them upstairs one by one. We introduced each puppy to the adult dogs first. We really took our time with this. The little girl lay perfectly still. She found it quite exciting, while the others tried to interact with the big dogs.

After that, we put them in their new homes and then picked up the other puppy. Ginny was perfectly happy for the big dogs to sniff her puppies.

The puppies fell asleep very quickly after being put in the puppy playpen.

 

 

We also bought a play mobile with all sorts of stuffed animals on it. This helps them develop well, because it has sounds, rings to bite on, etc. They explore it very carefully. The female dog with a white head was very interested in it.

They still find it quite exciting.

The trough has also been replaced by a tray with feeding bowls. The little girl still finds it difficult to eat from it, but she's doing well.

Ginny is also weaning now. She actually wants to stand while feeding, but they're just a bit too small for that.

They can just reach it, but they fall over easily. Ginny is quite a large dog. After feeding, they quickly fall back asleep.

 

 

This morning we set up the tent, put up the ball pit, secured the tunnel, re-hung the swing, put out the stuffed animals, and installed a new item.

I always wanted those puzzle pieces with all sorts of textures on them, so the puppies can walk on different surfaces. I mentioned this to a puppy buyer from our previous litter, and she remembered it. So when they picked up their puppy to take home, we received it as a gift. I'm thrilled with it and so curious to see how the puppies will like it.

This afternoon we're taking them outside for a bit to introduce them to the great outdoors, with all the sounds and, of course, the various features in the playground.