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.