Puppies!

I think the actual breeding of two dogs is always the most stressful! Many think the most stressful time is the actual delivery/whelping of puppies but to me, that has always been fairly straight forward. It is the actual breeding of the two dogs centered around timing, testing, and trips to the vet that stress me out!

After much consideration, we’ve decided to breed our two girls now. CH Deja is being bred to CH Journey who lives in Las Vegas, NV. Journey’s owner and vet have been wonderful to work with to make this breeding happen. So far, we have had one breeding done and are watching Deja’s progesterone level to time the second breeding that will mostly happen this Friday.

We have also decided to breed our “almost champion” girl, Doodle. We are going to use frozen semen from our Grand Champion boy, Tazo, who is no longer with us. Doodle’s cycle, like Deja’s, seems to be a quick rise in progesterone (ovulates early in her cycle) and it is only by chance that after taking her in for a progesterone test to see where she was at that we realized she had already ovulated! Because we are using frozen semen, we can successfully breed Doodle a bit later in her cycle so we haven’t “missed” with her breeding. Doodle’s first breeding will be this afternoon.

Now I had hoped the girls would be a week or more apart of each other in their cycles but that is not the case. We potentially could have them deliver their puppies on or close to same days! Oh boy! In truth, they will likely whelp their puppies, if they actually conceive, a few days apart! I’m already thinking exactly how I will manage two litters of puppies at one time? Hmm??

The reason for breeding both girls is simple. In case either of them have problems, the other can “foster” any of the other puppies. I don’t expect any problems but you just never know. And if I’m going to be home with puppies, I will be home with puppies! It does seem like a good use of my time to give both litters the time and attention they will need to be the most well-adjusted, healthy puppies as possible!

This week has been hectic; we will be at our vet’s office every day this week! Between progesterone tests and inseminations, we will have one or both girls at the vets. Thankfully, dear hubby is available to help most of the days. Other days, I will take the girls to the vet. The “plan” has been outlined, based on testing, so at least I have the support of my wonderful vet and her staff to help make all of this possible!

I’m looking forward to having puppies again! It has been almost two years since we’ve had puppies! It seems so much has happened in those two years… we’ve lost our wonderful boy, Tazo and his daughter, Deja has now become a champion in that time. We are looking forward to the next generation of champions in the making! Crossing our fingers as we move forward here at Jema Golden Retrievers!