The “Name Game”

Most breeders do “theme litters”. These themes are a way to identify individual litters with the actual theme being representative of a time or event significant to each litter. Think of it almost as surnames for your puppies. Some breeders to “alphabet themes”; they have the (a) litter then the (b) litter and so on. Personally, I think that is BORING and totally lacks creativity! Each puppy’s registered name represents the given theme although what you call your puppy (his/her “call name”) is totally up to each individual owner. The theme is used in puppy’s registered name that goes to AKC and will be on your registration certification for your puppy.

For those that have owned registered dogs before, this may sound familiar. For those that weren’t given a theme or due to some other circumstance, let me know if you have any questions.

Deja’s puppies are going to be themed around the word “last”. This will be her last litter. It is a bittersweet time; Deja has produced beautiful puppies but soon, it will be her turn to be an “always by my side” type of dog without her worrying about taking care of “puppies”.

Some examples of names are below but folks are certainly welcomed to come up with their own names too. Anything that goes along with the theme. I have personally killed many long hours driving from dog show to dog show playing the “name game”, LOL! It is a fun thing to do while waiting for puppies.

Each puppy will have our kennel name first: “Jema” (signifying where puppy came from). Here are some examples to give you an idea what I’m talking about.

In Vee’s litter (due tomorrow!), her theme for her litter will be “Ice”. The sire for Vee’s litter is my beloved boy, (Grand Champion/Champion) GCH Tazo; now deceased. We used his frozen semen for this litter, hence the “ice” reference. Timing of breeding, when using frozen semen, is critical! Once thawed, the “collection” has an eight-hour viability window. I have done “frozen litters” in the past; there is about a 50/50 chance the girl will even get pregnant! This is another reason I bred both girls. I wasn’t as sure Vee WOULD get pregnant!

Examples of “ice” registered names:

• Jema’s Ice Castle
• Jema’s Fire and Ice
• Jema’s Ice Ice Baby (already taken)
• Jema’s Ice Princess
• Jema’s Twice as Nice (can use words that have “ice” in them)!
• Jema’s Alice in Wonderland
• Jema’s Dealer’s Choice
• Jema’s Roll The Dice
• Jema’s Spice It Up
• Jema’s Slice Of Life
• Jema’s A Night In Venice
• Jema’s Ice Breaker

Update on puppies, themselves… All are “filling out”; their bodies now match their heads. Think of it like in human newborns. Heads are always the biggest presenting part; bodies generally less big. Until they start eating and get “chubby”… we have chubby puppies now! Dew claw sites are look really good; all healing nicely. Most of the umbilicus’ have fallen off (they are tied off from the placenta shortly after birth. In a natural delivery, mom’s usually do this with their back teeth. They “grind” those cords to prevent bleeding. Standing by and “helping”, some breeders use dental floss to tie off cords. We use sterile surgical suture material because… we have it!

Pups are still “squeaking”. All move incredibly well and are able to “find mom”. We have several getting up on their rears legs; pups will be “walking” soon! And not a coincindence in the timing of these pups (warmer weather) means less chance of puppies becoming “chilled”. Rarely do I find any of them on the heating pad even in Deja’s absence. What I want to see (and what I’m seeing) is pups sprawled out (signals they are NOT cold!) The downside of them sprawling out is… I want them to give Deja enough space to lie down without one getting behind her (that is when you hear the biggest squeaks; pups have to crawl around the mountain!) Because there IS a chance Deja might not see a pup and accidentally lie on one (would NOT be good!), we have “pig rails” in her whelping box. Even if Deja (any mom) lies down, she can only lie down as close as the pig rails. There is room under those rails for pup to slide under so as to avoid actually being laid upon.

Next milestone for puppies is in approximately 5 days when eyes start to open followed closely with ears opening afterwards. Then, pups “voices” will change. They will be able to hear themselves and littermates and squeaks will turn into little barks. They will go from being little potato blobs to real dogs!

P.S. Today is “Vee Day”! I’ve lined up “help”to watch Deja’s puppies and keep an eye on Deja for anything she might need. Prayers and Happy Thoughts appreciated for Vee and her pups-to-be! I’ve no idea how many pups to expect (we did not choose to expose her to radiation otherwise known as an x-ray to get a “count”. There wasn’t a medical reason to do this so… We didn’t do it!) I will say that Vee is fascinated by Deja’s puppies and feels the need to TRY to get in with them every chance she has! Her maternal instincts have kicked in! Vee will be “set up” next to Deja so that we can keep an eye on both mom’s and puppies. Deja’s feelings about Vee’s interest in her puppies… Deja KNOWS Vee is not a threat so is not bothered by Vee’s interest. As I predicted would happen, I can see “co-parenting” happening should we choose to let that happen? It is nice to even have this as an option! (And hence the different marked puppy collars!!)