Six Weeks!!

Well this little lady is now over 6 weeks old, and what a delight she is.

She is so funny, and a real busy bee.  Trio has the patience of a saint and spends ages with her being chewing and jumped on, and is so gentle with her.  Tilly only wants to mother her, something Trio feels quite put out about and Tilly soon disappears when the playing gets going.  Eve loves to play with her but can get a little over enthusiastic so we have to keep an eye on proceeding as Eve is likely to do zoomies and try to dive bomb her!  I think when she's a little older Lyric will have a great time with Eve.  Maddie is giving her a wide berth at the moment!

With her being a only puppy we have been able to do so many things with a bit more ease.  She is being taken out to the toilet, and we haven't had a poo in the house at all, it's also very rare for a wee.  This is much harder to achieve with a full litter.  She has been out in the car a few times, and she wasn't at all bothered with it.

She has been spending more time just with us as a family member, either in the house or out in the garden where she is loving having the room to have a good run about.  She is much more coordinated as a result, and loves to run about when she picks a toy up.

Have loads more pics which we'll have to put up - some of them failed to upload hence only the one for now.

As Four Weeks Passes

It has been a busy week as we had attended two shows with the other dogs this week.  Lyric has been well cared for in the company of Sean and Christopher, who are such a great help if we go off somewhere.

Weaning had been delayed as we felt she just needed more time, Trio has been fantastic producing lots of milk, but not so much to risk having mastitis which had been an early concern of ours.  Lyric has alternated between all of the teats, so not leaving any one full of milk to fester. So with her doing so well we decided to pick up some puppy food at one of the shows we were attending - well our choice of supplier wasn't at either show sadly so it was ordered online and some picked up at our local pet shop to tide us over.

As you can see from the pictures Lyric knew exactly what to do and tucked straight in, she isn't eating much at the moment but she has enough and she'll gradually increase the amounts herself.

Lyric has also had visitors this week, and has enjoyed cuddles with our good friend Jan, and my parents.  Trio kept a watchful eye on them, but Lyric really enjoyed all of the additional fuss.

She has received more gifts and loves them all.  She tried on her new collar and thinks that purple was such a good choice of colour.  She needs to get a bit bigger to hold on to the gorilla toy, her mouth isn't quite big enough yet to hold it but Trio has been showing her how to get it call!

She even spent an hour outside on Thursday - she was not impressed and protested quite loudly!  As it was such a lovely day we decided to strip out the box and give it a good clean and that the fresh air and change of surroundings would be a benefit for her.  Trio has to go into the pen to settle her, as she was so cross about being in there whilst the others could come and go as they pleased!  

First retrieve!

She is starting to play now, and it's a delight to see Trio gently playing with her.  She picked up the little dragon yesterday, it doesn't seem long ago that she was about the same size!  

And Another Week Goes By....

It certainly feels as if Lyric has been part of the family for much longer than the three weeks that have now passed.

Life is still reasonably quiet, yes I know we should enjoy while it lasts as it will all change very soon I'm sure!

She is now more mobile, though not inclined to make too much effort as she doesn't feel the need.  I have taken her into the garden for a walk around (one of us carrying her), and then yesterday gave her a few short periods down on the grass.  It does seem to make her more curious than she has been, so hope the additional stimulation will help with encouraging her to be more mobile.

She has been wormed, she was not impressed but didn't put up too much fuss.  Think it might change for when she's done in a few weeks time.

She has a few more friends in the box with her and she now seeks them out and snuggles up with them, they have become her new family.  We have to thank Jess and Rookie (Seahaven Celtic Commander) for Fidget the octopus, he is a real favourite with her.

Trio is only going in the box to feed Lyric now, and will settle in there for a rest very occasionally so Lyric friends are great for her.

She is now big enough to get stuck behind the pig rails in the box so they have been taken out today, the box looks so much bigger without them.

Trio is doing great, going out on some of the walks with the other dogs and not worried about leaving Lyric behind at all now.  Her coat is coming out in buckets and we think she's be bald before long so hope the new coat doesn't take too long to come through.

Two Weeks!!

There has been many a moment when we didn't expect to get to this point in time, but we're here!!

Lyric has not only doubled her birth weight, but now weighs over 1kg.  Having worried that she wasn't gaining enough, we now worry that she's getting too big - think we're born worriers!

It is still rather quiet in the house, she does make the occasional noise but not too much at all.  This may well be due that she has nothing to complain about - no brothers and sisters to disturb her sleep or knock her off a teat when she might be feeding.  She currently lives a life of sleeping and feeding, she literally slips off a teat and goes back to sleep.  She really doesn't have the stimulation that she would have with litter mates.

Lack of litter mates is also responsible for making her bigger, so pleased we named her Lyric otherwise she might be know as Porky Miss Purple!  She has no competition for feeding at all, doesn't have to clamber over others to get where she wants to be to feed, or have to constantly  move from one teat to another.

She is now up on all four limbs, and we hope that once she starts to see things will improve as she becomes more stimulated by her environment.  They are starting to open, so this shouldn't be too far off now.

She is however a real cuddle monkey, snuggles right in to you which is lovely.  Trying to ensure that she's not picked up too often is a constant battle, she is certainly one well loved puppy.  This is something that we'll have to keep an eye on as she grows, we don't want her demanding attention all of the time, and a situation we could easily find ourselves in if we don't take care.

Starting to Get Big

Well Lyric seems to be making up for the poor start and is doing amazingly well.  She has almost doubled her birth weight, something that we didn't expect to happen this early.  Clearly all signs that we're heading in the right direction.

Introducing Lyric

Well we thought that it was time to actually name Little Miss Purple, and have given her the name Lyric.

The name has been waiting for a LM puppy for a few years now, and it was funny (or strange) that when she was just born and we were checking her over I asked her is she was the long awaited Lyric.
As the horror of dead and weak one puppies unfolded I never got to ask any of the others, it just didn't seem appropriate at all.

When LMP was the only one left, I couldn't bring myself to give her the name.  I wanted to make sure that she was staying with us and not going off with her siblings, on Monday I did start to use the name on her and had planned on sharing the news.  However that evening, we were surprised and disappointed to find that she had put on very little weight.  This continued the following day, and again we were worried about her.

Well yesterday, she made up for the shortfall in weight gain, gaining around 80 grams that day.  This pattern has continued today, and is probably due to Trio being more settled and eating better.

When I got the grooming equipment this afternoon Trio was so excited and came bounding out, she thoroughly enjoyed having a groom.  Loads of coat is being lost at the moment, so I think she really did benefit from this.  She was even keen to have a trip out to meet the girls from the bus, her first walk since having the pups.  She was keen to get back, and made a beeline for Lyric when we returned.  So lovely to see a wagging tail again.

Tentative Steps Forward

We have been inundated with such wonderful support from so many people, we are so lucky and a huge heartfelt thank you from each and everyone of you.

Little Miss Purple is making some tentative progress, she is gaining weight, slowly but we are moving in the right direction. She is even filling the container used to weigh her in, something we couldn't image only a few days ago.

 Trio is more settled with her and has come out of the whelping box at time for a cuddle or some attention.  We need to keep her eating as she's been off her food and only eating small amounts, but picking up each day now.  I'm sure that in a few days she'll have her appetite back, which will have a huge impact on milk production.

It's been rather strange, all of the whelping things surround us however there's so little to do.  It is so strange just having LMP.

It is still early days, but we're all feeling much more positive.

Little Miss Purple Holding Her Own

All the days have blended together, with no real sense of when things have happened or what the day is even.

Little Miss Purple had a good night, Trio hasn't been happy with her on the heat mat which was a bit of a worry for us.  Clever puppy came up with the perfect compromise of sleeping between Trio's hind legs, laying on one with the other over her and her head resting on Trio's belly.  Alternatively she will sleep under her elbow and again rest her head on Trio's belly.  This has kept her warm and close to Trio, and suckling well. 

Tasha put in some small cuddly toys yesterday to keep her company, Trio wasn't so keen even though pups was cuddling up on them on the heat mat.  They have been taken out for now until Trio is more settled, she still goes out of the box and has a quick look around for the missing puppies which is heart breaking to watch. 

We have tried to have a balance of being watchful, but not overbearing to Trio, she needs to trust her instinct and we have to show that we are confident in her as a mother.  She doesn't like us to handle pup too much, and we're only moving her onto Trio of the heat pad if she's fallen asleep, or to weigh her.  Trio doesn't do anything at all, it the look in her eyes, wondering if we're going to remove this pup too.

We have weighed her tonight and she has gained 40 grams, almost up to her birth weight!  We are delighted and feel so much more confident that she's her to stay, not just a short visit like her brothers and sisters.

Little Miss Purple x

Heart Break

It is such sadness that I post today, not the joyous news that we anticipated sharing with you all.

Trio had a normal whelping Friday/Saturday am, producing 10 puppies.  Sadly 5 of these were born dead and we were unable to revive them.  Five puppies born alive, 2 boys and 3 girls.  Four of which were much smaller than the one larger girl, all appeared to be strong and suckled well as soon as they were born.  This was something that we were relieved about as the colostrum is so important to them and we had hoped that this was a positive sign.  Due to the size of these pups we felt it best not to break the news until we felt that all was going in the right direction, which it was at the time.  Trio was fine and happy for us to supervise feeding making sure that each of them fed.  During Friday afternoon the first puppy showed signs of weakening (Mr Blue), he was followed by one girl (Miss Red) and the  remaining boy ( Mr Green). Mrs Yellow was the larger of the little ones and was feeding well, so it was looking more positive for her.

During Friday night, we lost first Mr Blue, and in the early hours Miss Red.  By Saturday morning Mrs Yellow was weakening, and we were now concerned for her too.  We lost Mr Green mid morning and by lunch time we had lost Mrs Yellow.

We have one remaining puppy, Miss Purple who is almost double the size of the other puppies - we are too frightened to feel optimistic at this stage but do hope that she stays with us.

As you can imagine we are utterly devastated, it has been a heart breaking few days, and sheer exhaustion doesn't help with the emotions.  We have shed many tears, and still are and everything is very raw at the moment.

Trio is doing well, poor girl does look for the pups at times and we have found some friends for Miss Purple so she doesn't feel too lonely.  She has been an absolute star, not at all bothered when I've spent hours in the box alongside the pups ensured that they have been latched on and suckling.  Every bone and muscle in my body is reminding me of this at the moment.

I'm so sorry for all of the expectant puppy owners, for the friendships that would have been forged over the ensuing years of sharing a Trio baby. 

It was felt important to inform all of the potential puppy owners prior to posting this, they need to be informed before this becomes public knowledge.

Update this evening;

Trio much more settled, pup feeding independently.
Thank you so much for the lovely messages, sorry for the tears to those who I have spoken to.

The Final Countdown

The big clean

It's now just a big wait until Trio decides that the time is right for the pups to arrive.  We spent the weekend giving the room a thorough clean and putting together the whelping box.  All the whelping records are printed and ready to be filled in when the time is right, last minute bits and bobs added and we're all set to go.



Nearly ready!

After spending ages encouraging her to eat anything that contained the wormer, she has now decided that she'll eat her scrambled eggs each day.  Or at least for the last few days!  She hasn't managed to eat much else, there's not much room in there for much else with the pups in there.  She'll catch up once they've arrived, she is still as bright as a button and we've only taken her for a few leg stretches each day rather than the longer walks that she'd become accustomed to.

All set and ready to go

We will of course keep you all posted, I know there are some anxious people waiting on news.

Eight Weeks...........................WOW!

Well we've got to the eight week mark, it has gone sooooo... quickly! maybe not for everyone, and we didn't expect it to pass so quickly.  Now the countdown begins.

The road work has continued this week, but the last few days she's been reluctant to go too far, or too quickly. Eve is continuing to partner her and we've had some nice quiet walks.

On Thursday she had her second Herpes vaccination, the vets were really pleased with her after giving her the once over.

Administering the wormer is continuing to be difficult, she seems to be able to guess when it's been hidden in her food.  Also she's struggling to eat much as she has so little room for food, so she might have a few mouthfuls and then give up.  We may have to resort to syringing it in her mouth again - something we miss to avoid if we can.

We will be setting up the whelping box tomorrow.  Anything that was needed has now been bought, or we already have so we just need to organise things so that they're at hand when needed.  We did nearly have to replace the Nutridrops that came yesterday, it had been put in a cupboard in it's container and in a sealed back.  The cupboard wasn't closed properly and we found Tilly in the utility room licking it up off the floor after she had punctured it.  It has now been rebottled and is safely out of the way.

Taken on Wednesday

A ever expanding waistline

Taken today 8 weeks

Blooming Gorgeous!

Thought we ought to have another picture of mum to be stacked, this will make it easier (Hope) for people to see the difference is Trio's size and shape.  She is looking fantastic.

Nearly Seven Weeks!

Had meant to post earlier in the week, but with school and college restarting I just didn't get around to it.

We started to worm Trio last week, a daily occurrence of a low dosage wormer suitable for pregnancy (Panacur 10%).  This is normal practice and helps to minimise the worm burden of the puppies, as encysted larvae are activated during pregnancy.  She is rather wily with this, and we have changed tactics every few days as she has become aware of what we have been trying to do.  Today was egg, natural yogart and wormer, it worked today but may have to try something different tomorrow.

Walks have now changed in the last few days, she has naturally slowed herself down but not enough for our liking.  She is now on daily road work, and one of the highlights for her is collecting the girls from the bus stop in the village after their day at school.  Walking buddy has been Eve who will hopefully benefit from the additional work.

She has grown and changed shape and we have the pleasure of feeling the pups move for the first time a few days ago - very exciting!

One of Trio's last walks before pups with the others.

Not at all bothered by the new arrivals

Add caption

Looking really fed up.

Trio and Eve - walking buddies

A trip down memory lane!

Two pictures of Trio.  The first one was taken today, the second later at around the same point when carrying her last litter in 2012.  So very similar but she seems much bigger to us this time around. I've also been reminiscing over puppy pictures from this litter, fingers crossed for some fabulous pups second time around.

Five Weeks and Counting!

Slowly getting around to setting this us, and putting some post and pictures up.

She reached the five week mark on Saturday, so now over halfway through her pregnancy.  She is looking exceptionally well, and hasn't slowed down too much  yet, she is still eating well and has now started to have three meals a day rather than the normal two.  We've only upped the food slightly, but giving smaller meals which we'll continue right through to whelping.  After whelping she's be fed more frequently as she meets the demands of the puppies feeding from her.

Trio - taken at the beginning of August



Waist is now disappearing!



Showing of her belly!!

Delighted to confirm that Trio is expecting a litter in Sept 2015

Welcome to the blog, we hope that you enjoy sharing the journey of Trio with us here at Seahaven. Having had the pregnancy confirmed this week after having a scan at the vets, we thought that this was the easiest way of sharing any news and pictures.  Sadly no pictures of the scan, but we have been told to expect a large litter and it was so reassuring to see the tiny strong heartbeats.  Trio is now at 5 weeks today and starting to loose her figure, so there's no disguising the fact now.