Welll....

Rosie has been panting for 2 hours now. That is a good sign. She's acting more alert and hasn't slept in the past few hours either.

I cut all the ribbons for the puppies' collars so I can tell them apart. I have 6 girl colors and 5 boy colors. ;)

Stay tuned...

My Theory :)

I *reeeaaallly* thought we'd have some pups by now...

So, I've come up with an explanation as to what may be happening here...

Obviously, I'm way off on Rosie's ovulation date. Her first tie was on day 12 of her cycle, which is completely normal. Usually, a dog is in what's called "standing heat" the day that she ovulates. This is the first day that she will allow a male to breed her. The day that she ovulates is counted as day 1 for pregnancy, even though the eggs don't get fertilized until 3 days later when they are mature. The gestation period of 63 days is actually the age of the eggs from the time they're released from the ovary. So normally, a girl is bred on day 12, 14, and 16 if possible, so that on day 15/16/17 when the eggs are ready there are sperm in there waiting to do the job. Ok, that's how it *normally* works.

Last fall, Rosie was bred on day 12 and 14 and didn't get pregnant. Now I understand why not. Rosie must not ovulate on day 12, even though she will allow a male to breed her. Rosie is a very submissive girl and it's not surprising that she would stand earlier and later than most girls. This time when it was time for her to be bred, I took her up to Robin's house and his wonderful owner kept Rosie there so we would not have another miss. I love ya, Sharon! Rosie and Robin tied on day 12, 14, 16, 18, and on day 20 when I was there to pick her up they tied again before she left. Crazy...she obviously was already pregnant at that time and day 20 is extremely overkill and most girls wouldn't even stand for a male at that point. I know Maggie wouldn't have! But Rosie is absolutely the sweetest girl you will meet. I mean it. :) Robin must have thought so too, because they developed quite the friendship while she was there.

Another point that confirms my theory that Rosie is a late ovulator, is that on day 54 I took her in for her puppy count Xray. Normally this is a good day and all the puppy bones are ossified and the vet counts skulls and backbones and tries to match them all up for an accurate count. Well, on Rosie's Xray the vet felt comfortable saying she could count 5, but there were other bones that were just too faint to match up. Plus with her size of belly, the vet just said "I know there are 5 and I know there are more." This was probably due to the fact that Rosie was more like day 51 or so and I have never tried to get an Xray that early because you run the risk that not all of the bones will be seen.

So, in hindsight...I should NOT have counted 63 days from the first tie. I should have added a few days because now it all makes sense that Rosie's eggs are probably not 66 days old right now...or we'd have puppies!!!

Now I feel better. Well, not really but it helps me pass the time to try and figure out what is going on! :)

I hope you can see that I'm an extremely patient, positive person. I've thought about screaming a few times, but that wouldn't really be productive. Thought about chucking that thermometer in the dumpster, but then I'd have to go buy a new one.

So in the end, all I can really do is wait...and take you all along for this ride called "Dog Breeding" otherwise known as "Guess What?...You're Not In Charge!"

Blessings Everyone!

Hangin In There...

Rosie is taking her sweet time and there are no changes to report. Puppies are moving and all is well. :) I will post an update AS SOON as there is something to report. Hang in there everyone...

Rosie's so pretty...even at 65 days pregnant...

So, her temp dropped to 98.6 this morning which is usually what I would consider low enough to mean labor would begin at some point today. She's not really showing any other signs, however, as of right now...not really sure what to think about it. If she were early, I'd say today must not be the day...but since she's not I'm thinking today really SHOULD be the day! :)

This is a testament to Rosie's layed back nature...she's late coming into heat, late ovulating, and late whelping. But, in reality, who am I to say what's late?? She's perfectly healthy, perfectly happy, and practically perfect in every way. hee, hee

And *I* have decided to keep my sense of humor about this!

Rosie Day 62

The worst part about waiting for something is waiting. :)

The best part about waiting for PUPPIES is that you know they have to come SOMETIME!

I think I'll focus on that, they have to come sometime. I think Rosie would agree with me on that. She's sleeping a lot, eating a little, licking a lot, moving around a little...well, generally acting like a mom who's belly is full of puppies. Earlier this evening I was spending some quiet time with her in her whelping box and feeling the puppies move around in there. I think they're already doing puppy wrestling moves! It was like a Jackie Chan movie going on in there...yikes. She just slept right through it all. That's the kind of girl she is. :)

More to come...I promise!

Rosie Day 59

Well, she's looking a little more tired today, isn't she?

She's sleeping a lot and I believe I would be too if I looked like she does. :)

Her temp has been stable at 100.4-100.6 so we've got a pretty good baseline temp going.

There's not a whole lot more to report! But...keep checking....

you just never know when things will get fun around here.

Rosie Day 57

This is a picture of a very pregnant girlie. :) We are on the homestretch now, enjoying this last week of pregnancy watching the puppies roll around in there. I am so ready for this.

Today is the day that I begin taking her temperature a few times a day, waiting for that drop to 98.something that signals impending labor! The puppies can be born any time now, but the longer they cook the better for them.

This is the place to look for whelping information and pictures. While you're waiting, you can look back at the April 2009 blogs to see pics of Rosie's past puppies. :)

Rosie's Xray on Wednesday was not very informative. The vet felt comfortable saying for sure 5 puppies, but there were other bony parts that were too faint to match up and count. So we left it at "we know there are 5, and we know there are more". That's good enough for me, last year she had 7 and I'm thinking she'll have at least that many looking at her size this time.

We'll know for sure in a week anyway!

I will post daily from this point on. Check back for more details!