Sailor Goes a Little Bit Bonkers

/2 Comments/in , /by

It’s day three, and the puppies are all doing just fine. Everyone is eating well, gaining weight, and looking fat and glossy coated – just what you want in a litter. Sailor’s milk is in, and she’s finally huffing a little less as a result. Her appetite is good, and she’s drinking lots of water.

She has, however, gone a little bit nuts.

Today was the day Sailor woke up and realized she really, really, really loves her puppies. Loves them in an obsessive compulsive, ‘quick get a restraining order’ kind of way. She’s got that glazed over, googly eyed look on her face, and getting her to go outside to pee has become a chore.

“Think of all the things that could happen while I’m gone!” you can almost hear her thinking.

So, she sits in the whelping box, panting and looking worried, until I lift her up and carry outside, where she pees, spins around the yard checking for stray puppies she might have missed, then returns to the house to check for puppies in the sofa cushions. Reassured she hasn’t left any under there with the spare change, she finally returns to the whelping box in a state of mild panic. Shoving all of the blankets into a nest seems to calm her down a little, until the next mandatory pee break.

The last time Sailor went outside, she suddenly flew across the yard, intent on something she’d noticed in a holly bush. It was Mr. Monkey, Tula’s well chewed on stuffed squeaky toy. Sailor decided Mr. Monkey was obviously a missing puppy she’d somehow forgotten outside. Picking Mr Monkey up, she flew back to the whelping box, tucked him in with the puppies, and curled around all three of them with a defiant look that seemed to say “What? A girl can’t accidentally leave her stuffed puppy outside by accident?”. Hey, who am I to argue.

We’ve now worked out a compromise. When Sailor has to pee, I let her carry Mr. Monkey outside in her mouth. She then brings him back to the whelping box, where I leave him until it’s safe to tuck him away someplace until the next pee break. I just hope the pups won’t be traumatized by growing up in a litter that consists of two puppies, and one stuffed brown and orange gorilla.

Pix below the cut.

Read more →

French Bulldog Puppy News! And Naming Help Needed

/10 Comments/in /by

Sailor surprised me a day early, and presented us with two bouncing baby brindle Frenchie puppies this morning – a silvery brindle boy, and a seal brindle girl. The girl weighed in at 9.6 ounces – almost entire ounce larger than her brother, who weighed in at 8.7 ounces. The girl is a vocal little thing, screaming whenever she doesn’t immediately find a nipple, and a restless, rooting nurser. Her brother is much more placid. Other than a few squeaks when we were getting him started after surgery, he’s been a quiet, contented nurser.

Sailor lost quite a bit of blood, so it was a bit scary for a while there. Scarier still is using a new Veterinarian for a section, especially one that involves a three hour round trip and a border crossing. You’re basically going in blind and crossing your fingers that they’ll know what they’re doing, and that your drive will be quick, easy and uneventful. We were lucky, and everything turned out well.

Below the cut, you’ll find some pictures of the new little rug rats. The firewire cord for the cam isn’t long enough, so until my repeater arrives you’ll have to make do with still photos.

In related news, I need some naming suggestions. Since this is Rebel’s first litter for us since his death, I’d really like to use names that include his. So, we’re looking for registered names that include the word ‘Rebel’. So far, all I can come up with is “Rebel Yell”, which I’m sure has been used to death and back. If anyone out there has a more creative and imaginative bent than I do, leave me your suggestion in the comments section. Don’t forget, brevity is of the essence, since using our prefix of ‘Absolut Bullmarket’ uses up a lot of the allowable letters we can use for their names.

Don’t forget – puppy pix below the cut!!

Read more →

A New Group for Owners & Co Owners, and Frenchie Jamboree Plans

/in /by

I love getting photos and updates from people who’ve gotten puppies from us. It’s so nice that people take the time to stay in touch, and to care about letting us stay involved in their dog’s life. Whether it’s a win photo from someone who has a show dog, a litter update from someone who used one of our dogs at stud, or just some cute puppy photos, there’s never a time when I’m less than thrilled to get word on how the little ones we’ve sent out into the world are doing. Even when the news is sad – an older dog who has passed away after a long life, or who has a fatal illness, I’m still always touched and grateful to have been kept informed. Read more →

Negotiating Pet Contracts

/3 Comments/in /by

I have what some people might consider to be a rather excessively long sales contract for my pet puppies. As of today, it’s sitting at five pages, although some of that has to do with the fact that I decided to change it to double spaced, to make it easier to read. Even so, it’s still pretty long.

You can see my contract in PDF format here, and read the rest of this entry below.

Read more →

Prepping for Puppies

/1 Comment/in /by

Sailor’s litter is due next week, on the 15th. I’ll be making the 1 1/2 hour drive to Michigan to whelp her litter, then it’s back here to my home to raise them. I admit it – I can’t wait, but I’m also a little nervous.

It’s been a long time since I had puppies here at home with me. In fact, I had my last litter at home with me in 2001 – almost six years ago. In that time, I’ve moved from a four bedroom, 2500 square foot house in the suburbs to a 900 square foot loft in downtown Toronto, and then to a 2200 square foot house way out in Mennonite country. In the middle of that first move, a lot of downsizing occurred, and among the things I lost, sold or gave away were all of my whelping supplies.

This might not sound like much, to some people, but the breeders out there are shaking their heads in woe at what my shopping list must have been like to re-stock. All of those things we pick up, bit by bit as we go along? Gone.

So, here’s what I had to acquire over the last few days, to prepare for Sailor’s litter: Read more →