Malibu turns 3!

Some people might accuse me of playing favorites and I absolutely do. Malibu is my favorite, favorite dog. She is hands-down the sweetest and most loving dog I’ve ever had. She always wants to be in your lap and just adores us. Happy Birthday to Malibu and her 8 siblings ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Busy Busy Girl

Big changes this week.  She’s having fun playing with Aunties and Grandma.  She’s been outside a few times and is starting potty training with Mike running her out whenever she wakes up. She loves to explore around the house and loves to sleep on the wood floors.  She’s even started to hog the air conditioner vents.  She’s eating mush and some kibbles which is good because her momma will be going back to Michelle’s in a couple of days.  She had her first bath and had her nails dremmeled.  She has a new little short video on youtube showing how happy she is when you call her name. (or puppy)  Just search for bialyaussies

 

 

Not so terrible 3 weeks old

Lots of changes this past week (and a half, sorry)  Lili passed the 5 pound mark.  We took the rails out of the box so she and Remi have lots more room.  She’s started barking and playing which Remi is not so jazzed about.  Luckily her Aunties and Grandma take over in that department.  She has some new teeth and celebrated by having her first smushy meals.  She really likes her time out of the box and whines until someone lets her out. Then Penny and the Aunties take over and make triple sure she’s clean while she’s trying to explore everywhere.  The wood floors are still a challenge for her but she still tries over and over.  She has a bit of a sassy streak and she’s a talker like her mom and others before her.   I’ve posted some videos in the Youtube channel ‘bialyaussies’ and some on our instagram also bialyaussies, but here are a ton more.

2 weeks old today!

Happy 2 week birthday to Lilikoi.  She’s 3 pounds 10 ounces of fireball.  Her eyes are open and she can hear us.  She’s up and toddling (she has a couple of new videos on Youtube) She’s had her 2nd pedicure and was very sassy about it.  She’s started making growling noises when she disapproves about something.  She’s eating all mom has to offer so we’re going to start mushy food later this week.

Her favorite sleeping position is in the corner

Guess who?

 

Guess who can hear now and sort of wobble walk and weighs almost 3 pounds?  This girl!

1 Week old!

Lili is one week old today.  She’s more than doubled her birth weight and had her first pedicure.

Lilikoi

Whew!  The first week of having new puppies is always the hardest.  The puppies are born in our office and I always spend at least a few nights sleeping right next to the box.  Even when Penny had her last of 4 litters, I still did this.  Newborn puppies are fragile.  They need to eat very often.  They aren’t super mobile and they can’t hear or see.  I am always there with my flashlight ready to turn a straggler around.  Ready for the cries of someone being smushed by mama.  Ready to be there to make sure everyone survives the tough first week.   Even when the litter is one lovely little baby, we dragged the uncomfortable couch into the office (why in heck did I not try to sleep sideways on this when we bought it) every night.    It’s worth it and although Remi didn’t seem to appreciate my constant intervention and a flashlight shining in her eye, Lilikoi has gained weight every day (even the day she lost her tail) and I have graduated to sleeping in my own bed again……with my iphone, tuned onto the puppy camera, on all night, 8 inches from my  face, with the volume turned up.

Where did the other puppy that we saw on the x-ray go?  Short answer is we lost her.  Best guess is that her placenta detached or partially detached at least a week ago.  She was 1/3 of Lili’s birth weight and although she was fully formed, she was clearly not as advanced as Lili.  She had been in distress for a while as her sac was filled with dark brown fluid and her lungs were full of that stuff when we tried to suction her.  She was born completely non-responsive.  We rubbed, and suctioned and rubbed and suctioned more.  We were able to get her heart beating and she was taking gasping/open mouth breaths but soon it was clear that she would not survive and that was one of the hardest moments I have felt as a breeder.  I felt helpless and I felt guilty.  Guilty for not knowing that she was in distress for the last week.  Guilty for bringing her into a world where all she would get to experience is rough intervention.  Guilty for helping to create a life that was too fragile to live.   Although her last hour of life we tried to help her be at peace, she suffered and it kills me.    She is not the first puppy I’ve lost in the just over 30 years I’ve been breeding Aussies, but she was the hardest.   For the next few days I was pretty sure I never wanted to breed again.  I’m still having reservations but I decided to name the puppy Lilikoi after a passion fruit to remind myself that breeding and raising Australian Shepherds is my “passion”.

Lilikoi (or my little potato) is doing well.  She’s started the Super Dog (Early Neurological Stimulation) and is getting plenty of snuggles from everyone here.  Singletons are not easy to raise properly.  We’ll need to make sure she’s stimulated physically, mentally and socially but we’re up for the challenge.   We’re not sure what her future holds yet but for right now she is definitely not “available” and she already has a few homes waiting for her if she does become available.

We will be deciding in the next couple of months whether we will repeat this breeding again this fall. (and we had also tentatively planned on breeding Malibu then)  This litter was excitedly waited for and we had lots of great families on our waiting list that we are devastated to disappoint.  Several of the families have companions from previous litters of ours and we really wanted to add to their pack.  We’re super bummed that we can’t but are more than willing to help find another breeder.

 

 

Happy World Redhead Day

Meet Remi’s little redhead, Lilikoi.  (or Lili) 

We had a tough day yesterday as breeders.  The kind of day that makes you rethink wanting to do this again.  But having little Lili be so healthy and gaining weight already makes the hurt a little less.   I’ll explain what happened sometime this week but in the meantime, have a peek at little Miss Lilikoi born yesterday.

Table for 2 please.

There they are.   Both of Remi’s puppies.

Soooo.

Although we are very happy that Remi is pregnant, a litter of 2 is not exactly what we had planned for.  Right now they look like a good size and we are planning on a natural delivery.  Sometimes though,  with smaller litters, they don’t produce enough “hormones” to trigger labor naturally so we will keep a close eye on her and be prepared for a c-section if necessary.

A tiny litter like this is also a little disappointing because we know that lots of families were looking forward to adding a puppy to their home this Summer.    We can certainly offer help with names of other breeders in the area if anyone is interested.    Right now, we are unsure of solid future plans.  We *may* re-breed Remi this Fall to the same sire.  We *may* breed Malibu this Fall.  We just don’t know for sure at this point.

But…. Good news is that Remi is settled in here now and we can’t wait to meet the little ones this Friday or Saturday maybe.    She will continue to hog the air conditioner vent just like her mom and her grandpa did.

Happy Mother’s Day (and to-be Mother’s Day)

Happy Mother’s Day!

Remi is enjoying her last couple of weeks of not being a mother.  We will know in about a week how many puppies she will have when we do her x-ray.  We are putting the wait list adding/updating on hold until then.