Saturday, 31 January 2009

Well Done Daddy!

Well Done 'Berolee Mack the Knife' aka Rooney.

We may have had some reservations about using a stud dog called 'Rooney' (Ali supports Liverpool) but it's congrats to him on fathering 9 gorgeous puppies. He scored!
To see more of Rooney and his family visit http://www.berolee.com/
A huge thank you to both Sue and Brian of Berolee and Jackie (Molly's breeder) and all at Davison's vets for just being there on the end of the phone!

They're soooooooo cute - 3 days old




Friday, 30 January 2009

Ali on the night shift - puppies 3 days old


Hi all, its currently 10:15 and I am just starting my night shift that will last to 1am.
The pups are all snuggled up against Molly, keeping warm and sleeping and of course looking very sweet.
I thought to pass the hours I would tell you a little about the arrangements here in the puppy room. The room itself (the utility room) is kept at a sweltering temperature, with the radiators on full and hot water bottles for the puppies. The puppies and mummy are kept in a large cardboard box (bought of the Internet for reasons beyond me), which is lined with possibly the softest material in the world, vetbed. There is a camp bed for the humans with a sleeping bag.
I would just like to clear up some frequently asked questions from friends:

  1. Do they bark? No they don't but they do make a high pitch squeaking sound

  2. How big are they? On average the puppies are 20cm, long.

  3. Do they have their on personality? To an extent yes, some are more shy than others, while others are adventurous and curious.

  4. Is there a runt of the litter? There is no clear runt and they all seem to be feeding fine, despite the monster puppy guzzling all the other's milk. The monster puppy is an enormous male, who appears to have the appetite of a teenage boy.

Hope you enjoyed the blog, until next time


Ali

Night and Day

Night and day or is it day and night? I never could get the words right at singlive! Night and day have become interchangeable timezones. It’s a bit like being jetlagged permanently. Here at basecamp it’s 1.30am and I’ve just been round the garden to let Molly out. Back in the den, it's oh so quiet, shhhhhhh

Thursday, 29 January 2009

A Hard Day's Night

The Puppies have arrived

It all started on Wednesday 28th January.....
It was an early start as we heard Molly making a nest at 2.30am and then again at 3am, so Ian kipped next to her for the rest of the night. She was nest making all day long. This stage can sometimes go on for 48 hours, so we decided to split the night shift. Ian only got 15 minutes sleep before Molly started to push and at 10.15 out popped the first puppy. Molly did really well and the puppies kept arriving at fairly regular intervals. Puppy number 9 – the surprise one arrived at 3.15am. There are 6 boys and 3 girls and already they seem to have their own characters. Very tired humans here in Nottingham – it was a hard days night.

Sunday, 25 January 2009

Molly's Puppies - 8 weeks pregnant


Welcome to Molly's Blog.
Molly is our gorgeous chocolate lab and in a little under a week (hopefully) she will be producing a litter of puppies.
It's been a long planning process up to now. Eye and hip checks took place in May 2008. There was a fair bit of research to find a suitable stud dog. We are delighted that Rooney (Berolee Mack the knife) found our Molly to be a suitable mate! It was then a matter of fingers and paws crossed until her scan.
Molly is now 8 weeks pregnant and is absolutely huge - not surprising with up to 8 puppies in there. We can see and feel the puppies moving. We now have a baby listener plugged in at night to keep an eye on her. Lead walks only now - much to her disgust.
Ps. The photo is pre-pregnancy, we're not embarrassing her with a photo at the moment.