Loooong week…

No worries everyone; I still love being a breeder. And in all honesty it’s the rough times that make the good times so sweet. The saying that goes, “you can’t have a rainbow without rain”, rings very true when it comes to breeding. For those that aren’t aware of how things went with Cruella and her litter here’s the story.

Our Valentine’s Day started out with a bang! Cruella gave birth to 10 puppies. One sadly, was a stillborn and another we lost shortly after. And in this litter we had a sweet cute little girl, who we affectionately called tripod. She was born congenitally missing a leg. Although the leg was not very much of a concern. Dogs are able to live a wonderful life without a leg, they adapt very well. But she also had a bulge on her stomach that we weren’t sure what was going on and the fact that you could see her heartbeat in her chest was also disconcerting. We had suspicion of skeletal deformity but she was still doing well. She also wasn’t the smallest in the litter, so we were going to get to work. We started tube feeding her because she was unable to latch on her own. Tube feeding is easier than using a bottle and also less chance of complications, such as aspiration which is your biggest concern with newborn puppies because if they get any milk or formula in their lungs they will not survive. The other part of tube feeding that is also comforting to a breeder as you know exactly how much they each time. I did not have what I needed for tube feeding and I was very thankful to my friend Amanda at Nightingale Schnauzers who immediately told me he just go ahead head over to my house and I will get you set up. So Sunday night in the rain storm that we have had here in North Carolina, literally five days in a row of rain. I drove an hour to her house and got what I needed and brought tripod with me to get her opinion. We were both perplexed at what was going on and knew that we were going to need the vet involved. We did not go to an emergency vet because she was not an emergency. Due to us being able to tube feed her her continuing to hold her own at her weight. There was no reason to subject her immature immune system to all the sickness out an emergency vet.

First thing Monday morning I called the vet and got an appointment. Their earliest opening was in the afternoon unfortunately, but of course I took it and was very happy to be able to finally get some answers about what was going on, little did I know that I wasn’t going to like the answers. At this point I was feeling pretty confident considering she was doing well, her mother had not rejected her and tube feeding meant that she was gaining weight not losing as is pretty typical for all newborn puppies that are only eating from mom they will lose a little weight the first day or two and then start gaining. Not a lot, fractions of ounces. When I got to the vet she met me at my car and we discussed what was going on I could tell by the look on her face she didn’t think that this was going to end well, but always the optimist I prayed to God for a better answer. We were blessed already have a special-needs home lined up for her when she would be old enough to go home. So I felt that maybe this would be a happy ending.

We discussed what I had been doing with her and what my concerns were. She told me that after an exam she would call me. Covid means I cannot go inside.

Shortly after going inside with the puppy she called me and let me know that there were serious deformities. To know more they would need to do an X-ray to see what was going on inside or we could euthanize. I could not make that decision without all the facts so I had them do the X-ray. I got another call after the X-ray that it was even bleaker than we originally thought. Her sternum was way to small it would be equivalent to us having only 2” of a sternum. She had infection started in the lungs and her organs were not where they were supposed to be. The kindest choice is euthanizing. I started bawling. But agreed that we needed to do the right and humane thing for this tiny girl. This was one of the hardest choices I’ve had to make. The video I posted gives my thoughts and feelings so I won’t repeat myself.

God was so gracious that a year prior we had already scheduled a visit to see my family in Florida. Naples has 80 degree weather and is beautiful. The prefect location to recharge! We flew out on Wednesday and fellowship with family and sunshine and a dose of vitamin “sea” was what we needed. At the same time though back in North Carolina there was an ice storm. Not to worry though. We had multiple plans in place to deal with any outcome. Murphy’s law prevailed and because of this we didn’t not lose power! Praise God!