Nothing yet, call me surprised!

checked in with the vet

sounds like she's not ready yet

stay tune

and have a 

Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxo

not yet

there's been a little whimpering this morning, I'm hoping (for Grace's sake, she's huge) it's today

keep your fingers crossed!

blessings

Grace is hanging in there.

Puppies are visually moving towards the exit.

No labor yet.

just waiting

There's eight people that sent in guesses for how many puppies and what colors.  This is the fun stuff that passes time for us all.  Always room for more guesses...

Have some guesses!

don't wait

Grace is starting labor

send your guess to

bayrockpoodles@gmail.com

it's almost over

Should be today

7am's temperature taking was 97.4, that's bottomed out!

in theory it's 2 - 12 hours

took her a while to drink water this morning, she did eat a couple of dehydrated patties.  She's resting, her temp so low makes her tired.

It's soon, won't make it to thanksgiving, but whatever is right is fine

stay tuned!

Guessing

Want to make a guess for how many boys and girls?

Be sure to include your color guess!  She's on her last few days, send your guess to bayrockpoodles@gmail.com.  The person the closest to the correct amount including colors wins a prize!

send your guess to bayrockpoodles@gmail.com

Nicknames

I think I have the basic nicknames as the puppies are born

Joy

Jillian

Juanita

Jewel

Joely

JuJu

Jettie

Journey

Jaeger

Jett

Jordan

Jonah

Grace and Everad has always had three boys and 6-7 girls

will see if that's what she does this time too

she's holding at 98.x, every few times it does go to 99.x

her energy level is low with her temp going up and down

she's starving ... not a sign it's within 12 hours by the way

I'd rather her wait until tomorrow evening/night

we will see ... it's soon!

Day 59

oh boy did we have a restless night.  She was up, she was restless, she was soooo.... uncomfortable.  The puppies were romping so much she couldn't rest.  Since I was up I took her temperature twice.  Caught a slight dip in her temp to 98.4.  Four hours later it was back to 99.x.  She didn't jump up and down for her breakfast this morning.  Called her several times before she would get up off the fluffy pillow.  She gingerly ate her special meal but took a long time to get it down.  Saturday night I noticed she was having mild contractions.  It's like a hard bowling ball that slowly moves up and back towards the exit.  Girth was a little more than 31.5."

she's very uncomfortable

Girth is settling in at 31.5" I'm still saying 8-10 pups

Her temp came down slowly until it got to 98.4 and then came back up again to 99.8.

Grace was seriously thinking the babies were coming last night

Grace ate her breakfast and now asleep with twitching, back leg sudden kicks, and deep impatient breaths now and then.

Almost ready.  I suspect anytime but I will say I'm thinking about 24 hours.  (ha! but she's proved me wrong before, just depends how fast her body progresses)

stay tune.  it's soon.

froggy momma Grace picture

Viktor is mimicking her, he's got a toy, Grace just wants to cool down

Pictures of the Poodles before we moved

 Hilde getting groomed, not her favorite thing,

Fifi getting groomed, Perris, October 2012

also not her favorite thing

Momma Grace snuggled into the pillows ... so cute!

 Good Picture of Pippa, October 2012

and another pics of Fifi, October 2012

Full Siblings of litters "C" & "F" to this litter the "J" litter

This is Arthur, he's ~23-24" over 50#, most beautiful personality you'll fine.  He lives in Washington.  Arthur is from G+E's first litter, 9-2010

This is Daddy Everad.  He's 18" about 23#.  He's an awesome guy, we love him dearly.  November 24th he will be four years old.

This is an older picture of "Teddy" also from the "C" litter (9-2010).  He was the biggest puppy out of that litter for quite a while, but Arthur exceeded his size about one year old.  He's exactly Grace's color.

This is Fifi.  We kept her from the October 2011 litter.  She's now one year old.  She will follow in her momma's footsteps being one of our foundation bitches.  She's awesome, sweet, kind and fast.

Lot of pictures from the 2011's puppy blog
http://gracepuppyblog2011.blogspot.com/

the "F" litter

Day 58

She's getting ready

her woo is very soft and puffy

she's hungry for her special meal

Girth is bouncing all around.  

The other day it was 30".    

Then jumped up to 31.5". 

 Then back down to 30".  

This morning she's 32"

Temp came up a tiny bit to 99.7

We are looking for a drop and maybe a couple of times before the onset of labor to 96-97 and then comes back up a little.   The temperature taking can go up and down, but if I follow it carefully, now every 4-5 hours, we will catch the drop(s) and will know when she will have her babies.  Once it drops we can expect puppies within 12-24 hours.  yep, we are almost that close.  I checked her at 4a.m. this morning and her tummy was rock hard like a light contraction, then relaxed.  She's getting close, but could still be 2-4 days.

stay tuned, the birth will be here on this blog as they come out

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What to expect
Your female will show some of these signs or all of them. If your experience is not normal from things you have read, you should call your vet. Delaying help from a vet could endanger your dam and pups. This is a time to remember to be safe rather than sorry.
First stage of labor:

If you are really committed, the temperature taking does work.  You will find her temperature around 99 to 101, and as soon as it starts to drop below 99 and continues to drop you have about 12-24 hours from the start of the drop.  When it bottoms out to 96 or 97, then you have about 2-12 hours.  (This stage often goes unnoticed, and takes place in the 24 hours following temperature drop.)

Temperature FINALLY drops to 97°F from its normal 99, 100, 101°F.

this is what we are looking for, now taking her temperature every four hours.  Starting tomorrow will be every 2-3 hours, including getting up during the night and taking it.

You may find your dam much more restless and not able to get comfortable. She will stretch out on her side. 
You may find her eyes different; they will dilate, and she will stare at you.
She may not want you out of her sight. She may go to her whelping box.
She may vomit.

She may try to have a bowel movement from the pressure.

She may urinate frequently.

She will refuse to eat and seek a quiet spot, like a closet or under a bed.

She has not refused to eat yet, that's when I know it's today.

She may have some mucus discharge, and her vulva area will become puffier.

This has been going on for a few days.

The normal body temperature for animals is generally higher than for humans. The normal rectal temperature of a dog is 99.5° to 102.5°F. The normal temperature of a puppy at birth is 96-97°F. The temperature gradually increases with age until it is 100°F at four weeks of age.

Puppies cannot hold their own temperature the first 10 days old.  This is really crucial for a brand new puppy that they stay snuggled with momma for warmth.  The first ten days their instinct is to search for warmth and eat.

stay tuned.

Day 57

She's hungry as a bear this morning

She's getting the bowling ball look

Temp 100.3

Should get through the weekend without event

enjoy the weekend before thanksgiving

happy gobble-gobble

Callie

Grace and Everad's first litter they had six girls and three boys.  Three silvers, three creams and four blues/blacks.

This is "Callie" their beautiful little silver girl.  We sincerely thank Robert for testing this beautiful little caniche moyen girl.  
We are so proud of them both.

http://www.offa.org/display.html?appnum=1459242#animal

"J" name ideas

This is the "J" litter

the new owners are asked to name their puppy a "J" name!

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/dog_names.html?letter=j

Day 56

Grace's girth is 31.5" this morning.

Temperature 99.8

she usually dips down a couple of times to 97-96 a few days ahead of time.

stay tuned will be this week

pictures soon

Day 55

whew, we are here in Meadow Vista California now, boxes everywhere you look ... lol.  

Grace is almost on countdown.  Checked her temp this morning and it's perfectly fine at 100.5.  She's only comfortable on her side.

The "Day" is counting from the first breeding.  When she actually conceived is a guess and it's 58-65 days from her ovulation.  so, keep in mind everything is just fine if we do go over 63 days.

That being said, I'm hoping she will have her puppies on November 24th, she would be Day 64 which is unlikely she will wait that long unless she conceived later than we thought.  November 24th is the daddy's birthday, I thought that would be awesome, we love Everad dearly.

Gracie is Day 55, Week 8, 6 days

*********** Eighth week ***********

Day 49 to 57

When the dam is resting you can sometimes see and feel the pups moving. Pups can be born at any time now, but keeping them in for another week is much healthier, so avoid rough play.

But >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> BE PREPARED

pups could be born at any time!!!!!!!????????

Milk may be squeezed from the nipples by the end of the week. Some dams can get milk (colostrum) as early as day 45, but normally they do not.

Suggestions:

Gather the whelping box and supplies, gas your vehicle.

Give the dam NO calcium, no puppy kibble, no raw bones, no sardines, no cottage cheese or cheese, or calcium pills this week. She will get an ample amount in her regular kibble.

Gracie is fussy eating right now but slightly (warmed) cooked raw meat or Stella and Chewys there's no left overs after her "special meal" twice a day.  I am mixing that with Acana and left over High Performance Eukanuba, but everybody loves the Acana.

Her girth is 30" now, we started at about 24"

Sitting here I can see puppies kicking and moving around.  She's very uncomfortable.

one more week to go from today!

Gracie's progress

She's seven weeks, five days today

Seven weeks is when the puppies start putting on birth weight.  She's growing so fast!

Today's girth is 29.5"

Her girth with her first litter she had ten puppies was 33" full term
I'm guessing she's having 10-11 puppies
2 silver boys, 1 silver girl, 4 creams, 4 black/blues
3 boys, the rest girls

send your "guess" to bayrockpoodles@gmail.com
whomever comes closest to # of boys girls, colors
wins a prize!

due November 22nd
15 days to go

We move tomorrow to Meadow Vista, CA.  More updates in a few days.

I guess I'll only bath her once a week since she doesn't like the smell of the baby shampoo.  I bath her, she finds the dirtiest dirt in the yard and rolls in it.  I think she's trying to get rid of the sweet smell of baby shampoo.

Reservation List
#1 most likely us
#2 Vaula & Kari
#3 Lindon & Kimberly
#4
etc.
is available

Seven Weeks Three Days

Just Pictures of Momma Grace

another bath and a little trim here and there

she's starting to look like a mountain

girth is 28 1/2" today, puppies are growing

7 to 8 Weeks Pregnant

Grace is definitely into her seventh week, her girth is growing by leaps and bounds

Today Grace's girth with hair shaved down is 28 14/"

her normal girth (non-pregnant) is usually about 24"

why are we talking about girth?  For fun

LOL.  It's a way to guess how many puppies are coming if you havn't actually done an x-ray in the last week of pregnancy.  The theory is in a standard poodle litter for every inch growth there is one puppy.  With Everad's sized down moyen puppies we are close but usually add one puppy to her measurement.  

Grace's girth will get to about 32" in her last few days
stay tuned...

at this point we are just watching her pregnancy growth

the last week (or days before delivery) we can get really good guess of how many puppies to expect and when she's done delivering.  Usually sleeping on the floor and everyone settled and momma also sound asleep is the best indicator.

Week 8

November 8th to November 14th

Dam grooms herself a lot

Breasts becomes swollen and milk forms

She will nest and get a little frantic now and then from now on to find her hiding place for her and her puppies.  We have the large Dura-Whelp whelping box with lamp heaters, heating pads for her sleeping comfort to reassure her she will indeed have her puppies in the faithful whelping box.

Should be able to feel/see puppies moving around this week

When the puppies look like they are pushing themselves out sideways is when we know we are in the last week of pregnancy.  Puppies can be seen pushing against the skin and we can see feet and rolling backs to push out.  As they grow they run out of room in the only world they know, the womb.

Gracie is due November 22nd and doing well

7 weeks today

and she's looking and acting like it too

Nutritional needs double but she's showing picking eating, hence only want people food mixed with her kibble.  Crunching in NuVet vitamin daily.  For variety, some days eggs, meat, pasta, almond milk, chicken broth also makes it in her special meals twice a day. She always prefers cooked chicken and now cooked eggs.  She's pregnant, a little picky ... might as well take advantage of getting new and fun things to eat.

This week we are suppose to start to feel the puppies.  She was relaxing, didn't feel anything yet.  Her tummy is large and tight.

As they say, do not force her to do or not to do anything.

Week Seven

Days 42 to 49

Developed puppies continue to grow. Dam will start shedding her tummy hair.

Suggestions:

Increase food...avoid home-cooked unbalance foods. Try to make her eat a balanced diet, not just meat. But if your dam starts getting fussy, doctor up her meals with cooked chopped beef heart, liver, chicken hearts etc.... Some extra meat is good...too much can cause problems. Stop all rough play and jumping. 

At the end of this week, days 48 to 50, take the dam off of the puppy food and put her back on regular kibble. You can change gradually over a couple days, but you have to limit the calcium intake you are feeding so the dam's body goes into store calcium mode.