New Homes

Back from the farm late last night after two weeks of puppy socialization and lambing.

David suggested I title this entry, "The Final Chapter" (yuck, gag me with a spoon). Due to continual whining it has been necessary to confine the pack leader to the big crate. I have never witnessed such severe separation anxiety in either dogs or humans. Hopefully he will get a grip before tomorrow morning when he is scheduled to return to that day job thing he does in Toronto.

Cait and Pups Explore the Lake shore

at the Farm

It was a spectacular two weeks. The first two pups went last Friday, with the other two following on Saturday. I know that it was time for them to set out on new adventures with their chosen humans. They are all lucky little pups to have gone to very good new homes --- which made it easier for me to say goodbye.

The Girls on a Romp

We spent the last couple of weeks investigating all the farm critters, exploring the fields and lake shore and meeting lots of new people.

Here are some recent pictures and the new homes that were selected for my pups.

Island Jade

(aka #1, T-Bone)

Island Jade has gone to live with Barry and Colleen Fenton who live near my weekday home outside Brighton. She will enjoy a spectacular country life with her border collie pack mate "Ace".

Island Maggie Playing with Mom

(aka #2, Sticky)

Maggie will be living with Reta Brown, the neighbouring farmer on Amherst Island. David says she looks and behaves a lot like I did when I was eight weeks old. We are going to work with her on sheep when she gets a little bit older. Maggie is the pup David decided to co-own.

Island Benny (aka #3, Belly Boy)

Benny has gone to live with Rachel and Eric Frid-Snyder in Kingston, Ontario where he will join a very active extended dog family with border collie experience. He was the first pup to go and I must admit that I did whimper a little bit when he was dropped off, but I know he has gone to a very loving home and will be provided with lots of challenging activities.

Island Meg playing with Silken and Faolin (aka #4, Millie Jr.)

Island Meg has gone to live with Gail and Peter Cunningham in Ottawa. They have raised many border collies and are planning to explore sheep herding and agility with Meg, just as they have done with the previous border collies in their charge.

We hope to have a web site up and running sometime this fall (after a summer of farm work and activities) where I will report on the pups development.

Before signing off on this blog, I do want to thank you all for your interest and participation in this excellent adventure. It was great watching sister Tap raise her first puppies at the same time --- I finally had a chance to check out the last two weeks on her blog this morning and her puppies are very beautiful (and will be heading off to their new homes later this week).

So that is all for now. Have to go and check whether David requires water. The whining has stopped and hopefully he is having a little nap.

Vet Visit

It was off to Northumberland Vet Clinic for examinations, microchips and first shots this afternoon. Well the pups were there for that --- I was there to meet my public. As you know, the last time I was there for a visit I was somewhat indisposed --- didn't do much schmoozing on March 19th given the collision that was happening inside me. But I digress ... I certainly made up for it all today.

The pups did very well for first timers. Lots of compliments on how well I have raised them, with weights ranging between 8 (Jade #1) and almost 10 pounds (Belly Boy #3 and Millie Junior #4). Sticky (#2) tried to make a run for it with two pig's ears --- I was so embarrassed. The others, thankfully, were a little more restrained.

At any rate, we're back home and will head for the farm first thing in the morning. The pups will sleep well tonight. It has been a big day for them. We went for an almost 15 minute walk through the woods first thing this morning.

We had another first today --- absolutely no protestations about being in a crate and going for the car ride to the vets. They are ALMOST well enough behaved for the Tim Hortons drive thru.

Six weeks old

Pups on the Prowl

My pups are now going for short little walks in the woods. They love playing hide and seek, and investigating all the plants and activities --- birds and squirrels are definite attention grabbers.

I also saw the first signs of herding/stalking behaviour over the last couple of days --- heading humans, other dogs and toys.

Each of them have tried to use their "eye" to get me to stand still enough to nurse, but I'm not falling for that. They are eating well enough. I am still spending time with the pups first thing in the morning and last thing at night --- I allow them to nurse a little bit, but I'm spending most of my time on bite inhibition. The weaning process has begun.

The pups have been going two at a time for car rides, playing with Devon (our three year old next door neighbour) and generally meeting lots of different sorts of folks.

It will be off to the vets for their first visit tomorrow. Then to the island for two weeks of new experiences, socialization and rest.

I'm preparing myself for my pups heading off to their new homes in a couple of weeks --- I've done my best with this bunch, and it will soon be time for their human companions to take over the training.

David, on the other hand, is getting just a little bit too attached. I'm watching him very carefully in case he heads for the car with a passport and puppy food.

As promised, some six week old pictures taken today follow.

Jade (formerly known as T-Bone/#1)

Sticky (#2)

Belly Boy (#3)

Junior (#4)

5 1/2 Weeks Old

My puppies have settled into a good routine. They continue to grow, I am in the process of weaning them (although I must admit early morning and just before bed cuddle time is still happening). David is going to weigh them later today, but estimates that they are all above 6 pounds now.

I love all the pups, but am growing particularly fond of my little fella (#3). He nurses and then makes sure he cuddles under my chin and gives me little kisses. Millie Jr. (#4) and T-Bone (#1) eat and run --- both of them are getting pretty fast, and together with Sticky (#2) they spend a lot of time playing hide and seek in the woods.

We will all be heading for the farm for two weeks starting on Friday. I will try to get David to post some new pictures before we go. There will be a longer than usual break on the blog because we don't have computer access on the island.

I'm looking forward to getting back to some sheep herding, swimming and fetch. It will be nice to spend some good quality pack time with all our friends there.

We will make sure that we let everyone know about all our experiences when we return.

Here are the latest pictures.

Mom, Junior (No. 4) and Silken

Sticky (No. 2) Carrying a Big Stick

Sticky (No. 2) Sticking to David's Shoe

T-Bone (No. 1) Allowing the Big Dog (Silken) to Sniff All She Wants

Belly Boy (No. 3) Taking a Sit Break

Exploring the Backyard - Day 29

Somebody, who shall remain nameless, forgot to put the pin in the x-pen gate yesterday morning before heading to work. When the puppy sitter arrived a few hours later, the puppies were out and about.

The good news --- they remained close by and there were only a couple of small "accidents". In fact, it appeared that they headed back to the paper in the pen when necessary.

The bad news. I was pursued for those hours by a marauding pack of sharp toothed puppies intent on power nursing. You would need to live that experience to fully appreciate my morning.

The somebody, who shall remain nameless, has apologized and promised that it will never happen again. I also received cod treats, my favourite, and an extra long tummy rub.

Following are a couple of short videos of the puppies in the backyard this afternoon.


Not quite the 100 yard dash but a good sprint nonetheless.

First Day In the Back Yard - Day 27

Sorry that I have been negligent on keeping the blog up to date. My typist complains that he has been too busy with work to assist me with this task. If anybody knows of a good voice synthesizer software package that translates barks to English please let me know.

The puppies are all growing and very active. Today was their first day in the backyard. They all were tired at the end of the play session, which allowed for taking pictures with minimal blurring.

# 4 and # 1

Sleepy #3 and #2

They are all eating solid food now, and I have cut back nursing to once or twice a day. I have had to correct Millie Jr. (No. 4) on a couple of occasions about not using teeth while nursing. The others have learned from these corrections.

The pups are also beginning to understand the concept of paper training. There have been no accidents in the whelping box for several days now, and the bathroom/paper area will continue to be decreased in size over the next few weeks. I hope to have them house trained and well mannered before they go to their new homes.

Not much difference in behaviours or personalities yet, but this will likely change over the next few weeks. All of the puppies are people oriented and big on tail wagging.

On Thursday we will try to make another little movie of the activity outside.

Day 18

It was a spectacular spring day in these parts.

As predicted, Sticky (#2) made it out of the whelping box today. I had to run to get David to collect her before she got too far down the hallway. She knew enough to keep quiet and met David with her signature tail wagging "I can wrap you around my little paw" look. When we got back to the whelping box T-Bone (#1) was also making a move for "the wall" but Millie Jr. (#4) was hanging on her tail which made it impossible to make it over.

You will notice that I haven't mentioned Belly Boy (#3) yet. Today, he fully experienced what it will be like growing up with three sisters. Any time he makes a move to play with any of the girls, all three respond "in kind". He spent a lot of time at the bottom of the pile today. By late afternoon he was applying a "I'll stay in the corner" defensive strategy --- flipped Millie Jr. who dared take him on with his back against the wall --- Sticky wagged her tail and waddled off to David for a pet instead of helping out. That was the first indication that my boy might have a chance.

This afternoon the puppies spent a few minutes on the back deck --- it was a very warm day and they loved exploring.

On Tuesday (Day 20) we will try them on a little puppy mush for the first time. That will certainly be special. Since we've had the whelping box great escape, the x-pen has gone up and the pups will have a bigger area to explore but an impossible (I hope) wall to climb.

Mom and Pups

No. 2 and No. 1

No. 2 and No. 4

Puppy Pile On

I've posted a little video. Sorry for the small size and poor quality --- dial up limitations.

The puppies are growing in leaps and bounds. In a few days I will ask David to start them on some mush --- little puppy teeth are starting to come in and ears are partially open.

Two weeks (and a day)

Sorry that I haven't been on the blog for a couple of days. I've been busy with busier puppies.

The puppies sleep hard, eat hard and NOW play hard. I wish we weren't on dial up so that I could upload some of the videos. It can be very entertaining.

Since the puppy eyes are newly opened, we haven't been taking any flash pictures. That makes things a little bit more difficult in getting any decent pictures. Action shots just aren't possible at this stage due to the light conditions. If you look closely you can see the little emerging eyes.

Puppy #4

Puppy #2 (and #1)

On the news front:

• when I return to the whelping box with the all day diner, I am being met by wagging tails. It is a welcome change from the "attitude" I was getting last weekend.


• all the puppies are peeing on their own (yippe ... and yuck no more). I can't wait for the "other thing" to also be handled by them on their own.


• they all can trill and offer barks befitting much larger dogs.


• puppy pile on is a very competitive sport (2 minutes of action is followed by an hour of sleep). Everyone wins and loses several times over the course of the two minute competition.


• they all continue to grow and we hope to do new weights on the weekend.

That's all for now. Back to the whelping box.

Puppy Eyes

The puppies eyes have started to open. No.1 (T-bone) and No. 3 (Belly Boy) are the first. I haven't taken any pictures this evening because it is getting dark. I will try to take some pictures tomorrow in the natural light.

However, I do have a couple of pictures I would like to share.

Following is a picture my good friend Gayla took of me and my pups on day four. Everyone has grown a lot since this picture was taken, but I think it is the best picture yet of me, and I wanted to share.

I don't know quite how to describe the following picture. Millie is one of my pack mates. She is an almost all white border collie (David calls her "unique"). At any rate she has apparently decided to adopt her own puppies.

Don't know how to break it to her but these ones definitely aren't border collies. I feel the irresistible urge to "walk up" --- must be my hormones.

Day 10

Over a few hours this morning, all of the puppies learned to stand up on all four legs. It started with No. 2 (who by noon was even able to take a few steps before crashing). Pretty amazing (and scary) to see this happening. When I enter the whelping box now they're getting to me much faster!

They are all becoming little individuals. No. 4 gave me a kiss on the nose this morning (unfortunately I didn't have the camera handy to record that special moment). No. 3, as my only boy, cuddles with me a lot and likes to stick his nose in my ear. I don't mind that a bit --- he's figured out how to wrap his Mom around his little paw. No. 1 lets out a little trill when I come back to the whelping box for feeding and sleeping --- she's my happy girl. No. 2 is the athlete - she has my legs.

Their eyes and ears are still a few days away from opening.

In other news, I was out for a long walk with David, Silken and Faolin at daybreak. We've had a lot of coyote activity around here lately so there were lots of interesting smells in the woods. I love the walks --- but I love being a Mom as well and rush back to my pups as soon as we return.

Puppy #1

Puppy #1 now weighs 967 grams (2.1 pounds). She has increased her weight by 140% since birth.

Puppy #2

Puppy #2 now weighs 974 grams (2.2 pounds). She has increased her weight by 105% since birth.

Puppy #3

Puppy #3 now weighs 1,012 grams (or 2.2 pounds). He has increased his weight by 130% since birth.

Puppy #4 (cuddling with No. 2)

Puppy #4 now weighs 1113 grams (or 2.4 pounds). She has increased her weight 130% since birth.

One Week Old

My pups have made it to the one week mark. I am able to spend more time out of the whelping box, and the pups are learning to cope with my more frequent absences. When I return, they love to eat and then curl up on my legs for some cuddle time. I must admit that those moments are my favourite.

Everyone was weighed today:

#1 - 788 grams (1.7 pounds) up 95% since birth.

#2 - 778 grams (1.7 pounds) up 62% since birth.

#3 - 823 grams (1.8 pounds) up 91% since birth.

#4 - 890 grams (almost 2 pounds) up 82% since birth.

It won't be too many more days until my pups eyes and ears open. Soon they will be walking (and climbing and barking) and then all bets will be off.

As I embark on this new stage, I am resolved to approach my important mothering tasks with the quiet calm (and authority) that I try to bring to all tasks in life. However, you might hear some complaints from me over the coming weeks and for that I will ask both your indulgence and understanding. I'm certain my pups can't be any more difficult than pack mate Faolin, who has taught me more about patience (and indulgence) than any other living creature.

Waiting for Tap's Puppies

Wake us up when there is some news.

Number 2 (Sticky) went "over the top (of Mom)" today. She was at Mom's back and climbed over (rather than going under) to get to the diner. Early predictions? Sticky will be the first to climb out of the whelping box.

Day 4 - Getting Caught Up on My Sleep

I can confirm that all pups are tri-colors. Sticky (No. 2) has a few brown hairs coming out on her cheeks. Millie Jr. (No. 4) has the brindled cheeks (just like me) and tan eyebrows.

Last night I had 3 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It was a devine experience.

My pups are getting into a good routine. I was able to go for a walk through the woods with Silken, Faolin and David this morning and it was wonderful. Unfortunately didn't find any rotting deer hides (although I looked high and low) like Momma Pat and sister Tap.

Day 3

Every one has put on between 100 and 150 grams. I'm feeding them too well.

Thanks (and Day 2 update)

Cait here.

I have a lot of people and dogs to thank.

First, my special neighbour Denise spent many hours with me during my labour. She raises Siberian Huskies (I try not to hold that against her) and humans (2 of the cutest dog focused children you will ever meet). She conferred with David and rubbed my tummy when I needed it most, made the trip to our vets, and made sure my puppies were safe on the ride home.

My vets Dr. Michelle and Dr. Lex at Northumberland Veterinary are pretty amazing. When my labour stalled they took charge and made sure I was safe and that my puppies would be okay. I was asleep for some of this experience but I am told that the action was skillful, fast, obsessively organized (border collies like that attention to detail) and dramatic --- I woke up to meet my puppies and feed them for the first time.

Thanks to Fiona, Tap and Momma Pat for all the kind words and support. Good luck next week Tap. Motherhood is wonderful.

Thanks to Doug and Gayla (and Mae) for keeping things going at the farm. We had some early lambs this year and the all nighters haven't just been happening here. I can hardly wait to get to the island to show you the new family.

Thanks to Barry for coming over to visit me last night. Barry knows border collies and he is going to provide a home for one of my pups. Last night he came over to pay attention to me, brought liver treats (my favourite) and told me how much he liked my pups. He also built my whelping box, which has been working so well.

There are many more that I need to thank, and I will get to that personally over the coming weeks. I need to finish off by giving a special thanks to Faolin and Silken, my pack mates. They have stayed well away from the puppies (even though I know they are very interested) and have been giving me lots of kisses and support when we have been going out for bathroom breaks. I know that both of them will be good Aunties once the time is right to get the pups involved in the pack dynamics.

Now that I have the thanks over I can report that last night was a good night. The pups are getting into a good eating and sleeping routine, and my incision was not as uncomfortable as it was during the first night. Things were probably helped by the first trimming of puppy nails --- it is an indescribable feeling to have a pup spinning on a nipple while simultaneous digging razor sharp puppy nails into your mammaries.

The pictures are of the pups from early this morning. They are now almost two days old.

I have also given the puppies "pet" names. #1 is also known as "T-bone" (for obvious reasons). #2 is also called "Sticky" (again for obvious reasons). #3 is affectionately called "Belly(boy)" because he tends to nurse while lieing on his back --- I see more of his belly than anything else. #4 is being called "Millie 2" because she spends every moment she can on a nipple --- like my pack mate Millie she is obviously food driven.

16 Hours Old

These aren't the best pictures, but we're pretty tired in these parts. We'll try to do better in the coming days.

After a long labour, Cait required a C section. The decision was made after trying a number of techniques at the vets which might have avoided the surgery scenario.

Everything had been going quite well, with lots of nesting overnight and Cait's water breaking at about 12:30 yesterday. Unfortunately, labour stalled over the next two hours and at that point I was concerned for Cait's welfare, and that of the puppies. Cait wasn't in distress and I could still pick up great puppy heart beats. So we headed off to the vets.

Upon surgery, it was discovered that two puppies were attempting to be first out. Unfortunately neither was willing to be number 2, and they appeared to have met at the connection between the uterine horns and the birth canal. This whelping was not going to happen naturally.

Fortunately, all the puppies including the little girl who had been t-boned by her sister entering the canal, were fighters and came into this world yelping in synchrony. It was quite the experience to witness all of them, together, taking their first breaths.

We've had a good night. Cait doesn't appear to be too sore. She is a very attentive Mom, all the pups have put on weight already, and she is doing everything (and more) that she needs to do.

When Cait gets rested up, she will be re-taking the writing duties on this blog. She will likely have more to say.

She was wagging her tail this morning, very proud and relaxed and settling into her new role as Mom.