5/4/10 - Wow! Who would have thought a month could pass so quickly! The babies have grown in leaps and bounds and have begun to leave the nest. A little later than usual, but no worries to us. They have been loads of fun, great puppies to live with, clean, well behaved... Today they graduated to strictly bedding and have inherited their mother's bed - no shavings for 'accidents'. The first boys left us last week - Orange (now named Kush) to Mel and Scott Owen in Florida, and Blue (now Dancer) to Linda Lindberg in Minnesota. White (Iracebeth) left today with my mother, she will travel with her to St. Louis, Missouri, where she will be collected by her new co-owner Mr. Marcos Hernandez. In June she will travel to Brazil with Mr. Hernandez, to live with her other co-owner for a time, Mr. Marcos Hotz. So that leaves us with three - Green boy (Tarrant), Pink girl (Hiccup) and Yellow girl who will remain Yellow. Tarrant and Hiccup will be staying here with us, while Yellow is preparing for her journey in mid May, to join her new parents - Clinton and Jolene Clark in Cape Town, South Africa. She will be the second Foxhound ever in the country, the Clarks are making leaps and bounds in having the breed recognized and promoted there and we are very excited to see what the future will hold for them all. Shortly I will be disabling the camera, as Tarrant and Hiccup will be heading to the kennel to continue the broadening of their horizons. As the spring/summer shows come into full swing, they will travel with us, learning the ins and outs of dog shows, crates, cars, on lead, being posed and examined - a very busy and exciting time for young dogs! I will be giving each of ours their own page on our site and will post updates on the others as I receive them.

4/8/10 - A bunch of time has gone by since I last wrote, but not much new to report. Puppies are getting big and ready to leave this weekend, however it seems that no one is going! One of the boys will be flying to Florida with us on the 30, one will be heading to Minnesota sometime around then. Yellow girl will be going to South Africa at some point, we're still in the middle of arrangements for her. We will be keeping White and I think Green, and Miss Pink - whiteface - is still available. We went to the vet on the 6, everyone had vaccinations and rec'd clean bills of health! They are spending as much time outside now as we can let them, the fresh air is healthy, as well as they are learning to be clean in their box, which is a great help! So often when people look in, that is where they are. I bring them in around 10 p.m. EST, unless it is cold or raining here in which case they are in and out all day. I think that it might soon be time for them to head to the kennel, the space is just not big enough for 6 three month old puppies.

3/29/10 - Well we are home from our trip - 8 days on a cruise for Ron's birthday! It was long and we are very tired, but it was wonderful and would recommend cruising to anyone! As I suspected, the cam went down while we were away, but is up and running again. Someone came in and was looking for some information, unfortunately we had only been home for an hour or so and once the box was refreshed and the cam was running again, we had to eat and unpack the car! So here I am, and if they come back, their answers are as follows - thanks for thinking they are cute! It has been almost two weeks since we have seen them ourselves... There were six puppies in the litter as it says below the screen. Their birthday is the 10 of February, so they will be seven weeks on Wednesday. Five are spoken for, leaving the white faced girl. This week will be vet checks and tattoos, but they will all bounce back quickly from that!

3/17/10 - As you can see we have changed bedding again. The newspaper was just so dirty, even with the shreddies... So now there is a bed on one side and shavings/woodchips on the other. So far there haven't been any accidents on the wrong side, most impressive! Been spending a bunch of time outside, usually 1/2 hour - 45 minutes around mealtimes, and they are having a blast. I'm wondering if I can move the came outside... Someone asked how many were left and now there is just one - our little whitefaced pink collar girl. We will be going out of town tomorrow until the 29, hope to be able to update, but not much to report as I won't be home. Hoping the cam stays up and running or that someone here can fix it if it's down!

3/15/10 - Babies are all doing well. Second set of de worming started today, for Tammy as well. We were away this past weekend, as we also work for Nestle Purina Petcare and our big Purina National/CKC Charity show took place. We were at the International Center, across from Pearson Airport in Mississauga, and today are absolutely exhausted! Saw and spoke to over 10 000 people over three days, and while I know there are larger shows - this was HUGE as it was our first year in this location. We are all very excited and looking forward to the future of this event! And while putting out a shameless plug for our company, I bring this up because the cam was down for the weekend. I was so disappointed not to be able to check in on the kids while we were away! Of course being set up here, I couldn't fix the problem from where I was, so it just had to wait - sorry for those who checked in and weren't able to see anything... It turns out we have one little girl left - Miss Pink, with her white face - which is, of course, as we suspected it would be. Have no doubt that she will find a place fairly quickly - as cute as she is. If nothing else, she will stay here, which would make Sera most happy!

3/6/10 - Not too much to report - babies are still growing well. Teeth are in, much to Tammy's disgust I'm sure. Today they demanded lunch as well as breakfast, so will see if they have dinner too. Well on the way to weaning at this point. Picked up a Springer Spaniel puppy yesterday for a friend in Newfoundland, she is 8 weeks and desperate to play with the kids. They are still too little for the size of her, and if they were 8 weeks, she wouldn't want anything to do with the monsters!

3/2/10 - Fed the puppies today for the first time. They have been trying for a few days to climb into Tammy's dinner and that is usually a sign that they are beginning to be ready. Tried some pablum and they would have nothing to do with it. In fact, none of the dogs would touch it. Guess I can't say that I blame them - paste in a dish! Soaked some kibble (we use Purina ProPlan Selects Puppy - and here I am glad this isn't a blog. If the method you use works for you - GREAT. This is what works for us), smushed it all up and they absolutely devoured it. All the other dogs were disappointed as they usually get the leftovers - no such luck! Also de-wormed them today with Strongid-T for roundworms (ALL puppies have them), which we do once per day for three days and then again in 10 days. Everybody's sleeping now, will probably do a meal at mid-day for the next few days and then up them to morning and evening and then three and four times daily. The carpet will come out shortly and paper and shreddies will go in, much easier to clean!

2/27/10 - Changed the angle on the camera tonight, can hopefully see a little better as they're playing around.

2/25/10 - Snowing like crazy here the last couple of days. We haven't had this much all winter! What's the saying - March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb? Puppies and Tammy are all well. Blue boy and White girl have passed the 3 lb mark, the other four are within an ounce or so... Miss Yellow seems to be completely recovered from whatever it was that ailed her. Swelling is gone, gaining weight, playing, social... Will still be keeping a closer eye on her but hoping that it was a one shot deal... Getting ready for a couple of airport trips in the next couple of weeks, Tammy's litter brother, Beau is heading to Florida (they have better weather, but strange and somewhat frightening bugs! LOL) and her older brother, Elmer, is heading to Texas. Definitely wishing these boys the best in their new 'digs'!

2/23/10 - All recovered from the flu... Was nice to talk to Gramma Linda by phone (Slush's breeder). She was able to watch our cam on dial up from Minnesota - how's that for dedication! Babies are all doing amazingly well, not that we expect otherwise, but who knows what to expect, right?? Big boy is well over 3 lbs today, someone got stepped on and was yelling and I have never seen a puppy that fat flatten himself out like that... LOL And he just didn't move... I guess he thought he would be next! Everyone's eyes have been open for going on a week, we are thrilled that Miss Pink with her white face has two brown eyes. Ears will be next, all up on their legs and moving around. A bit of a setback today with Miss Yellow, some sort of lump appeared just behind the jaw on the right side of her face. Very swollen and painful, so off to the Drs. we go. By the time we got there, swelling was almost gone, temp. was back to normal... All is well tonight, but she is no longer wearing a collar so there would be less pressure in the affected area. DebbieinTX - thanks for writing, everyone is doing so well! We are very thankful to everyone for sending good vibes and well wishes.

2/20/10 - Has been a rough couple of days, everyone came down with the flu, there was one day that I couldn't even drag myself down to turn on the cam... Sorry 'bout that! Eyes are all open now, starting to be very social and playing a bit in their small ways. Yellow and Orange seem to be the furthest along in that department, kisses occasionally... Tonight they both made the choice to come over and crawl into my lap. Getting to the 'cute' stage now!

2/17/10 - Puppies all growing very well. Blue boy is over two pounds today, others are within a couple of ounces. Yellow girl has open eyes, I think that's the best part. You look at them, they look at you like 'what the HECK??'... Very social puppies, like to be held and snuggled, cut their nails again last night and no arguments at all (that surprises me!) I figure they're waiting until they get bigger to make the fight worthwhile - LOL! Will be charging the batteries in the big camera today (they bit the dust yesterday) and will take some more new photos, it's amazing how big they are getting. Camstreams has upped our service from 15 viewers to 30 - (YAY!) - but I think by the support area they did that for everybody... Anyway, I increased the hmmm... bitrate for each viewer, so we can still get only 15, but the quality of video is better. I definitely notice a difference! I really wish this was some sort of blog where I could type this stuff and people could write back with comments - we really like to read them and hear from people. Maybe the talented Miss SamCam could tell me at some point how to do that... Have a good day everybody!

2/15/10 - Having some trouble with the cam again. Don't understand why all is well one day and not working the next when nothing changes! Puppies have all gained at least 6oz since birth, quite happy with that. Back now to trying to get this thing running!

2/14/10 - Kids are all fantastic and healthy! Blue boy gained over 4 oz between yesterday and today, all others were at least 2 oz. Just amazing! The last litter we whelped was a German Shepherd for a good friend and it quickly turned into a nightmare, so now that we are past the rough spots, this is wonderful! A little depression on her part the last day or so, didn't eat breakkie this morning, but we're keeping a close eye and she'll be coming around.

2/12/10 - Found out today that our two babies will not be going to Scotland. Very disappointing, but things change and that's the way it goes I guess. So for now there are two puppies available... Everybody is great, haven't weighed yet, but all look good and pudgy...

2/11/10 - I have reversed the posts on this page so that we can all read the new and interesting things first. If you are just joining us and wish to read from the beginning - feel free, but you'll have to start at the bottom! It also makes me sad to read about expecting the babies and then losing that boy. So, since I don't like to do that and this is *MY* page - LOL - we are going to do it my way... Black or white LL, black or white... Kids are all excellent today. Final count is, again, 3 boys, 3 girls. Weights were all good, the three by c-section had lost a little, the three natural had not. Funny, but not surprising, considering the trauma inflicted on the c-section pups. They are all, however, still fat and poly with nice shiney coats. Tammy loves them and is an excellent mother, sometimes they don't take so well to the babies after a section, but she did after Maybelline and it helped that she had already had three here. She is constantly counting them, and, if you watch the video for any length of time you will see that she is careful not to let them get more than a mouth's reach away before she picks them up and brings them back. We are always wary of letting the girls do this, sometimes anxiety can make them rough which obviously is not much good for the puppies, but TF is so careful, it's amazing to watch. I could sit here for hours with them, it seems I waited forever for this litter and I am so unbelieveably excited about them I can hardly wait! I hope that their new families will feel the same... It occured to me only about an hour ago that I hadn't written to let them know they had arrived - MY BAD! Quickly fixed that issue, sending out a note and photos, my brain just isn't all together yet...

2/10/10 - 10.40 p.m. - So we rushed to the vet's this afternoon. They are not cheap, they do not give us any discount, but y'know, I call and I say "XXX" is in trouble and they say "come now", clear appointments and are waiting for me when I get there. The c-section was 1500 cookies today, but worth EVERY penny of it! Where we left off - boy and two girls, puppy number four was stuck fast, didn't matter what I tried... I called the vet, she said to go in, and in 10 minutes we were in the exam room with Laurie in there trying to unstick that baby... Unfortunately, it didn't work so into the OR we go. The first puppy out was Mr. Stuck (figures it would be a boy holding things up!). His heart was beating, but he wasn't breathing. Immediately after came another boy, and a girl. There was a bit of a time lapse and they came out with a fourth puppy - a boy, who couldn't be revived. This is what it seems happened - Tammy Faye had a c-section for one puppy (Maybelline) two years ago. Apparently the scar tissue from the incision into the uterus had caused a circular 'band' through which this puppy could not pass, so basically he wedged in there and held it all up. This was the puppy that died. The puppy that we thought was stuck, was, in fact, not, but the vet feels that because the uterus operates in a rippling motion to expell the puppies, that one puppy jammed in the 'band' interfered and it could not work with it's proper force, causing the 'stuck' puppy to go nowhere. So we finally got Mr. Stuck going, took a LONG time, but he seems well enough now - you'd never know if there was damage due to lack of oxygen, it's a FH after all!! LOL Tammy is all stitched up and loving her babies. Ate a good dinner tonight, pottied outside. I want to thank everyone at Campbellford Vet - especially Dr. Gwen. She is awesome and never hesitates when we need her. Her husband - Dr. Bruce is very cool, thanks to him for pinching Mr. Stuck and making him mad enough to carry on! All the girls - you are awesome, I'm sorry I got in your way, you could have yelled at me. So onwards and upwards as the babies grow. Some very nice puppies, looking forward to their futures. I will be leaving the cam running during the day so anyone can follow their progress and will continue to post notes or things that strike me as interesting...

2/10/10 - 8 p.m. - Well, suffice it to say we are home. Count is 6 - 3 and 3. Will post more later, going to try to make a hockey game...

2/10/10 - 10.30 a.m. - Phew! All by myself, can't seem to catch puppies and update at the same time! So far we have a boy 1lb 4.7oz at 8.40 a.m., a girl 1lb at 9 a.m., and a girl 1lb 0.3oz at 9.20 a.m. Tammy's litter was 10 puppies in 4 hours, hopefully she will take after her mother! I think there are maybe four more, unless they get smaller... Every once in a while she gets into a fit and frets and moves them all around and they yell and she panics and moves them more, so they yell more... It will sort out, it always does, but geesh!

2/10/10 - 8 a.m. - Up all night - both of us! But not very productive... Worrying and shredding scads of paper. Of course today is a big day for everything - thyroid ultrasound for me cancelled, Sera - Valentine's party at school - 4 million cupcakes to take in, Nathan - game two tonight of playoffs and neither Ron or I will be able to be there - especially disappointed for that as everything else can be worked around. Hopefully something will work out that it will be ok - 12 hours 'till game time, maybe this will happen quickly!

2/10/10 - 2.30 a.m. - Well everyone will notice the bed is gone and we have paper. We gave her one of Sera's old bunny slippers and she has been 'mothering' it for the last week or so and was terribly upset when I took it out to put the paper in. had to give it back asap, poor thing. LOL Temp. at 10.30ish was 99.4, so caught it on it's way back up? Likely missed the drop in there somewhere as usual which is why I don't usually bother anymore. Gets easy to read the girls when you spend all day every day with them.... Lots of digging, worrying and tearing up of paper @ 12.20 a.m. Seems she wants to be at the far end of the box, my computer chair is there, so am thinking she wants to be closer to me, so will adjust the camera again. Likely in for an all nighter here, bummer, our girls are usually good, daytime labour sort of girls... Isabelle and Brenda! Wake up! It's time!

2/9/10 - Temp. at 9.25 p.m. EST is 99.1. Not sure if it's going down or back up or teasing us... Have been taking it a couple of times a day since Monday a.m., has been steady above 100. Will check again in an hour or so and see what we're at. Video seems to be down again, will have a look at it now. Sorry Isabelle! LOL

2/8/10 - Temp. was 100.7 at lunchtime today. Just for you Brenda... LOL

2/7/10 - Today is day 59/58 belly is 38" around...

2/6/10 - So we are at 58 days today from our first breeding, 57 from the second. Puppies could be born now and all be well, but I don't think we are that close yet. Will see how she goes and maybe tomorrow or Monday when everyone is in school and at work will change the box and put in the newspapers. Some people are advocates of taking temperatures - when it drops below 99, puppies will usually come within 24 hours. While this is just about always the case, we are pretty good at reading our girls and because no one will give me a job (bah!) I am home all the time anyway and monitoring things.

2/4/10 - One week today to go!

2/3/10 - Still nothing exciting. Lots of sleeping, no digging yet. That will probably start on the weekend and we will put in newspaper and take out the big bed. Kids are squirmy like crazy, you can see them if you watch closely...

2/2/10 - Managed to get the cam working again, as well as changing the angle once more. Not having any input, so I guess you all will get what you get! LOL A little more complicated than we thought, good thing we are starting now, so we can have the bugs worked out in time!

2/1/10 - We have added a Guestbook to the bottom of the page, would be great if you would sign it!

2/1/10 - Cam was down all day, tried to make things work better and only succeeded in shutting the whole thing down! Good thing today was not *the* day...

1/31/10 - Trying a new angle on the camera, still don't know if it's right...

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