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Panda's Puppy Journal

72K views 1K replies 44 participants last post by  krandall 
#1 ·
I've decided to share with everyone here something exciting in our lives that has been in the "works" for a while. A FEW people here know, but not many. It has taken me a LONG time to come to the decision, but last summer I made the decision to breed Panda on her next heat if everything went right. I thought you folks might like to come along on the journey, through the ups and downs as they happen. For all we know, there could be no puppies! Because that's the reality in breeding dogs. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I decided that that's part of the process too, and the rest of you might be interested in coming along for the ride too, with a first-time breeder.

Partially, I've put off making this announcement this long that is because I did not want to be deluged with PM's, considering how many people come to the forum looking for puppies. It is NOT ALLOWED to sell puppies on the forum. So please keep this in mind. I will update this thread as things go forward, and today, I'll bring you up to date so far. Those of you who have been on the forum for a while know bits and pieces of this about Panda, but I'll put it all here in one place for newer folks.

I had no intention of getting another dog when I got Panda. I already had two, and one (Pixel) was still a puppy. And older puppy, but still a puppy. But it was love at first sight. And she was VERY special. Well-bred, good conformation, VERY pretty, and a charming "Look at me!!!" personality. When her breeder offered her to me, I couldn't say no!

The deal from the beginning was that I would show her to her championship as well as in performance events. Because she was being shown in conformation, she had to be kept intact. Since THAT was the case, I decided I wanted to go through the process of getting all her health testing done, even though I had no clear intention of breeding her. (I also knew how often breeders have their hopes dashed by health testing!) But her health testing all came back A-OK and she has her CHIC number. She has been every bit the worker I thought she would be, with multiple performance titles, and she finished her conformation championship in minimal showing with two 5-point majors.

So after thinking it through carefully, and with this enforced break in our show and performance schedules because of Covid, and after discussing it with several breeders that I respect highly, I decided that I would breed her.

Then came choosing "Mr. Right". Looking through pedigrees, assessing structure and temperament, etc. A prospective mate has to not only be a "nice dog", but a good fit for your bitch. You want to try to improve any weaknesses, while still staying close in type. You will read all kinds of opinions about "line breeding", and how closely related dogs should be. As an inexperienced breeder, I do not feel comfortable with close breedings, so I definitely wanted to avoid that. I finally arranged to breed her to a very nice, well-known stud dog.

Then the long wait for her to come into season. Her "six-month date" would have been Nov. 1. I arranged for her first visit to the repro vet we were referred to by our regular vet on Oct. 31. (I am VERY lucky to have a good repro vet just 20 minutes from my house!!!) The very nice new vet agreed with me that she wasn't showing ANY signs of heat yet, and we arranged that I would call her to arrange next steps when she came in.

And so we waited. And waited. For THREE MONTHS!!! Panda FINALLY decided to come in last Sunday. Great.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... the chosen boy is in Florida showing, and won't be home until the end of Feb. After talking to the stud owner, it became apparent that it just wasn't going to work. In normal times, she and I could fly down there. Not with Covid.

To be continued...
 
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#583 ·
Oh, Karen! My first day back on the forum, after so long away, and I have just read 30 pages of Panda’s Story. The drama of it all! And the beautiful, beautiful puppies. Congratulations, to you and to Panda, for navigating such a journey. I shall follow future episodes avidly - I feel completely immersed in your last few months, and full of admiration for all that you have achieved. I thought the ultrasound where you could see the five pups and their beautiful little skeletons was pure art. Breathtaking. What a wonder. It’s all brought joy back into my life, after the agonising loss of Tycho so recently. Thank you.
 
#584 ·
Just looked at your beautifully designed and wonderfully informative website, Karen; congratulations on that, too! Loved the photographs. And I thought, reading all that you say, and looking at all the pictures you share, what a movingly generous website it is - generous with information, your personal story, your beautiful dogs, your achievements, your life. Thank you.
 
#589 ·
IfI could decide just based on markings, I’d pick Jelly. If I could decide just based on sex, I’d pick Chirp. If I could decide just based on color, I MIGHT be tempted by Ducky, but I’m not sure. But the MOST important things for a future perforomance/conformation/breeding dog, are temperament and conformation, and neither of those can be assessed until they are 7-8 weeks old. So I truly, TRULY can’t make a decision yet, based on any superficial reason!
 
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#604 ·
So today we had a busy play day... I put a towel over the slide to turn it into a "mountain" with a little more traction. They LOVED that!!! Ducky made it up first,

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...followed by Chirp, who became "Queen of the Mountain" and decided "No Boyz Aloud" from that point on. She slept there guarding the castle most of the afternoon!

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#605 ·
Some more cute play pictures:

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Is it pathetic that there are more than 600 posts in this thread?!?! ;)
 
#606 ·
Oh Heaven’s NO, Karen! This is exciting stuff! I enjoy all of the threads & lovely people here on the forum and am especially enjoying this one! It has been so informative and has really allowed those of us that will never go through what you are are as a breeder, the experience, even if bits and glimpses as I’m sure it’s pretty hopping all day for you. It’s truly been a complete treat!
 
#609 · (Edited)
Folks on my High Jump FB page (don’t worry, you guys get more details here than they get! ❤ ;)) wanted a video of the puppies playing. Well, here are MOST of them this morning. ...Chirp needed her beauty sleep!:

How did you spend your morning? Mine was spent changing litter pans cleaning pens, doing puppy laundry, reconfiguring the sleeping pen, feeding puppies, doing puppy training (barrier work this morning), feeding them breakfast, cleaning up poop, making their lunch (cooling on the counter). NOW I’m having my coffee! Which is cold, but I’m too tired to get up and stick it in the microwave! :ROFLMAO:
 
#615 ·
I have one, but unfortunately, it will never be open to the general public... I don’t want the world inside my family room! Sorry! LOL! Puppy owners have access though! 😉
 
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#622 ·
Karen, I know you said in a previous post (can't find it) that are a few prospective owners you invited to visit the puppies. I know you talked about a friend who lost her Havanese recently and is looking for another big one. I don't know if this is a fair question (ignore if not). Are those you invite already promised puppies or are you just interviewing them as prospectives? I would hate to be the one to tell someone who visited, bonded with one puppy in particular, and then have to tell them they were not selected. I would rather clean puppy poop for life than have to do that job.
 
#625 · (Edited)
The people who are visiting right now are either people who have either been promised a puppy or “just friends” helping to socialize the puppies. I have a group of applications where I have told people that I am not currently taking more deposits, but that if/when I have another puppy available (as I will) I may contact them, and at any time until that last puppy is placed, they are welcome to visit.

I also make it clear that an in-person interview is MANDATORY for anyone within driving distance, and anyone with children living at home. People with children living at home must bring those children with them to meet me and my dogs. If I were placing a puppy further away, I’d have to think about how I’d handle it. Right now, there is no need.

I’m limiting visitors to one family a day right now, both for my sake and the sake of the puppies. I love sharing the puppies with folks! But people are always here for a couple of hours, and the puppies get tired. I also need to fit in their training time (when they are awake) and they won’t eat when they are too tired. And they still need lots of sleep. ...And there is also lots of just custodial work I need to do, between cleaning, laundry, record keeping, phone calls, appointment making, etc.

Even with the people who have given me deposits, though, I have made it ABUNDANTLY clear to every single person that they should NOT get their heart set on any particular puppy, because I will make make NO decision on who gets which puppy (or which one(s) stay here) until after evaluations, and then I will do my best to place the best puppy with each family. They always, of course, have the right to say no, and their deposit would be returned. With this litter, Ducky has really caused a problem, because everyone wants Ducky. Clearly everyone can’t HAVE Ducky! LOL! And the others are at least as nice puppies. They just aren’t red. At the moment, Peeps is a real stand out, both in the way he is catching on to new things every day, and his looks. He has a BEAUTIFUL head, nice structure snd is just a sweetie. He is also developing a beautiful coat. But he’s black, so people overlook him. People’s eyes are drawn to the little blondie!
 
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#634 ·
Karen I second your “sniff”😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Gosh it must be hard to say goodbye😕.

While people are picking their favourites (although I think they are all our favourites😘) I’m going to be completely shallow and say mine is Chirp because I think she has the prettiest little face😍.

Also loving that Panda is now letting Pixel have playtime with the puppies…we NEED videos😆. Has Panda forgiven Kodi for being a boy yet, or is he still banished to other parts of the house away from the puppies? X
 
#635 · (Edited)
Karen I second your “sniff”😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Gosh it must be hard to say goodbye😕.

While people are picking their favourites (although I think they are all our favourites😘) I’m going to be completely shallow and say mine is Chirp because I think she has the prettiest little face😍.

Also loving that Panda is now letting Pixel have playtime with the puppies…we NEED videos😆. Has Panda forgiven Kodi for being a boy yet, or is he still banished to other parts of the house away from the puppies? X
It’s not shallow to recognize a pretty girl when you see one! ❤. And she is a very NICE girl too!

As far as videos with Pixel are concerned, that is probably a little way off. While everything has been COMPLETELY appropriate, it is still new enough, and there is enough tension in the situation that I still want both eyes on the dogs and both hands free in CASE I need to scoop her out of there. I am quite certain she would not hurt a puppy. I am LESS certain that Panda would not take offense suddenly at something. And I do NOT want a dog fight in the puppy pen! ;)

Oh, and Kodi is allowed in the room, and on the outside of the pen. He really has no interest in getting IN the pen. His interest in the whelping room was Panda’s food, not the puppies. And since ALL the grown up dogs are shut out of the room while the puppies eat, there is never any food there to interest him! Really, the only reason he is spending more time in the family room these days is because I am, and he always wants to be where I am!
 
#637 ·
Happy Mother's Day, PANDA!

And happy Mother's Day to all the other moms out there!

Shama gave me a nice photo of herself for Mother's Day. She is very thoughtful and knows I just LOVE to look at her!

I'm behind in reading this thread but will eventually catch up ...

💚 💙 💛 🧡 💜
Oh of course I forgot it is Mother’s Day in the US! Happy Mother’s Day to all you happy hav owners and especially to Panda 🐼 🥰
 
#638 ·
So…THIS little one, (Peeps, for those who have not been paying close attention) woke up before the others. So I decided to get him out for some box work. He was doing great touching the box with his nose or a foot in exchange for bit s of (VERY EXCITING) liverwurt… yes, a FEW of them have dicovered the joys of (semi) solid food! All of a sudden, he stood stock still, them LEAPED into the box… and PEED! Not a bad decision for a little litter box trained puppy!!!
Guess I need to cut down a new box before working with the other ones! LOL!

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Oh, and I have to give myself a BIG pat on the back... I trained EIGHT dogs today!!! LOL!
 
#640 ·
So…THIS little one, (Peeps, for those who have not been paying close attention) woke up before the others. So I decided to get him out for some box work. He was doing great touching the box with his nose or a foot in exchange for bit s of (VERY EXCITING) liverwurt… yes, a FEW of them have dicovered the joys of (semi) solid food! All of a sudden, he stood stock still, them LEAPED into the box… and PEED! Not a bad decision for a little litter box trained puppy!!!
Guess I need to cut down a new box before working with the other ones! LOL!

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Oh, and I have to give myself a BIG pat on the back... I trained EIGHT dogs today!!! LOL!
👏👏👏👏
 
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