Pumpkin Pumps Us Up!

The first show of the year was that hosted by the Nolan River Kennel Club in Glen Rose, TX. This year members of the Lone Star Borzoi Club hosted a BCOA Trophy Supported Entry in conjunction with the Saturday show. In the Sweepstakes classes, Ozzy and Ray placed second and third, respectively. Their mother Duri was entered in the Veteran Sweeps and placed Best Opp to Kalipso's brother Kazimir, who we had here for several months some years ago. Kaz now lives with our friend Tim in Boyd, TX. In the Regular classes, Ozzy came away with a 4th placement in a very large Bred-By class; Faina won the Bred-By class on the girls' side, with Pumpkin taking second to her. Duri again came away with Best Opp Veteran.

Duri
At the Sunday show Ozzy placed 2nd and Ray 4th in another large BBE class. Faina was 3rd in he BBE class - and Pumpkin won the BBE bitch class. Pumpkin then went on to take Winners Bitch and Best Opposite Sex (over 4 bitch specials) for a 4 point major! Our little fireball is finally filling out and maturing - she is certainly enjoying getting to go our and showoff too!
Pumpkin

Indie Pix of Duri's Mob

We took individual pictures of Duri's pups and they now have their own page on the Gryffyn's Aeyrie web site at http://www.gryffynsaeyrie.com/litter_achillesduri.html

The Pups Have Arrived

Sometime between 11pm Thursday and 1am Friday, Duri began delivering her puppies! In total, there were 13 (5 boys and 8 girls), although 1 little girl (#10) was stillborn. All in various shades of red or gold, some brindle, some not. After pup #11, she was taken to the vet as we thought she was finished and wanted to be sure - x-ray revealed the final 2 and a shot of oxytocin brought them into the world (one on the way home). I will take individual shots later, but for now....here's a picture of the crew!

Look Out! She's Gonna Blow!

3 days before her due date - she looks like she is about to explode!

Duri's Packin'!

We pulled an x-ray on Duri to count skulls/spines on the pups contributing to the massive expansion of her belly. The vet did two films - 1 showing 10-11 pups, the second showing 11-12. WOW!

We will be getting her whelping area set up this week - she's due around the 15th, but with that many on the way, she might decide to pop early. Although her last brood was delivered right on time.

Fingers crossed for an easy, problem-free delivery!

Duri's Expecting

Duri's breeding to Achilles has taken! Her pregnancy is confirmed via a relaxin test, so we hope to be welcoming puppies in mid-November!

We will take an x-ray the weekend before in order to get a count and will post once we know it. Her first litter gave us some exciting youngsters - so we are hoping for more!

Catching Up

The past week has been something of a whirlwind. On the way back from the CO roadtrip for Duri's tryst with Achilles, my back called it quits. BIG time. Each successive gas or potty stop it became progressively harder for me to get out of the car, much less walk. Thank goodness Duri was kindly very well behaved and never tried to bolt from the backseat - she just calmly watched me struggle and didn't offer any trouble. During my ultra-brief stay in CO we did manage two breedings - so here's hoping for some lovely pups to arrive in mid-November.

Much of last week was spent in a daze thanks to muscle relaxants and pain killers and I finally got back to more normal functioning on Thursday, although sitting in a chair was not enjoyable at all (I had worked from home Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday, then took a day off after my doctor's appointment Wednesday morning). I managed to get caught up with various web projects Sunday and most of my ISWS Registrar duties, and we did get some cute candids of the K- and L-Band litters, who spent both days outside. Also got some new stacked pictures.

"Beta" (the irish-marked black boy) and "Anti-Mo" (our name for the little boy that almost looks like "mo") leave for their new homes this week with 515am drop-offs at the airport (separate days) - so I know I'll be early to work 2 days! Scooter (aka "Duncan Jr.") also has a new home that we're working on travel arrangements for. So the wee beasties are gradually leaving the nest! Perri (Harper/Ginger) hitched a ride with Jill to the Atlanta shows where his new family picked him up - causing Borzoi fanciers, and an Iggy fancier, to turn their heads with admiration!

Peeping Pups and the Pregnant Princess

All of Duri's pups now have their eyes wide open, taking in their little world. Duri has proven to be an excellent mother - beyond our wildest dreams. It makes it so much easier. Of course, with open eyes, comes increased mobility - and these kids are truckin' all over the place! The little brindle spotted girl was a slow start and we fed her every 2 hours for several days - soon she was getting better results at the milk bar and keeping good weight, and now she's almost indistinguishable in condition from the others. Will take more pictures in a bit since they're not so "larval" - there's only so much one can do picturewise when they're just little Borzoi grubs.

This past weekend we took Sassi to the vet for a blood draw to run a relaxin test to see if her breeding had taken. It sure did!! So we are in for some hard work - her pups will be due in mid-October and we will go through yet another cycle of sleepless nights and constant vigilance. It's always worth it...but during the cycle we can become so exhausted since we both work full time. But watching the pups grow and develop is its own reward. It's a good kind of tired!

More Puppy Prepping

Last night once we both got home from work, we began prepping the kitchen area for whelping. Normally we are earlier in this, but we have something of a conflict with Monkee's pups that remain here (Buster, Wulf and Faina). It has been way too hot (and humid) for them to live outside 24/7 in the puppy pen! We have been trying to acclimatize them with longer and longer periods out in the yard when we are home - and they had gobs of outdoor time this past weekend - but there's just no way they are ready to be out all day. We finally settled on moving Buster and Wulf (BIG boys) to the ex-en in the dog room with some of the Silken girls who are in for various reasons (Ginger, Trouble, and Kandi). Faina (with QiQi) moved into Duri's old crate in the dog room after she was ensconced in her new area in the kitchen. Here's hoping they don't make too much of a mess today while we are at work! The boys have actually been lifting their legs since 10 weeks of age (my - are they going to be handfuls once they're grown!) - so I am hoping they don't somehow manage to pee on Moose since his crate is next to them. He needs to be ready for his trip to Colorado for the specialty on Labor Day!

Duri also got her "maternity cut" last night. I took the clippers (with a 1" guide on the blade) to her "britches" and belly and tail so the newborn pups wouldn't get tangled in her coat. We also started taking her temperature since with so many on board, I wonder if she may actually go into labor this weekend as opposed to the 6th (which is 63 days from the breeding). I showed Victor how to read the old mercury thermometer so he can monitor her while I make my brief trip to Colorado.

To brighten the day, here's a picture of little Faina jumping through the high grass. She's such a cute little girl - but looks like she will be hell on toys. Hopefully that bodes well for her future playing running games.

Preparing for the Invasion

My oh my - we are going to be invaded in early September! Duri went to the vet today to have an x-ray taken to count puppies so that we can be better informed as to what to expect to arrive! We knew she was getting bigger and bigger - but to actually see it in black and white (pun intended!) was certainly a rush. We have count of definitely 9, probably 10. Prior to this, my larget litter was Nikki's first, back in 1995, when she delivered 9 pups (one of which we lost a few days later). So we have got a job ahead of us!

Of course I will be super pleased to have pups from her, this having been our 4th attempt to get pups from her. It's great to know that she will make a contribution to our plans here, providing more Nikki grandchildren (and Nigel great-grandchildren)! The next day or so will be spent contacting those folks who have inquired about Duri-pups, some who have waited for a couple of years. I had tentative plans to use a Harry Potter Spells theme for this litter - since, with the difficulty we had - it seems a magickal event!