Baby Bump Pics

Well, everybody is doing it so I decided to do it for Livy. Here is a picture of her baby bump. She was 35 days on the 14th of July, so she is starting to show a little. They all seem to favor this position right now because it's been so hot. They really love the tile floors in the summer.

 Of course they all had to talk about it amongst their selves. Such decisions!!!

The Beginning

Several years ago my husband started mentioning that we should raise puppies. Every time he would mention this, I would ask him what breed and he would always say a small breed. At the time I was neck deep in selling plants on eBay. As I got older and this plant thing kept getting harder and it took up so much of my time I finally decided to get out of it. As I was selling these plants my husband kept saying we should raise puppies. I finally had enough money put away and instead of asking him I just decided to start looking on my own. I didn't want to raise Chihuahuas because they had such a bad reputation for being snippy and yappy. We own a pure bred Chihuahua, but I think we got lucky as he is not a yappy dog, but he is very surly around strangers and isn't afraid to nip. So, I started to look else where and the Cavalier King Charles popped up on my screen. I started to read about how sweet, calm. patient and loving they were. I read how they like a good romp or a real stretch your legs kind of walk and then just veg out on the couch to watch a good movie. Well, that was my kind of dog. I also started to read about their problems with heart murmurs and I must admit I was ready to find another breed. But, then I started to read about how the reputable kennels and breeders nation wide were seriously trying to breed this inherited problem out of this breed. I also read that when you breed this dog, you must be sure that the parents are clean and the puppies are checked for this problem. So, I decided to see where in my state I could find some of these dogs to purchase. I found a very good, caring pet store that had four of the Cavalier King Charles puppies for sale. I talked to the people and they told me that the owner would personally check out the kennels and dogs he was buying from. The Cavaliers were guaranteed to not have any heart or health problems and they actually had a guarantee on them for 6 months. So, there were three dogs from the same kennel in this state and one from a kennel in another state. The three puppies from the same kennel were two Blenheim sisters and one Ruby male The one from out of state was a Blenheim, male.  So, being practical I decided to buy the two sisters and the Blenheim male from out of state. I just couldn't take a chance that this Ruby would be from the same lineage as the sisters. I now know more about the genetics of this breed and I understand that the ruby male wouldn't have come from the same parents as the Blenheim sisters being that the color Blenheim is very dominant. Anyhow, I came home with two females (sisters) and one male. All the same color, I am still surprised that they know their names as it was not easy keeping them straight. As time went on I kept thinking about that ruby, and I finally contacted a breeder in southern Iowa who informed me about the genetics of breeding. She also told me she had an older tri-color puppy that had had a rough beginning. She had sold her earlier to some people who probably never should have had a dog to begin with let alone a puppy. So, my husband and I drove down to where she lived and I went in to see this puppy, well she picked up this sweet dog and I asked if that was the mother. She said, no this is the puppy and I fell in love immediately. I will still get my ruby in time through the right breeding, but for now I am very happy with the four I have.. 

So that is how it all began. I fully intended to not breed any of the females until they were two years old. That would mean that next year I could start breeding. Well, you know all about life's best laid plans. My male, Banjo or BJ for short, and the last female to go into heat, Olivia or Livy for short would have a clandestine meeting in the evening when we humans were tired and watching TV. All day long BJ would ignore Livy and then make up for lost time in the evening. My husband and I discovered this one evening when I got this feeling that I should go find them.  So, I talked to my vet and he said that she was healthy and mature enough she would be alright. Approximately twenty five days later I took them to the vet to get their shots. I had him check to make sure we knew if Livy was pregnant and after a quick exam he told me she was and probably 2-4 puppies. So, no shots for her until after the puppies were on their own. 

I have taken a fair amount of pictures which I will show in the following pages of the papa, BJ and the mother-to-be Livy. When the puppies are born I will show lots of pictures of each of them. If you find you just can't live without getting your hands on one with that yummy 'puppy breath' or that little snuffler  with all those cute puppy noises, you can contact me a feathersandneedles@gmail.com and I will answer your questions and tell you all about that adorable cutie.