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| New
life! |
| July
25, 2014 (63rd day) |
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So
pleased to announce that on this
very early morning Venice gave birth
to 10 beautiful babies! There are 4
sturdy boys and 6 elegant girls.
Venice did a tremendous job as she
produced her pups reasonably quickly
and
without any complications.
And she's such a happy & proud
mum again! Read all
about the delivery here
and see more pictures. From now on
each week a
new page will be added to the website about the
development of this Rocksett K-litter!
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Venice
and her beautiful newborn puppies...
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| Still
calm |
| July
22, 2014 (60th day) |
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It's
still relatively calm here, although the
first signs of the upcoming birth are
starting to show. Venice for example still
likes her meals of fresh meat but she lost
her appetite for dryfood, so we swapped it
for white fish, chicken and sometimes a
boiled egg or a bit of cottage cheese.
Also the panting has increased and
it's a different kind than the panting a dog
does from heat. Speaking of which, we again
have hot summer days and I tend to feel a
bit sorry for Venice. She can only go
for very short walks now and
misses out on all the fun she normally has.
But on the other hand, when I look at how
Venice is doing there maybe is no need to
worry: yes, she sleeps a lot and looks like
a little pot‐bellied pig :-), but every
now and then she rolls around with a very
happy 'smile' on her face and earlier this
evening she passionately
joined the other dogs in a 'find'-play with
little treats in the garden. Clearly
Venice easily accepts the actual situation
and makes the most of it! What a
wonderful, stable girl...
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| Almost... |
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| On
the coolingmat... |
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| July
20, 2014 (58th day) |
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It
won't be very long now before Venice's babies will
arrive... Given the circumstances (two days of
over 30 degrees!) she's still coping very well.
Luckily she's clever and most of the time she's
inside in front of the electric fan or on her
coolingmat. Ofcourse she's panting more than the
other dogs as her body has to deal with all that's
growing and moving inside her now. But she's
looking like a million dollars still with her
gleaming coat and beautiful bright eyes!
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| Big
& heavy :-) |
| July
14, 2014 (52nd day) |
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With 39.6 kg
and a belly of 77.5 cm (30.5 inches) Venice had a
tremendous growth in only 10 days time! But she's
handling this quite uncomfortable situation
extremely well and doesn't seem bothered much by
the load she now has to carry. Each time one of my
bitches is in whelp I'm surprised and very proud
of the way they adapt to the pregnancy. Just
amazing! Venice this time around again is no
exception, she looks happy as always, still joins
the rest of the dogs for a small tour in the woods,
lies in the garden to doze a bit or chew a bone...
eats well and sometimes even wants to play with
her daughter Dyonne. What more could we wish for?!
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Venice
in the garden |
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| Hot |
| July
10, 2014 (48th day) |
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Today
has been another fairly hot day and that doesn't
make it easier for Venice. Ofcourse this is a big
disadvantage of having a litter in the summer, but
we will find our way for sure... My dogs are used
to making a long walk every afternoon, but with
Venice at almost 7 weeks in whelp and an outside
temperature of 27 degrees it didn't feel like a
clever thing to do. So I did take them to the
woods and we walked a little bit so they all could
relieve themselves, but soon we searched for a
lovely spot in the shade alongside the dunes. The
other dogs immediately played and wandered about a
bit in the bushes where
it |
was
cool, while my dear Venice was chilling
beside me in a deep, sheltered sandhole (out of
the sun). Everybody happy and satisfied! Later in the
evening when it wasn't so hot anymore I took the
dogs for a big tour through the woods and that
completed another wonderful day in Venice's life
as a mum to be.
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| Everything
is fine! |
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July 5, 2014
(43rd day)
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It
goes so fast, the 6th week already! It doesn't
seem that long ago Venice came into season and all
of a sudden she walks around with quite a big
belly; the size of that is now 69.5 cm (27.3
inches, at the beginning of the pregnancy it was
65 cm (25.5 inches). Yesterday we stopped for a
visit at the vet to weigh her and that too showed
a big difference compared to the initial phase: previously
Venice weighed about 33.5 kg, now she is
36.1 kg. So really a considerable
growth and she seems to feel just fine by it! She
certainly is calmer than usual and sleeps a little
more, but she eats well ánd a lot (three meals a
day since yesterday) and looks terrific.
The warm weather of the past 2 days made it a bit
more rough for her, but luckily the outside
temperature has cooled again. It would be nice for
Venice if it would stay that way...
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Meet and greet
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June
22, 2014 (30th day)
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Now that it's
certain Venice is in whelp, the walk with all
those interested in a puppy could definitely
take place. Almost traditionally
this meeting was held at the wonderful
natural site of the 'Soesterduinen', an only 10
minutes drive from my home. It was a lovely,
sun-drenched afternoon were in total 6 Rocksett's
attended - among whom ofcourse the future mama! As
to be expected she allowed
herself to fully enjoy all the petting and she
clearly loved the attention for her already itsy
bitsy visible babybelly... Now let's hope she will
carry something beautiful for each family that so
badly wants a puppy from her!
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| Venice
4 weeks in whelp |
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| The
ultrasound! |
| June
20, 2014 (28th day) |
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After
an acquaintance
earlier this year, it was time for an
official meeting between Venice and Oisín on May
23 + 24. Venice started her season - slightly
sooner than expected - on May 11 and at the second
ovulation testing (on day 12) the advice said:
"mating within 48 hours!". That ofcourse
didn't fall on deaf ears, so
in the evening I drove with a good friend to the
eastside of the country. There was quite a
bit of exploring going on between both dogs and
just like during her very first mating in 2012
Venice didn't easily let herself be persuaded to
answer the advances made towards her :-). But
eventually that same day, and the day after,
everything finished successfully! What remained thereafter
was waiting and keeping all fingers crossed, but
the liberating word came 4 weeks later at the veterinarian:
during the palpation (touching) the confirmation
of the pregnancy already came and somewhat later
the ultrasound showed the beautiful images
of quite a number of amnions! That same evening I
informed all the people that have showed interest
in a puppy of this gorgeous duo and ofcourse they
too were all excited about this good news!
At this point I would like to
thank the breeders/owners of the future daddy
Oisín for their hospitality and for making it
possible for Venice to have her babies by their
beautiful, sweet boy. Thank you so much, Gert and
Manita!
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| mummy
Venice |
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ultrasound
on day 28 |
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daddy
Oisín |
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