Cute Newfoundland Pups at 17 Days Old

It was such fun at Howard and June's yesterday.  Bless them - their kennels had just had a flash flood but they still allowed us round for a nosey at how the pups and Gipsy are getting on.

June was just saying that some day soon they should start playing with each other and lo and behold it happened right there and then. At one point, two pups were sharing grabbing the other ones head and another pup was doing the same to Gipsy's nose.

The pups are just trying to stand.  Close - but not quite there yet...

Gipsy has turned in to a really great mum and is constantly paying attention to the pups cleanliness and licking the pups in all the right places to induce poops and pees...  nice !!!!!

Videos at the bottom !!!!

Two Videos from yesterday too....

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2

Short video showing the three Newfoundland pups now twelve days old..

Been over to breeders Howard and June today for a video update.  It was nice to catch up with Gipsy herself and give her a little fuss...


Linky to You Tube Below Of The Puppies...

Gipsy's 12 day old Newfie Pups

We Lost A Pup :(

Sometimes nature can be real cruel.  Over the weekend, one of the girls got a bad dose of Colic.  She was taking in fluids but not releasing them. Despite two trips to two different veterinary practices, she lost her battle to survive.

Poor Howard and June had to endure the heart breaking and sleepless hours watching the wee lass suffer and so, our hearts go out to them....

Newfoundlands, unfortunately, suffer a shorter life expectancy than most canines.  This is definitely something that has to be borne in mind by people considering the breed to be a member of their house hold.

Gipsy's Newfoundland Pups at two days old

Oh - so cute already......

Video of 2 day old Newfoundlands

So Cute Already...  Just click the link below to look at it on You Tube....

2 Day Old Newfie Pups

Video Of Newfoundland Puppies just Four Hours Old

Poor June at breeders evanpark.co.uk really had her work cut out last night.  With a restless Gipsy wanting to get up every few minutes and, knowing just one wrong move from the weighty mother might mean the end to one of the pups, June had to be alert and on guard all night. The shift, for her, thankfully came to a close when Howard took over the watch from this morning, giving June time for a quick nap.

Here is the video from yesterday showing June placing the pups for their first ever suckle.  Most got it straight away - but one little blighter had to be shown a few times before nature took over....There was little light apart from a heat light above but it's still a great video.  Click on the blue link below to take you to it on You Tube...

Gipsy, still asleep from her C Section being given her pups to suckle

Newfoundland Puppies at 4 hours old.

Well... what a day....

Gipsy was weighed at the vets before her C Section today and was a massive eleven and a half stone.

These pictures were of her and her pups at just four hours old after just arriving home.

Hopefully a video to add tomorrow once we've downloaded it from this afternoon.

News Just In... it's two boys and two girls.

Gipsy was taken to the vets this morning just to ensure everything was sound.  The vet advised that as she was just over full term and that her vulva was very small, then it was necessary for a C Section.

All has gone well and we will visit her in a couple of hours to see how the pups are and take some piccies!!!

It's D Day and we are waiting patiently..

Gipsy was "covered" three times over a four day period.  If she took on the first occasion, the the expected days for pups is today....

Had a chat with breeders Howard and June a few minutes ago and Gipsy is showing early signs of imminent birth; plenty of milk to her teats and completely disinterested in her food.

It could be today.... it could be tomorrow...  why can't it just be like having a doctors appointment - lets say half seven this evening would be just perfect for us....

We wanted to go visit her in Howard and June's maternity suite but, as Gipsy was upset to be left by us in the first place, it has been decided to not make an appearance until she is actually about to pop.

2 DaysLeft.... AT MOST !!!!!

Well, yesterday it was all action.... First thing we thought her waters had broken but, on close inspection it looked like she had been sick - certainly another sign that things are imminent.  Breeders, Howard and June asked for her to be taken over straight away.  Urgent calls to get the transport back home and, in these pics we see Gipsy waiting patiently, we did a last side on shot and then, with the aid of the ramp loaded her in to the car before getting her to Howard and June's.....

3-6 days to go

Well Gipsy has been sleeping and snoring all day long.  She really enjoyed her tea though....  Steak burgers and puppy mix  !!!!!

She has had a trip to Howard and June's this week ( the breeders who originally reared her and where she will be having her puppies) so they could take a look at her.  Thankfully, they are really pleased with her progress.  Howard and June always love for Gipsy to drop by as she really is a beautiful looking bitch.  It's amazing that our dogs are so much different.  It's plain to see the dog is male and the bitch is female.

We have been told what signs to look for at the latter end of her pregnancy...  He belly will drop distinctively, she is more likely than not to go completely off her food and, we have been told to keep an eye out on her v.g...l discharge for any signs of darkening.

These were taken of Gipsy last night....

We can feel the puppies wriggling

Here's a pic update from after our walk last night. For the first time you can actually see a teet hanging below her fur on the side on shot...   But, the exciting news of the day is that we can feel her pups in her belly !!!!

It's not like a solid human baby kick that some of us are familiar with, it's more a mass of soft bundles creating a movement similar in some ways to a belly rumble.

Breeding Newfoundland Dogs First of September update

We were told that Gipsy will start to get really big, really fast now.  After all, she is in her last two weeks of pregnancy.

These pics were took last night.

Size as of 29th August.

Yesterday we took both dogs for a walk in the field. Gipsy was feeling the strain by the time we got back and loved another chance to roll on her back for another tum rub.  She's definitely getting bigger.  Pics of her yesterday of her belly and side on.

We wouldn't pay for a pregnancy test on our Newfies ever again.

Just a week on since we started this blog. So, that's eight days since we learned by blood tests that our Nwfoundland bitch, Gipsy was pregnant and now it is unmistakeably obvious.

This is our first time at mating any dogs, let alone Newfoundlands so I think we really got a bit carried away with ourselves asking for a blood test to be done. Pretty well a waste of time and money really seeing as how just a few days after getting the results, we would have known for sure anyway.

The reason we thought we ought to have the check done was so that we could increase her feed and add Calcium supplements, but, increasing her feed for a few days anyway wouldn't have done her any harm and calcium supplements are so cheap anyways. These pics were taken yesterday evening after her third walk of the day which, she is finding increasingly more tiring.

She is definately looking bigger, her belly feels really heavy and her rear teats will seen be a "B" cup we're sure..

What do Newfoundland Dogs eat.

Lol..... absolutely anything... Their staple diet is of dog food with "Wag Complete" but with loads of goodies thrown in.  They will eat absolutely any leftovers but, sometimes we do give them treats. Gipsy, as mentioned before, is now on a quality puppy food mix.

Today, they had cheese on toast as part of their breakfast and their absolute fave.....  rice, pasta and scrambled eggs with their tea....

What size is Gipsy today 22nd Aug 10??

Lets have a look at her photo...  She doesn't really appear to have changed alot....

Another sign of pregnancy...??

For the first time since toilet training, Gipsy didn't make it through the night without emptying her bladder.  Good job they sleep out during the summer !!!! We guess her bladder is shrinking as the pups inside her grow.....

How tall are full grown Newfies when they stand on their hind legs?

Jay Jay, the full grown Newfie Male that we have stands a full five foot four high on his hind legs....

What does she look size wise today. 20th August 2010

Every few days, we are going to photograph her side on to document her weight gain during pregnancy... Here she is today...

Is She Wanting To Eat More??

Are you kidding...... Gipsy has always wanted to eat more and therefore, this is no indicator for us...  Now we know, of course, her portion sizes are being increased by 50% and her meal mix changed to a high nutrition one designed for puppies.  Here she is being told to wait before being allowed to dive in to her food.

A sign to look out for that we did not know....

Gipsy is getting thirstier.....  Both dogs have got a huge bowl of water available to them any time of day. Occasionally, Gipsy will want a drink from the outside tap on returning from a walk, but, the last couple of days, she has been asking for an extra drink after placing her lead on...

Are her teats getting bigger??

They definitely are.  Over the past week and a half - her teats have been growing and the hair around them has fallen away....

Is she showing signs of wanting to make her bed???

Yes... Normally, the larger male (Jay Jay) takes dominance to the communal blanket, but, over the last 5 days Gipsy has been moving the bed and forming a cushioned nest for herself. Today, she upturned the blanket and enfolded it.

Is She Showing More Affection??

She certainly has been over the past few days.  Gipsy use to try to engage our hands if we removed them from an embrace but we had stopped her doing that, but, now, she has started doing this again..

Is She Looking Bigger ?

Well, the challenge with Gipsy is that she's always been a big lass.  So, even today, we can't see that she is any bigger.. When she had her blood taken for her pregnancy test she was definitely up from her usual 59 Kilos to 67 Kilos. Because we see her every day, there didn't seem any apparent difference.

From now on in,every few days,we are going to take pics of her growing a a pregnant Newfoundland dog

The Telephone Call

Yesterday we got the call from the vets.....  The blood results came back (from the second sample) and results are in...... Gipsy definitely is pregnant......   Whoooooo whooooooo...

We'd been struggling to get information on the internet and deffo struggling to get pictures of pregnant  Newfies so, that's one of the reasons for this blog....

We're gonna take both our dogs out for their afternoon walk in a little while and we'll try to give a few clues that we'd been looking out for and seeing over the past week and, a little clue that we most certainly will include if we ever go through this again...