Taped

 Now

Before

Mari on the rocks ! A Cardigan rock hound . Mari is also enjoying a happy home , came from my stock  . Trouble with being a Cardigan breeder is you can't keep all the good ones !

Lucy found a good home today . Lucy will stay with me till May 11 , so new owners will be home for the Summer .

 " Tastes like chicken ! "

" Stop tickling me ! " " I'll pee the whelping box ! " " Stop , stop ! ".

 Eatting from the dish .

" Finally , a chance to eat by myself ! "

Leeloo was our Christmas Miracle is now enjoying her life with her new family .

Belle guarding my vegetable plants . On mild days place plants on truck  to take advantage of sunlight .  Black bed & sidewalls protect plants . Night the plants go inside again . About mid-May will put plants on wagon & roll in & out of garage . Once hardened & frost past , will transplant some in garden & give away rest .

Is that a Cardigan Slipper ? Naw that's Ken's pup Merlin eager to be fed !

Hudson's new owner says Hudson keeps Christmas alive all year ! Nice but a little rough on the eletric bill !

Rosemont's new owner tells her Cardigan enjoys space exploration ! Here's Rosemont returning from
" Where no man has gone before " !

 Big Boy Harry had to have his ears retaped .

Lucy's ears came out just fine after tape removed .

 Breeze might have pups in June .

 Maddie thinking about Cardigan Romance .

Heddi maybe next year !

Went shopping for dog food today . Tractor Supply Store had a sale last week , so I ordered 20 forty pound bags . No corn , no soy , no wheat & ingredients match or surpass many big name brands . Now to convince Kate to unload the truck !

Started pups on bottle feeding . Much easier than back breaking tube feeding while they nurse . Soon will switch to soft food .

The eyes have it ! " Hey look my eyes are openning ! "

Removed tape from Lucy's & Big Boy Harry's ears today .

Breeze , fore ground , just came back from her Cardigan Honeymoon . Maybe June ppuppies ? Champion Maddie , in back , maybe Cardigan Romance in near future ?

Hoping with both having their ears taped , they won't try to rip at the tape as much . We'll see .

New name , new home , & new Do ! Oliver found a new home today !

 A minute ago both pups had both ears up . Then I got my camera !

Big Boy Harry still puzzled about his taped ears .

 One missing ( hiding under whelping box bumper ) but cute shot of Black pup on bottom right . That one has a bear like face .

The whole gang .

Two reasons Big Boy Harry has to be kept separate or his ears will be attacked !

Big Boy Harry with his new Do ! Taped Big Boy Harry's ears today . Had to keep him away from littermates as their interest in his new Do would have resulted in shreds .

New wrinkle ! Joanne insists on being hand fed by Kate or myself !

The starter garden is filling up the window box . soon will have to move collection to porch & return living room to Kate .

Mothering instincts takes over . Kate took Joanne & her litter under her wing . With supplemental feeding while nursing , pups are starting to show weight gain .

Busy at Grand Jury duty winding down to final weeks . Kate took litter & mom to vets again . Then took Belle to vets , recovering from swallowing a stone ! Getting too tired to worry . Vets will give us hope as long as my money holds out . Weekend will be test as vets are closed after Saturday noon .  Litter is a week old today . At 2 weeks we can start slowly on limited wet food . At 3 weeks pups can handle moist food . So we have a shot at it !  Breeze has eloped with Hank . Seems Cardigan Romance is in the air !

Been to vets today . Will try a different feeding / med/ supplement system . Hopefully things will stabilize now . After 10pm feeding , Kate & I will call it a night . About 5am we'll start all over again . This is what I tell people who want to breed ; expect many sleepless nights , heartbreak of losing young & old dogs , being housebound , upgrading you breeding stock , having permits / papers / licenses , working with handlers , finding kennel sitters , poop scooping for dozens .repairs , finding deaf neighbors  & expensive feed / medical bills . If everything goes well your losses are absorbed & you breed another year . It's so much easier to find some misguided fool to do all this & every 15 years buy a new puppy from them !

More bad news at Big Ears Kennel . We lost our second pup . It was a Blue Merle too . Been doing everything possible . Spoke with vet & making a follow up appointment tomorrow . In 14 years of raising Cardigans I'm puzzled . Gone from clean bill of health for pups & mom to loss of 2 pups . Checked mom's temp , 101.4 . Remaining pups strong & eager nursing . Mom is great & plenty of milk . Should be an ideal Cardigan litter . Will put vet to work tomorrow .

Complications . Went to vet yesterday . Puppies checked out fine . Had to work with mom on nursing & suppliment bottle feeding . At 3:30am placed all pups on mom . All nursing fine . At 5:30am woke to find one perfect pup cold still & dead . Working harder to protect litter . This is why when people ask about newborns , I hedge . I can't promise 10 Blue Merles with blue eyes of a certain gender to be ready on a given date . First few weeks Nature steps in to determine things I can't promise . This is another reason I don't accept advance deposits on future pups . I'm not being mean when I tell people I can't promise a color , gender , or even number . All I can promise if you buy one of Big Ears Kennel pups or older dog it will be the best Cardigan we can produce .

Last set of puppies . Three to the left , with ears glued up , have been placed ( keeping Big Boy Harry ) . The two males to the right , with ears unglued ( one is going up on own ) may be placed soon as Spring is upon us . They are crate / paper trained & soon totally housebroken . They did it mostly on their own as Cardigans will . Gang housebreaking is not recommended for the faint hearted !

Strictly pups

Woke to weigh pups , 2 at a time . Made four trips , each with two . . . wait that's . . . 2 , 4 , 6 , eight not the 7 we counted last night ! We have a new Black & White girl . Getting ready to take mom & pups to vet for check up .

Friday night Joanne had a litter of 7 hardy strong feeders of amazing colors . I will change my phone number & join the Witness Relocation Program because the amazing colors people will hound ( ha ) me to be the first to buy them . One girl is a Black & White with tan points . 5 are Blue Merles .

At 2pm Joanne's temperature dropped a little to 98.9 , into the 98 degree alert range !

Had to glue Big Boy Harry's ears up rather than tape . With 4 littermates they would have pulled the tape off him in a couple of minutes . In a week the glue will be removed & his ears should stand . If not , we'll try again .