A Breeding Takes Place

Yeah yeah. I know. It's been a while again! It's hard to find things to write about when I don't go anywhere! And Mommy and Daddy don't let me go anywhere since I'm still not walking correctly. They think I need to walk on all four feet to be walking correctly. I think I hop, jump, skip, limp and I'm good! I've been getting around pretty well!!
Anyway, we talked to some people and I got a nice massage out of it... and it sounds like everybody thinks I have a partially torn cruciate ligament. That's basically a torn muscle of my knee. It will take weeks and weeks of not a lot of exercise (or so I'm told). Yuck. I'm a puppy!! I need to play and play and play!! But I can't right now :-(

In the meantime, since I can't go anywhere, Mommy has decided to do a breeding. OK. She probably had already decided on the breeding but that timing sure was coincidental wasn't it?? Laugh Laugh! And no, it sure wasn't me that was being bred. Right now, I sure don't have any interest in that at all. In fact, Gimme Ma'am was in season and I barely even noticed. I sniffed, sure, but it meant nothing to me. Fox Sir is interested, but he's been neutered so he can't do anything either.

Gimme Ma'am (her full name is UKC Best In Show, AKC Grand Champion, UKC Grand Champion & UKC Rally01, IABCA Champion - Daystar Voyager Gimme Heaven - Rally Novice, Canine Good Citizen, CHIC#76689) came into season March 3. Mommy took her to the vet on days 5, 8, 10, and 12. On day 10 her LH had surged and on day 12 the vet said she should be ready to be bred via artificial insemination (AI) on day 14. Mommy took her to the vet on that day and she was bred using trans-cervical insemination (TCI) using frozen semen from IABCA Best In Show, AKC Grand Champion, IABCA Champion - Baysides Just Another Day in Paradise - Canine Good Citizen. His call name is Sean and he lives in California with his Mommy & Daddy - Vince and Joan Mulligan.

Trans-cervical inseminations are done by endoscope or the “Norwegian catheter”. The rigid endoscope is more widely used than the Norwegian catheter, and has the considerable advantage of providing the operator and the bitch’s owner with a view of the actual deposition of semen in the uterus by way of a TV monitor. Those skilled in the use of the Norwegian catheter can get excellent results as well. Trans-cervical semen depositions do not require any sedation at all in nearly all cases. The important difference between a trans-cervical insemination and a surgical implant is, obviously, that the trans-cervical does not entail the risks of general anaesthesia and surgery. Unless there is a pathological condition of the uterus, there is no benefit to doing a surgical.

I had to look that last paragraph up on the internet. I'm getting pretty good with this whole computer thing, eh?? Laugh Laugh!!

Mommy will take Gimme Ma'am to the vet in a couple of weeks for an ultrasound to see if she is pregnant. I sure hope so! I would love to have some Great Dane puppies to play with!! Puppies, if there are any, would be due mid-May and will be all fawn. I guess I would have to call her Gimme Mommy instead of Gimme Ma'am if that happens huh??

I'll try to update more often but my life is just really boring right now! Now it's off to bed. Night Night Dudes of the Internet!!

Alf

Owwie!!

Hello all! Long time no talk to! So sorry about that, but last week I injured my leg. I must have blocked it from my memory because the only thing I remember is Mommy coming back home from a short trip away and I was just lying there looking at her. She didn't realize anything was wrong at first but then she realized I was having trouble getting up and when I did get up I didn't put any weight on my back left leg. Owwwwieeeeeeee!!! She immediately rushed me to the vet where we saw our favorite doctor (I know, it's a vet, how can we have a favorite?? But Dr. Mills is pretty cool!) who declared it was a bruise or sprain but nothing broken. They did carry me over to the xray machine and they took pictures of my bone and it proved what the vet said: Nothing broken! That's good. But the pain! Oh the pain! And then my leg started swelling and swelling. This was bad and so Daddy took me to the vet again. We saw our 2nd favorite vet who declared it was an infection. He stuck a needle in me and stole some of my precious blood for testing. Daddy kept saying "27,000 when it should be 1,200? Wow". I guess he was talking about my white blood cell count. My body was truly trying to fight that infection, that's for sure! And again, after looking at the xrays, this vet declared nothing broken. Daddy came home with all kinds of pills for me to fight the infection and help bring the swelling down. Unfortunately, one pill makes me thirsty and one pill makes me want to pee so we've had a looooong couple of nights since that visit! But I'm up and around and feeling oh so much better!! I still am not walking on the leg but that's because it still hurts. You know how it hurts if you bruise or sprain something!!

I don't think I should have let Mommy know I was feeling better though. She said I was stinky and she gave me a bath! YUCK!

As you can see, I am still most handsome even wet but I was not enjoying myself! Mean Mommy! I give her my best pathetic look and she continues to bathe me!! AND THEN!! OH! And THEN! She picked me up and carried me to the grooming table and started the blow dryer! I can't stand the blow dryer but she insisted it was too cold for me to dry naturally. UGH! But I guess I'd better get used to it. Mommy says that she is still sure that I will be a show dog. We may not start showing at 6 months old... we certainly have to wait for me to start walking on all four feet again... but I think she wants to wait until I am 110% recovered. Anyway, when I decided I had had enough - and Mommy's back was turned - I jumped off the table. Huh! There! But I'm sorry Mommy that I don't remember exactly what happened :-(  

So, it's going to be a slow show year for us I guess. I'm not going to be starting right away and Gimme Ma'am is on temporary leave because she is being bred. Trekkie has all the titles she is going to achieve and Fox Sir is retired. Mommy occasionally mumbles about Veteran's Class with Fox Sir but that is a couple of months away and, as you can see, things can change quite quickly!!

Now that I'm feeling close to myself I'll be on more often again don't worry internet friends! Plus, we should have lots of updates as Gimme Ma'am goes through her breeding and whelping. Can't wait to have little Great Danes around here to play with!!

Alf out.