Well we've had a very busy week, but watching Summer change has been enchanting!
Our gorgeous Tibetan Terrier bitch is most definately pregnant, with a round tummy that is making scratching a little bit of a challenge for her...
Whelping Box
We spent ages trying to find non toxic paint to use on our whelping box, and having found some, then spent most of the week painting it. The box is pretty big, about 4 foot square and incredibly sturdy. It is currently taking over our lounge but we are going to dismantle our dining room table and make a puppy area there. The lounge/dining room is open plan so won't be perfectly quiet, but hopefully we can make Summer feel cosy and comfortable.
Vet Bed
The Vet Bed arrived this week. This is special cosy bedding that fluids can pass through. Well this roll is massive, as tall as me at 5 foot 5! We
Keeping cool
It has been a lovely warm week, and like pregnant women, Summer has been having difficulty getting comfortable and cool. We have a corridor shaped hall way with no windows, and this has proved perfect for dog cooling! I've also bought thining scissors (looks like a comb) so I'm going to try and thin down Summer's coat which is now very thick, having been groomed during the first week of her season (about eight weeks ago).
A walk in the park....
Summer and I, with Judy and Tibetan Terrier, Harris, met some more of our dog walking friends on Friday (7 Jun 2013).
Never think that dog walking isn't sociable. You really do meet some lovely people, and I have - including Judy, and our friend Debbie.
Now Debbie also has a Tibetan Terrier, called Freddie who is about 18 month to 2 years old, and also a Bichon Frise, called Charlie. Before there was a Freddie, Summer, our TT, loved Charlie. She still does, but since Freddie came along, Charlie doesn't quite like her as much! Summer gets very excited when she meets Charlie, but he now growls and snaps at her and won't join in the play. Poor Charlie.
Freddie is a full blooded male (not neutered) and when he, Summer and Harris are together, they look like a big bundle of black. Freddie has a sleek, mainly black coat and has only ever been trimmed. He looks very dapper!
Until Friday, it had never crossed my mind that a fully in tact male would find a pregnant female so attractive (in dog terms of course), but a walk around Box Hill with the four dogs, resulted in Freddie having to be placed on his lead now and again. Freddie was so 'in love' with Summer that he would have spent the whole walk with his nose about 2 inches from her bottom.
Summer would tell him off, gently; a little yap and a snarl, but within seconds he'd be back in his favoured position...trotting after her, a few inches from her back end!
Charlie was also more tollerant of Summer and had lots of sniffs too. Harris tried to intervene early on in the walk by putting himself between the boy dogs and our Sums, but he then removed himself and was content with trotting into the undergrowth looking for squirrels or rabbits.
I'll up load some pictures tomorrow of our walk.
Showing posts with label Box Hill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Box Hill. Show all posts
Saturday, 8 June 2013
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Three Weeks Pregnant (we hope)...
As of tomorrow (Monday 13 May), Summer will hopefully be three weeks pregnant.
We are desperately looking for signs that she is definitely pregnant, but it's really difficult to tell!
She is very cuddly and cutchie, and is sitting on my lap quite a lot as well as giving us the 'sad eyes' more often...but is it that we're looking too hard for signs, or is she actually pregnant?
As of Tuesday last week, we started to take our Tibetan Terrier for walks where there were other dogs, and whilst the first walk is always unnerving, watching how male dogs respond to her, all seemed fine, so we're sure her season is over.
Summer seems to get a little tireder, although I do wonder if this is because she hasn't had quite such long walks due to her being in season. Or could this be another sign?
On Friday last week, Judy and I took Summer and Harris to Headley Heath, National Trust land close to Box Hill in the Surrey Hills (North Downs). It is a dog walkers paradise, although we have to look out for the horses (but usually only a couple)! The two TTs had a brilliant time, romping and chasing, and Harris played more rough and tumble (although he is very gentle) with Summer, which he hadn't done for the last month. We saw about six other Tibetan Terriers, including a five month old puppy who definitely was top dog in his family (he was dragging his elderly owners and sat in the front seat of the car whilst one of the owners sat in the back - DO NOT recommend this..)!
Rosemary Leaf
From tomorrow, we will start our hopefully pregnant, Summer, on Rosemary Leaf tablets - just one a day. Rose, Claude's owner, recommended it and gives it to her pregnant bitches (Pulis and Tibetan Terriers). Rosemary leaf helps the muscles during and after birth. It's the only pills / supplements I will give Summer, with the exception of some homoeopathic pills Rose gave me for during whelping. The Rosemary leaf should be started from the third week of gestation (mating), until a week after whelping. People seem to either think it's a wonderful product or totally useless - you decide!
Today (Sunday)
Locally every year is the Cowpie Country Show, run by the Surrey Young Farmers. My daughter and I took Summer and we wandered around the fields watching display shows and browsing through the stands. Whilst we've been many times over the last 20 years, I couldn't remember there being quite so many dogs there!
Usually this wouldn't be a problem, but having read THE BOOK OF THE BITCH by J M Evans & Kay White, which is a MUST read for ALL bitch owners, it mentions that during weeks 3 and 4 after mating, that these are "the most vital ones <weeks> for the prospective litter". The book goes on say that the organs and limbs of the puppies are growing very quickly and are susceptible to various things including being stuck in a hot car, infection, poisons, medication etc. It also suggests that from 3 and a half weeks to 5 weeks after mating, you should keep the dog away from shows and training groups where your bitch can pick up infections.
We're still half a week from this period, but I wish I'd thought more about our lovely day out!!
Summer and I love going to Agility Classes with Ann Cook in Reigate. We started Puppy Classes as soon as Summer had had her first jabs and worked through to Kennel Club Gold Level. Sadly, we attempted three times to pass the gold, but she just couldn't do it, so I say "she is trained to gold standard"!! The first two times we took the test, she was brilliant until we got to "Relaxed isolation". The little monkey just wanted to be where everybody else was, and started yapping followed by howling, whilst I was answering the test questions, talking louder and louder in the hope that the examiner wouldn't hear her!! No such luck... ha ha... By the third attempt, we had perfected "relaxed isolation" and did this first. She was perfect! But passing was just not to be, and she decided she was not going to stop (Stop the Dog) when called...
I decided three attempts was quite enough for us both, and we joined the Agility Classes, which are very sociable and great fun for us both!
Summer (taken 11 May 2013)
We are desperately looking for signs that she is definitely pregnant, but it's really difficult to tell!
She is very cuddly and cutchie, and is sitting on my lap quite a lot as well as giving us the 'sad eyes' more often...but is it that we're looking too hard for signs, or is she actually pregnant?
As of Tuesday last week, we started to take our Tibetan Terrier for walks where there were other dogs, and whilst the first walk is always unnerving, watching how male dogs respond to her, all seemed fine, so we're sure her season is over.
Summer seems to get a little tireder, although I do wonder if this is because she hasn't had quite such long walks due to her being in season. Or could this be another sign?
On Friday last week, Judy and I took Summer and Harris to Headley Heath, National Trust land close to Box Hill in the Surrey Hills (North Downs). It is a dog walkers paradise, although we have to look out for the horses (but usually only a couple)! The two TTs had a brilliant time, romping and chasing, and Harris played more rough and tumble (although he is very gentle) with Summer, which he hadn't done for the last month. We saw about six other Tibetan Terriers, including a five month old puppy who definitely was top dog in his family (he was dragging his elderly owners and sat in the front seat of the car whilst one of the owners sat in the back - DO NOT recommend this..)!
Rosemary Leaf
From tomorrow, we will start our hopefully pregnant, Summer, on Rosemary Leaf tablets - just one a day. Rose, Claude's owner, recommended it and gives it to her pregnant bitches (Pulis and Tibetan Terriers). Rosemary leaf helps the muscles during and after birth. It's the only pills / supplements I will give Summer, with the exception of some homoeopathic pills Rose gave me for during whelping. The Rosemary leaf should be started from the third week of gestation (mating), until a week after whelping. People seem to either think it's a wonderful product or totally useless - you decide!
Today (Sunday)
Locally every year is the Cowpie Country Show, run by the Surrey Young Farmers. My daughter and I took Summer and we wandered around the fields watching display shows and browsing through the stands. Whilst we've been many times over the last 20 years, I couldn't remember there being quite so many dogs there!
Usually this wouldn't be a problem, but having read THE BOOK OF THE BITCH by J M Evans & Kay White, which is a MUST read for ALL bitch owners, it mentions that during weeks 3 and 4 after mating, that these are "the most vital ones <weeks> for the prospective litter". The book goes on say that the organs and limbs of the puppies are growing very quickly and are susceptible to various things including being stuck in a hot car, infection, poisons, medication etc. It also suggests that from 3 and a half weeks to 5 weeks after mating, you should keep the dog away from shows and training groups where your bitch can pick up infections.
We're still half a week from this period, but I wish I'd thought more about our lovely day out!!
Summer and I love going to Agility Classes with Ann Cook in Reigate. We started Puppy Classes as soon as Summer had had her first jabs and worked through to Kennel Club Gold Level. Sadly, we attempted three times to pass the gold, but she just couldn't do it, so I say "she is trained to gold standard"!! The first two times we took the test, she was brilliant until we got to "Relaxed isolation". The little monkey just wanted to be where everybody else was, and started yapping followed by howling, whilst I was answering the test questions, talking louder and louder in the hope that the examiner wouldn't hear her!! No such luck... ha ha... By the third attempt, we had perfected "relaxed isolation" and did this first. She was perfect! But passing was just not to be, and she decided she was not going to stop (Stop the Dog) when called...
I decided three attempts was quite enough for us both, and we joined the Agility Classes, which are very sociable and great fun for us both!
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
DAY TEN - Will there be Summer's Puppies?
Summer is still in season.
On Monday (DAY 8) I took her to Box Hill, Surrey, with Judy, and Summer's Tibetan Terrier "boyfriend", Harris. Rather than being totally subdued, as Summer has been for the last week, there were hints of her pre-season self, coming back. We were also able to see that Harris was still interested in Summer (he has been done, so no chance of puppies), as he climbed on her back and started to hump (she let him) - we didn't! I know of a friend's dog who, having been castrated, managed a successful tie. Not a situation I'd want Summer to be in, even knowing there would be no end product!!
Back to 'Box Hill', I can't recommend this stunning area in north east Surrey enough as a place to walk a dog in season. You rarely meet other dogs as the area is so vast. Another favourite, is certain areas of the Woodland Trust's Surrey Hills above Wallingham.
DAY TEN (Wednesday)
Over the last few days we've started to notice that Summer isn't humping her big teddy bear quite so much, and that when road walking, she's not stopping to sniff quite so much either. I'm thinking that her season is coming to an end. We're meeting Harris again on Friday, so that will be the real telling sign!
Other than what I've mentioned, there have been no signs of pregnancy. Summer was very tired last week, but is a little more her usual self. She is more interested in going for walks, is taking me to the freezer to get her a bone and has started coming upstairs again. There has been no blood for about 5-7 days.
We're trying to come up with a KC pedigree breeders name. Each time we come up with something we all agree with, we check and find it is already being used. This really isn't easy!
On Monday (DAY 8) I took her to Box Hill, Surrey, with Judy, and Summer's Tibetan Terrier "boyfriend", Harris. Rather than being totally subdued, as Summer has been for the last week, there were hints of her pre-season self, coming back. We were also able to see that Harris was still interested in Summer (he has been done, so no chance of puppies), as he climbed on her back and started to hump (she let him) - we didn't! I know of a friend's dog who, having been castrated, managed a successful tie. Not a situation I'd want Summer to be in, even knowing there would be no end product!!
Back to 'Box Hill', I can't recommend this stunning area in north east Surrey enough as a place to walk a dog in season. You rarely meet other dogs as the area is so vast. Another favourite, is certain areas of the Woodland Trust's Surrey Hills above Wallingham.
DAY TEN (Wednesday)
Over the last few days we've started to notice that Summer isn't humping her big teddy bear quite so much, and that when road walking, she's not stopping to sniff quite so much either. I'm thinking that her season is coming to an end. We're meeting Harris again on Friday, so that will be the real telling sign!
Other than what I've mentioned, there have been no signs of pregnancy. Summer was very tired last week, but is a little more her usual self. She is more interested in going for walks, is taking me to the freezer to get her a bone and has started coming upstairs again. There has been no blood for about 5-7 days.
We're trying to come up with a KC pedigree breeders name. Each time we come up with something we all agree with, we check and find it is already being used. This really isn't easy!
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