Temp this morning was 99.1. Mid afternoon it had dropped to 98.2. Maya is starting to do nesting behavior indoors and outdoors. I know it is time to make her stay in unless I have her on a leash and have a flashlight with me. Otherwise the pups would be born under the tree stump in the dog run. Her breathing is becoming more labored. She is shaking/shivering now and has whined a few times. I can tell she is starting to get uncomfortable. She has only been caught licking herself once so far, but of course I am sure that will drastically change as the time gets closer. No eating tonight even though I put some chicken broth in with a very small amount of food. I figured it would be wasted. I did purchase a water bottle to hang on her whelping center so that through the delivery and while she is rearing her pups she can drink at will. I may have to teach her how as this is new for her. She started panting at about 430 p.m. this afternoon and continues at 8p.m. Stay tuned for the next update.

11 pm Wednesday. Temp has dropped to 98.8, but she is still willing to eat. Pups tomorrow...maybe/maybe not?!

Just for fun I decided to measure around the widest spot on her belly. She is 30 inches around right now. I know some men that are only that big around. lol

5 p.m. Wednesday 4/29 Temp is still at 99.7 and she ate her dinner. No puppies coming tonight. Bummer!

Final week...I'm so anxious. Maya began losing her mucus plug approximately 5 days ago. She is technically not due until May 3rd, but I strongly suspect she will be delivering early. On this past Sunday she and I hung out on the couch for quite some time and I just watched as the pups were moving all over the place. It looked crazy to see her tummy moving so much. She has really slowed down quite a bit over the last few days and no longer even attempts to jump up on our bed. She knows that she has been dragging her behind even getting on to the couch...she'd never make it to the bed. Her appetite still seems great. She did start to shake a little yesterday (shivering) and I thought perhaps that was a good sign that her time was coming, but so far she is still not progressing any further. Her vulva is beginning to swell up some and her teats appear to be full of milk. I am not able to express any myself, but occasionally when rubbing her tummy it feels as though they might be dripping some. Her temperature last night was 99.5 and at 10 a.m. this morning it was 99.7. She obviously still has a ways to go before delivery.

Week 8: She's going to POP! She sways when she walks, snores when she sleeps and her breathing is becoming more and more difficult. Eating habits had to change also because she can no longer eat without throwing up afterwords. We've changed her to eating two small meals morning/night and a handful at a time when we want her to get in her whelping box. I've discontinued the cottage cheese, but continue the hard boiled egg 5-6 days out of the week. I've switched her back to regular dog food vs. puppy kibble for the remaining days. It won't be long now. She is seeming a little more restless, but so far she does not show any signs of pre-labor.

Week 7: I don't know how she is going to make it to 9 weeks. She is so huge and looks and sounds so uncomfortable already. We are continuing with puppy kibble, cottage cheese and hard boiled eggs in her diet. We are feeding 2 meals a day at this point. She's using her whelping box for rest and night time sleeping now (probably much to her dismay - she'd rather sleep with mom/dad)

Maya's May 2009 Puppy Panorama

Maya Cerdita

Physical Description:

• standard tri-color Beagle (black/tan/white)
• no blaze on face
• no white on nape of neck
• app. 14 inches at the withers
• normal weight: 33 lbs

Temperament:

• laid back, easy going girl, low activity
  
• loves food (especially hard boiled eggs, carrots, canned food)
• great watch dog, terrible guard dog
• cannot be trusted off leash
  
• loves to give kisses despite 3 years of ongoing reminders that we don't like them
• barks, but has never howled
• loves children (has to check on them frequently)
• loves other dogs, not so fond of cats, walks right past birds in yard, has never seen a rabbit
• loves to be by her people, but does not have to be in your space
  
• kennel trained and housebroken

Registrations:

• currently registered through AKC
• dual registration pending through UKC

Health:

• current on all vaccines
• current on rabies
• no known health issues
• no known issues with breed specific maladies such as; weepy eyes, ear infections, etc...

Breeding Notes:

Breeding between our stud Little Man Tate V and our bitch Maya Cerdita - Spring 2009

February 22, 2009 - Maya begins pro-estrus phase of cycle.
March 1, 2009 - Maya begins estrus phase of cycle. Tied 1:20 p.m.
March 2nd - ties 2:58 a.m. & 1:25 p.m.
March 3rd - ties 1:15 a.m., 8:23 a.m., 4:41 p.m.
March 4th - tied 7:24 p.m.

There may have been another tie or two (un-witnessed), but the above mentioned ties were all witnessed by Donna Ashcraft (owner).

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I began this blog when Maya was already in the later stages of her pregnancy. I apologize that I do not have specifics for the earlier stages. I will fill in as much as I have memory or record of.

Early stages:

• Week 1: mild morning sickness - appetite decreased
• Week 2: Already seeing signs that Maya is indeed pregnant. She is sleeping a lot more and staying inside even when all the others go running out. Appetite is back to normal.
• Week 3: Maya's teats are starting to get larger. No darkening of the color yet, but they are protruding slightly.
  
• Week 4: I've increased Maya to two meals a day now and have begun the change over to puppy kibble. She is beginning to show with gentle curves to her belly. Started her on vitamin paste.
• Week 5: Momma Maya is getting plump. Her abdomen is getting hard and occasionally has small lumps (most likely a puppy) protruding from her sides. I actually watched her tummy one day and saw a rapid movement by a puppy to change positions (or kick). We have begun to offer a hard boiled egg on one day and cottage cheese the next as supplements to her diet. This makes Maya very happy. She has always loved her hard boiled eggs.

• Week 6: At the beginning of this 6th week, we assembled the whelping box for both Maya and Sulli to start getting them used to sleeping in them again. Sulli has never had one so I figured even though it is early for her, this will give her plenty of time to feel comfortable in both of the stations. We have one station with a small wading pool that Sulli will use for the first few weeks until the pups are up and moving around. Then we will transfer her litter over to the whelping box that Maya has been using. Maya's pups should all be re-homed by the time Sulli's are about 3 weeks of age so it should work out fairly well.

Station 1: Birthing area (Sulli's whelping area)












Station 2: Puppy Playpen (Maya's whelping area)


Jumping onto furniture is becoming more difficult for Maya. She frequently opts for the floor rather than having to jump up onto the couch or bed. When she does choose to jump her hind end and back legs tend to drag. She can do it when she wants to though. We are continuing with the hard boiled egg, cottage cheese, vitamin paste (when I remember) and two meals a day right now. Her milk ducts are starting to fill. You can see the outline of the ducts against her tight belly and her teats are dropping a little more. Her lower belly rests upon the floor when she sits down. She is also waddling when she walks something awful. Poor girl.



















































You can begin to see the formation of the milk ducts now.