We're deep in snow today, about the fourth day of being somewhat snowed in. We probably could get off the Farm if we really had the motivation. But there isn't anything "out there" that we need "here". So we're staying put.
Abba Zabba is due somewhere near the nineteenth of March and her pregnancy is going along just fine. Her baby bump is showing and growing every day now. Basset Hounds are full sized dogs, with short legs, so they look comical on every given day, but when pregnant they are a bit too comical, something of a sad clown to it. We feel sorry for her and so she spends more time in the Farmhouse with us and a bit more time on the couch with us in the evenings. Abba Zabba doesn't really like to be away from the others or she'd be on the couch with us every evening.
We expect an easy delivery with Abby. Her last small litter came without any warning at all because she didn't show any signs of pregnancy. It was Taffee's time on the schedule so she had a full litter and we caught Honey a moment too late in her season so she had a very small litter and we knew about it. But Abby didn't get caught and didn't show any signs at all. We didn't know about her litter until the others went through whelping. Ann went out to feed the hounds and found her brooding four lovely puppies which she had whelped all on her own. All's well the ends well I suppose. Taffee had eight, as was planned. Honey had just a few, with a few that didn't make it (more to follow on this). Abby had four and they were just great pups. We got through it and all turned out happy. This was two litters ago.
Honey, having just a few pups, was in fine shape for breeding on schedule so last Season she went into the segregation area with Rocky for her first full litter. Bassets can have as many as eleven pups, but most have eight or so. But the numbers depend on the female's willingness to stay still for breeding. The more times the girl is receptive, the more chances for a puppy to take. The receptive part of the Season is three or four days long and we let things take their course. In the end Honey had nine pups, but two were sad puppies, those that didn't make it. Since we are very experienced in whelping Bassets we don't lose many puppies to whelping. Though it still happens occasionally. With Honey's first full litter we had two pups with extraordinary defects which led into big trouble. So once we delivered the pups we decided that Honey wouldn't be a good candidate to breed again and scheduled her for spaying. Honey had her procedure early this month and all is well with her and she is retired to being a pet. But this does leave us one female short of the right number of breeding pairs.
We had a scare a few days ago when we had Taffee up on the couch for the evening. We generally rotate the pups for special time alone with us and it was her turn. But for a day or so we wondered if she had somehow snuck off with Clarke and got pregnant again. She and Clarke have been very good at sneaking away, but we were extra careful this past Season so we were very sure nobody got into unscheduled trouble. As it turned out she isn't having a litter, just getting a bit fat is all there is to it.
Lilly (Dulce De Leche) is growing up nicely. Her personality is very strong and she has become quite the princess in our pack of Hounds. She is best buddies with Rocky and we are being very careful to watch for her first Season since we don't know her schedule until it show us. Lilly is head strong and get's herself into trouble like a boy Basset. But she is a lovely little girl and loves cuddles without being overly needy. We're looking forward to her first litter results with Rocky, but it will be a while before she is old enough to breed.
Things are going along as planned with the dogs, for the most part, since we finished the Farmhouse. We didn't expect to have our whelping in the house, but we did build a large enough Pantry area to do the job well and the Kennel we planned for is proving elusive. We will get the new Kennel moved and finished at some point. But doing whelping in the Pantry area has proved convenient and there is no real hurry. The puppy pens I built last year has worked very well so we're pretty happy with how things are going. I am thinking about painting the pen walls, but worry about having paint near so many little teeth.
For those of you readers who are thinking about taking a puppy in this litter, I'll let you know when things happen. But for the most part everything we do and all that happens will be put up on our Facebook Rocketdog group as it happens so this is where to look. Keep notifications on for the group starting around the twelfth of March and you'll get news as it happens.
