It’s Been a Hard Day’s Night...

...and I’ve been working like a dog...lol.

Every week I’ve told myself, I need to update my blog and let people know Lucy is expecting… and now it’s too late.  They’re already here!  In the wee hours of today, Lucy had 10 beautiful puppies.  And even more exciting, this is our first completely in-house litter using our own female and our own male, Zeke (Goshen Highland’s Kep). 

Zeke

We can’t wait to see how the little sweethearts turn out! I have been blessed up to this litter - even though I’ve been told most dogs give birth throughout the night, Lucy has always had daytime labor.  Except for this litter. 

The first one was born at 10pm last night and labor kept Lucy and I up until the last one was born at 3:45am.  I collapsed into bed by 4:30am once I felt fairly certain that 10 was going to be the final number - 5 males and 5 females!  And I’m thrilled with the variety in color.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect breeding two sables (all 4 of our current dogs are sables) but it is so amazing to see the color combinations you can get from two very similar looking dogs!  There are 5 sables, 2 tri-colors, 1 shaded sable, 1 white-factored, and 1 new to me - I believe it may be a milk sable!  

Labor went beautifully this time - very few stalls and Lucy trucked along like a pro with each new arrival.  I also finally worked out a system to get Lucy moving during a stall in labor.  Before I would nearly have to drag her bulk out of the box with brute strength only to have her practically strangle herself to plop back in a few moments later.  This time I smartened up and wrapped a puppy up to take along on our little walk.  It only took the pitiful cries of one of her pups for Lucy to follow me anxiously around the house, working up enough movement to bring along another little one. Only the little white-factored guy gave me a scare.  I dozed off somewhere between puppy 4 and 5 and startled awake about 45 minutes later, realizing a new one must have just arrived.  He unfortunately was very limp and his jaw would go slack when I picked him up - not a good sign.  I moved him right up to the heater and started rubbing him down with a towel, hoping to get him stimulated and work up some life.  I was sure I could hear a little breathing when I put his head to my ear so I tried to puff a few breaths into him and press his little chest, whatever I could think of that seemed like it would stimulate the right organs to perk up.  I don’t know if what I did really helped or if he was just a slow starter, but he eventually began nuzzling his way into the mass of his siblings after the insatiable scent of mama’s milk.  I had to laugh a little to myself - 20 years ago I never would have seen myself giving CPR to a puppy that fit in the palm of my hand.  The things we end up doing in life…  I said I’d never live in the Southeast or have more than 4 kids, too.  So my track record is great.  

Among other things I’ve also been meaning to post about the addition of another amazing dog - Penny from Northcutt Farms! 

If you've been around the OTSC community long enough you should have probably heard of Greg Northcutt by now.  He has bred border collies and OTSCs for 30 plus years and his knowledge of the breed is phenomenal.  We met his current dog, Rick on one of our breeding expeditions a few years ago and we were mightily impressed.  So when I heard that Greg had a litter on the ground, it was time to buy a puppy.  We got the only female out of the Rick and Kate litter and so far I’ve been pretty thrilled with her.  She’s been alert, smart, quick and sweet, not to mention gosh darn cute.  She has everyone cooing over her most days.  We do need to knuckle down on the training a bit more… but that’s my fault.  

And Lucy’s maple is GROWING.  She has already surpassed Zeke (a mere 35 pounds) at 6 months old which I guess isn’t a surprise as her father, Henry, was 80 pounds. 

Maple!

She has remained very much as we hoped and her current job has been to get Zippy, my 6 year old, to sleep in her own bed after being with big sister or parents her whole life.  It’s a big adjustment to suddenly be all alone in a big bed and it certainly becomes less scary with a large and cuddly dog curled up at your feet. 

And that’s about the news besides the usual crazy we run around here with snowboarding running straight into soccer and spring weather having us all itching to be outside rather than finishing up our school work.  It’s almost May… and May in my book is summer!

If you have interest in a puppy from Lucy and Zeke you can find more information on their personalities as well as links to their Embark panels here.  And click the button below to apply.  I fully anticipate wonderful family dogs :).  

If you have any questions you can email us at bramblymountainfarm@gmail.com or text me at 704-957-4899.

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