Kaiah's Diary

Kaiah started bleeding on the 19th of October, only tiny little spots. I'm not sure whether to class that as day 1, or not! Though the dogs have been interested in her from the weekend there really hasn't been any significant spotting, though maybe there is a little more today. (23/10/20) Maybe I should class today as day 1? Hell I don't know. At least I have these boys followed by a progesterone test to help guide me through. To not have a litter from Kaiah would be a travesty, she really is the best bitch here in generations. I really want to continue my bitch line through her. One thing is for sure, if she misses to Sisco then there is an issue with her, no blood tested bitch has missed to him yet, I can only hope she won't be the first. 

There has been much more bleeding since the 23rd, so I guess we are on track. I'm worried we may not get a progesterone test with the lockdown now in full swing. Vets are working " but you should only seek treatment for your animals if it is urgent and cannot be deferred until after 9 November."  I guess it all depends on our interpretation of urgent, but one thing is for sure it can't be deferred until after the 9th of November!" As if trying to get a bitch pregnant wasn't nerve wracking enough! 

30/10/20 - I had no difficulties booking Kaiah in for a test on Monday. From the first drop of blood it will be day 15. Going from previous seasons she will not be ready till mid week but it'll help to know where she is on the scale by Monday.  

2/11/20 - Day 15 - Test one. Kaiah is doing what she did last time. Like I said it's day 15 and she's only on 0.8. I'll test again Thursday, with hopefully the option to test again Saturday should I need to. Last time she was 0.8 on day 12, then 5.9 day 16 and then shot up to 28.5 by day 19. This time I'm prepared for her to shoot up quickly towards the end of the week. 

4/11/20 - Day 17 - No major changes though Kaiah has started flirting with Ross. Just so we can relax we have separated Loki from the main pack but for now we are just keeping an eye on Ross and Orin. 

5/11/20 - Day 18. Though I was able to walk Ross with Kaiah I've had to separate them since. Test result today are 4.9. Last time Kaiah's second tested  was 6 (well 5.9) on a Friday morning. From my boys she ovulated Saturday into Sunday, so between 36 and 48 hours after the test of 6 she reached 16. I think it's feasible to suggest that 4.9 on Thursday morning (9am) could therefore be 16 by Saturday morning? The last time she went up to 28.5 by Monday morning. (36 - 48 hrs after ovulation.)  Therefore if she is around 16 on the Saturday morning I should take her then. A 2 hour journey to the dog, time to get the mating done and roughly 6 hours for the sperm to get to the eggs, and then if I can, I should go back Sunday or Monday. Am I making sense?

7/11/20 - Day 20 - Results came back at 15, well that's confused the hell out of me! If only it was 20, or

13, then I'd know exactly what to do. Thanks Kaiah. Following a chat with a friend I'm going to go today and Monday. She suggests that if I'm going twice then today and Monday, if I go once then go tomorrow. I'm going to throw everything I can at this. I rang Joe, he says if she's not ready the dog won't mate her ... ah well here goes.

6pm  - I'm home, a never wracking journey with a lot of Police presence, but having not been anywhere since January I enjoyed the drive. As Joe suggested Sisco said no thanks bring her back tomorrow. Miss K is not use to rejection! 

8/11/20 - Day 21. I'm getting ready to leave soon. Kaiah must be in the 20 ies by now. I just hope we get somewhere today. He mated Sammi after a test of 23 so hopefully Kaiah is about there by now, theoretically she should be. They say they double every 48 hrs, but we have observed that Kaiah and Sammi like many other bitches doubled at least every 36 hrs .... maths head on about 22 then at 9am ish, unless she's gone up quicker. 

After an hour of messing about we finally got a mating. Joe thinks that maybe Kaiah will be more ready tomorrow, but to be honest she was throwing herself at Sisco today. He did seem to be a little reluctant and a little unsure of her strength of character. Joe himself saying she's an alpha female, he's treading on eggshells with her. To be fair for a long time she couldn't have been more accommodating, but I think she got fed up of waiting. Anyway, eventually under the tree where the "K" litter was conceived we had a mating and an 18 min tie ... part 2 tomorrow then, I hope! 

9/11/20 - Day 22. Sadly it was a no-go again. Sisco had no interest in her. I have decided to do another progesterone test tomorrow that will confirm her levels. At least we can find out if she's flown up again and gone over,  levelled off, or stalled. I do appreciate that some stud dogs will only mate a bitch once and at the right time. Nico is often reluctant to do a repeat mating ... but he does usually do it! 

10/11/20 - Day 23. The test results came back at 63.6 - so basically she's now going over. According to my maths skills, or lack of them, if she was 15 on Saturday and 63.6 today she would have been around 24 when she was mated? Does that make sense? The sperm lives for a minimum of 2 days so that should cover us. Since she has been tripling every 48hrs I guess tomorrow she will be 90 + . There seems be a very small opportunity of conception with Kaiah, here's hoping we got it right this time. (Edited to add, I have been told the arrow before the 63.6 on this reading means "Greater than".- the test doesn't go higher as the ova are dying and it is too late to mate by then. So it seems Sunday was our only window of opportunity with her)

16/11/20 - The waiting game is only just beginning and I'm already asking the dowser if Kaiah is pregnant. It's adamant that she is, but if my memory serves me correctly then it lied to me last time, so I'm not sure to believe it or not. Mind you it was spinning madly with Sammi. It really is a beautiful thing and I do like using it. 

Another early method for checking for pregnancy that I've not tried before is to check the gums three weeks after mating. I may do it this time.  ... "I have observed that their gums change around day 21 after mating. The gums become pale around 21 to 24 days after mating. The gums will not stay pale for long, just for a few days. All you need do is to be checking your bitch’s gum from about 15 days after mating to be accustomed to the colour of the gum as the colour of gum varies from bitch to bitch. By day 21, start observing the gum for deviation from the usual colour. The paleness in the gum is as a result of more blood concentrating in the uterus of the bitch for implantation of the fetus.... "  Interesting but I'm not sure, still nothing to lose 

26/11/20 - Day 18 - Kaiah has been moody the last couple of days, moody with the other dogs and demanding of my attention. There is definitely some hormonal changes but whether they are down to pregnancy or false pregnancy is impossible to tell. I hope I'm not reading too much into the situation, but I do know that Sammi was extremely unpredictable during her first trimester so there is some chance that her daughter is similar  ...  

29/11/20 - Day 21 - I was kind of hoping Kaiah would have left her breakfast today, hopefully she will over the next couple of days. It would give me such a boost if she did leave it, just for a couple of days ... I'm feeling quite deflated, with no reason to yet really! Just because I did it with Sammi I'll do it with Kaiah - 28" today 

30/11/20 - Day 22 - A roller coaster of emotions, yesterday I was sure she was not pregnant, today I'm more hopeful. Kaiah is so cuddly and affectionate, now she is a cuddly girl anyway but this is more so than normal. She ate this morning but hesitated for a few seconds before tucking in, she never hesitates. If she'd read the book she would be leaving her breakfasts now, but maybe like Asha she skipped that page! Kaiah's nipples are definitely pointing slightly and her vulva is still puffy, that along with her behaviour has me hopeful, but of course I'm well aware that hormonal changes after seasons can be deceiving. Oh, and the dowser? It's adamant that she is pregnant! 

2/12/20 - Day 24 (or is it 25? Have I gone wrong somewhere?)  - OMG she's left half her breakfast. For the first time ever in her life Kaiah has not completed a meal. Trying not to get over excited as again it could be simply hormones. Talking of hormones, she's still pretty grumpy with the other dogs and demanding of my attention.

4/12/20 - Day 26 - Kaiah left some breakfast again yesterday but left most of it today. This is very promising, but I must remain grounded until she's had a scan. It's still very early days. 

6/12/20 - Day 28 - Kaiah is still not finishing breakfast but this morning she did eat three quarters of it. I've measured her tonight, she's 29+ inches. I wouldn't expect her to be any bigger this week. I've booked the scan for Friday. Maybe after then I'll be able to sleep at night. 

9/12/20 - Day  31 - Kaiah has finished her meals every day since my last update. If this bitch is not pregnant then my god she thinks she is! 

11/12/20 - Day 33 - Ok here we go scan day, wish my luck ... 

Just back - Great news - A baseline of 6 puppies. I will add scan video's and photos after I've walked everyone. Again any updates will be on here and not on Social media. WOOOOOHOOOOO