Unikko and Musse's puppies have arrived!!

Unikko was not going to be like her litter sister Kaisa and have a daytime delivery:) She chose to start her contraction at 0030 on Sat 28th of May. Five puppies had been seen on scan and by 0355am she had delivered 5 lovely puppies without much interference from me at all, she was a complete pro, thank doG!! I cleaned her bed out, sent text messages out, took photo, posted on facebook! She has some contractions which i assumed where  the uterus contractiong back as they didnt appear very intense, however at 0800 she suddenly did huge push and out popped an other girl:) Well more texting to tell happy arrival, more cleaning, I tooke out for a wee. Made myself a coffe, took it upstairs and looked in box and thought " she's busy with that pup!, and realised it was very wet had fresh umbilical cord attached which she was busy chewning, did a head ccount and realsied she's had number seven, a lovely boy! Well I was speachless, this was at 10.00am! more posting, more cleaning and then try and get some rest but my mind was racing, still is now on sunday evening:)
Poor Unikko having an upset stomach today as i didn't stop her from eating all the placentas, was too busy making sure they were breathing!
The litter is nice and even, all black tri coloured. They are hereditary free from PRA and both parents have had recent clear eyetests.

Proud mum

We have tried to take individaul photos today, this needs a lot more practice, but this is what we have, enjoy:)

00.45 Boy 1. 380gr nice white bib. Came out wanting to be heard from first breath, a  Musse boy:) 

01.30 Bitch 1 390gr,  white tip on hind toe.

0200 Boy 2 360gr white mark on chin and long white mark on chest

03.35 Girl 2 360 gr white mark on chest white tip on toe.

03.55 Girl 3 300gr, nice tan colour, long white streak on chest and belly, white tip on tail



08.00 Girl 4 380gr White streak on chest and white tip on chin



10.00! Boy 3 380 gr White chest marking, white tip of chin 

Puppy pile:)

Day 62!

We are still doing the waiting game, and have a confession to make! As I got my calender out I had written day 1 on first day of mating! Also very difficult to predict day as Unikko had multiple matings over 6 day, so although we are doing the waiting game,  Unikko is not overdue.
Anyway, I'm enjoying the break as its been such a busy year planning mating, getting Musse here and doing my family planning module for work, it all gave me some stress.


Nesting on sofa, perfect excuse that will need a new one!
(I do have lovely new whelping box prepared:)

 Unikko is keeping well and goes from laying flat out on sofa to being excited by walk and enjoying a slow trot on the beach or fields.

Bright and alert 15 min before sofa photo, just come back from walk on fields.

I am fascinated by movements in her abdomen, can really feel wriggling pups:) I did try and listen to them through stethoscope but admit had no idea what to listen for! Heard gurgling peristalsis, heartbeat (Unikko's!)and heavy breathing so leave that to experts:)

Only a week to go! And what's "Lappviken"?

We are getting ever closer to "the event" Unikko/Musse pups, Im now counting days and not weeks. Unikko's waistline is no more, she is lovely and round. It actually suits her, she is truly "blooming" She looks softer and have developed a lovely coat, especially on her belly!! Of course this will all come off soon;)


Unikko blooming



She is still full of beans and does an active walk but no mad rushing around any more. Blizz is missing their regular wrestling matches, she;s very good and just stands steady and ignores him when he bounces around trying to get a game of "chase me" I tell him he will soon have plenty to do!

Lovely round belly

Back when, what now feels like in the distant past, I decided to breed a litter, I also wanted to get a Kennel club affix, so the search for a name started. I ended up with the 2nd choice, which was "Lappviken". This is obviously "Lapp" as in -hund,  and "viken" which is "the bay" in Swedish. As we live in Pevensey Bay this seemed appt:)

Welcome to Beachlands

We live just minutes from the beach which is perfect for dog walking, but if I could have all I would chose to also have the woods of my childhood as close as well, I will always also long for the forrests of Värmland. However on a day like today it is just stunning and pretty hard to beat :) As I grew up such a long way from the sea I dont ever take it for granted.



We are in a bay, Hastings in the distant east.( Blizz meandering!)



Eastbourne to the west. Marina in foreground, Beachy head in back ground





It has been such a fantastic spring and everything is flowering so early, my favorite flower, the poppy, is already out, such stunning colour. I managed to find two this morning and set my dogs up for the photo, managed to catch some flags from the pub in the back ground as well:) I didnt notice that until I downloaded pics

Scan day

The parents to be:-)

Well it looks like its actually is going to happen, Unikko and Musse are going to have puppies!!! Unikko had a scan today and Sam "the scan" saw five puppies, really fascinating:)
Sam said puppies are well developed and looked like 7 weeks so warned me to be prepared! Dont know if Ill ever be but so looking forward with excitement and terror, just want the birth to go well and have healthy mum and pups. Due date is about 23-5-11:)
My lovely dogs have certainly done all that could be expected, big Skål to Musse for doing his bit so well;-)

Musse and Unikko update

Well the time had to come and Musse have now returned home to his humum Pia in Sweden. I did shed a few tears but he was pleased to see his mum so this made it much easier.
Will meet again soon lovely Musse xxx
When I got back Im sure Unikko went looking for Musse at bedtime, she wouldn't settle as she normally does, up and down the stairs a few times before realxing.

The journey to Sweden only took me 4 days but on return I really noticed that Unikko have taken on a sudden barrel shape. Couldn't believe the spread across her back! And this morning she was noticeable slower chasing birds on the beach.
She should have been scanned this week but unfortunately this clashed with my return from Sweden, so will have to wait another week.
She is now 42 days from her first day of mating and 37 days from last day. I have started feeding her fish 4 dogs puppy food to meet her higher energy needs but I'm still not increasing her portion size, although she is ravenous!
I tried to get a photo showing her new shape but gave up:)