Ready to Pop

Hello Blog readers,

No the puppies are not here yet, but they are coming soon!!! The much-anticipated ultrasound was done last Thursday, with Bess comfortably cooperating to the fullest while stretched out on my couch on her back. The verdict is possibly seven or eight puppies. This is not an exact science, so there may be even more!!

Meanwhile, let’s catch up on the latest events from here on the farm. Most importantly, my friends and I celebrated Bess’ third birthday last Saturday with the annual winter dinner. 

I host a dinner for each season here on the farm, and the winter dinner featured homemade English muffins, made by RB, which we turned into mini pizzas. Everyone brought their favorite toppings, like basil, arugula, mushrooms, pepperoni, onion, etc. Since I am a plain Jane sort of person, I had a cheese pizza, until one of my friends encouraged me to try roasted cauliflower on it, which was delicious!! I highly recommend it! 

For our favorite gluten-free person, I made home-raised chicken baked in tomato sauce along with a fabulous salad. Then for dessert, RB totally outdid herself. Remember those chocolate Hostess cupcakes you ate as a kid with the creamy filling? Well she made cupcakes like these, only a THOUSAND times better! 

I got to help assemble them, and it was fun! The procedure involves taking out some of the cake (and eating it), filling it with creamy filling, and then plugging up the hole with more cake. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Anyway, it was a great dinner, and Bess is now three years old. Of course we also made sure we remembered RB’s departed Maggie, who also would have been three. We miss her greatly and will always remember her.

So now we are in the home stretch of the pregnancy. I have Bess’ special whelping dog wading pool all set up in the living room. She likes it!!! I have two entire unwashed fleeces as padding, followed by a sheet donated by Dancing Donkey Kris, and topped off with five large bath towels, kindly donated by RB. This is the birthing setup. 

Once the puppies are all born, I will take all that out, use the soiled fleeces for mulch, wash the towels, and replace the bedding with two washed fleeces. This will keep Bess comfortably padded and the puppies warm. The unwashed fleeces are very oily (lanolin) and sticky. The washed fleeces are not very sticky, as I don’t want the pups to get tangled in it. As they get older and bigger, this won’t be a worry. I want some unwashed fleece in there soon, so the pups grow up with sheep smell, in case they go to homes as livestock guardians. Don’t worry; I will have plenty of fleeces to work with, as my sheep are getting sheared in two weeks!!! 

Feeding Bess has been a bit of a challenge. Like I mentioned in my last guest blog, Bess had a spell of decreased appetite at about her third week. This was followed by a voracious appetite, which I satisfied with lots of home-raised raw grass-fed beef, including muscle meat, tongue, heart, and liver. I added lots of eggs from my chickens, along with plenty of bone broth, and her regular kibble. For the past week, her appetite has been decreasing, so I feed her many very small meals to tempt her. I just fed her a meal of raw roast beef (bottom round) topped off with a poached egg. I think she is looking good. We take two or three moderate hikes every day, and she sleeps a lot too. We are all ready!!!!! 

Bess’ actual due date is approximately March 12th or 13th. This can be variable, as she was bred more than once, and the days of gestation can vary. Anyway, no matter how you look at it, the pups will be here soon!!!!!!!!!

The spring dinner, which is usually at the end of May is set for very early May, so that everyone gets to see and play with the pups, which will be about six or seven weeks old. It should be fun and you are all invited!!!

My next guest blog will document THE BIG EVENT!!!!!