Shelamo Shelties: July 2012

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Chinook & Her Pup, More Pics

you can view a few more of Chinook and her one pup here on our FB page

Yes, she drove us nuts for the first 48 hours. Couldn't leave her to go do anything without her showing up with pup in tow.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Chinook's pup - 2 wks of age

Our

MBPIG Ch Ruffleith's Barolo Dirionda

MBPIG Ch Shelamo Riding The Wind

litter

"Chinook"

presents her 2 week old girl

Welcome to the World sweetie!

She just opened her eyes today. Am sure the bright morning sunlight was a bit of a shock to her, from her shaded room as we've got high temperatures on the go right now. Thanks to Penny (Ruffleith) for helping with the pic taking - don't ya just wanna mush with that face!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Breeding Dogs - Ups and Downs

The last two weeks, since June 25th, here at Shelamo have been very hard on us and has required many vet trips.

The wicked heat we've been through, breaking daily temps, has also worn us and the dogs out. Just hoping our annuals, potted tomatoes and other gardens we're watering enough to sustain them.

Our Shelamo's Party Pack ROMC, at over 14 yrs of age, became ill and after 2 days of intensive IV fluid care and testing we found she's in stage 2 kidney failure. New food, meds and religious monitor has had to be upped to keep her stable. She's doing well at this point, just means a lot of extra care.

Then, a bit earlier than expected on July 2nd, our Ch Shelamo Riding The Wind delivered two pups, unfortunately we lost one. She's given us a real run for our money with just one! She's one of the VERY few girls we have that wants to carry her pup around & move it to a different location from our standard whelping area of our kitchen. I couldn't even leave for a minute without finding she was on the move again! I was always asking - please give me your puppy! With monitoring her, it meant sleeping on the couch for two days to ensure we got through the night OK.

and you're problem Mom is??

I was just about to .... you caught me!

(no pup was harmed in the taking of these photos :) )

She's had not wanted to eat well postpartum, so my stock of goodies, cooking up special meals has been endless, with a counter full of food, mostly that she hasn't wanted. Her milk wasn't coming in well either, so I was supplementing the pup's feeding to try and maintain her birth weight, and then to gain some. Trying to draw a fine line so that she'd at least nurse to try and cause the milk to come down hasn't been easy. I think now, thanks to a Facebook neonatal page I'm on, I've found a natural remedy that I picked up this Friday that seems to have helped. We're just 24 hours into it, so we'll see, but he pup now seems to have a fully belly when I check her and has put on weight.

Needless to say Chinook is a very attentive mom ... too much so!

She's gotten the nick-name of YoYo!

And then ... if that wasn't enough, on July 2nd ... in the afternoon, we had to rush our Ch Shelamo Burleigh Casino Rama CGN, CD to emergency (long weekend!) .... new post to follow .....

Rest Well Dear - Ch Shelamo Burleigh Casino Rama CGN, CD

July 2nd brought concerning issues with our 12 yr old Casino. She had been treated for a UVitis in her left eye for just over a year and all seemed to be OK. However, serious signs, especially a nose bleed, meant a rush into our vets. She was put on antibiotics in hopes that we were just facing an infection.

The week seemed to go slowly in waiting to get back to see the eye specialist on Thursday. Although he couldn't find her UVitis was any more serious, he was very suspicious of something else going on behind the eye, which a tumour was highly suspected. So, we got a quote for a CTscan and what could come of it to consider over the weekend and an appointment for next Wednesday if we wanted it done.

However, that wouldn't be the case. Friday afternoon she seemed way worse and less responsive to people she enjoyed being around, she just wanted to sleep. She refused her pill pocket meds which was not like her, a definite sign of trouble. There was also more nose bleeding, and her ability to take in air seemed more restricted. She also seemed very painful to the touch in that area if I tried to clean that side of her face. I settled her down in the kitchen with blankets and supported her head with more so she'd be as comfortable as possible for the night.

Saturday morning I called our vet for an appointment as it seemed to be 'time'. The vets tried a few procedures with her 'under' to determine if it might be a large infection or indeed the suspect of cancer was there.

Although they were not conclusive, a bit of what they did see told them it wasn't good. We left her with no more pain, and said our good-byes.

She will be remembered as a teaching assistant at my dog classes, loved when she did Brownie demos, an attraction at the local market, and just a fun loving girl with a heart of gold that would do the best she could at any time. She was a Champion by all means.

I thank Sandy Hawkins of Burleigh Shelties for acquiring Shelamo's Party Pack ROMC sister Shelamo Linden Decoration and breeding her to Am/Cdn Ch Toven Windertide Cdn CD ROM ROMC to produce our Casino. To Dr Sherry Lee of FLA for entertaining her for a year; to Cheryl Pike who handled her in the Breed ring after I took Winners Female, and then had "Rocky" as a Special, under respected breeder judge Tom Coen, finishing her Canadian Championship with Best of Winners. In one of the few shows we specialized her in, to respected breeder judge Denise Cornelsson for awarding her a Group 2nd.

Group 2nd - 2008

Our blue-eye'd beauty and her cousin our 12 yr old "Rocky" a few years ago.

Casino went to live with Mary-Anne for a good year and a half and between them they achieved their CGN at Camp Dog Wood, and then their Companion Dog title