Week #2 Pictures

Today Giblet and Envy were having a cuddle session, poor Envy puts up with so much from Giblet. Giblet constantly head-butts Envy for attention, so this is how Envy deals with it, she rests her head on the cat.

As for the next photos I will apologize for my need to exam her from ever angle - the down side to taking a photography course and being neurotic with a huge dose of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). Keep in mind that these pictures are a couple of hours post dinner...

....Maybe???

Birds eye view...I'm sticking with the dinner story, I think we are seeing a big belly of kibble, but I can always hope - right?

Guinness's Video

Since I can't seem to make it work by embedding it, you need to follow the link!

Week 1 Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Envy lounging around in the kitchen. Nava was very jealous that she wasn't getting her picture taken, hence the legs in the picture below!

Below are a few more pictures of Guinness for everyone to enjoy...

I am also putting the finishing touches on a little video of Guinness so I will post a link when I get a chance...gotta keep you coming back for more! LOL

Please remember that all pictures are property of M.Grenkow Inc. 2008 and are copy written. They may not be reproduced, copied, or used in any way without express written permission from Michele Grenkow.

Edmonton Trip

Here is Envy getting cozy for the long trip to Edmonton in the back seat of Darcy's truck.

A view of the road traveling to see Guinness.

Here is another pictures of Guinness. Thanks again to the hospitality of Dave, Noreen and Sonia! Now we wait...*sigh*
Over the next few weeks I will try and post all the pictures from the trip so you have something to look at while we all wait!

Dear Lord, here we go again!

Mark it on your calendars - "Envy Day #1"

This means that Feb 9th - 12th I'm off to Edmonton for a natural breeding.
I expect EVERYONE to wear their lucky socks, underwear and any
other 'lucky' garment that weekend!!

Ho Hum...

I don't know if it is because I have 2 weeks off and am already bored our of my mind or if this is the plotting scheme of a very evil Great Dane named Envy, to slowly drive me crazy. No, she's not in heat yet, I'm starting to think this is her longest wait between cycles. On the up side with my new camera I get to catch in insanity in 4x7 stills!

A new spin on T'was A Night Before Christmas

T'was the night before Christmas
And all through the house, not a creature was stirring
even the Dane on the couch

The stockings were hung so frickin' high in the air
In hopes our Dane couldn't get them up there

The neighbors were nestled feeling safe in their beds
While visions of big dogs zoomed in their heads

With gizzards and chicken and bones going SNAP
The dog hoovered dinner and prepared for a nap.

When out from the crate there arose such a clatter
The dog had to go out and empty his bladder

Up from the floor he flew like a flash
He tore out the door and peed on the grass

He stood there so tall with a big head and lips
He blocked out the moon like a total eclipse

When what to my wondering eye should appear
But a miniature sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer

With a little old driver so lively and quick
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick

I yelled to the dog "quick come in Rover"
He ran up the stairs and knocked me right over!

And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof
the prancing and pawing of each little hoof

I got off the floor and held tight to my head
I looked to the chimney with a feeling of dread

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot

I had concern for Santa so I put him at sit
St. Nick turned around and said "HOLY poop"

The bundle of toys he dropped at his feet,
He said "OMG, what does he eat?"

"That must be a horse or some form of cattle,
let me look in my bag and find you a saddle!"

I explained to Santa he was a great Dane
A very big dog with a really small brain.

Santa got on his knees and broke a big rule
Before I could stop him, he was covered in drool

"he wouldn't bite, not even a robber"
Santa said okay, but was covered in slobber

Santa laid on the floor all covered in jowl's
I ran to the kitchen to grab him some towels.

Santa said "It's Okay, I am no cleaner,
What a cute dog, but BOY what a leaner!"

We helped Santa up, with his bag made of silk
while dog ate the cookies and knocked over the milk!

He jumped back up, as if preparing to flee
He pulled out the presents to chuck at the tree

He backed up the chimney in a bright flash of red
I ran to my room, Rover beat me to bed!

We heard him mumble as he flew out of site
"That guys' really nice but his Dane's just not right!"

Dad Update

It seems that Guinness's first weekend showing in Alberta at the Red Deer Show he took Winners Dog/Best of Winners/ Best of Breed and a GROUP 1!!! Today he did the same in Breed but they have to wait until after lunch for Group Placements. Yeah Guinness!! If he places in Group again today he could have his championship in 2 days.

Here we go again...

Well I found a fawn male that we can do a live cover with! We'll have to take a trip to Alberta but I'm so willing to do that....or at the least send Darcy! LOL
Here are a few pictures of this handsome boy:

He is a Travis son and a cousin of Duke so the pedigree is exactly where I wanted to go, and as you can tell by the photos, he's a hunky boy!
Nava came into heat early and now Envy is starting to think about coming into season. Start thinking happy thoughts.

Happier Days

Maggie is doing well and gaining weight. She is proving that her spirit is stronger then any evil captor, and that even though she is a poorly bred Dane she still genetically knows how to 'be' a Dane. Showing off her lean, zoomies and drool skills.
Although I'm sure that I can start backing off the goats milk and whipping cream mixture, she tells me with her eyes that she's not ready to give it up just yet....think of it as a Dane friendly milk shake! What's sad is when you try and feed her high quality food, she doesn't know what to do with it. I gave her 'Deli-Fresh' food (which Darcy almost ate himself - all human grade ingredients - smells great!) and she just stared at it, but 'Alpo' she'll scoff down by the pail!
You can see where Maggie is emotionally weak by her need to have a "blankie", which is her Duck-stuffie...she grooms it and can't seem to settle down without it.

She has a smile and wag for everyone she meets and never asks for a moment of pity, only love.

Quiet Day

Poor little Karma lost her battle today. There are no pups left.
I can only hope that their senseless deaths make it so that the person that had Maggie can never own animals again.
Maggie continues to improve on a daily basis and hopefully will be shortly placed in a long term foster home.

And now we are one...

Despite all his efforts and will, little Mukti crossed over today at noon in Darcy's hands.
Precious Karma is still with us, but a bit lonely.

Still Chugging Along

Sorry to have been so quiet, but both Darcy and I have been working so hard to keep these last two puppies alive, we haven't had a chance to do much else! Both Karma and Mukti are still soldiering on. Karma is, I believe over the worst of it. Mukti is fighting like I've never seen a creature fight before! He is still far from being out of danger, but I don't hold my breath, and fear the worst every time I open the door now.
I'll post pictures soon.

Dharma

Dharma just passed away after a lengthy battle. We are heating the remaining puppies up just incase they are battling herpes as well. If we lose anyone else tonight I think it will be Karma as she is just screaming right now and I can't settle her down. Poor Maggie-Moo is beside herself with worry.

Fate always plays a role...

I have named the 4 surviving pups:

I hope everyone thinks the names are as appropriate as I do. I have great hopes for these kids as they survived the night and are gaining weight rapidly.
Does anyone else think that Kismet doesn't like the paparazzi?

Battling Pneumonia

We lost another puppy (one of the harl boys), it seems that we are battling against pneumonia from all the fluid they aspirated during their birth. The remaining four are doing well, so far, but the little blue harl boy worries me because of his size. Keep them in your thoughts.

2:12pm

Our big brindle boy passed away today at 2:12pm. With no obvious issues, he was one of the strongest and largest pups....remember that both Mom and pups have already endured more then any one creature should go through.

Puppy pics

Here are the kids, I know they aren't the best pictures but my battery on the camera needs charging so this is what you get! Also I make no promises as to the colour of "blue harl boy" is correct, I don't see any merling to his coat but their colours change so much after they are born that I wouldn't place a bet on it either way.

Pictures

Here she is before starting to have her puppies, if you scroll to the bottom you will see the picture once she was done whelping. Compare for yourself.

Maggie-Moo resting after whelping puppies.

Here are the surviving 6 puppies (there is a black girl hiding in between the harls and merlequins, the other is a brindle).

After whelping all 16 puppies.

Maggie Moo

Here is Maggie-Moo, I haven't been able to just call her 'Moo', she is so sweet that she needs a proper name. As you can see there isn't anything to her, you can count all her vertebrae, ribs and hip bones.
Laying outside enjoying the grass!

That is not a weird optical illusion, she spine really looks like it's bent.

Maggie in her whelping box, looking down her spine.
Check in for updates on this poor girl and her path to becoming a couch princess!!

Sad Day

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I let you all know that Envy is not pregnant...or at least will not be having live puppies. The vet is still confused about the movement that we spotted, but says that it looked like she absorbed the few pups she had.
I can't even begin to explain how disappointed I am, not for my breeding program and the sudden stop it has taken, but for you guys....so faithful to be rewarded with nothing.
I am so sorry.
Depending on when she comes into heat again we will most likely be driving to Colorado for a live coverage, not that it is any consolation to you....just trying to keep everyone in the loop so that you can start to make plans. For people who don't want to wait any more which I TOTALLY understand, I will be more then happy to help you find other breeders as well as recommendations to help you along.
Contact me privately with any questions you might have.

I made a funny!

So I don't know how many of you picked up the 'sound track' that went with the 'Movement' Video...we were watching 'Armageddon' on TV while filming Envy. What I didn't take into account was that I never have my volume on my laptop, so when I edited the footage it never crossed my mind. When Darcy went to check the blog to make sure I had done everything right on his computer, we were sent into fits of laughing. Between the dramatic music and voices that make it sound like the puppies were on a mission! I hope you guys got as much of a giggle as we did!

Tomorrow Envy and I are going to have the x-ray done
so hopefully we will have more pictures by dinner!

We Have Movement!!!!

Click the title of this post "We Have Movement!!!!" above and it will send you to "YouTube" to watch my movie of Envy's tummy....of course we all know about the plans of mice and men!! lol

So if you get a link and it is to the little movie I made then enjoy
watching her tummy roll and squirm!

Deli Fresh Saves the Day!

Praise be for small miracles!! I got Envy to eat 1.5 kg of Deli-Fresh Chicken and Veggie food...if I had of had more I think she would have eaten it too. Of course tomorrow I will go out and buy a bunch of it and she won't touch it again, but any amount I can get in her is cause for cheering in our household.
My new thing that I need to figure out is how to post video clips....so much learning so little time. I think that I will have to post on youtube and then post a link here.

Week #7

Not much change since the eating thing is still the tricky part! It looks like I can't fool her and mix canned dog food in with the canned cat food. Probably after Wednesday I will get an xray done to confirm numbers for whelping. By my calendar she should have them on August 1st (...hey Jack is that close enough for your birthday?? Careful, you might just get socks instead!)

Week #6.5

I am posting this picture a bit early because I think we will start to see a change for the better. I finally have been able to get Envy to eat after 2.5 weeks of barely eating. Here she is with 2 big cans of wet dog food in her gut....hopefully now that I've found something that she will ingest we will see this belly grow! You can actually see the muscle wasting in her shoulder if you look closely. I will start posting more pictures.

Week #6

Here is the weekly picture taken today (above), but on her bed...it was so hot that I didn't have the heart to make her move.

I took a picture yesterday of Envy in the usual spot but Nava started feeling very left out and decided that she needed to be in the picture....I didn't edit her out so that you can see just how needy Danes are! Worse then Raven for needing to be in pictures. Now everyone can see why I keep saying that my non-pregnant bitches look more pregnant then the pregnant one!

Friday 13th proved not to be the best day for me, I ended up getting bitten by a clients dog - a 120 +lbs Malamute X (that she insists is a wolf hybrid) - owner wouldn't even apologize...what a hag! We're waiting to hear back on the x-rays to see if it's broken, which I doubt but a green-stick fracture wouldn't surprise me. Fun-fun, can't be that bad though, still went to work today - downfall of owning your own business, you don't get to pansy out and stay home!! lol

Week #5
I know that you guys are thinking to yourselves, why does she keep showing us the same picture over and over again?? But trust me that it isn't, I take a different one each week and then pout when there isn't a big difference, take comfort in the fact with Envy not eating or eating very little for the last week but she is slightly getting bigger by next week there should be a noticeable change (at least that is what I am telling myself, and Jack learned his lesson about not to bursting my bubble!)

Ultrasound

It's not the best picture, but it's the best we could get with the illusive puppies. At one point we thought there might be five, but Envy sneezed and we couldn't find them again through all the poo! So the next step is to take an xray after day 54, so anytime after July 25/26th,
but at that point 6 days later she would be whelping them!

Week #4

Here is the pregnant belly picture, my guess is 3 puppies, but maybe we will get a surprise on Tuesday and there will be 5....that would make me happy.....and as some of you have learned, keeping me happy is the way to go!! *Insert pity for poor Jack here*

I thought everyone would like to see how she passes here days playing in the fields, the photo of her sun tanning unfortunately didn't turn out but was rather funny!
Envy has decided that eating is too nauseating for the last several days, but Nava has stepped up to her plate to help finish everything off.

Bets, place your bets...

So I couldn't wait until tomorrow and took her in for an ultrasound today...of course she was completely 'full of it', and wouldn't go potty so we could only see one baby. So she is pregnant, but we have no ideas about numbers, other then seeing the one, but will go back on Tuesday after the long weekend so that I might be able to get a better U/S.

I have my puppy, so the rest of you will have to keep your fingers crossed! LOL

Nay-sayer

I'm starting to have my doubts. Darcy said that I was feeding the girls way more then he has been feeding and so they all look pregnant except Envy! I think if maybe I could somehow stop staring at her it would be better, but that's really not an option! LOL

I have palpated her myself with no luck, her abdomen is just too tight and it's just been too long since I last did it....can't wait much longer....mind will explode....starting to feel head swelling...*POP goes Michele*

So here I go to sit in the corner and pout until 2:20 on Friday.

Week #3

6 more days to put us all out of our misery and find out one way or the other!

For all of you that are local, don't forget that the Dane Specialty (a dog show only for Great Danes) is on July 28 2007. More information can be found on either:
www.classicshowservices.com
or
www.westerngreatdaneclubofbc.com

Week #2

Here is Envy's belly at 2 weeks post insemination, I haven't increased her food yet but she seems to be really getting thicker, I realize that it's hard to tell in a photo when you don't get to actually see her.....I hate to admit it but I'm starting to get my hopes up - which is never a good thing until we have confirmation of an ultrasound. I'm so superstitious as to not even let people know they can have a puppy from a litter until they are over 2 weeks of age.

Dane theme song!!

I love this song!!!! All Dane people should have it playing while driving down the road!

http://www.smytheandtaylor.com/blacksamplegreatdane.mp3

Week #1

One week has past so far, here is Envy's picture...Here is another picture which, in my mind sums it all up - she's laughing at us silly humans for staring at her tummy every week!!

...patience Grasshopper...

Am I the only one who feels like there are ants on my pants about this whole thing?? I know that it is TOTALLY ridiculous to think that I can see a difference in Envy already but there is something.....
....look past the razor burn, caused by the bad shave job...all the pictures I take are after dinner time for the dogs, usually about an hour or so after - this one about 2 hours after her dinner. Maybe it's just a swollen dinner tummy?

Being an only child really doesn't give me the ability to wait well (I have discovered), so forgive my ramblings!!

Canine Pregnancy Calendar

Pregnancy Calendar for Dogs
Date:	Mon 4 Jun 107
Sire:	Ch MiHi's A Starz' Born
Dam:	Ch Diamond Danes Heavenly Sin
Breeder:	Michele Grenkow
Sat 2 Jun 107	First day of mating. 48 hours after the first mating the bitch should be mated again. Subsequent matings occurring over a period of time enhance the chances of fertilaziton taking place. The spermatozoa migrate up through the cervix.
Sun 3 Jun 107	Sperm travel searching for a mature ripened eggs.
Sun 3 Jun 107 - Mon 4 Jun 107	Spermatozoa reach the eggs in the oviducts.
Mon 4 Jun 107 - Tue 5 Jun 107	Fertilisation occurs in the oviducts which lead from the ovaries to the uterus.
Tue 5 Jun 107 - Thu 7 Jun 107	Fertilised eggs migrate down the oviducts and into the uterine horns. The migration continue to enable even spacing of the embryos. During this migration the eggs will grow into a blastocystes.
Wed 13 Jun 107 - Fri 15 Jun 107	The blastocystes implant in the wall of the uterus.
Wed 13 Jun 107 - Wed 27 Jun 107	The blastocystes will grow into an embryos. During the next two weeks the important organs will develop.
Sat 16 Jun 107 - Sat 23 Jun 107	Dams nipples begin to pink enlarge. The fur on the dams belly and around the nipples may become thinner.
Fri 22 Jun 107 - Fri 29 Jun 107	Morning sickness might occur due to hormonal changes or stretching and distension of the uterus. Dam may appear a bit apathetic. She may be off her feed for a while and vomit from time to time. Feeding the dam several meals spaced throughout the day might help. Your veterinarian may want to prescribe a drug to relax the uterus.
Wed 27 Jun 107 - Sun 1 Jul 107	An experienced person (a breeder or a veterinarian) can tell by careful palpation whether the dam is pregnant. It's now the best time to do this because the embryos are walnut-sized now and easy to count.
Sat 30 Jun 107	Start to increase the dams food ration. Don't overfeed, excessive weight gain should be avoided. The foetuses are now and are fully developed miniature dogs.
Fri 6 Jul 107	The Dams abdomen starts to get larger.
Mon 16 Jul 107	It's very easy now to feel the puppies, counting them might be a bit more difficult.
Thu 19 Jul 107 - Fri 27 Jul 107	Dam begins to spend a lot more time in self-grooming. Her breasts become even more swollen. She may become a bit restlessness and begin to search for a suitable place to have her puppies.
Sat 21 Jul 107	The dam might lose her appetite during this period. Her abdomen can be crowded with puppies. It is better to feed several smaller meals spaced throughout the day. You can easily detect abdominal movement now.
Sat 21 Jul 107 - Sun 5 Aug 107	Nipples and vulva should be gently cleaned with warm water, you might want to trim the hairs surrounding the nipples, to allow easier access for the puppies to suck.
Tue 31 Jul 107 - Fri 3 Aug 107	Milky fluid may be expressed from the nipples.
Wed 1 Aug 107	You might want to start taking the dams rectal temperature each morning and evening.
Sat 4 Aug 107	Bitches bred via surgical insemination with Frozen Semen traditionally will always whelp on day 60...Puppies!

Wishes

Here are the pictures now that Envy is home and resting in a sun spot. Everyone at the hospital seemed to be happy with everything and they were doing the fertility dances too!

It also seemed to both Shannon (Duke's Co-Mommy - sire of this litter) and myself that it needs to be a star or constellation theme litter....once you see the parents registered names you'll understand! Envy is "Diamond Danes Heavenly Sin" and Duke is "MiHi's A Starz' Born". With that explained you will understand why this is the saying for this breeding:

Star Light,

Star Bright

First star I see tonight.

I wish I may,

I wish I might

Have the wish I wish tonight.

Tomorrow is the day

Got the 3rd progesterone back this evening it reads 13.8 ng/ml, she will be surgically inseminated tomorrow around noon - so think happy thoughts!

Hopefully I will get a chance to post pictures tomorrow...I'm not sure if I will be able to get pictures of the surgery but at the very least you will have post-op pictures.