Millie and our current litter of five boys and one girl.
We've named the pups
Geoff, Brigitte and I have named the puppies together. We are her three co-owners.
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The Afternoon Tea litter was born on Friday April 15 to Daintree's Put a Spell on You and Tollchester's Up to no Good. This litter is comprised of five males and one female. Chip is for the little teacup in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Shortcake is for the dessert. Rose is after Red Rose tea. Earl Grey is after the tea blend. Teapot is our little teapot and Branston is a type of pickle served with cheese in a finger sandwich. We name the puppies out of love as a way to tell them apart and give them individual identities. The new families will be free to change their names to whatever they like.
Branston, named after an ingredient in a finger sandwich served at a British tea.
Chip, named for the little teacup in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast.
Earl Grey, after the tea blend.
Rose, named for Red Rose, a Canadian brand of tea.
Shortcake named for the dessert.
Teapot, because it just sounds so darn cute.
Afternoon Tea pups Day One
Millie and her beautiful brood are all doing well almost 24 hours in. The pups have a clear range in size with 2 very small and one very large boy; the rest are in between. Millie is eating frequent, small, raw meals with lots of calories to facilitate nursing.
The small enclosure helps to keep puppies warm and reasonably close to their mama so finding the teats to nurse doesn't burn too much of their precious energy. At this age, they nurse and sleep, with some necessary but minimal squirming around. Development of a neonate dog is very slow in the first couple of weeks. Pups are helpless; deaf, blind, unable to walk, see, hear or communicate beyond wee cries of distress. Their mother needs to be kept comfortable, calm, well fed, well rested, safe, dry, warm and stress free so that she can do what she needs to so for her offspring.
Every decision Daintree makes is for the health and wellbeing of our cherished moms and their precious bubs. Not one detail is overlooked; not one choice is made that is not in the best interest of the dogs relying on us for everything.
First time Mom Millie has taken to motherhood as a duck to water ❤️
Afternoon Tea Litter has arrived
This afternoon, Millie gave birth to 5 boys and 1 girl. All are healthy, nursing, cooing and generally chubby, happy newborns. Millie is a fantastic mother.
Millie with her newborn whelps
Further Education Comes My Way
As a breeder, there really is only one way to learn the ropes; breed your dogs. We don't have a course of study after which we are deemed "qualified". I think this is part of the problem as to why there are such things as puppy mills. In breeding, many of us apprentice under established breeders to learn how to do it. Thanks to the help of books, websites, YouTube videos and a few select colleagues who have and continue to mentor me in dog breeding, I have been guided along in my chosen field. Actually breeding my bitches and actually having success and failure has been instrumental in delivering me to where I am today: pretty experienced but craving more knowledge and deeper understanding.
Being able to make the best decisions, practically, medically, scientifically and for optimal breeding with the least amount of stress, discomfort, and effort for the dogs is my goal. Having easy, healthy whelpings not requiring medical intervention or surgery and not involving death or injury to my dams or whelps is just basically not negotiable. I want the best breeding program I can create. These little lives matter to me on a level I sometimes find hard to express.
For example, this year, Daintree is looking at using a stud dog so far away that it makes more sense to collect and ship his semen (fresh, chilled thank you very much) and have it implanted into the female, rather than do a natural mating. Up until now, we have only ever done natural matings. Almost 8 years of dog sex with the male and female both telling me when they're in "the mood" and then me supervising as that happens. After getting the male and female together, my involvement has been mainly putting the other dogs away and clearing the lovebirds a safe space to get it on. Choosing a mate for a bitch involves a whole lot of alchemy; a combination of size, shape, colour, temperament, temperament, health test results, availability, willingness of the owner to work with the bitch's owner, distance, and other factors. To get what we are going for, we gotta do it differently this time. Well, we don't gotta, but we wanna. He's the one, and he's clear across the country. We're having test tube babies.
This type of breeding involves hormonal testing and trips to larger cities for bigger vet clinics to lend their expertise. As you may be wondering, yes the cost increases as more people and professionals are involved, and so does the risk of poor timing, bad implantation, and a whole host of other issues I don't even know about yet.
So along comes this amazingly timed seminar on the science behind breeding great dogs. A fellow breeder shared the information about this workshop where I quickly saw it, raced to the signup page and laid down my money. Confirmed a spot in the Saturday/Sunday at 10:45 combination. I'm stoked!
Not only will this educate me on the medical side of breeding better than I have understood to date, but it will also introduce me to other breeders, give me an excuse to visit the city and keep those brain cells active. I love to learn; it turns out I just need to be passionate about the subject matter and then I turn into a living knowledge sponge. I'm looking very forward to this opportunity.
Some of the Daintree dogs after an outing.