Regalgoldens Golden Retrievers

Hard to believe it's our 1st week Birthday! “Topsy Turvy” She kept us in suspense for a couple of days, making us wonder whether we’d possibly mismarked our calendar, but after midnight last Friday Sierra made it clear that her puppies were on the way. Finally at 1:13 in the morning, we welcomed Mr. Sunshine, then Mr. Aqua, Mr. Cloud and Mr. Navy. When we thought she couldn’t possibly have five of a kind, along came Miss Lavender at nearly 5:30 a.m. to make it a royal flush. Sierra has always been a lady of leisure. After two or three days in the whelping box nursing puppies, Sierra decided she would changes things up and get comfortable by laying on her back. The puppies were confused at first because the plumbing wasn’t where they expected to find it, but they eventually managed to navigate their way to the inverted milk bar. In due course, many of the pups emulated their mom by sleeping on their backs as well. Most of the puppies in both Sierra’s and Bailey’s litters qu...

Happy One Week Birthday!  “Hide and Go Seek” Bailey has always been one to come late to the party. We had her pegged to deliver her puppies on Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday and when that didn’t happen we knew it was time to consider a C-section. It was then we welcomed the seven puppies we were expecting plus one! Bailey’s girls are Miss Saffron, Miss Chile, Miss Pepper and Miss Garlic and the boys are Mr. Basil, Mr. Salt, Mr. Curry and Mr. Nutmeg. Normally a mom is a somewhat perplexed by the sudden appearance of the puppies that she thought she was going to deliver so there can be a bit of a disconnect. However Bailey stepped up to the task like an old pro and allowed the little ones to nurse right away. Another of mom’s jobs is to stimulate the puppies to eliminate by licking them. That took just a while longer to become part of Bailey repertoire. Nevertheless, Bailey’s maternal instincts are in full force as she is a very doting and loving mother. She even needed t...

Sierra on the hunt for a den for her soon to be born puppies! It’s hard to believe that Sierra will be having her puppies in about 12 days. Despite her pregnancy, she continues to enjoy everything that life has to offer. Sierra has always been a very happy girl who has a swagger in her step and we often catch her howling with delight……literally. Pregnancy (and life) certainly agree with her! Sierra is being fed three times daily now and she ravishingly eats all her meals. At some point she will slow down and when that happens we will reduce the portions and increase her meals to 4 or 5 times daily. As the pups grow, there will be less room in her tummy for larger meals as Sierra’s tummy has expanded to 31.5 inches (81.2 cm).   This is an amazing photo by National Geographic of an embryo at 25 days. Pre-natal period: It is an interesting fact that a dog's tactile perception develops before birth, therefore unborn puppies can detect touch when the mother is petted from the o...

  Baily with 9 days to go! As we head into the home stretch with only 9 days to go, our Bailey is losing her figure and the look on her face tells us she knows it! She is slowing down only slightly and prefers to lounge by the warm fire while chewing a bone. Bailey’s abdomen has expanded and is no approximately 34 inches or 86.3 cm. The puppies are growing rapidly now so we are feeding Bailey smaller, more frequent meals. She downs her food in about 4 seconds flat, so no morning sickness for this girl! This weekend, we will set up the whelping box for her to get familiar with once again. Bailey will begin to search for a den outside to have her pups in. This is instinctive so we do monitor her trips outside.  With all the snow we have, she will have to build an igloo for her pups! We are just trying to make these last eight days as comfortable and stress free as possible for Bailey. She will continue to have light activity and of course get belly rubs...