Regalgoldens Golden Retrievers

Nap time! “Can you hear me now?” One of the most exciting events for us is when the puppies’ eyes open. Many of the puppies’ critical organs including their brain are not fully formed and they will spend several weeks developing rapidly. Since the gestation period in dogs is short (63 days), the tradeoff is that puppies are quite helpless at birth. Biologists refer to species that produce immature dependent offspring as altricial, which means “to nurse, to rear or to nourish”. It refers to the need for the young of these species to be fed and taken care of for a long period of time. Puppies are born with their eyelids tightly shut because the eye itself is still developing and is extremely fragile. The closed eyelids serve as a barrier to protect the eyes from potential damage. Now that their eyes are open, it will take a few weeks before their eyes mature and their eyesight begins to approach normal. The puppies are also born functionally deaf since their ear canals are closed. Wh...

Mr. Jet Black is the first to be born. “Fly Ball” She’d been down this road before, but she needed some assurance that everything would be alright. On the eve of puppies’ births, Whitney snuggled up to spoon with us and to get some quality touches before the big event. Nearly five hours later at 4:15 a.m., Mr. Jet Black poked his head out. We were afraid might see his shadow and go back inside but with a little encouragement he said hello to the world. Forty-five minutes later, Mr. Camel made his entrance followed by Mr. Mint. Then Whitney made us wait for an hour and a half before Mr. Tangerine was born which completed the ensemble of four boys. The girls must just have been polite to wait their turn. After another hour and a half, Miss Carnation made her debut. Fortunately we only had to wait another ten minutes for Miss Chiffon as we all know that girls are more punctual. The big surprise was that while Whitney was out on what was supposed to be a pee break, she delivered M...

Whitney is certainly showing! As we head into the final week of Whitney’s pregnancy, she is certainly continuing to slow down. Her abdomen measures a whopping 36 inches or 91cm. She is eating her meals very slowly but still polishing them off. Whitney is now receiving 4 meals daily but we may increase that to 5 or 6 meals daily as we move closer to her birthing date. The pressure of her growing puppies increases when she's near to term so she may want smaller more frequent meals. Whitney has now begun to nest as all moms-to-be do. I n the wild she would have carefully chosen a safe area in which to dig herself an appropriate den. Without human intervention, this is where she would have her puppies!   But not to worry, she’ll actually have them in a nice warm and sterile environment known as the whelping box. Over the next week we will make all the final preparations for the arrival of her puppies. We have begun monitoring her temperature twice dail...

Whitney's abdomen is certainly beginning to show! Whitney has always been our little princess and since her pregnancy she has upped the ante. If she could have her meals delivered to the bedroom and served to her while she relaxes on our king size bed she surely would! She is ever so affectionate and increasingly demanding belly rubs! Of course, we are very happy to oblige. Whitney has an enormous appetite and polishes off every meal and still looks for more. Since ravenous Whitney took it upon herself to include a helping of pillow and pillowcase in her diet, we have begun feeding her 3 times a day. It was difficult to tell Whitney was even pregnant as she didn’t really show much until Day 37 when her waistline bulged to a whopping 31.5 inches or 80 cm and she has approximately 19 days to go! She is definitely beginning to have a waddle in her walk!   National Geographic - Fetus at approximately day 39 Pre-natal period: By day 30, digestiv...

No comment! “Class Clown” It was very hot outside, but they didn’t care. They just wanted out and didn’t hold back communicating this to us. Notwithstanding the temperature and humidity, the gang had a great time in the yard and was going outside to play several times a day. Clever bunch that they are, they used the water bowls as splash pads which we had to refill continually. Then Miss Sky, class clown for the day, paraded around with the water bowl on her head. We’re not clear as to whether or not the other puppies laughed, but we certainly did. Some of Surrey’s pups were still on hand to round out the teams so playtime was even more fun. Rock climbing was especially popular which lead to some puppies honing their gymnastic skills by catapulting five inches onto the grass below. Rugby proved to be fun as well, with or without the ball. Everyone demonstrated their track & field skills by running off spontaneously in a random direction and occasionally falling down in the ...

This week was all about having fun! “Son of Godzilla!” This week saw a mixed bag of activities for the mini-pack. The weather cooperated just enough to allow the gang to enjoy some outdoor fun. Demonstrating his Canadian birthright, Mr. Thistle honed his stick-handling abilities on the lawn, albeit there was no puck involved. In keeping with Mr. Thistle’s sports theme, Miss Peach practiced her cheerleading skills by tumbling across the yard. Miss Sky proved to be more of nature buff as she was frozen in her tracks, completely mesmerized by a couple of passing butterflies. And Miss Meadow took frequent breaks from playing with the others for some extreme cuddling. Their mom, all the while set up an outpost partway down the yard so she could keep a watchful eye on her brood while she munched on a giant stick. To kick things up a notch, we had both Heidi and Surrey’s litters outside in the yard together for a giant play fest. The two groups quickly blended together with a common purpo...

What fun we have had this week! “The Accomplice” The house was quiet. The two large humans hadn’t been seen for a few days. Apparently the female human who’d been guarding the pack had gone out on an errand somewhere. That’s when it happened. Upon her return, Savannah the caregiver discovered that Surrey had actually facilitated a puppy escape by removing all the barrier slats from her whelping box. Mr. Cardinal was found roaming the kitchen and Mr. Denim was fast asleep with his rear end planted under the sofa. Neither put up a struggle as they were reunited with their siblings. Of course, it’s not always the boys who are up to something. While Miss Plum was hoarding sticks in the backyard, Miss Shimmer spent her time studying nature. As the birds chirped from their perches on the trees, Miss Shimmer would answer back by howling at them. The little mermaid, Miss Blossom liked to wash her feet in the water bowl or sit in it. In fact, she was so enchanted by the water bowl that once...