"Anoushka"
It's taken all of us at Kernowbears a while to be able to write Anna's story.
In the spring we decided that we wanted to make some puppies that were a mix of two of our most favourite girls, Anna and Nu, so that we could hold back and carry on their lines. Nu has had a couple of boyfriends but we have never been lucky enough to have puppies from their dates.
With that in mind we approached the lovely owners of Nu's dad Czar and hoped that a mating of Anna and Czar would produce puppies that had the best of both our girls.
They had a 'weekend away' together and we all waited with crossed fingers and baited breath that there would be some puppies.
4 weeks later we got out the portable scanner and saw this!
In the spring we decided that we wanted to make some puppies that were a mix of two of our most favourite girls, Anna and Nu, so that we could hold back and carry on their lines. Nu has had a couple of boyfriends but we have never been lucky enough to have puppies from their dates.
With that in mind we approached the lovely owners of Nu's dad Czar and hoped that a mating of Anna and Czar would produce puppies that had the best of both our girls.
They had a 'weekend away' together and we all waited with crossed fingers and baited breath that there would be some puppies.
4 weeks later we got out the portable scanner and saw this!
We were absolutely over the moon to see these blurry little signs of life.
The weeks flew by! It is such a short time from when you find out to when the puppies are born, dogs are only pregnant for 9 weeks! Anna blossomed, she had no sickness, still chased the postmans van from the other side of the fence and was her usual sweet funny self.
We could tell from the subsequent scans and how big she got, that she was definitely having more than two puppies this time!
The weeks flew by! It is such a short time from when you find out to when the puppies are born, dogs are only pregnant for 9 weeks! Anna blossomed, she had no sickness, still chased the postmans van from the other side of the fence and was her usual sweet funny self.
We could tell from the subsequent scans and how big she got, that she was definitely having more than two puppies this time!
Two days before her due date Anna started to get restless and uncomfortable. We could see that she was trying to get going but hadn't quite gone into labour. On the morning of her due date her waters broke and we were surprised at the amount. We rang the vets and they advised us that if she hadn't gone into full blown labour in a few hours, we needed to bring her in.
The hours passed and although she was obviously trying to go into labour, nothing was happening so we put her in the car for the hour car drive to the vets. When we got there they decided to give her an injection of oxytocin to try to get things moving but advised us if it didn't work, she would need a c-section.
We walked around the car park and field near the vets with Anna wagging her tail, totally oblivious to our worry. She'd look at us and lick our hands and then sniff a bush without a care in the world.
The hour passed and still no sign of the puppies arriving so the vets decided it was time to bring the puppies into the world. We signed the forms, asked about the risks, gave her a huge hug and watched her walk off with the vet with her tail wagging.
She never came back through that door.
Anna died under the anaesthetic. We were, and still are, devastated.
The vet explained that Anna had had a rare complication of pregnancy called "canine maternal hydrops". When he made the incision into her womb, all of the excess amniotic fluid that had flooded out caused her system to go into cardiac arrest. He had revived her once but when she had arrested a second time, he had been unable to bring her back.
Nine of her twelve babies survived.
We went into the back of the hospital to see her, held her and sobbed. Nothing can prepare you for losing your beloved girl in this way.
We loaded her babies into the car in a daze after the vets had warned us that orphaned litters rarely all survive. We headed home shell shocked and distraught.
We posted a message on Facebook explaining to everyone who had been following Anna's progress, that Anna had crossed the rainbow bridge and we had nine of her babies still alive. The response we got from the Newfoundland world, and people who just followed Anna and loved her, was amazing.
Pots of canine colostrum were handed off at dog shows and moved down the country to us within hours. Friends came round with bottles and sterilisers. People sent teddy bears for the pups to lie with.
Followers of Anna's journey messaged constantly, willing the puppies on and keeping us all strong.
When we brought the puppies into their pen in the whelping room, we knew we had a long hard slog ahead of us all. Puppies feed every two hours and aren't able to go to the toilet without their mums licking them to stimulate them.
No sooner had we fed and toileted the last puppy, then the first one needed feeding again. It is a twenty four hour a day, seven days a week endless cycle for the first month. We forgot what anything other than the whelping room looked like.
Then something amazing happened.
Nu Nu, who had never shown any interest in any of the puppies we have had before, started scratching at the door of the whelping room. We let her in and she went straight up to the pen and cocked her head on one side and whimpered. Then she started walking around the room sniffing the floor, following the path that Anna had walked after her waters had gone, all the time crying and whimpering.
She returned to the pen and gently pawed at it and looked at us.
I looked at Digby and said " let her go in" working on the theory that any canine company would help the little fighters that we were trying to save. She went in and very very carefully walked around the pen, sniffing the puppies and gently licking them, crying the whole time.
What happened over the next few days was nothing short of a miracle.
Nu started spending more and more time in the whelping room and more and more time in the pen with the puppies. Then she started cleaning them. Then she started 'toileting' them and cleaning the pen.
Eventually after ten days... she started making tiny amounts of milk for them!
The hours passed and although she was obviously trying to go into labour, nothing was happening so we put her in the car for the hour car drive to the vets. When we got there they decided to give her an injection of oxytocin to try to get things moving but advised us if it didn't work, she would need a c-section.
We walked around the car park and field near the vets with Anna wagging her tail, totally oblivious to our worry. She'd look at us and lick our hands and then sniff a bush without a care in the world.
The hour passed and still no sign of the puppies arriving so the vets decided it was time to bring the puppies into the world. We signed the forms, asked about the risks, gave her a huge hug and watched her walk off with the vet with her tail wagging.
She never came back through that door.
Anna died under the anaesthetic. We were, and still are, devastated.
The vet explained that Anna had had a rare complication of pregnancy called "canine maternal hydrops". When he made the incision into her womb, all of the excess amniotic fluid that had flooded out caused her system to go into cardiac arrest. He had revived her once but when she had arrested a second time, he had been unable to bring her back.
Nine of her twelve babies survived.
We went into the back of the hospital to see her, held her and sobbed. Nothing can prepare you for losing your beloved girl in this way.
We loaded her babies into the car in a daze after the vets had warned us that orphaned litters rarely all survive. We headed home shell shocked and distraught.
We posted a message on Facebook explaining to everyone who had been following Anna's progress, that Anna had crossed the rainbow bridge and we had nine of her babies still alive. The response we got from the Newfoundland world, and people who just followed Anna and loved her, was amazing.
Pots of canine colostrum were handed off at dog shows and moved down the country to us within hours. Friends came round with bottles and sterilisers. People sent teddy bears for the pups to lie with.
Followers of Anna's journey messaged constantly, willing the puppies on and keeping us all strong.
When we brought the puppies into their pen in the whelping room, we knew we had a long hard slog ahead of us all. Puppies feed every two hours and aren't able to go to the toilet without their mums licking them to stimulate them.
No sooner had we fed and toileted the last puppy, then the first one needed feeding again. It is a twenty four hour a day, seven days a week endless cycle for the first month. We forgot what anything other than the whelping room looked like.
Then something amazing happened.
Nu Nu, who had never shown any interest in any of the puppies we have had before, started scratching at the door of the whelping room. We let her in and she went straight up to the pen and cocked her head on one side and whimpered. Then she started walking around the room sniffing the floor, following the path that Anna had walked after her waters had gone, all the time crying and whimpering.
She returned to the pen and gently pawed at it and looked at us.
I looked at Digby and said " let her go in" working on the theory that any canine company would help the little fighters that we were trying to save. She went in and very very carefully walked around the pen, sniffing the puppies and gently licking them, crying the whole time.
What happened over the next few days was nothing short of a miracle.
Nu started spending more and more time in the whelping room and more and more time in the pen with the puppies. Then she started cleaning them. Then she started 'toileting' them and cleaning the pen.
Eventually after ten days... she started making tiny amounts of milk for them!
The difference that Nu made to the puppies wellbeing and development was amazing.
But yes, we still had to bottle feed them.....
But yes, we still had to bottle feed them.....
But they had a doggy mum!
She taught them how to lap water, she made them chase around the pen trying to get to her first, she gave them something to climb on and snuggle into. She interacted with them in a million essential ways that helped make them stronger and happier.
We had a few late night dashes to the vets in the early days, at one point the vets thought we would lose Miss Purple and Mr Red. We never gave up! We became experts at giving fluid under the skin, we kangaroo nursed inside our t-shirts and we made our own homemade formula as the commercial ones weren't agreeing with their delicate tummies.
Above all, we never forgot Anna's sacrifice.
This was the day that we knew they were all going to be ok.
She taught them how to lap water, she made them chase around the pen trying to get to her first, she gave them something to climb on and snuggle into. She interacted with them in a million essential ways that helped make them stronger and happier.
We had a few late night dashes to the vets in the early days, at one point the vets thought we would lose Miss Purple and Mr Red. We never gave up! We became experts at giving fluid under the skin, we kangaroo nursed inside our t-shirts and we made our own homemade formula as the commercial ones weren't agreeing with their delicate tummies.
Above all, we never forgot Anna's sacrifice.
This was the day that we knew they were all going to be ok.
Nu is the most attentive mum ever. She has fussed around the puppies as if they were the most precious things ever. She herds them around the garden and still tried to pick them up if they wander too far.
That doesn't really work when they weigh 9kg!
Here's all nine of them getting ready to join their new families.
That doesn't really work when they weigh 9kg!
Here's all nine of them getting ready to join their new families.
We decided to keep two of Anna's babies. Miss Purple (Bumble Beatrix or Bee Bee for short) because she had fought so hard through all of her setbacks and Miss Orange (Honey), because she reminds us so much of her mum.
Nu has found it hard saying goodbye to the puppies when they join their new families and we have too. The families that we have chosen were extra special and were nearly all close enough that they will be able to come back and visit so that we can see Anna's babies as they grow. They have all promised to stay in touch and give us regular updates as they grow. We have already had a flurry of pictures showing their first few days.
We look forward to the future with Bee Bee and Honey. We are hopeful that when the time comes, they too will pass all their health tests and carry on Anna's legacy. We catch glimpses of their mum when they scamper up to us, and if they turn out to be half as sweet as she was, all of us at Kernowbears will be very lucky.
Nu has found it hard saying goodbye to the puppies when they join their new families and we have too. The families that we have chosen were extra special and were nearly all close enough that they will be able to come back and visit so that we can see Anna's babies as they grow. They have all promised to stay in touch and give us regular updates as they grow. We have already had a flurry of pictures showing their first few days.
We look forward to the future with Bee Bee and Honey. We are hopeful that when the time comes, they too will pass all their health tests and carry on Anna's legacy. We catch glimpses of their mum when they scamper up to us, and if they turn out to be half as sweet as she was, all of us at Kernowbears will be very lucky.