G & G Kennels
Savannah, GA
Savannah, GA
Our journey
This is a journey for both Gracie and our family. I plan to keep a diary of Gracies journey into Motherhood. This should be fun for all of us.
Gracie was born July 28, 2007. Her parents are Big Red Chief out of Ole Plantation Bulldogs and Big Sky's Ranjun. She has been alot of fun to have in the house. But, being a bulldog obedience training was a must. Gracie did not disapoint, She came in 1st in her class. I was so proud of her..She came straight home and promtly jumped up on the counter and grabbed the hotdogs and headed outside. Oh well. We just keep working with her. She has been so much fun this past two years, we really feel that this is a dog that more people need to be aware of, to enjoy and discover for themselves.
October 17, 2009
Gracie is in heat, so we are making plans to drive out to Mississippi. Its about a 10hr trip, so my Husband Brad and myself packed up the food, water, toys and a blanket for Gracie and a pillow for me. We took off on Saturday morning about 5:30 am and I got my coffee. Gracie and I slept for a couple of hours because anyone who knows me, knows I am not a morning person. Gracie was very good on this long trip. She just settled in and when we stopped we would take her out to walk around and relieve herself. We got to our destination around 4:30 pm. Met Moose...What a beautiful dog he is. He is a very happy and friendly dog. Moose tried to introduce himself to Gracie, but she was not interested in any part of him...yet. We left for home, very sad that we were leaving our little girl. We have never left her with anyone this long before.
October 25, 2009
Got a call from John, Gracie and Moose had a successful encounter. My little girl is growing up.
October 28, 2009
Gracie and Moose have been busy this week..Oh my...What is my little girl doing.
October 31, 2009
Brad and I headed back out to Mississippi to pick Gracie up. What a wonderful site to see her. She was so happy to see us! I opened that car door and she bolted in the car probably saying "Get me outta here, you wouldn't believe what happened to me!" We know that she was missing us, whenever we stopped for gas and Brad or I would get out of the car Gracie would get very upset and start crying. Probably thinking we were leaving her again. But all in all we had a good trip home. Gracie was on her best behavior and I jumped in the back to sleep with her for awhile. We got home around 10:30 pm, and Gracie was so happy to get home. Greeted all her playmates Rocky and Matilda and headed around the house to make sure everything was the same.
November 10 , 2009 Day 14
There really is no guarantee to know that Gracie is pregnant. Unfortunatly they don't have pregnacy tests for dogs, and it is usually around 4 weeks to find out for sure. Friends suggested I go buy a pregnacy test to see what it said. I am not feeling like running around the backyard with a stick waiting for Gracie to pee on it! We will just wait and watch her for any differences we may see and the vet will do x-rays on December 16th. The only thing that I have noticed in the past week or so is that Gracie seems to be sleeping more. Other then that she is still my little girl.
November 27, 2009 Day 31
We really don't need a test to know our little girl is pregnant. Her nipples have started swelling considerabley, and as Brad says she is looking a little "thick". He always knows the right words to say. At this point the embryos are about the size of a walnut. Gracie does a lot of sleeping and is not playing with her toys as much. Her appetite has been something else. She has a ravenous appetite, and we really need to keep it under control. Gracie is still being very loving and is sweet and just wants to cuddle on the sofa. We are really enjoying this experience.
December 13, 2009 Day 47
Poor Gracie, she is just so uncomfortable. Unable to find the comfortable postion. Sleeps on the floor alot, seems to prefer the floor to the sofa. Gracie has that pregnacy waddle going on now, very cute to watch her walk. Nipples are large and swelling up and her belly has really swelled. I am really excited that we go to the vet on Wednesday to find our how many pups we can expect. By the looks of her we are thinking five to seven. The pups skin pigment should be all set by now and they just continue to grow.
December 21, 2009 Day 55
My poor baby is just huge!! X rays last week showed 8 pups, but by the look of her???? Gracie barely ate anything, A couple of nibbles but really not interested like she normally is. This is an indication that labor should be about 10 - 24 hours away. Just a waiting game now.
December 22, 2009 Day 56
Gracies temp was 98 this morning and 99 this afternoon. She is staying very close to me. You can hear those little heart beats when its really quiet and you put your ear to her tummy:) Gotta say, I have never seen a dog with so many different size nipples. She has big ones and little ones, thick ones and thin ones. Those pups are gonna being fighting over them.
December 24, 2009 Day 58
Gracie is acting really differenct today, I think something is going to happen. She goes from calm to restless. She starts digging and pants. I have been sleeping with her, and she has no problem waking me up when she gets restless. I don't think I can take many more days without my bed!
December 25, 2009 Day 59
Puppies arrived on Christmas Day!! First one was at 3:30pm on my living room sofa! Thank goodness for leather. The last one at 2:35am. It was a long day and needless to say my Christmas dinner was ruined, but that is perfectly o.k. Gracie had 13 pups and one of them did not make it. But, we are very happy to say the remaining 12 are happy, healthy and vocal. I will be posting pictures
shortly, but here are a few I took.
.
Puppy number 1
First 6 pups
Day - All dried off and looking good.
Day 1....Whew what a day we had yesterday! Everyone is happy and full.
December 28, 2009
First time parents..Brad and I were a little worried, we just didn't think Gracie was producing enough milk, so off to the vet we go with Gracie and all the puppies. Vet came in and took Gracie out of the room to check her, came back looked at the puppies. Said
" Everyone is just fine, look at them they are all sleeping and content." Gracie has milk, but the first couple of days it is the colostrum and the puppies are only taking a couple of ounces. She will be producing enough milk for all of them within a couple of days." But, within a couple of weeks we will have to suppliment because she won't have enough for 12 pups. It was well worth the visit and eased my mind.
January 1, 2009 1 week old
The puppies are sooooo cute. There are a few that like to sleep on their backs and a few who don't like that position. Mickey is the biggest of the bunch right now, he is the one everyone navigates too. Mostly they are just sleeping and eating. Gracie is a wonderful Mother. She is doing everything right, we couldn't be happier. She always has her eyes on the pups and whoever is holding one, as soon as she hears a whimper she is up and over and trying to take her baby back. Gracie has finally started to get her appetite back and is eating and drinking alot. We still have not allowed the other dogs near her or the puppies because Gracie will go into full protective mode.
January 5, 2009
The eyes are starting to open, they should all be open by the end of the week. Legs still are not working, but they know how to crawl all over the place, especially over each other. They have no problem finding Mom when they are hungry either. I think Gracie is getting a little ticked with me and my husband, everytime one of us gets home, we always go for "Puppy Time" and since they are usually sleeping we end up waking them all up and Gracie needs to calm them down.
Gracie was born July 28, 2007. Her parents are Big Red Chief out of Ole Plantation Bulldogs and Big Sky's Ranjun. She has been alot of fun to have in the house. But, being a bulldog obedience training was a must. Gracie did not disapoint, She came in 1st in her class. I was so proud of her..She came straight home and promtly jumped up on the counter and grabbed the hotdogs and headed outside. Oh well. We just keep working with her. She has been so much fun this past two years, we really feel that this is a dog that more people need to be aware of, to enjoy and discover for themselves.
October 17, 2009
Gracie is in heat, so we are making plans to drive out to Mississippi. Its about a 10hr trip, so my Husband Brad and myself packed up the food, water, toys and a blanket for Gracie and a pillow for me. We took off on Saturday morning about 5:30 am and I got my coffee. Gracie and I slept for a couple of hours because anyone who knows me, knows I am not a morning person. Gracie was very good on this long trip. She just settled in and when we stopped we would take her out to walk around and relieve herself. We got to our destination around 4:30 pm. Met Moose...What a beautiful dog he is. He is a very happy and friendly dog. Moose tried to introduce himself to Gracie, but she was not interested in any part of him...yet. We left for home, very sad that we were leaving our little girl. We have never left her with anyone this long before.
October 25, 2009
Got a call from John, Gracie and Moose had a successful encounter. My little girl is growing up.
October 28, 2009
Gracie and Moose have been busy this week..Oh my...What is my little girl doing.
October 31, 2009
Brad and I headed back out to Mississippi to pick Gracie up. What a wonderful site to see her. She was so happy to see us! I opened that car door and she bolted in the car probably saying "Get me outta here, you wouldn't believe what happened to me!" We know that she was missing us, whenever we stopped for gas and Brad or I would get out of the car Gracie would get very upset and start crying. Probably thinking we were leaving her again. But all in all we had a good trip home. Gracie was on her best behavior and I jumped in the back to sleep with her for awhile. We got home around 10:30 pm, and Gracie was so happy to get home. Greeted all her playmates Rocky and Matilda and headed around the house to make sure everything was the same.
November 10 , 2009 Day 14
There really is no guarantee to know that Gracie is pregnant. Unfortunatly they don't have pregnacy tests for dogs, and it is usually around 4 weeks to find out for sure. Friends suggested I go buy a pregnacy test to see what it said. I am not feeling like running around the backyard with a stick waiting for Gracie to pee on it! We will just wait and watch her for any differences we may see and the vet will do x-rays on December 16th. The only thing that I have noticed in the past week or so is that Gracie seems to be sleeping more. Other then that she is still my little girl.
November 27, 2009 Day 31
We really don't need a test to know our little girl is pregnant. Her nipples have started swelling considerabley, and as Brad says she is looking a little "thick". He always knows the right words to say. At this point the embryos are about the size of a walnut. Gracie does a lot of sleeping and is not playing with her toys as much. Her appetite has been something else. She has a ravenous appetite, and we really need to keep it under control. Gracie is still being very loving and is sweet and just wants to cuddle on the sofa. We are really enjoying this experience.
December 13, 2009 Day 47
Poor Gracie, she is just so uncomfortable. Unable to find the comfortable postion. Sleeps on the floor alot, seems to prefer the floor to the sofa. Gracie has that pregnacy waddle going on now, very cute to watch her walk. Nipples are large and swelling up and her belly has really swelled. I am really excited that we go to the vet on Wednesday to find our how many pups we can expect. By the looks of her we are thinking five to seven. The pups skin pigment should be all set by now and they just continue to grow.
December 21, 2009 Day 55
My poor baby is just huge!! X rays last week showed 8 pups, but by the look of her???? Gracie barely ate anything, A couple of nibbles but really not interested like she normally is. This is an indication that labor should be about 10 - 24 hours away. Just a waiting game now.
December 22, 2009 Day 56
Gracies temp was 98 this morning and 99 this afternoon. She is staying very close to me. You can hear those little heart beats when its really quiet and you put your ear to her tummy:) Gotta say, I have never seen a dog with so many different size nipples. She has big ones and little ones, thick ones and thin ones. Those pups are gonna being fighting over them.
December 24, 2009 Day 58
Gracie is acting really differenct today, I think something is going to happen. She goes from calm to restless. She starts digging and pants. I have been sleeping with her, and she has no problem waking me up when she gets restless. I don't think I can take many more days without my bed!
December 25, 2009 Day 59
Puppies arrived on Christmas Day!! First one was at 3:30pm on my living room sofa! Thank goodness for leather. The last one at 2:35am. It was a long day and needless to say my Christmas dinner was ruined, but that is perfectly o.k. Gracie had 13 pups and one of them did not make it. But, we are very happy to say the remaining 12 are happy, healthy and vocal. I will be posting pictures
shortly, but here are a few I took.
.
Puppy number 1First 6 pupsDay - All dried off and looking good.Day 1....Whew what a day we had yesterday! Everyone is happy and full. December 28, 2009
First time parents..Brad and I were a little worried, we just didn't think Gracie was producing enough milk, so off to the vet we go with Gracie and all the puppies. Vet came in and took Gracie out of the room to check her, came back looked at the puppies. Said
" Everyone is just fine, look at them they are all sleeping and content." Gracie has milk, but the first couple of days it is the colostrum and the puppies are only taking a couple of ounces. She will be producing enough milk for all of them within a couple of days." But, within a couple of weeks we will have to suppliment because she won't have enough for 12 pups. It was well worth the visit and eased my mind.
January 1, 2009 1 week old
The puppies are sooooo cute. There are a few that like to sleep on their backs and a few who don't like that position. Mickey is the biggest of the bunch right now, he is the one everyone navigates too. Mostly they are just sleeping and eating. Gracie is a wonderful Mother. She is doing everything right, we couldn't be happier. She always has her eyes on the pups and whoever is holding one, as soon as she hears a whimper she is up and over and trying to take her baby back. Gracie has finally started to get her appetite back and is eating and drinking alot. We still have not allowed the other dogs near her or the puppies because Gracie will go into full protective mode.
January 5, 2009
The eyes are starting to open, they should all be open by the end of the week. Legs still are not working, but they know how to crawl all over the place, especially over each other. They have no problem finding Mom when they are hungry either. I think Gracie is getting a little ticked with me and my husband, everytime one of us gets home, we always go for "Puppy Time" and since they are usually sleeping we end up waking them all up and Gracie needs to calm them down.
