June 9^th           Jaycee to vet for a blood test to see how high her progesterone level is.  Jaycee is in her 5^th day of season.  Her results of Progesterone level is 0.45

June 12^th         Jaycee to vet for 2^nd blood test to see how high her progesterone level is.  Jaycee is in her 8^th day of season.  Her results of Progesterone level is 0.57

June 16^th         Jaycee to vet for 3rd blood test to see how high her progesterone level is. Jaycee is in her 12^th day of season.  Her results of Progesterone level is 2.60.  Left for Landenberg, PA

June 17^th         Arrive @ Strickland Kennels.  Jaycee is in her 13^th day of season.

June 18^th         Jaycee Bred to Georg naturally with a 25 minute lock.

June 19^th         Jaycee bred to Georg 2^nd time naturally with a 25 minute lock   Had an additional blood test taken by Nonantum Vet Clinic.  This was the 4^th test.  Jaycee is in her 16^th day of season.  Her results of Progesterone level is 7.4

June 21st        Jaycee bred to Georg for the 3^rd and last time naturally for a 20 minute lock.  Jaycee is in her 18^th day of season.

June 22^nd        Picked up Jaycee and headed back home to Florida.

June 23^rd         Arrived @ home in Palm City, FL

July 14^th          Jaycee to vet for a pregnancy test.  Her test was positive!

July 22^nd         Over a period of 3 days I switched her food to puppy food same diet (lamb and rice) Natural Choice!  Also I started to give her a prenatal vitamin and a 500mg natural calcium vitamin over the counter.  She is approximately 35 days pregnant.

July 31^st              I set up the whelping box and installed a window A/C unit in the garage.  She is 44 days pregnant and visibly shows physically.

August 10th    Today I put the puppy warming pad in the whelping box, which will keep the puppies temp at 101 degrees.  Jaycee has been sleeping in the whelping box now for 1 week.  She knows instinctively that this is where she will have her pups.  She has filled out physically to where she was the last time she was pregnant 3 years ago.  Today I stopped by the vets office to get 2 syringes filled with OXITOCIN which is used to induce labor.  I will give her these shots if she requires them during labor; however I will try and wait till she is done.  This is done to make sure she is completely cleaned out and it will start the process for the mother's milk to start producing antibodies for her pups!

August 18th    Jaycee's temp dropped down to 98* this morning and her water broke about 1100 hours.  She has stopped eating which are all signs that within the next 24 hours she will be giving birth!

August 19th   Jaycee starting having contractions @ 0400 hours and she delivered her first healthy male @ 0800 hours.  He was healthy and weighed 1 lb.  At 0850 hours Jaycee delivered another healthy male weighing 15 ounces.  Because this was her second litter she took charge cleaning and stimulating the puppies so they are able to nurse on their own.  Two hours past and @ 1100 hours she delivered her first healthy baby girl weighing in @ 14 ounces.  Another two hours past and @ 1300 hours a second healthy baby girl was born.  After cleaning up her newborn 1 hour later @ 1400 hours another healthy pup arrived, her 3rd son!

August 21st    All 5 puppies are now 2 days old and doing extremely well!  Jaycee is eating up a storm and taking care of her pups like any good mother would!  The pups are acting like their 10 days old already crawling all over  the whelping box trying to find their mother.  The pups eyes are still closed and will not open until their 10 days old.  I have weighed them and their weight is increasing day by day!  

August 22nd   Today Jaycee's milk started to change from a yellowish color to pure white which is normal.  For the first 3 days the mother provides all the antibodies the puppies will need for the rest of their natural life.  The next 3 weeks the pups will continue to breast feed from their mom until Jaycee is ready to start weening them off.  At that time I will start making puppy formula and introduce them to their new way of eating from bowls!

August 24th   Today I weighed all the puppies and placed color ribbons around their necks to keep track of who is who!  The blue ribbon is a male and he weighed in @ 1.12 oz.  The red ribbon is a male and he weighed in @ 1.09 oz.  The green is also a male and he weighed in @ 1.07 oz.  The yellow ribbon which is Pam's puppy weighed in @ 1.05 oz.  Last but not least is another female with an orange ribbon weighed in @ 1.08 oz.  I will be weighing them everyday to check their weight; this is done to make sure all the puppies are gaining weight and are healthy.

August 27th   Today is Sunday and it's been  nine days since the pups came into their little world!  The all have doubled their size and 1 male wearing the red collar and 1 female wearing the orange collar have opened their eyes.  Mr. Blue started to walk but is a tad tipsy (needs to stay away from the Captain  Morgan). 

August 30th   Today was slightly hectic, many things to do!  We are again preparing for a hurricane; Hurricane Ernesto!  Florida is under a state of emergency.  However, that won't stop Jaycee being a mom or I making sure she has all the things necessary to keep doing her job so the pups stay healthy and grow into fine GSD Champions!  I weighed all the pups tonight and again they all gained about 2 ounces more then the previous day!  Today all their little eyes opened and they are starting to see things for the first time in their life!  So I need to make sure what they see are happy and delightful; such as their mother and me!

August 31st   We got lucky and Ernesto turned out to be a minimal tropical storm!  We received approximately 4" of rain and winds around 40-45 mph with gust reaching 60 mph. 

                        The pups are doing great and they weigh in as follows: Mr. Blue 2 pounds 14 ounces;  Mr. Red (with the white collar band) 2 pounds 9 ounces;  Mr. Green 2 pounds even;  Miss. Yellow 2 pounds 4 ounces;  Miss Orange 2 pounds 4 ounces.  After weighing them I proceeded to cut their little toe nails!  This is very important because when they feed off mom their little nails can dig in and scratch mom around her breast and it can become infected; which we don't want to happen!  All the pups nails had little hooks on the end of each of their nails.  You can use a dog clipper, but I chose to use a regular nail clipper which I believe is easier @ this point in time!  You hold their paws one @ a time and slide each little nail between the clipper till the little hook grabs and you cut it off!  It was an easy task as long as you can manage to rub the pups belly while doing it!  If they get use to that which they did, the rest of their life when you cut their nails becomes an easy task!  Not to mention I will save you all about $25.00 per-vet visit just to clip their nails!  You all can thank me later!

                        Also in the whelping box I placed an indoor-outdoor carpet covered with newspapers so the pups will not slip and slide while learning to walk!  There is a reason for doing this!  We want to avoid puppies spreading out their little legs so they don't become what we dog people call SWIMMERS!  A swimmer puppy moves about with both front legs out to the side of the chest, in a paddling motion. They appear to be swimming when they move, hence the name "swimmer puppy". The hind legs trail out behind with little or no movement. The description of the puppy is flat chested, flat abdomen, the front legs become warped, moving outward and upward, the hind legs become splayed. When nursing, the puppy usually arches its back extremely in a backward movement. They do not flex at the neck anymore.  This is not a good sign, so we try to do everything we can to avoid this!

Sept 5th         The pups are 17 days young and they are doing fantastic!  All of them have great personalities and the girls are showing that they are dominant and establishing they are the boss and won't be pushed around by anyone or anything!  Sounds familiar (just like mom)!!! 

Sept 9th          We reached a mile stone today, the puppies are now 3 weeks old!  They are all doing great and gaining weight everyday.  I had to repeat what I did on August 31st and cut their little toe nails again because they were growing fast and as sharp as a razor blade.  This morning I removed all the wood 2x4's inside the whelping box.  They no longer need that, and they were getting stuck underneath the boards.  This afternoon I will begin making them their puppy cereal (goats milk, human rice baby cereal and cottage cheese).  I will introduce them to their new food one at a time letting them adopt to eating something other then their mother's milk.  Don't worry, Jaycee will still breast feed them intermittently .  Once they get use to eating out of a bowl individually, they will adopt to eating together.  This is a fun process and I will try to film it while doing this task.  I lifted the board in the kennel so mom can get away when she wants too and still be near by if her children need her.  Yesterday I recieved all the AKC registration papers for all 5 pups.

Sept 11th        Today has been 5 years since the terrorist attacked our great country.  This morning while watching Fox Cable News, memories I wish I never had appeared again.  Hopefully our country will remain diligent and stay several steps ahead of the terrorist so we never have to experience what we all saw on September 11, 2001.  Last night I introduced the pups to homemade baby cereal (see September 9th log above)!  I took each pup one at a time and introduced them to the cereal.  They seemed excited and intrigued by the new taste and texture!  Each pup ate until they were full.  Since last night I have fed them 5 times and when the door opens to the kennel, they all come running!

Sept 13th
This morning I went to the vet's office to get the pups de-wormer medication (Strongid T ).  Each pup got 1 cc of the yellowish banana tasting medicine, which they loved!  Jaycee got 8 cc's too as did my other German Shepherd Wyatt (Jaycee's son from her 1st litter) who got 10 cc's.  This is a preventative measure to prevent worms which all pups are born with; although none of my pups and Jaycee showed any signs off having worms to the present day.  Last week Jaycee and the pups stool was checked and it came up negative.  When the pups reach 6 weeks of age they will with their mother of course take a trip to the vet's office for their first series of shots.  Then @ 8 weeks of age they will go back to get their 2nd set of shots and the Florida State Health Certificates to take with them to their new homes!  This morning after giving them Strongid T, I blended up canned and dry puppy food with the baby rice cereal and goats milk along with water and feed them a great tasting meal (lamb & rice).  What can I say; "they loved it"!

Sept 17th        The Pups are 4 weeks and 1 day old today.  It's Sunday and I spent a good part of the day shredding newspapers for the kennel.  I have been feeding the pups 4 times a day and in between my feeding they still want their mom to feed them too.  So I let that happen 3 times a day and mom still sleeps with them @ night.  Mr. Blue & Mr. Red (white collar) weigh in @ 5 pounds 13 ounces.  Mr. Green weighs 5 pounds 5 ounces.  Miss Yellow weighs in @ 5 pounds and Miss Orange weighs 5 pounds 7 ounces.  They are very active and as I said before the girls rule!!!

Sept 29th         I have had a very busy week caring for the little pups!  First all the pups are 80% paper trained which is a good thing!  I rearranged the kennel and took out the divider and placed the shredded newspapers on one side.  The other side is where the pups spend most of their time sleeping and playing with their toys!  When they have to empty they all go to the paper side with an occasional accident on the rubber mat.  Makes my life easier.  I have noticed that the all have ball drive and they are establishing their alpha ranking which will change as time goes by!  First and foremost baby Zoe (Miss Yellow) is the leader of the pack.  Coming in 2nd is Mr. Green which was the smallest and the last one born; however, he has caught up in weight and in personality!  Third is Miss Orange which is now the biggest pup by 1 ounce.  Forth is Mr. White and he is showing signs of being a jumper and he is very proud of his ability!  Fifth is Mr. Blue, but he is very sure of himself and comes running with the bone in his mouth as soon as I walk up to the kennel!  Remember this will change as the pups start to grow bigger and start to strut their stuff!  Below is Miss Zoe!  Quite the pose...

Oct 10th          It's been over a week and a lot has happened!  To start with last Friday October 6th, all the pups traveled to the Vet's office to receive their health check-ups and shots!  It was clear this was a new adventure for them.  Although I was a little nervous the pups showed no fear and accepted the reality of big needles and being touched all over their little bodies!  They were totally ok being in a strange place and seeing all the people in the vet's office making a fuss over them!  They somehow reminded me of being a Hollywood celebrity; a conservative celebrity of course! (maybe I should let them pay the vet bill)!
The pups are all paper trained already and there has not been an accident in the last 4 days!  Thanks to mom teaching them where to go and empty!  They are eating just puppy food now dry and once a day usually on their  last feeding I mix in yogurt one day and cottage cheese the next day!  It's a great source of calcium which they need.  Most of them have @ least one ear up and they go up and down which is normal!  I plan on taking them out in the backyard this weekend and as long as mom is with them she will herd them and keep them safe!  Mom is still feeding them because she wants too and it great for the pups to have the natural process of receiving antibodies and nutrients!  Look for pictures over the weekend!

Oct 25th         This afternoon I gave the 4 remaining puppies their 3rd dose of (Strongid-T) de-wormer.  I gave it to them again on an empty stomach.  This will be they last time I give them the above meds!  All the puppies are between 16 & 19 pounds and are doing extremely well and are well socialized and they now go outside in the backyard everyday since they had their heartworm protection!

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