Breeding Program: Good Surprises Continue

By Brother Luke

River is a Bora - Maverick offspring, and she was bred for the first time this spring.  Hoss is the sire of this litter. River was due to have eight puppies at the end of July. She lives with a foster family, so when her time to deliver draws near she comes to the monastery, and my duty is to keep watch until she is ready to have her puppies and then to accompany her in the whelping process in the kennel. Keeping watch means that overnight she is in my room.  When that happens, my other dogs are relegated to their crates in the mud room on the floor below our bedroom wing. It would really not work to have four other dogs in my room if River starts to have her puppies there. I have had that experience, and there is no way that I could manage the newborn puppies and mother AND four other dogs.

            We were at that stage with River, but for several days she continued to eat her food normally, did very little nesting, and was quiet in my room overnight. So, on Saturday night after she had eaten some of her dinner, I left her in the kennel and planned on taking her back to my room again that night. She had done more nesting on Saturday, but I didn’t think she would have puppies until possibly the next day. When I got back to the kennel to do my closing chores and get River, SURPRISE!  She had already had four puppies all by herself. This was her maiden litter, and she did a great job on her own.  No, I wasn’t tempted to leave her to do the rest on her own too!

            One of the newborns was not breathing strongly, so for the next 30 minutes I massaged her and breathed into her lungs, and she slowly began to gain strength. I also had to weigh the four puppies, tie on their I.D. rickrack neck ties, list them on our record chart, and clean up the room and the pool, which of course had lots of soiled papers and blood. Meanwhile, River was busy taking care of her first four, two boys and two girls, like a well-tested trouper. She was efficient with the first four and was equally efficient with the next four. They turned out to all be boys, and we were finished by 2:15 AM.  Not a bad rate at all. A puppy every half hour on average. Often it can take all night. 

            As I write this the puppies are almost two weeks old and are growing and doing well. Mother is continuing to do a great job. The last time I whelped a litter, the surprise came at the end. This time it came at the beginning.  It’s a wonder and a joy. Yes: it’s work, but it is worth it.

            Another bit of good news also came this week. We got word from Germany that Fuller, the Jaci - Kahn boy that I am raising, made the breeding program. The x-ray report came back with excellent hips and elbows. So, I am obviously very happy that Fuller, Kahn’s son, will keep that line alive in our program. He is a great puppy, and we hope he will be an excellent sire for many litters too. 

To view videos and photos of the New Skete puppies and adult dogs, please visit our Facebook page.