Rogue's Advent Calendar

4 weeks to grow... I mean go.

Belly getting rounder, belly hair thinner, and milk faucets getting bigger... yep! TM x Rogue babies in there!!!
Since we did progesterone testing we are pretty certain the due date is Christmas Eve/Christmas Day... give or take a day or two. But I've got a pile of potential names based on Christmas movies and songs. And I've put up a countdown widget for the litter's expected arrival.
If you would like to be considered for one of these puppies please contact me. Babies will be black or brindle.
***Correction (11/28/11): babies may be black with tan or brindle points, brindle, red/sable. See chart here. Both Rogue and TM are brindle and carry tri.
##### Further understanding (11/29/11): TM is homozygous for brindle. (Rogue probably is too.) He carries red and tri. (As does Rogue as all brindles carry red and Rogue's sire was tri which means he had to give her a tri gene.) Brindle is dominant and only one gene is needed for it to be expressed. So if the babies have a red base they will be brindles, some will carry tri. If they express the tri (they have to receive a tri chromosome from both TM and Rogue so only 25% chance) they will be black with brindle points. If you're confused by all of this I understand. It's taken me 2 days of reading whenever I had a little spare time to make sure I have it right. I might at some point draw up a Pundett square but the bottom line is there will be mostly brindle babies and a few black/brindle-pointed babies in The Christmas Litter.

Thursday... waiting... it is the hardest part.

Her temp dropped last night, Kim came over and spent the night and just went home again. There's been nesting and some panting. But nothing significant yet. Someone said a watched pot. I'm going to take a nap... yeah right!

Any Day Now...

Panda's "due date" is November 4th... give or take a day or two.

I've had her girth measurement up on the sidebar for a while now. It's reassuring that puppies are growing. She's up to 30" around now!!

And starting last night I am keeping track of her temperature. As many of you know, the temperature drops below a certain point and the puppies will be born within the following 24 hours. It doesn't look like anything is going to happen today but I have been fooled before so there is always someone home.

All the supplies are piled up and ready.

Since I work nights, my daughter is sleeping near her at night to watch for any signs of labor and my co-breeder, Kim, will be over to help when things get going whether I'm home or not.

I sure hope I get to be here...

Preggers Panda

So Chloë, do you think these babies make me look fat?

Little Doubt Now, Lucky Number 7?!!! and Happy Birthday Celie

I think we can see that she has definitely got somethin' goin' on in there. Every time I look at her she seems to have grown more round. And she still has about 4 weeks to go!!! (Due date is actually March 19th.)

One of the developments in pregnancy is the bitch will shed the hair on her belly to make it easier for puppies to find the milkshake valves. Chloë and Lexie were examining her and noticed: "She's only got 7 nipples!!" Sure enough there are only 3 on one side and the usual 4 on the other. Two are aligned directly across from each other but the rest are staggered. I've never heard of this phenomenon.

And today she gets extra cookies and belly rubs for another reason. She turns 3 today. Happy Birthday my Special Girl. Love you!!!