Ah, Technology

So much for resolutions!  Thought I would wake up by 5:30 this morning, since I always do.  Nope.  Today I woke up to the alarm clock, leaving me short on time.  Must have been tired!.

Holly & I went to visit the nice people at IGH Animal Hospital, where they did a blood draw and took down the appropriate information on when Holly came in season, when she had her previous blood draws and what the progesterone readings were.  Because they can do the testing in house, we had the results back an hour later.  He ovulation date was either 9/18 or 9/19, and because eggs have to ripen for a few days but because sperm lives a few days after a breeding and can "wait" for a ripened egg, Holly's breeding dates were 9/19 - 9/23.  Because we are doing live breedings rather than chilled or frozen, we don't have to be more specific than that.

Although Holly had not been interested in Argus the previous night, they suggested that we try her again that evening, and if we did not get a breeding we could bring her in for an AI - just to be sure we covered all bases.  I explained this to Argus, and he said he'd be glad to save us those precious dollars.  Holly concurred, and we got a breeding.  She wore a muzzle for the first breeding, just to be sure did did not take exception to Argie's advances (he's kind of a pushy guy).  Everything went just fine, Argus got the job done in his usual speedy fashion (he does not believe in foreplay), and Holly stood and wagged her tail the whole time they were tied.  When we were done, Argus rolled over and had a cigarette . . .  No, just kidding, but Holly grabbed the squeaky fish and started flinging it in the air and squeaking it madly.  And she had a big smile on her face.

The cool little info sheet that we got as an email after the progesterone results also gives the appropriate date for an ultra sound (to confirm pregnancy) and the x-ray (to count number of pups) as well as listing the whelping date as +/-2 days - November 20, 2012.  The puppy due date is not tied to the date of breeding but to the date of ripened eggs being ready for fertilization (2-3 days after ovulation).  Ah, technology.