Monday, August 11, 2014

Two Weeks To Go

Not enough room for Max to share Fern's chair.
 
Poor Max is used to being able to share the chair with Fern, but she's decided that pregnant ladies do not have to share - anything.  Bed, toys, or treats.  She's always had a soft mouth, taking her treats gently, but not anymore.  Now she has to be warned to take it easy.  She's ravenous, but at least she hasn't started stealing.  We often joke that one of the signs of pregnancy is when normally well mannered ladies start stealing off the counter.   Fern hasn't done that, but there's no question that she's pregnant!
 
Time to start getting the whelping area done, but first I have to move out/give away/sell some of the aquariums on that side of the basement.  I'm trying to close down some of my fish tanks and keep most of the tanks in the fish room, rather than spread throughout the basement.  Too many tanks are still set up and running, but are fishless as their inhabitants died from old age and have never been replaced.  I love setting up new tanks, but hate taking them down.  I could add more fish of course, but 40+ tanks was a lot of work!  Hope to keep it at about 20.  Have been redoing some of the tanks I'm keeping, and have added some new fish.  Clown Loaches, some gorgeous Black Lace Angelfish, and some more Bolivian Rams.
 
Time to start the guessing game on how many puppies Fern will have.  I'm guessing somewhere between 5 and 8.  Hopefully not 12 like her cousin Mariah just had!  At least 5 should give us something to pick from.  I'll keep a pup if one strikes my fancy, and another will go as an Agility Dog, but hopefully good enough to show in the breed ring as well.  And of course we need companion pups!  Happy, healthy, attractive, good natured companions.  It would be nice to have more than one or two show potential pups, but I'd be perfectly happy with two.  Fern and Ramsay were the two show pups from Pauli's litter, and both had nice show careers.  Hopefully Fern Louise can produce a couple of them too.
 
Two weeks to go!