With the help of my trusted puppy assistant here is the long awaited pregnant at 7 weeks photo.  Maggie is doing so well, we can feel the puppies moving so easily now, this evening I could see the puppies moving about ~ so exciting!  I tried to film it but unfortunately missed it!  I will try again later!

The puppies colouring will now be showing!  (Mother Nature knows how many blacks and yellows we have… whereas we will have to wait another two weeks!).  The hair has just started to grow.  They will have nearly doubled in size from 60mm to 100mm!

Today has also been an anniversary of a special event at Marchstone.  Today is the day we celebrate Stanley’s birthday.  Our very first litter of puppies started to arrive in the evening of 30th June 2009.  Happy 6th Birthday to Harry, Stanley, Ruby, Tango, Sunni-Jim, Rocky, Murphy, Megan.

For Stanley’s birthday we bought him a new toy…..that you can attach plastic bottles to…though he is having to share it with a certain woof who is already getting alot of attention.

Maggie having a bit of fun with Stanley’s new toy! hee hee!

Here is a picture of Maggie, she is blossoming bless her – I think she is finding it very strange with so much activity going on in her tummy.  We have now increased her meals to three a day.

She is getting quite a midline crease on her tummy!

The news for today…. is that I can feel the puppies moving!  Amazing!  It is such a thrill to feel the little ripples under your hand!

The other news – is that I have received my report from the Kennel Club regarding my Assured Breeder Scheme to confirm I fit all their requirements!  Yay…hopefully wont be long until I get my certificate now.

Lots of parcels have been arriving with all of the products I like to have on standby so I am pretty much ready for the big event now!

Maggie is blooming, a truly sweet girl loving to have extra cuddles, I imagine her tummy does feel rather weird to her!

Just look at her tummy!!

As a precaution I have had Maggie scanned today and to see the difference in development from the 4 week scan to the 6 week scan was amazing.  The puppies were wiggling around like crazy and the definition of their spines were far easier to see.  The scan certainly showed a lot of puppies so fingerscrossed we are blessed with lots of healthy puppies.  Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance for a photo of the ultrasound this time.

It is at this point that we would be able to determine the sex of the puppies. They will also have defined toes!  There approximate size will be 60mm in length.

Here is my first photo of Maggie side on!

Katherine has been helping me get photos of Maggie’s tummy!

We do have lots of toys already, but part of the fun in having pups is buying lots of cute toys! I expect I will be getting a couple more before long!

My last update Maggie was five week pregnant when the embryos were approximately 35mm long,  the eyelids and ear flaps would have formed.

The above photograph was taken when she was 5wks and 1 day!

As Maggie is getting bigger, she has started to slow up already.  Her Mum Molly didn’t actually slow up until just before the birth so it proves the obvious that all dogs are different with Maggie being no exception.

We have been busy ordering Maggie’s special food, which is Royal Canin.  We will also be weaning the puppies on to the Royal Canin.  I shall start changing her on to this new diet from next Tuesday.  I have also ordered milk in case we need to feed the pups ourselves.  I have a few other things to get for Maggie and the big day to ensure that all runs smoothly.

The photo below has been taken today.

Maggie has a nice tummy developing – it is hard to show how big she has got as she seems flatter in the photo!

Maggie with her Mum Molly – soon to be Grandma! 

Maggie is preferring to lay flat – cant say I blame her!

Maggie is doing really well.  Blossoming!  We will continue to walk her until she feels she doesn’t want a walk.  It is important that the bitch remains as fit as possible for her to get through the labour as easily as possible.  We are busy making preparations for our forthcoming litter.  This is involving many lists of things I need to buy to ensure I have all the necessary supplements for the care of Maggie, I also make sure I have powdered puppy milk just incase Maggie is unable to feed her puppies.

We were lucky enough to have another scan on Maggie yesterday.  We were able to see details of the puppies that I haven’t seen before on a scan.  The heartbeat of a puppy, the spines and a jawline on one of them!  We could see the puppies wiggling around which is fascinating to see.

Up until 28 days the pups are classed as embryos, during this first stage the brain and spinal cord have been developing, all of the organs will be forming, as well as the limbs, head, eyes and face will have been growing.

At 29 days the sex of the puppy can be determined.

Maggie is at the stage of pregnancy where the puppies are now classed as foetuses.  They will be curled up in the classic foetal position.

I will get a photo of Maggie’s expanding tummy tomorrow – for her 5week photo!  It is lovely to think we will have puppies arriving in four weeks time!

So excited to be updating the website with news of puppies!

We will be expecting the arrival of our Maggie/Ralphie puppies for roughly 14th July.

In the scan photo there are 3 puppies – she certainly looks full of puppies so in five weeks time we will find out how many puppies we are given.

Everyday I ask Maggie if she has puppies in her tummy and everyday I wonder what the true answer is!

Maggie is enjoying lots of extra cuddles and is having folic acid added to her diet.

Here is a photograph of her at three and a half weeks post mating.  Fingerscrossed she is keeping a mothers secret!  (I did try to get a photo of her standing but she was needing a cuddle so I found it impossible as she followed me around the garden!)

Maggie is booked in for a scan on Wednesday 10th of June, in the meantime we will just have to keep guessing!

I am delighted to be able to give an update that we have had a mating with Maggie and Ralphie.  Which will hopefully see us having the pitter patter of tiny paws in 9 weeks time.

Please take a look at the Puppy’s 2015 page for further information on health test results of the parents.

We will be confirming if Maggie is in pup in approximately four weeks time.

Exciting times for us, as Maggie will hopefully be giving us our third generation of Marchstone Labradors.