The Story so far…..
For those of you that have been following the blog, you will know that we are in the middle of breeding our lovely black labrador, Tilly. So far, we have done all the necessary health tests and have had good results. Finally, after keeping us waiting, she has come into season, we are waiting with baited breath for the day to come when she finally ovulates and we can take her to see the stud dog.
Well the big day has dawned. We have sweaty palms and feel like lambs to the slaughter as we take our unsuspecting dog to see her stud dog.
Thankfully we are put at our ease by the experience of the stud owners. It certainly pays to use experienced breeders.
The stud dog owner internally examined Tilly as she attempted to "prepare her" for the stud dog to do his business. Whilst this was unpleasant to witness, as no one wants to see their dog yelp in pain, it was necessary to ensure that Tilly didn't associate pain with the stud dog, otherwise she would have been unlikely to stand for him and we would not have had a successful mating.
Once Tilly was ready, a muzzle was placed round her nose, to ensure that she didn't whirl round, snap and take a chunk out of the stud dogs ear! Tilly is the most sweet natured dog imaginable, but according to the stud dog owners, in their experience, even the most mild mannered dogs can turn into a crocodile with snapping teeth if they take exception to the boy dog!
Thankfully after a bit of dancing around and frantic pawing to try and get the horrible muzzle off her nose, Tilly eventually stood still for the stud dog.
After the boy dog had "performed" the stud dog owners gently manouvered both dogs hind legs into a more comfortable position and they stood there for a few more minutes letting nature take its course.
The dogs essentially lock together for a number of minutes and they cannot be separated. They are almost back to back at this stage, and it looks terribly uncomfortable for the male dog as he appeared to be bent round a bit like a banana.
Whilst the dogs are locked together, the breeder took a seat (whilst holding the dogs on a lead) and patiently waited for nature to takes it's course. Eventually, after what seemed quite a few minutes, the dogs finally separated. Tilly was led away to our car, where she quietly recovered from her ordeal!
We went and had a cup of tea with the stud dog owners and also settled up with them. They gave us the Pedigree certificate for the stud dog, and also gave us a copy of Form 1 from the Kennel club, which is an Application for Litter Registration. This is where we have to choose names for the puppies and register them with the Kennel Club. Apparently we can do this online, but we have been asked by the breeder to send the copy to her first, so that she can add the sire's details and she will also provide a pedigree certificate with the puppies names on.
The only problem we have at the moment, is that we are not sure if Tilly has ovulated yet. Normally, we would be sure from the blood tests that are taken, but in this case, we have had to second guess, as the Jubilee Bank holiday weekend has fallen in the wrong place and the Laboratory which analyses the blood test results is going to be closed for an extended period of time. The vet at the lab, has suggested that we mated Tilly on the bank holiday Tuesday and then have another blood test taken the following day , to check when ovulation has taken place.
Watch this space for the results………
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