It is all I talk about

People must think I am a little nutty... All I talk about is the puppies coming. Me: "Yea, next week sometime." "Yup, we are getting her x-rayed on Friday to see how many are in there." " Yes, she is getting fat, she has gained 15 lbs. so far." And I go on and on. These are the last few days there will be a little bit of normal life around the house. I am so curious how the cat is going to react to the new arrivals. Wow, as I am writing this I feel a little embarrassed, as I have friends that are saying these same sentiments but are preparing for babies.
The papers posted above are Bullet's hips and his pedigree. He has excellent bloodlines and shares some common ancestry with Fern. Bullet's litter mate Jacque, is the 2009 NAVHDA Versatile Champion. Which is a testament to the excellent breeding and hunting abilities these dogs possess.
I cannot wait for FRIDAY!!!! We will let you know what the results of the x-rays are this weekend!
*Click on the images to enlarge them.

Counting Down

This is the month when our little bundles of joy arrive! We have been especially excited for these puppies to arrive for several reasons. 1) We freakin' love puppies! (obvious, who doesn't) 2) We are overly obsessed with our dog (again obvious, we have a blog about her) 3) We are keeping a female from the litter!!!!!! We have been talking about our new puppy well since we got Fern, yea, 2 1/2 years ago. We have sooo wanted a friend for Fern from the beginning but more so in the last year and half. When we got Fern our roommate had two dogs that kept Fern pretty well occupied through her puppy stage. But since getting our own home she is forced to consort with just the cat. We go on lots of walks in the mountains and occasionally our dog friends join us. I am excited for Fern to always have her daughter close by, to give her an extra source of security, comfort and vice versa.
And hopefully this isn't a trend and we don't become dog hoarders, cause there are shows about that and I don't want to be on TV.
Well the whelping box is in place and the towels and sheets are ready. We will head to the vet in about a week and a half and they will preform x-rays to give us an idea of how many pups to expect. After that we will keep track of her temperature as a dogs temperature drops drastically about 24 hours prior to them going into labor.

Meet the parents

I thought I would post what I have about Fern's sire and dam. Or a least some pictures.
This first picture is Sherman (Flashpoint Vermont), which is Fern's dad. It isn't a very good picture of him but I couldn't get him to slow down. The illustrious, notorious and dog whisperer extraordinaire Mickey had to hold Sherman in place. And of course Buster (Jack Russel Terrier) was not about to be left out of the glory.
The second picture is of Yvette (Duchasseur Yvonne). Fern is almost a spitting image of Yvette. Yvette was known for her continuous wiggling behind and always having something in her mouth when she greeted you.

Sunday will mark 30 days from Fern's last breeding. We are on the downhill side of the pregnancy and she is starting to show. A month from now we will have rolly polly little pups! I am nervous and excited. Scott will most likely not be around for the delivery as he is in the field working on a Canada Lynx study.

Fern and Bullet meet, romance ensues...

*Bullet's photos courtesy of Greg Curtis, All rights reserved

Fern finally came into heat the second week of December. We shipped her off the same weekend for a romantic getaway to the metropolis of Choteau, Montana. She spent what seemed like the better part of December frolicking with her new found love Bullet (Griff D'Automne Silver Bullet). Greg Curtis from Ear Mountain Griffons and proprietor of Bullet took excellent care of our little Fern. Greg was able to successfully breed the pair multiple times over their "vacation" and we are hoping that Fern will successfully concieve puppies. If the breeding was successful between the pair Fern will whelp her puppies sometime around the end of February.

We picked Fern up on Christmas Eve and brought her home. But to her suprise, was not her home at all. All of our stuff was there and the cat "Clarkes." It took some explaining that this was her new home and that while she was gone, we had moved. (thank god she was gone). Moving is such a joy...we can only imagine how our child would have handled the maddness.

So now we wait... Hopefully in about a month we will be able to see the signs that Fern is with child(ern). Stay tuned for more information regarding Bullet and the pairs bloodlines.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Front

We spent last weekend up the Rocky Mountain Front in search of pheasant and grouse. Although we saw a few, we were not lucky enough to bag any. The bird population got hit really hard this May with a 2 foot snow storm which apparently froze hens on their nests with chicks and all. Sad, but nature can be cruel. We finally had the opportunity to meet Greg Curtis with Ear Mountain Griffons in Choteau, Montana. Greg owns the breeding rights to Bullet the male griffon we will be using to breed Fern with. Greg has extensive experience with breeding WPG's and will have the honors of chaperoning Fern and Bullet on their romantic gettaway. Greg told us that Bullet has a lot of white in his coat which will be a nice attribute to bring into the breeding, as Fern's coat is mostly brown.
We are just waiting for Fern to come into heat... It should be any day or week now. Should be a very exciting month, Fern being bred, we are buying a new house and moving, and of course Christmas.

Just for fun

Road Trippin'

Fern has been busy over the last month, with trips to Michigan, eastern Montana, and the emergency vet! The latter sounds worse than it actually was - details later. Our trip to Michigan included Fern's first Upper Pennisula grouse hunt. She performed well but our success rate was terrible - poor shooting - but Fern could not help but chase some of the birds before we could get to her. The learning curve is steep on grouse.

We had fun chasing pheasants in eastern Montana on the way back from Michigan. Unfortunately none were roosters, bummer!!! This past Thursday night Fern had a high speed collision with a set of elk antlers. After an expensive trip to the emergency vet, Fern left with a small puncture and a sore chest. We were slightly embarrassed that we overreacted, but Griffs are worth it, right? We did discover that the antibiotics that were prescribed didn't settle well with our girl. She was prescribed Cephalexin and as we found out it can cause upset stomach and lethargia. Fern is now back to normal after stopping the antibiotic. Anyway I just finished constructing her whelping box for her first litter, and hopefully more to follow. Above is a picture of her new baby bed, we can't wait!