Breeding
Our Philosophy
We feel blessed to have discovered the Hovawart and gotten two great dogs! Addy and Tango are everything hoped for as family members with us and our children, as guardians, as jogging / hiking / swimming buddies, and with their great health (knock on wood) and temperament. We are also grateful for the friendships we've made with American Hovawart Club members including Susan and Hedda and many others.
With the help of our club we select dogs for the the longevity of their lines, health, temperament, athleticism, and structure. Just as in the rest of life, there are things that can't be controlled in breeding but we will do everything we can to produce dogs with those qualities as well as others such as excellent conformation. The first thing is to find a great sire and dam (for our A-litter we imported a puppy from Europe that was very promising, and expect to fly a dog and owner over from Europe for our B-litter). Both sire and dam must pass tests for character, hips, eyes, and thyroid and intangibly be a good match for the breed. The second part is to provide a safe, stimulating environment where the puppies can thrive and begin to develop the temperament and socialization they will need throughout their lives. For example, we find the ideas in Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development
Whelping Box
Bitches need a quiet safe place to whelp and nurse and one that will keep the puppies protected and prevent them from scampering everywhere before they (and we!) are ready. After doing a bit of research and using your friendly neighborhood Google, we decided to construct a whelping box based on the plans graciously offered by the McEmn Great Dane Kennel (and apparently master carpentry). This was a bit more involved than it seemed at first glance, but we are happy that we went this route rather than buy a "prefab" whelping box kiddy pool. Inside we've got Rick'S Puppy Pan 15
Whelping Box before pig rails with Fleece Pad and Puppy Pan on Tarp
McEmn's whelping box had a lot of features we liked: smooth surfaces everywhere for the pups, no bottom so that any damn-pup squeezing is cushioned by the carpet below. Plus, it can be disassembled for the next litter. Susan tells us that her whelping box is similar. The changes we made to McEmn's plans were not a lot more than changing the 5'x5' to 4'x5', still plenty of room for a Hovi to lay down and nurse her pups.
Addy in Whelping Box, one week before Whelping
A-Litter
We used an ear/infra-red thermometer to measure Addy's temperature; that's what we use for our kids, we had extra plastic shields, and we imagine Addy prefers it to the alternative. Her temperature was relatively steady from 3/16-3/18 from 99.8-100.7. She'd been sleeping in her whelping box to get her used to it and one of us was with her (she's wants to be with her humans!). At 04:00 3/19 she "snuck" past Inga and came up to our bedroom panting. Her temperature was 99.3; the game was on. 24 hours give or take until whelping. At least that's what the books and vet told us.
Well, sure enough at 05:31 on 3/20/2010 there was our first puppy; by 6:51 the 3rd puppy was nursing.
A recently cleaned and still wet A3 whelp finding nursing rather agreeable.
And soon there were eight, by 9:28 to be specific. Six females and two males, all of them Black and Gold.
Amber Coast Hovawarts A1-A8 Nursing
Addy was relaxed and the kids were fascinated with the new arrivals
Māra with Addy and Pups
After that we were all starting to relax a bit and cleaning up and (re)-weighing the puppies, continuing to monitor Addy's temperature, conferencing with Susan Garka, and other things. Then, six hours after A8 later A9 shows up, another little girl. By phone the vet tells us there's nothing necessarily to be worried about so we continue with some trepidation .... And two hours later A10 made his arrival the last one. We think.
Sometimes the puppies sleep, in addition to nursing, giving Mom a chance to get some chow herself.
All ten little hovawarts napping and Addy taking care of business.
Māra and Thomas were fascinated with the new arrivals
Māra Thomas Inga Addy and the A Litter
Huddling up provides comfort for the pups.
Two Puppies
Nursing and Sleeping are primary activities
Addy resting with her pups
The inverted nipple technique
Inverted Nursing
Copyright 2010 Philip Long. All rights reserved.