I always feel like the Summer flies by in a blink of an eye.
A lot of fun things happened around here the last few months and I have kept you in the shadows because it has been incredibly busy.
So I guess I'll just jump right into it!
We had another litter of puppies (our 4th litter) born May 3rd 2019. Lucy had 7 puppies but we did lose 1, so we had 6 beautiful little fluff balls!
They all found loving homes and it was exhausting to say the least wrangling 6 puppies and a baby at once, but we managed!
If you want to read more about that litter click here!
About 2 or 3 weeks after little Lucy left our care she fell very seriously ill with her family. We spent many days with her in the emergency care and eventually she came around, sort of. The vets could not figure out what was wrong with her. Every test came back normal. They wanted to send us to PEI to have an MRI done on her brain, which as going to cost thousands of dollars that none of us had. So she went without a diagnosis but we treated her odd symptoms with antibiotics and steroids which seemed to help. She went home with most of her normal self back aside from a wobble. She was like that for a few weeks.
Unfortunately, a few days after weaning her off her medications she had another serious relapse. She could not walk, eat, drink, stand, nothing. She lost her ability to be a dog, but her mind was still sharp. The owners were comfortable to give her a few days and see how she did but there was no improvement. We had to say goodbye to this sweet, sweet puppy. And I'm telling you, she was SWEET. It breaks my heart over and over every time I think about it.
They said goodbye to her and a few days later a necropsy was done and determined that Lucy had a deformity in her skull. There was a small space between her spine and her brain which collected fluid and put pressure on her brain resulting in brain death. Dogs that present with this don't live to be a year old. There is no treatment. There was nothing that we could have done to prevent it and from what the vets tell us, it is not an inherited thing. It can show up on any puppy any time. It just happens. Her condition is also called hydrocephalus.
I arranged for this family to get a different puppy from a breeder in Quebec to help with the loss of Lucy as this family has a young boy at home who missed his puppy very much. Anyways, I don't enjoy sharing sad stories but I felt like Lucy story had to be told.
I'm due the end of February!
We want to give Lucy a bit of a break because she had 3 back to back litters.
So our next litter really depends on how the transition is between having a second baby, recovering from a C section and then of course when Lucy actually goes into heat (that part is important).
So we will see when it gets closer how things happen! But we will keep you in the loop.
The last exciting thing I have to share with you is that we had a wonderfully successful Open Farm Day this September!
We had about 200 guests and raised $150 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada, and $40 for Farm food!
If you want to see all the photos click here and have a peek!
-A