This litter is co-own with Bonnie of Silver Hammer Frenchies.
Mamba & Dillon became the proud parents of a beautiful new French Bulldog litter on Feb. 6th. I like to document and take photos of the journey for both you and us as well. I enjoy looking back on litters past and collecting data on each one to apply it towards future litters.
Here is Mamba full of babies just before the delivery time. These photos are especially fun to look back on when trying to guess how many puppies we are to expect come delivery day.
Our girl showed signs of labor and based on her history of going from ZERO signs to pushing out puppies in under an hour, we were ready and did not want a replay of last time. After her temp dropped, and her nesting increased, we had signs of milk and panting, we called the Vet and brought her in. During normal business hours mind you. I’m sure of which the Vet and Tech truly appreciated this time.
She had 6 beautiful babies. 3 Boys & 3 Girls. We’ve been raising French Bulldogs since 2007. I suppose it was a matter of time before we had a clefty.
That time showed up with this litter. One of her precious little boys ended up having both a cleft palate & lip and a slightly off shaped head. Now most breeders probably would not share this, at least that’s what I’ve been told. To each is own, that is perfectly their right and I support that. I, however, want to be completely upfront and honest about our journey and share the highs along with the lows. Also, I am a data nerd like that and like to keep track of each litter and happenings. This is how I personally learn and grow more competent as a breeder.
I am far from experienced with a cleft baby, as I mentioned previously this being my first. So I felt extremely out of my element. Knowing I need the practice and experience trying to keep one alive I did consider this an opportunity to learn via first-hand experience and consulted with one of my daughters to see what she felt we should do.
Knowing we need the experience, but that it would 100% be at the expense of the pup, and that he would almost surely die in my inexperienced care made it a very difficult decision. Feeling perplexed, not sure what to do, I was told by our vet & other breeders that most breeders dispatch the pup at this stage. Which I feel is a very humane thing to do for the pup, but I am not there yet personally to be able to make that call when there is a chance at life.
So, after discussing with our Vet and the Tech, in the right hands, they have a 50/50 shot at living. Soon after I found out a litter prior to ours that same day had a cleft baby also and he was awaiting pick up from the experienced caretaker that gives them the best shot they can have at living. With a heavy heart, we decided to give him a chance at life and give the other little guy a littermate to cuddle with. We will happily donate to the efforts of those that work to give a fighting chance to such pups. Maybe next time, if it’s not so severe, I will be brave & strong enough to try my hand at it. This is an area I need to educate myself on further so when it happens again, I can feel better equipped to give it a go.
I wanted to do this little guy justice and share his story here with you all. I will never forget Mercio. He was our first.
We brought home the other 5 pups and Mamba has been a milk machine getting these babies good and fat. Marble, a blue girl, Maple, a sable fawn girl, Mocha, a chocolate girl, Mojo, a lilac fawn boy, and Monty, a blue boy.
I have been raising dogs since I was a teen. What I learn every year we raise pups, ever litter we have, every single time, I am learning something new. I don’t think you ever learn everything. I do know I am working decisively to acquire as much knowledge as possible with each litter to make me a better trustee of these little precious lives.
Our Frenchie girls tend to like to have babies around the holidays. I’m not quite sure why that is but it’s just been how it is for a while now.
She held out on Thursday the 4th, and Friday the 5th, but in the early wee hours of Saturday the 6th she decided it’s go time. One thing that was important to remember about her is when whe is ready, she goes from 0 to 100 very quickly. We made it with enough time this time that we did not have to deliver a puppy in the car. Yay us!
Calypso held out, she baked her babies to perfection. She did a great job of giving them the best possible chance they had at life.
C-section went according to plan. The Doc was in and out came puppy #1, the big blue beast of a boy, vibrant, loud, and ready to take over the world. That brings us to puppy #2 a gorgeous little chocolate fawn girl that looked just like Calypso did when she was a pup. She was not her brother. This little girl took a huge breath before all the gunk could get suctioned out of her airways and thus suffered from what is known as Wet Lung. That is when the puppy inhales amniotic fluid. That is a no no.
During a normal puppy birth, the pup gets pushed through the birth canal much like a baby birth, and usually, most of the fluid is squeezed out of the lungs and airways by the time mom gets the pup out. With a c-section that doesn’t happen. There is no squeezing through the birth canal but instead, they are removed from the uterine horns surgically and their sac is opened up. This little girl perhaps was eager to get out into the world and took a huge gaping breath far too soon and that breath caused her problems from the moment she was born. In the moment I knew working on her as long as we did was not the best move, I know what happens to puppies like this but you see… this was my 2 older daughter’s first c-section. In the moment of seeing new life you want to believe that it’s your turn for a miracle. So we worked on this little girl (we being the vet techs and I) for a good solid hour until she was finally breathing on her own and eating.
She was a strong active little pup but with a voracious appetite. However, something extremely odd about her was although she was breathing and eating and moving strongly she failed to make a single peep. In all of my years of raising dogs, I have never had one not make a peep that was this now vibrant and alive. 🙁 Her little chest was distressed, and even though on the outside she was active and eating, she sometimes sounded crackly when she breathed. We suctioned her around the clock, she cleared up, then sounded congested again. We did our best to keep her warm and keep her airways nice and conditioned but at the end of the day, late last night, she faded away. 🙁
You see Calypso is my daughter Ezriel’s dog. This was her first up-close experience raising a litter from the very start with me as a co-owner. This was a super hard lesson for both girls to learn their very first rodeo. We’ve lost puppies before, but this was the first time they witnessed it, this was the first time it was one of their own personal losses. I’m sure it will be something they will never forget. My daughter Ezriel took it extremely hard. All I could do was hug her and let her know that these are the sad truths to raising these wonderful babies.
