Chyna-Gazer Litter

Chewie/Artie litter born July 19, 2003


Chewie Click on name for more information	Click on picture to enlarge	Artie Click on name for more information

On Thursday, June 19, 2003 we took Chewie in for an ultrasound to determine pregnancy. At approximately 10:35 a.m. we had the pleasure of easily viewing 7 fetuses. The vet stopped looking at that point and looked at me and said "I do believe you have a belly full of puppies." We would like to share the ultrasound pictures with you.

Click on picture to enlarge

In the above photo's note the dark circular areas with the bit of lightness inside. The dark area is the sack and fluid, the light area inside is the fetus. It is hard to see, but I wanted to give you a chance to see what they look like at 30 days on ultrasound. The one photo has the fetus marked on the picture.

The fetuses are approximately 30 days old. They are around 14 to 15 millimeters in size, and are developing spinal cords, eyes and other organs.

During the 5th week the embryo will develop toes, claws and whisker buds. They start to look like puppies and grow dramatically in size.

In week 7 they develop skin pigment, and grow even larger. Their hearts are beating. They continue to grow and develop in week seven and begin to move during week eight. It is possible for them to survive outside the uterus by late in the eighth week.

These puppies are due July 19, 2003 and will be delivered via C-section. Chewie is scheduled for an x-ray on July 14, 2003. It is a safe procedure as the development of the pups is completed by this time and their skeletons are calcified enough to see them on x-ray. The vet and I will then try to count skulls to determine how many puppies I can expect. Last time we counted 8 skulls and we had only seen 5 fetuses on ultrasound-Chewie then delivered 9 puppies by c-section. X-rays do not always show us all of the puppies. Looks like we might be in for a large litter--time will tell!!!!


	Pregnant Chewie in June

On Monday, July 14, 2003 we took Chewie into the vet for an x-ray. We do this to better determine how many puppies to expect. This is usually done approximately 55 days after the breeding.

The x-ray was not a very good one as Chewie is extremely large and we had some difficulty taking it. We counted 8 skulls on the x-ray, but it is still possible that there could be more puppies then that--time will tell!!!!

Click on picture to enlarge

As you can see from the above pictures, Chewie was quite at home on the x-ray table. These pictures were taken while we waited for the film to develop.


	Click on x-ray picture to enlarge

If you look carefully at the above picture (enlarged) you can see a couple of the skeletal outlines of the puppies. This is what we try to count to give us a better idea of what to expect at delivery.

I can also feel the puppies moving, and the vet heard the heartbeats while he examined Chewie. Things are progressing nicely and we will soon have pups. Chewie is scheduled for a c-section on Saturday, July 19, 2003 at 8:15 in the morning.

On July 19th at approximately 8:45 a.m. 8 beautiful puppies were born to Chewie and Artie--6 males and 2 females--all are sable but 1 dual female. Chewie came through the surgery without problems and was spayed while on the table. All puppies weighed in at 1 lb and more--below I have placed some pictures of Chewie and the puppies.


Cleaning puppy	Chewie and pups	Chewie and pups-2

Happy Chewie	8 beautiful puppies	8 puppies-2

Sleeping with pups	Showing color of some of the puppies-sable	Keelie and Taylor kissing puppy

Keelie staring at pups		Keelie and Chewie looking at puppies