Friday, Feb. 29th - Away from home!

This blog entry is for Linda, so she won't pick on Scott any more!

We're in Oklahoma, helping Scott and Angie move back to Garden City. While here, we got some new pictures of Ethan!!

A big shout-out back to Jenni, Lee and Katelyn for watching Sadie and the pups!! Thank you so much for taking care of them while we are gone!

Feb. 26th - Eyes Open!!

Feb. 26th - Almost two weeks old!!

The pups started opening their eyes last night and today. Linda changed out the cardboard and added some towels, and now the new footing is allowing the pups to move around much better. We can see them starting to stand on all fours and walk instead of sliding around the box!!

I think I heard Katelyn say...."I can open my eyes too Grandpa"!

Sadie is recovering well from her surgery. She has a good appetite, and is doing a great job with mothering the pups. We handle the pups a lot, and she seems to be accepting that very well!! (But she is always watching to see that we don't walk off with one!!)

Here is a video of one of the pups with it's eyes open. You can hear it trying to suck on Linda's chin!!

A tough time....Feb. 18th

We have had a rough couple of days lately with Sadie and the pups. Here is the long version of what has happened...

As most of you know, Sadie delivered 10 puppies on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 13th and 14th. one was stillborn, but 9 were healthy and were doing great. Sadie took to mothering well, and seemed to be in good health and doing a good job with nursing and watching over the pups.

On Monday morning, Sadie ate normally, and appeared in good spirits. Linda came home and fed Sadie at noon, and although she was not interested in her food, she seemed to be ok . The puppies had appointments at 3:00 pm to get tails bobbed and dew claws removed (something that should be done at about 3-4 days after birth). When I came home to get the pups, Sadie seemed very melancholy and sedate, but I attributed that to all the after-birth discharges and the fact that we were taking the pups away. She had to stay in the yard, away from the pups in the garage, and it seemed she was upset about that! (Note the tail bobbs!)

After dropping off the puppies with our vet, Dr. Christensen, I returned home and stayed out in the backyard with Sadie. She did not want to play, which was unusual for her, and instead went into the kennel and into her doghouse. She definitely was not acting normal, and at the same time seemed to be starting to swell in her abdomen area. Around 5:00 pm, Linda and I returned to pick up the puppies, and told Dr. Christensen about Sadie. He indicated there could be several things going on, some normal..some not, and that we should watch her and call after hours if we were worried. When we returned home with the pups, Sadie rejoined them in the garage and let them nurse, but did not seem to be her usual self with the puppies, and instead started to act disinterested. By 6:00 pm, Sadie was still nursing, but things did not look right. Although we didn't want to, we called Dr. Christensen and told him what was happening, and he told us to bring her in and he would check on her.

Sadie was rapidly getting worse at Dr. Christensen's office. She was having difficulty standing, and her swelling in the abdomen seemed to be getting bigger. After consultation with KSU Emergency Clinic doctors, x-rays and a vaginal exam to be sure that there were no further puppies still in Sadie, it was determined that Sadie had a condition called GDV . The technical name for GDV is "Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus". This occurs when a large-chested animal's stomach will rotate up to 360 degrees, closing both openings of the stomach, which forces the stomach to swell. (As we found out later, this condition is the 2nd leading killer of all dogs, only behind cancer, and can be fatal within 12-24 hours of onset. At this time, we still do not know what caused the twisting of the stomach. If you have any large breed dogs, please do some research on this, as it can be a very speedy killer. )

Dr. Christensen tried to pass a tube down to her stomach to release the trapped air. Because the twisted stomach openings were closed, he was not able to enter the stomach. He next took a hollow needle and open syringe and stabbed it into Sadie's abdomen and into the stomach to press out as much gas as possible. After all this, Sadie was still not doing well, and he recommended that we rush Sadie to Manhattan. He did not know if she would survive the trip, but she had no other options here. He gave Sadie a sedative and we returned home.

I packed up some clothes, took the seats out of the van (with Lee's help) and prepared an area for Sadie to ride close to me. During this time, Sadie was in the garage with the puppies and the rest of the family. She was shaking and unable to stand, and losing control of her bladder. We all said what we thought was our last goodbyes to her, and I rushed her to Manhattan. I broke a few speed limits that night, something I rarely do! Although she was very somber and stoic through the trip, her condition had not worsened by the time we got to Manhattan. (The KSU vets think the procedures that Dr. Christensen did allowed her the time to get to Manhattan.)

The doctor's at the KSU Emergency Clinic examined Sadie and determined she did indeed have GDV, and prepared her for emergency surgery. The surgery itself involves a long incision on the belly, then a de-rotation of the abdomen (Sadie's stomach was rotated 180 degrees, and had probably been even more before she got to Manhattan) , and finally a tacking or attaching of the stomach to the abdomen wall. While inside, Sadie was examined for any additional damage that occurs during GDV, such as damage to the spleen, blood vessels, abdominal cavity or heart. Sadie seemed to be in pretty good shape on these issues, and handled the surgery well.

While Sadie was in the vet hospital, Linda, Jenni and Lee took over feeding duties. They had to bottle feed the 9 puppies every 4 hours, and it took about 1.5 hours to feed them at each feeding. They also had to persuade the puppies to pee and poop, as they don't do this by themselves for the first week! It was quite a lot of work! (A sad note..one of the puppies passed away while Sadie was gone. We won't know for sure, but chances are she would not have made it even if Sadie had still been here.) Here are pictures of Jen, Linda, and Lee (behind the camera) as they worked hard with the pups!

Sadie checked out of the veterinary hospital Wednesday afternoon. We stayed in Manhattan for a while to be sure she was stable, then arrived in GC late Wednesday evening. The vet hospital would have normally kept her through Thursday, but with pups at home, the doctors wanted Sadie to return to the pups as soon as possible. They agreed to let me take Sadie home, as long as she was in direct supervision through Thursday, Feb. 21.



So far, Sadie is doing well with the pups, and has resumed her motherly role, which we hoped she would do. Her incision seems to be good after inspection this morning, and it does not appear that the feeding pups are causing any damage.




Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes while we have been gone....I know they made a difference. We want to especially thank Dr. Christensen and his staff in Garden City, and Dr. Gerald Sargent, Dr. Dirsko Von Pfeil, Dr. Karen Brenner and 4th year student Joan Talbott for their wonderful help and support!

I hope anyone with a large breed dog reads this blog and becomes educated about GDV and it's deadly potential...having the knowledge and being able to react quickly may save the life of your beloved pet.

Here is a video of Sadie reuniting with her pups after the GDV surgery!! (Note: The red tint is from the infared heat lamps we used to keep the pups warm.)

Day 4

Thanks to Jen and Lee, we have some video of the chow line!! Sadie handles all feeding duties with the pups....we just watch and enjoy!!!! (Note: The red tint is from the infared heat lamps we used to keep the pups warm.) NOTE: This video was taken before Sadie's GDV surgery.

Sadie and the puppies are doing great. The whelping box, heat lamps and heaters are keeping them plenty warm, even through nights like tonight when it is going to get down to 10 degrees.


Sadie is enjoying getting out for breaks now, and even had time to roll in the grass and have a little fun. She is pointing at cats again, and locked up on a turtle dove as it walked across the alley! She sure wanted to go get them, but after coaxing, she released her point and finished her outdoor business!!


She is still very protective of the pups, even with Linda and I. She will let us and the kids come up and see the pups in the box, but if we try to take one with us to hold, she must be right by that pup, to make sure we treat her right!



The pups striping is beginning to disappear on some of the bodies, and they look less like "silver-striped" tigers and more like Weimaraner pups! The one pictured here, Miracle, is has a solid silver color on his body, but still some striping on the face. Miracle had the roughest birth by far, but has been an aggressive eater!!

Sadie Jo Ack's First Litter

This blog will follow Sadie Jo Ack and her new litter of pups.

Sadie is a 4 year old female Weimaraner and has been an excellent pet. Although a true hunting dog by breed, she is a wonderful house pet and great with our family, including our 10 month old granddaughter. I have hunted in the past, and may take it up again, just to get out into the field with Sadie...she sure seems to have all it takes to be a good hunter.

The sire is Gunner, a one year old. Gunner comes from a strong line of hunting Weimaraners, and has already shown to be an excellent field dog.

And so it begins....!

Sadie broke her water around 6:45 pm on Wednesday, Feb. 13th. Around 8:10 pm, she delivered her first pup - Blackie!!

Here is a little video of the second puppy at birth. This one is a video of a breech puppy, where the puppy comes out backwards. The puppy was fine, and has been doing great ever since. If you listen to the audio, you can hear us talking to our son Scott, who was calling to tell us about the birth of his first son, and our first grandson, which happened at the same time Sadie was giving birth! It was a busy, but terrific night!! (Note: The red tint is from the infared heat lamps we used to keep the pups warm.)

Sadie had more work to do, delivering 10 pups with 9 surviving and 1 stillborn. 2 of the pups were breeched and came out backwards, but were doing fine from the moment they came out. Here are some pictures shortly after the pups were born...

The 8th pup had a difficult time with the delivery. Her sac had burst somewhere before exiting the birth canal, so she had a difficult time moving thru the canal. Although she was in the correct position to come out, her feet were extending out with her head, and Sadie was having a hard time pushing her out whithout the aid of the sac. We immediately tried to help, as we could hear the pup whining before we could see its head, and Sadie acted in distress. After much struggle, Sadie got enough of her out so that I could assist with moving her out. After about 5 minutes of just the front of the head being exposed, Sadie finally gave us enough of the pup to allow us to pull with her contractions. We were concerned she would be hurt, or worse, that Sadie would be hurt, but "Miracle" and Sadie did great!

Sadie followed up with 2 more healthy normal pups, finishing up at 7:52 Thursday morning, Feb. 14th. We now have a box full of squirming, whining furballs!! And Sadie has picked up mothering like a natural.

ALL TUCKERED OUT!!!

A TIRED BUT DUTIFUL MOTHER!!

I will post more information later about the sale of the registered Weimaraner puppies.

By the way, an even more important event occurred on Feb. 13th. Our first grandson, and 2nd grandchild was born!! Way to go Scott and Angie!!!

I have had some requests to show some pictures of Sadie before the puppies....here are some pics when she was a little slimmer!!

Sadie with her sister Thena...being ornery as Weimaraners can be!!

On point...at a robin!!


Same robin!


He just won't go away!!


Maybe if I sneak up....!!


Still after that robin....but this time in the shade!!

The little guy that created all the fun!!