:Susan sent..Champ on his way out the front door

Here’s what a nice sunny day can do even for an “Old Blind Dog”..

Susan sends..Panchen photos

 Clearly, today, everyone in the house is beginning to feel comfortable. 
 My dogs, who have been wary, have finally gotten it that there really is
 enough to go around.  Panchen seems to understand now that no one is
 jostling him on purpose.  The anxiety has left and we are now in full
 enjoyment of our bigger family. 

 And Panchen is looking better by the minute.  The new ends of his
 haircut are beginning to fall into place; he’s looking up instead of
 holding his head down;  he comes running to the door when I come home….

 I think the story is now complete.
 
See more photos. Panchen’s Travelin’ Man page is chronological. Be sure to scroll down near the bottom of the page for the latest photos of Panchen and Friends.

Puppies! She’s gonna have puppies!

I can hardly believe it. It’s been almost a year. Dragging my feet, but at wit’s end trying to get Gompa puppies into this world, last spring I enlisted the help of a veterinary reproductive specialist. Dr. Milan Hess came highly recommended. She’s a specialist, complete with DVM and DACT behind her name. (Kathy, we need to investigate..) She’s a breeder herself; some rare breed from Finland. Just returning from a two-week trip to Finland, we could hear her latest import in another room. “I traveled to Finland to bring back a yapping dog. I could have gotten one right here!”, she said as she spritzed the alcohol solution onto Nagpo’s tummy. Almost instantaneous, as she placed the sensor on Nagpo’s tummy, she declared, “She’s pregnant.” She moved the sensor to show us a more puppy-like image.

See the puppy? Ya. Well, even if you were there, it was difficult. The beating heart, however, was very apparent. As was the next. And the next. In the image above, the smaller circle on the left is the head. The large circle on the right is the body. The tiny comma-on-its-side shape in between is the heart. The beating heart. The beating heart of a – as of now – live puppy. There was another. And another. Three beating hearts!

Dr. Hutchinson, another veterinary reproductive specialist who presents seminars around the country to breeders, said his practice is an emotional roller coaster. People are either really, really happy or really, really sad. Having left Dr. Hess’s office in the past year, after each ultrasound – 5 to be exact – really, really sad, today I finally rode the high side of the roller coaster. What a ride!

The ride isn’t done. There maybe some hills to climb, some curves to navigate, but we’ve made it this far. FINALLY!! Here’s to the rest of ride being smooth. No bumps allowed!

The Travelin’ Man

Life doesn’t always work out the way we want it to. Gail asked me if I was going to write about it. She thought I would have to write about it. She’s right. I have to write about it. Her suggestion for the blog entry’s title is All’s Well That Ends Well. It is my sincere wish this happens. Panchen is now with three ‘of his clan’ – as Ceese would say – and Susan. He’s been there less than 24 hours. I am grateful he’s there. I’m grateful the light bulb finally went on in the empty attic that is my brain. There will be adjustments, things to work through. Panchen is 11 years old. He’s blind. He’s been passed hither and yon. I think it’s important to document this (hopefully successful) transition. It may provide ideas, answers, hope, help and inspiration for others in similar situations. I’ll be keeping the ongoing exchange between Susan and myself, along with helpful hints from Vickie (who has fostered a blind dog, penned Lessons From A Blind Dog and successfully placed Magoo in his forever home) right here on Panchen The Travelin’ Man’s Page.

Rinchen is in the dog bed, Panchen looking on. Next is Sammy and on the far right is Raji. 

Very disappointing news about Ranpa

My sister Kelly’s Gompa dog, Ranpa, has been with me since November 30th for breeding. Her heat cycle and hormone levels were textbook. She bred naturally with Keeper, in addition to one artificial insemination by Dr. Milan Hess who is a veterinary reproduction specialist. Yesterday Ranpa saw Dr. Hess again for a scheduled ultrasound. The larger dark spot on the left is Ranpa’s bladder. The smaller dark spot is a possible resorption site, a uterine cyst or uterine fluid.

She is not pregnant. This is very, very disappointing news. In 2007, not having had much luck at all with the Gompa dogs reproducing, I embarked on a journey to learn everything I could about modern reproduction tools now available to breeders, to utilize these tools to help with the Gompa dog breeding program. I have always been a ‘back to Mother Nature’ breeder, so this was a big leap for me, something I titled Reproduction 301.

After many trips back and forth – one hour one way – during the 2007 spring breeding season, still no puppies. With the exception of one, the females had conceived, but resorbed. Dr. Hess and I looked at possible factors that could be causing this. The viability of the gene pool was one. Age of mothers was another. And yet another was their environment. The last one was ruled out when I compared breeding records between the FFT dogs with me and the Gompa dogs during the same time frame. The FFT dogs had ‘missed’ once; a repeat breeding resulted in 4 puppies the next time around. Meanwhile, there were 12 attempts at Gompa dog litters, resulting in 5 full-term pregnancies. Two of those consisted of one dead puppy. A total of 8 live Gompa dogs have been born at my house since their arrival in 2001. Not very encouraging…

After that disappointing round, I arrived at Plan B, incorporating Dr. Hess advice to breed at a younger age. I added a young male, not a Gompa dog, but a compatible dog in appearance, size and heritage. His lineage, the entire lineage traces back to the 13th Dalai Lama. At the time, Julie disagreed with this. She thought I should stay with the original intention of keeping that lineage intact. I thought there would be no lineage at all if I didn’t introduce ‘hybrid vigor’.

Keeper is not yet two and sired a litter of 7 (AKC) puppies for his breeder before coming to me for an extended stay. Besides being fertile, he offers ‘hybrid vigor’ and the opportunity to reintroduce some important attributes necessary for optimum health – like full dentition and sound patellas. My original plan was to breed him to a couple of the Gompa girls, particularly those that are closely related to the young males I have available. Given the latest news, in addition to what we’ve previously discovered, Julie has changed her opinion about utilizing Keeper and suggested he be bred to all three young females I have available to me. The thought has crossed my mind too.

We live. We learn. We keep soldiering on. Was there something in that Breeder’s Life about not giving up? Perhaps the definition should be stubborn? Stupid? Willing to beat your head against a concrete wall? Willing to throw money to the wind? :::sigh:::

Nagpo, Ranpa’s littersister, was bred to Keeper on December 23 and 25. Both these were natural breedings. I hadn’t planned on having Nagpo ultrasounded, but now I’m going to. I need to know if she did conceive, if she’s still pregnant or if she resorbed. Keep your fingers crossed!

This next year really is ‘do or die’ for the Gompas. Maybe the reason they’re with me is something else entirely…that’s something to ponder.