Enchante French Bulldogs

The long anticipated breeding between Ch. Affabulls Girl's Best Friend and Ch. Starhaven BB Sweet Temptation took place January 2nd and 4th.  Tootsie was purchased in part because her strong pedigree matched Cody's impressive lineage.  Not only did the breeding look great on paper, but the blending of the two frenchies would create my perfect frenchie:  a large lovely head with a great ear set; strong rear with great movement; a roached topline that's not overdone; substantial bone; deep chest; a great tuck-up; and wonderful, outgoing and sweet characters that personify everything attractive in the frenchie breed.  Hopefully this link will take you to the pedigree of the puppies -- Puppy pedigree

The babies were born by c-section on Saturday, March 1st.  Please enjoy the following puppy journal that outlines the experience.

Day 0-1 (March 1):  As I waited outside the surgery room for Tootsie to be put under anaesthesia, I kept thinking "I shouldn't have done this."  It took about 11/2 hours to get Tootsie put under anasthesia because the catheter kept popping out of her small veins.  All four of her legs were shaven in an attempt to insert the catheter to no avail.  Finally a small "butterfly" catheter was inserted in a rear leg to anesthetize her, which meant she would not receive IV fluids during surgery -- something potentially dangerous for frenchies.  With Tootsie sedated, the surgery began.  And boy, did it go quickly.

We had a team of 4 outside the surgery room waiting for the puppies to arrive.  This was my first litter, and although I had read about  what to expect when the puppies arrived, I had never seen it.  The puppies get a part of mom's anesthesia and come out of their sacs still and lifeless.  It's up to the puppy team to replicate what would happend during a natural birth -- they must rub them and remove fluid from their lungs.  The puppy team uses towels to dry and rub the pups, and many methods to revive them and coax them to take their first breaths. 

The first puppy arrived and was handed to my mother  -- a beautiful pied girl.  The puppy was stained from meconium in the amniotic sac, which is not the way you want to start your first litter.  It meant the puppy was in distress.  My mom worked diligently and was rewarded with the first of the five puppies that was revived.

 Next came another pied girl.  She was handed to frenchie breeder Kathy Waller who went to work right away, rubbing and suctioning fluid.  Kathy had the second baby that pinked up and took a first breath.  In a few more minutes, the second baby was squawking and put in the incubator to keep her warm.

It was time for me to take my turn.  I was handed the third baby -- completely white with a black spot on the head.  The limp, lifeless body slumped in my hands.   I rubbed vigorously and held the puppy head down, and I watched fluid drain onto the table.  I continued rubbing and suctioning fluid through his mouth and noise as he slowly became pinker.  He took one quick breath, but another didn't follow.  I kept rubbing, thinking I was doing something wrong and gladly passed him to assisting veterinarian Dr. Dawn.  With her confidence, she soon had the third puppy ready for the incubator.

 The fourth puppy was a cream -- the smallest of the bunch.  She was handed to my friend Nancy to revive.  Nancy, a former vet tech, worked tirelessly on the little girl, and the puppy started to pink and took a first breath, but stubbornly refused to continue.  A drop of dopamine was placed on her tongue.  Dr. Dawn finished with my pup, and took over what Nancy had started.  The cream was only 5.75 ounces.

The fifth pup was a brindle.  He was revived by veterinary assistant Pat.  With plenty of extra fluid in his lungs, Pat had a challenge on her hands.  I thank God that she's done this hundreds of times before.  Pat got the brindle started, and he was on his way to join his brother and sisters in the incubator.

The cream still remained unresponsive.  Nobody wanted to say anything, but I could read in the faces of the puppy team that everyone was concerned.  The team refused to give up.  Finally, after almost 30 minutes we heard the first cries of the cream.  She joined the rest of the pups.

The final tally on pups:  3 girls and 2 boys.  We have #1 pied girl (6.5 ounces), #2 irish pied girl (7.25 ounces), cream girl (5.75 ounces), extreme pied boy (7 ounces) and brindle boy (7 ounces).

Day 1-7:  Every breeder tells you how difficult it is to raise a litter of frenchies, but I'm the person who has to experience it firsthand before I believe it.  Well, now I believe it.

Tootsie has turned out to be a great mom.  She's very attentive and she loves to hug the babies really close.  They're just sooooo small so I'm constantly hovering to make sure that she's not laying on any of them.  Tootsie's on 5 different medications, plus a vitamin supplement.  I have a chart to make sure that she's getting everything at the proper time.

The pups are doing great, but I'm constantly worried.  I'm up every 11/2 hours to make sure that they're eating, peeing and pooping.  They're all gaining weight.  I was visited by a "lovely" stomach flu on Day 3, so my husband took over puppy duties and I got some rest.

Day 7 (March 8):  We made it through the first week!!  The pups are doing great and so is Tootsie.  The tally on the pups is as follows:  #1 pied girl -- 11 ounces; #2 irish pied girl -- 11.5 ounces; cream girl -- 10 ounces; extreme pied boy -- 12.25 ounces; and brindle boy -- 12 ounces.

Day 9 (March 10):  The pied boy and the cream girl have opened their eyes.

Day 11 (March 12):  The rest of the bunch have both eyes partially open.

Day 14 (March 15):  Wow -- two weeks under our belt, and everything is going well (knock on wood).  The tally for the pups:  #1 pied girl, 17.5 ounces; #2 pied girl, 19.25 ounces; cream girl, 19 ounces; pied boy, 22 ounces; and brindle boy, 20.25 ounces. 

 Day 21 (March 22):  The pups are three weeks today -- and we've had lots of firsts.  All of them are trying their paws at walking on all fours.  The big male that we call Spot gave a bark for the first time.  And, all of the pups got to try a little bit of solid food -- some gruel.  Of course, Spot had no problem lapping it up.  The smallest pied female seemed to enjoy it, too. 

The tally on the pups: #1 pied girl, 23.75 ounces; #2 pied girl, 27 ounces; cream girl, 28.5 ounces; pied boy, 30 ounces; and brindle boy, 28.5 ounces.  The weight on the first pied girl is a bit disconcerting, but I think she might be a smaller female, like her mother.  She is just as active as the rest of the pups and eats with gusto, showing no signs of illness.  I'm keeping a close eye on her just the same.

After a good meal...

Day 37:  It looks like we have 5 pairs of ears almost totally up.  The puppies are growing and acting like big dogs now:  we hear lots of barking and growling.

Day 40:  Puppies is not an accurate name -- they should be called poopies.  Thank goodness they're cute!!!  More pictures of the puppies taken this week. 

Even though the pied girls have different markings, we still refer to them as the twins.  You can tell in this pictures how similar their faces are to each other,

Nap time...

 April 23:  The puppies got their first taste of the outdoors today.  For the most part, they just enjoyed playing with Mom.  Here's a video of their first excursion outside.

 May 18:  The twins went to their new homes today.  I'm so happy that they have found their forever home.  I'm ecstatic that their forever homes happen to be with the co-breeders of the litter's father, Cody. 

Spot, or Tag as his new name will be, is going home on Memorial Day.  Luckily for me, Spot/Tag will be living a few blocks away with one of my closest friends.  I know that Spot/Tag will have a happy life with his new family....

July 22:  After a LONG decision-making process, we have decided to keep the cream girl, Enchante's I'm No Angel or Trouble, and the brindle boy, who has no official kennel name but is affectionately called Riddick.  My little girl has been infatuated with Trouble since we brought her home, and she's by her side from the moment she wakes up until the moment she goes to bed.  My oldest son has taken Riddick under his wing and refers to the puppy as his "child."   As a family, we have made the decision to do whatever it takes to keep everyone happy and healthy and in our household.  We haven't made these decisions lightly and realize there will probably be some bumpy days ahead, but we all love these animals and are committed to them.

As for the Enchante kennel line, it remains to be seen.  We believe that Riddick will grow to be a future stud dog with much to contribute to the breed.  We have no plans for breeding our bitches for at least 3 years.

Trouble and Riddick will be entering the show ring in September -- so look for them there!  We'll be at Nationals and I'll be updating the Show Ring page with photos from upcoming shows!  Thanks for visiting and reading my thoughts.