My wife and I were trying to breed two of our long haired chihuahua’s a couple months ago...in the intervening time I was thinking my female French Bulldog Bella was stealing food from one of the chi girls and getting fat…
We brought Payslee (who we were hoping was pregnant, but I doubted she was), Bella t the vet, and as soon as Bel tipped the scale at 33.5 pounds I knew she wasn’t just nibbling a little extra kibble. Payslee was a little less than the last visit, so we knew she wasn’t knocked up…
Bella was close, but we had no idea who mated with her and when. The pups were alive and moving around in the ultra-sound, and the vet said they were “big”...maybe they were full Frenchie? At least 3. Seemed either unlikely or perhaps a problem (Bella and her son Tito are close, and we can’t fix Tito because of heart issue...). But I was REAL careful when the girls were in heat to keep the boys away, even Tito...(Tito doesn’t get along with the other male bullies...he’s great with all the chi’s and his mom)
So this trip to the vet was Thursday, March 28. Saturday I was trying to clean up and get things ready, but I had tickets to see a hockey game...so only could do so much. Sunday was Easter and a trip to be with family about an hour away...we brought Bella in case she seemed ready to go.
On Monday (April 1) Bella’s temperature went down, and she started to pant. We were expecting her to need a C section, Karen brought her to the vet...we left her there a few hours and then brought her home. She was a bit stressed there, and really was showing no signs of labor.
So Monday night, we’re done with dinner, I’m watching a hockey game in the family room of the house, Karen calls my cell phone (lucky I had it with me!) — “WE’RE HAVING PUPPIES! RIGHT NOW!!!”...I got to the bedroom in time to see the first pup come out and get the first pic…
“They have tails”
Chi-mix. Oh well, better than inbred, right? No sign of long hair, so the suspicion is Lincoln. He has a history.
We called a local Emergency Vet, they had no doc on staff...so referred us to one in Tampa and another in Clearwater — both fair rides. The docs a the Clearwater ER helped us, told us to wait an hour, see what happens. 45 minutes later #2 came out (a girl from Bella, finally!), also black. An hour after that #3 came in, and then #4 about 10 minutes before midnight. We waited another 90 minutes or so before being confident that she was done.
The vet’s office was busy, and they know we have a big crew...we’ve never done a delivery, but between my sister in law (a very experienced breeder) and the ER vet and our own knowledge, we did fine. When we finally saw the vet yesterday the pups had already gained significant weight, and they sound and look fine. Bella shows now post partum issues, either.
4 weeks to get some dewormer, 8 weeks for shots...they are going to be CUUUUUTE, seem to have bulldog snouts and chihuahua foreheads…