R.... Magic Bernese

I feel that right now breeding takes more than it gives…..

Since 2009, nearly 100 Bernese puppies have been born and grown up in my hands. From planning the litter to moving into their new families. Until this morning our record stood at 100%: every puppy that was born survived and moved to its new home in perfect health. There has never been a single broken tail tip, or even the slightest injury, to either the puppies or the mothers. Of course, this required me to be with the litter and their mother 24/7. I often slept with them in the whelping box. Every 2–3 hours I helped the mother feed and the puppies eat. I supported the slightly clumsier ones and supplemented large litters with formula so that the mother’s body would not have to carry such a heavy burden. And between feeds came all the other tasks, such as hygiene, pampering the mother, cooking for her, keeping everything clean and tidy, looking after our other dogs… it tested me physically and mentally, but it is a wonderful task. Watching those little mole-sized balls of fluff become more skilful puppies day by day. Catching their very first glance as their eyes open. Always buying them some new toy… watching them joyfully discover the world. These were the plans I had as I prepared for the arrival of the R-litter baby too. We even talked about how good he would have it. Plenty of milk, 100% attention, a super mum in Molly, and me there as a stand-in mum. 3 whole weeks off work that I would devote entirely to Him, just as I always have. There were some difficulties even at his birth, but we got through them well. Then 2 days ago, after the midnight feed, something changed in the blink of an eye. The puppy lost his liveliness and was no longer so eager for his milk. He got whatever we could give him from our home medicine cabinet, and in the morning we headed straight to the vet, where after oxygen therapy and all kinds of tests I took the mini bear home full of hope, knowing full well how unwell he was and that a critical 24 hours lay ahead of us. But we fight and we don’t give up. My husband and I kept vigil beside him until morning, talking about dogs, breeding, the difficulties, the joys…. But early in the morning the light went out of the puppy’s eyes and he lost his battle against respiratory failure and its complications. Professionally, we believe it was a congenital/developmental abnormality; the chromosomes had come together wrongly, and they gave this little angel 8 days. Nobody made a mistake; everyone did everything they could, beyond their strength… and yet it is a tragic day for us. As people, emotionally, as breeders… We always look for the positive and try to learn and grow from every situation. But we could neither have prevented this nor saved the puppy. The statistics over 16 years: 17 litters… 1 lost puppy… nice, nice, but painful…