Gary Greene’s Memories from an Old Hunter….#38
As a very young child, my memories are poor at best, but I knew that it had been over fifty years, since I witnessed one of our dogs giving birth to puppies. With that thought in the back of my mind, I always wanted to supervise the entire birthing process with one of my own dogs and the follow up caring of the puppies. Once I became single at age 54, I was able to make my own decisions without consultation with any high command, and I went forward with that plan.
Nothing in my life has been more rewarding than being in the delivery room when my two sons were born. So to a lesser extent, in 2009, this old man felt that my dog having a litter could also be another exciting, fun and rewarding experience. It was all of that and sometimes, maybe too much more.
I had purchased a beautiful chocolate lab that became a loving family member, a great physical specimen, and an excellent upland bird dog. As a first time breeder, knowing my Hershey’s traits, I felt I had the perfect dog for my first liter.
Hershey's pup, Elsie at five weeks. Three years later, she had a litter. (2011)
After my divorce, I had bought a small home in Milwaukee’s south side and was neighbors with a hunter that had an impressive looking and a fine hunting chocolate male. So initially, he and I agreed to breed my Hershey with his sexually inexperienced, four year old male. For all you first time breeders, just putting an in heat female with a mature male doesn’t always produce a favorable result.
After I did my homework, I followed all the guidelines and knew all the procedures of when to determine my female was at her peak for breeding. I thought I had everything under control, but it takes two dogs to tango. As we learned, the four year old male was unwilling to cooperate. With tongue in cheek, I suggested that maybe his dog had an alternative lifestyle, but the owner responded with a stare that told me, he didn’t think that was particularly humorous. I do have an actual theory for why his male did not attempt to sire my really ready and willing female. I found out that for that dog’s entire life, he was spanked on his rear end and yelled at with a: “That’s Naughty!” every time, he tried to mount an object, small child or an adult’s leg. That punishment became a learned behavior and if he attempted to mount my female, he was wrong and he would be struck again. Anyway, that’s my theory!
Greene taking Hershey's six week old pups for a walk. (2011)
After a few days of further attempts and with our window of opportunity diminishing, I took the stud male and Hershey to a clinic that was 30 miles away, and we paid the female veterinarian to attempt to collect semen then proceed with artificial insemination. Let me tell you, I could have lived a full life, without ever viewing that whole new scenario with dog and vet attempting to produce semen. I will take that vision to my grave, without ever describing that procedure to another human. The male dog also did not cooperate during that entanglement. So after failing with all efforts, a year later, I proceeded with an experienced stud dog and a professional breeder, Waterdog Specialties owned by Doug and Patti Kennedy of Waukesha.
I felt that a spring or early summer delivery date for the pup buyers would be the best selling time, so the following spring, I took Hershey to meet Kennedy’s Turbo, a tall, beautiful, mild mannered, field tested, black lab male. I had never witnessed two dogs breeding and while I was holding Hershey’s head, Doug was aiding the two dogs with the process. Again for me, for this also being my first time, this situation was difficult to observe, as the entire act took 15 to 20 minutes. As a dog owner who loves his dogs as if they were family, it is almost, I say almost, what I would suspect it might be like watching a family member. I’ll leave it at that. I must say that when I became more experienced with the entire dog reproduction process, I knew what to expect and became more adjusted during Hershey’s second breeding and my Elsie’s only breeding.
On April 16, 2009, 63 days after that first breeding between my dog, Hershey Tinki Pheasant Greene and Kennedy’s Waterdog’s Super Charged (Turbo), eight pups were born. Their second breeding produced ten pups on June 21, 2011.
My next memory: The deliveries and the caring of the pups.