In January 2025 Jessie & Mojo had three dates. In February I took Jessie to the vet and an ultra sound showed one puppy for sure, two or maybe even three. Jessie had all the signs of being pregnant, but because she also has these signs when not pregnant, it still was pretty uncertain if she was going to give birth to one or more puppies.
April 1: Jessie has been restless for a couple of days. Her temperature was pretty low, but that was for a couple of days in a row. April 1 was exactly 63 days after their last date (date 18 of the heat cycle), and I knew that she could give birth anytime soon. When she was waking me up at 1am with a lot of whining I knew something was up. At 1:10am contractions started and at 1:40am the pup was born. Contractions stopped after that, not the panting, nesting and overall restlessness, so I was up all night to monitor. In the morning it became obvious that one puppy it would be. Bee Seen Honey of Sunnyside FWF was born, weighting 375 gram (average is 450-500). Welcome little one.
First two weeks: Pup B is growing and growing, so I am very pleased with her progress. I started ENS and ESI on day 3. Thus far she likes the smell of Nut Meg, Clover and Rosemary. Curry and Cumin are her less favorite. With ENS she does not mind to be held up. that her tows are touched and standing on a cool towel. She does not like to be held with her head directed to the floor or cupped on her back in my hands.
Trying to come up with a name for her is a challenge: we started with Bee, then Honey Bee, Bijtje and now we call her Bijke. Which is in Dutch dialect little bee. But I am still not sure. Because this puppy is (again) a singleton we have decided, for now, that we are going to keep her. Last time with Venture (Litter America) my and also Jessies heart was broken when we had to say good bye to Venture.
Day 14: I finally decide on her name: Bee. And when called it will be BeeBee. She is now more than 35 cm long. Bee is walking already, a couple of steps and she looks like she had too much to drink:-) She is already 1.5 kilogram and she grows so fast. Her eyes are more open and she does react on hand signals. Such a smart puppy she is.
Trying to come up with a name for her is a challenge: we started with Bee, then Honey Bee, Bijtje and now we call her Bijke. Which is in Dutch dialect little bee. But I am still not sure. Because this puppy is (again) a singleton we have decided, for now, that we are going to keep her. Last time with Venture (Litter America) my and also Jessies heart was broken when we had to say good bye to Venture.
Day 14: I finally decide on her name: Bee. And when called it will be BeeBee. She is now more than 35 cm long. Bee is walking already, a couple of steps and she looks like she had too much to drink:-) She is already 1.5 kilogram and she grows so fast. Her eyes are more open and she does react on hand signals. Such a smart puppy she is.
Four weeks now (April 30) as we say good bye to April...Our little pup not so little anymore, ears and eyes completely open. Most important is that her name changed into Sien (pronounced "Seen"), bc Bee or Bijke didn't stick. Sien is an old Dutch name, and it suits her.
At this age ENS and ESI completed, these days I have her listen to sounds like : cars, fire works and thunder. While she sleeps or is playing, relaxed, only. She doesn't seem to mind. We started to go outside with her, the weather is warm enough, she had to get use to it first, but this week she started to also do her business on the grass. Good girl! She is part of the pack already, playing with Evie & Jane. Supervised of course bc she's still so little. She started on mush (kibble, water in the blender) last week and today I added some puppy can food, which she loves. Of course she prefers her mama's milk, but her teeth are too sharp for Jessies liking, and Sien doesn't get a lot of possibilities to enjoy the milk bar.
I am very happy with the way she grows and becomes a little dog. She is sweet, independent but some times she protests so loud that my ears hurt big time. Let's see how she will do these coming two weeks. I have planned to do visits with with my friends kids, but hopefully also some guests and friends from Town.
Oh and every day she gets a new toy or other pup friendly object in her whelping box. This way she get used to a lot of different fabrics, tastes, smells. She can explore on her own time and pace, in relaxed circumstances. It helps her to become resilient, stay relaxed in different situations and confident. Her world gets a little bit bigger every day.
At this age ENS and ESI completed, these days I have her listen to sounds like : cars, fire works and thunder. While she sleeps or is playing, relaxed, only. She doesn't seem to mind. We started to go outside with her, the weather is warm enough, she had to get use to it first, but this week she started to also do her business on the grass. Good girl! She is part of the pack already, playing with Evie & Jane. Supervised of course bc she's still so little. She started on mush (kibble, water in the blender) last week and today I added some puppy can food, which she loves. Of course she prefers her mama's milk, but her teeth are too sharp for Jessies liking, and Sien doesn't get a lot of possibilities to enjoy the milk bar.
I am very happy with the way she grows and becomes a little dog. She is sweet, independent but some times she protests so loud that my ears hurt big time. Let's see how she will do these coming two weeks. I have planned to do visits with with my friends kids, but hopefully also some guests and friends from Town.
Oh and every day she gets a new toy or other pup friendly object in her whelping box. This way she get used to a lot of different fabrics, tastes, smells. She can explore on her own time and pace, in relaxed circumstances. It helps her to become resilient, stay relaxed in different situations and confident. Her world gets a little bit bigger every day.
May 13, 2025: Pup Bee Seen Honey aka Sientje is 6 weeks today! She does wonderful: grows, ears are getting more pricked, playing with Evie & Jane, but with her mama Jessie is the best! Walking on leash most of the times & she also has been to the dog pen with the big dogs. She has had some meet & greets with our guests which she loves, because she gets attention. During the night she only has to get up once. I put the whelping pen away and she sleeps in her crate now. Sometimes when I am staying home, and don't have to go outside, she sleeps under the couch or on one of the dog beds. She still pees in the house when I don't catch her in time, but poop is 99% outside.
I've walked with her over different surfaces like: wooden floors, tiles, gravel, grass, mud and cobble stones. We walk around the home a couple of times a day and as of this morning I started to walk closer to the road so she can get use to cars & road noises. She seems okay with seeing cars drive by, however she keeps a sharp eye on them, so not totally relaxed with it. She likes to dig, which we find okay here, because we have so much land to dig in.Walking near the chickens when they're outside, she doesn't enjoy very much, but also this morning I walked with her near the coops while the chickens were still inside, and she was completely fine.
Today Sientje started on kibble (without soaked in water first) and she eats it and doesn't choke on it. So that's a new phase also.
Coming week we have a lot of guests so I hope she'll meet them all. I still have to have some kids over, because dogs see kids as a whole different species, so I hope to do that this week.We keep on exploring more of the property and I'll probably will start taking her in the car with me/us.
I've walked with her over different surfaces like: wooden floors, tiles, gravel, grass, mud and cobble stones. We walk around the home a couple of times a day and as of this morning I started to walk closer to the road so she can get use to cars & road noises. She seems okay with seeing cars drive by, however she keeps a sharp eye on them, so not totally relaxed with it. She likes to dig, which we find okay here, because we have so much land to dig in.Walking near the chickens when they're outside, she doesn't enjoy very much, but also this morning I walked with her near the coops while the chickens were still inside, and she was completely fine.
Today Sientje started on kibble (without soaked in water first) and she eats it and doesn't choke on it. So that's a new phase also.
Coming week we have a lot of guests so I hope she'll meet them all. I still have to have some kids over, because dogs see kids as a whole different species, so I hope to do that this week.We keep on exploring more of the property and I'll probably will start taking her in the car with me/us.
May 21, 2025 Beehive Litter Sien is now seven weeks old and thriving! The most exciting news is that since two days, her ears are up and they seem to stay up! She’s becoming more and more like her mother. Yesterday, she visited the vet, and she did great. You can read about her visit in my blog.
Every day, Sien learns new things. The cat tunnel she loves to 'attack', but she also has been through it a coupole of times. She’s met multiple guests and even gets belly rubs from them, which she seems to enjoy. Crate and potty training are progressing well. She’s less dramatic when put in the crate, even during the day. At night, she sleeps and only needs to go to the bathroom once. Last night, it rained heavily and there were severe thunderstorms, so I put her on a towel and let her pee. It wasn’t the best way to potty train, but I didn’t feel like going outside during the middle of the night, in such weather.
Sien isn’t getting along well with one of the cats. She barks at her and wants to bite or play with her constantly. Jacky, the other cat, is much more relaxed, so Sien doesn’t care for her. However, with July the cat, things are be different. This situation requires extra attention, especially since Sien needs to learn to stop barking.
In the meanwhile Sien is eating kibble topped with tuna and she's like her half sister Jane, a fast and feisty eater:-))) But better that then a slow, continue, distracted eater. We walk every day a litter bit more over the property, max 10 min, to get her more used to strange, uncommon noises. One uncommon noise we encountered this morning, was a huge branch falling out of a dead tree. The big bang had her startled at first, but her curiosity won and we walked over there to see what was going on. Once she had seen the enormous broken branch, she got distracted by other things already. Experienced like these will only make her more up to the big (mad) world.
Coming weeks we'll continue exploring, playing and a little more obedience training. Also car rides we'll do frequently. Weather will be a little cooler, which is for Sien a welcome change.
Every day, Sien learns new things. The cat tunnel she loves to 'attack', but she also has been through it a coupole of times. She’s met multiple guests and even gets belly rubs from them, which she seems to enjoy. Crate and potty training are progressing well. She’s less dramatic when put in the crate, even during the day. At night, she sleeps and only needs to go to the bathroom once. Last night, it rained heavily and there were severe thunderstorms, so I put her on a towel and let her pee. It wasn’t the best way to potty train, but I didn’t feel like going outside during the middle of the night, in such weather.
Sien isn’t getting along well with one of the cats. She barks at her and wants to bite or play with her constantly. Jacky, the other cat, is much more relaxed, so Sien doesn’t care for her. However, with July the cat, things are be different. This situation requires extra attention, especially since Sien needs to learn to stop barking.
In the meanwhile Sien is eating kibble topped with tuna and she's like her half sister Jane, a fast and feisty eater:-))) But better that then a slow, continue, distracted eater. We walk every day a litter bit more over the property, max 10 min, to get her more used to strange, uncommon noises. One uncommon noise we encountered this morning, was a huge branch falling out of a dead tree. The big bang had her startled at first, but her curiosity won and we walked over there to see what was going on. Once she had seen the enormous broken branch, she got distracted by other things already. Experienced like these will only make her more up to the big (mad) world.
Coming weeks we'll continue exploring, playing and a little more obedience training. Also car rides we'll do frequently. Weather will be a little cooler, which is for Sien a welcome change.
Monday June 2, 2025. Beehive Seen Honey (Sien pronounced like Seen) two months old. Yesterday I realized that she would have been picked up by her new family last weekend if we hadn’t decided to keep her. But lucky for me I didn't have to say goodbye this time.
Sien is doing very well, getting a big girl. She hardly fits under the couch anymore and she can almost get on the couch by herself. She has had multiple car rides with us, and she does very well. Yesterday we went to get some gas and while being at the gas station, Sien was a little unsure about all the other cars and people she saw. It reminded me of when we did this with Jane & later Evie. It's like 'all' that traffic is a little too much to take in all at once. But we'll practice and eventually she'll get use to this.
Since mama Jessie is on medication because of a tick borne disease, Sien had to be weaned of right away and I am happy to say that went very smooth. She now only eats her kibble, topped with tuna. Further, she loves to play with the other dogs, chase the cats and chickens if she gets the chance, but she can also lay quiet on a dog bed minding her own business. She met more humans and every time she is enthusiastically approaching the new human. She loves her human daddy Martijn. Always running so full of happiness up to him when she sees him. It's adorable.
She's sleeping in her crate most of the time now, and during the night I only go out with her once for her to pee. Since a couple of days she is doing her business outside only. However I do have to be on high alert for any indication she gives when she has to go. I believe that if I am not reacting, she'll will do it inside. So she's not completely potty trained yet and accidents might still happen. But that's okay too. She's only 8 weeks and has come so far already.
Sien walks on leash and when her mama is also coming along, she's off leash bc she follows her mama everywhere. She listens to sit, stay, come & more. But that needs constant attention of course. Coming weeks we'll continue her training, having meet and greets, play dates with the other dogs and lots of 'firsts'.
You can follow her adventures on her own page. For this litter I've come to an end. Eight intense weeks, tiresome, but worthwhile too.
Sien is doing very well, getting a big girl. She hardly fits under the couch anymore and she can almost get on the couch by herself. She has had multiple car rides with us, and she does very well. Yesterday we went to get some gas and while being at the gas station, Sien was a little unsure about all the other cars and people she saw. It reminded me of when we did this with Jane & later Evie. It's like 'all' that traffic is a little too much to take in all at once. But we'll practice and eventually she'll get use to this.
Since mama Jessie is on medication because of a tick borne disease, Sien had to be weaned of right away and I am happy to say that went very smooth. She now only eats her kibble, topped with tuna. Further, she loves to play with the other dogs, chase the cats and chickens if she gets the chance, but she can also lay quiet on a dog bed minding her own business. She met more humans and every time she is enthusiastically approaching the new human. She loves her human daddy Martijn. Always running so full of happiness up to him when she sees him. It's adorable.
She's sleeping in her crate most of the time now, and during the night I only go out with her once for her to pee. Since a couple of days she is doing her business outside only. However I do have to be on high alert for any indication she gives when she has to go. I believe that if I am not reacting, she'll will do it inside. So she's not completely potty trained yet and accidents might still happen. But that's okay too. She's only 8 weeks and has come so far already.
Sien walks on leash and when her mama is also coming along, she's off leash bc she follows her mama everywhere. She listens to sit, stay, come & more. But that needs constant attention of course. Coming weeks we'll continue her training, having meet and greets, play dates with the other dogs and lots of 'firsts'.
You can follow her adventures on her own page. For this litter I've come to an end. Eight intense weeks, tiresome, but worthwhile too.
