Sire: CH Winfall's New England Patriot "Cooper"
Dam: CH Mtn Meadow Miss Instigator "Onyx"
DOB: 6/11/07                          

    I truly love all of my dogs, but anyone who knows me, is aware that Onyx and I are close. I guess that close really isn't the word. If necessary, I would donate a kidney to her, and I tried to find a way to carry her litter for her so she would not experience any pain. Yes, I know...that is quite extreme, but you get the idea of my attachment to this dog. Well, when Onyx finished her championship (our first champion) it was great day, but when we bred her to a most handsome stud from New Hampshire, I was ecstatic. Richard, Desi and I had a joke about me keeping Onyx's entire litter, because I would not be able to part with them. Little did we know how true that statement would end up to be. Well, we did have some wonderful homes lined up, and I was willing to let a few of them go. Her pregnancy went without a hitch, and I had plans for my "Mini-Me" bitch puppy. I had already named her...Bay Breeze Talk of the Town "Gabby." Imagine our disappointment when we had her x-rayed, only to find that she had just 2 pups. Onyx was due on 6/12/07, so I stayed home from the Fishersville Dog Show, and Richard went without me. Man that was a hard weekend. I now know how Desi feels when she has to stay behind, and Richard and I take off. But, I would have died if Onyx had started to have her pups, and I was not here. I started taking Onyx's temperature, and knew that the time was getting near. Onyx was in labor, and I had the car warmed up to rush her to Virginia Beach General Hospital if she needed it.

Onyx made sure that I was well aware of each contraction, as she would stare at me as she groaned. Finally, my first grandpup arrived, but he was very small. Yes, it was a boy. I didn't have my girl, but there was still a chance...she had one more in there. Surprisingly, Onyx didn't freak out, and she jumped right in to take care of her new son. A short while later, she again started having contractions, and she "dropped" her second pup on the den floor. WOW, this one wasn't much bigger. I was really surprised how small they were. Here I was concerned that she would need a c-section since it was such a small litter. Now, I have had other bitches whelp entire litters of 1 pound plus puppies and not blink an eye. Onyx's first born weighed in at 8 ounces, and the second pup (yes, another boy) weighed 11 ounces. She barely made a pound between the two of them.

With the pups on the ground, and seemingly healthy, although small, my disappointment at not having a female "Mini-Me" disappeared. Onyx jumped right in and began cleaning, and feeding her pups. Any peep made by them was quickly investigated, and it was evident that she loved them. I think she even has forgiven me for not carrying the litter and delivering them.

 
  

Within a short period of time, I noticed that the first born pup, I called him Sniglet, because he was so small, didn't look quite right. I have never had a "swimmer" pup, but he was showing the signs of what I thought one would be like. Although he had his back legs under him, his front legs were splayed out to the side. Also, he wasn't growing at the same rate of speed as his brother, whom I called "Double," because he was twice as big as Sniglet. I attributed it to him not having the strength yet to get up as he was only a week or so old.

However, as you can tell, on the picture to the left, Double was up on his feet well before Sniglet. It seemed like time passed so quickly, and before I knew it, the pups were 4 weeks old. Double weighed 8 pounds, and Sniglet didn't even weigh 3 pounds.


I could tell that Sniglet needed help, but we weren't really sure what to do. I had asked for suggestions from others, and we started putting Sniglet, now known as Bear, in a contraption to help him lay on his side. I took a ladies sock, cut holes in the foot for his head and front legs, and then stuffed his chest area with egg crate padding. He was then put into a preemie infant onesie. His chest was so flat, and he really looked like a piece of Pita bread. He was round, but flat, and it was almost impossible for him to lay on his side. It was so nice to see him laying on his side and resting comfortably in his outfit. Although the outfit let him lay on his side, it did nothing to get his legs under him. Richard, and my brother, Butch, got together to devise a contraption which would keep his legs in place. What they came up with was a "saddle" made out of PVC pipe.

The saddle was made by cutting a piece of PVC pipe to fit over Bear's shoulders, with long sides to fit down his front legs. The side flaps were then taped to his legs. Bear wore the saddle for 3 hours, and then it was removed for approximately 6 hours, and then back on again. Although it didn't appear that he was growing, he quickly outgrew the saddle. It was evident that he had made progress, as his left front leg was now under him. However, the right front was still flailing when he would walk, and Bear tended to move in circles.

We weren't sure if Bear was going to ever get the use of that right leg. I had even considered looking in to having it amputated. Boy I am glad that I didn't do that. We had an x-ray done on Bear's leg to see if there was anything medically wrong. The x-ray was not promising. It showed that his right leg was approximately an inch or more away from the shoulder socket. My brother had become quite attached to Bear, and learned from our Vet the exercises which needed to be done to give him the best chance of being able to use that leg. Butch massaged the ligaments several times a day, and in about a week, the leg popped into the socket. Butch spent countless hours doing physical therapy exercises with Bear to help him strengthen the ligaments, and the leg.

 At the age of 6 weeks, Bear weighed in at 3 pounds and 1 ounce. Double, now named Baloo, weighed in at 13 pounds. There was quite the difference between the two of them.  I certainly know now that miracles do happen, and Bay Breeze Bearly Made It is most definitely one of them. He is Butch's dog now, and Bear is to him, what Onyx is to me.

So, we are very proud and thankful to be able to introduce...Bay Breeze Bearly Made It!
 

WOW...our boy has grown up to be so handsome!