[glencorgi]

Heather,

I am so sorry. This is one of the most heartbreaking things breeders face - getting attached to and excited with puppy people and the disappointment that can follow. I learned the lesson not to make promises too early because Mother Nature has the last word and often takes things out of human hands - sometimes it seems to keep us in our place and serve us a big helping of humble pie.

[quote=LaRositaMonita;29323I will preface this by saying that the 10+ puppies post from two days ago was made under the impression that we saw and had confirmed that this many pups were inside mommy. Not so much...this was just based on our breeder and her vet's external impression of what was going on.[/QUOTE]

Unless an x-ray or an ultrasound is done, then best anyone can do is guess and that isn't always accurate at all. Even doing x-rays or ultrasounds, puppies hide, spines are counted twice - until the puppies arrive, then you know for sure. Dams can get huge and only have a singleton. With Hattie, the week early surprise delivery I tended to, she showed early and was huge far too early. Nail biting began immediately as this was her first litter. She was somewhat depressed and stressed. About midway through, she leveled out, even slimmed down and then began gaining normally and perked up. With her, a whole passel of puppies would not have been a surprise. She had four nice size puppies, one definitely premature which we lost. The three, now 2 1/2 week old baby manatees, that's what my MDH nicknamed the puppies are doing great. Conversely, Cher delivered on March 30. She too was huge towards the end and she delivered 10 part of them naturally, and the remaing by c-section. Two were lost at the vets, so that left 8. This was her second litter and she was slow coming out of the anesthia and getting her bearings. Over the course of the weekend and into the next week, we began losing puppies one by one to fading puppy syndrome. We suspect she may have gone septic and wasn't as maternal as with her other litter. Hattie to the rescue! The remaining puppies - now down to three were put on Hattie and she's nurturing them as if they were here own. They are now catching up and thriving.

Our mommy dog currently has five living, breathing puppies. There were seven originally in her litter, but one was what they called a "mega-puppy" or a "water-puppy" - a puppy who has serious genetic defects that cause it to die in the womb and then fill with fluid to a very large size.

Not had one of those, but have seen one a breeder had preserved in a jar.

This puppy wound up endangering the lives of the whole litter and nearly killed the mother. Apparently the vet was shocked beyond belief that mother or puppies even survived. Needless to say, we were glad that mommy and four puppies are okay but very sad about the rest.

Whewwwww! I can relate to the scare and relief.

Additionally, we had out hopes set on - and were by all accounts led to believe - that we would be able to have a tri-color dog from this litter, as blue merles are really not something we like. Of course, the litter consists of one tri-color male and four merle females.

Being a merle fan to you! Just kidding. Blues, people either love 'em or hate 'em. Seriously, tho' unless one is breeding a black to a black and both have tan points, that's not a guarantee one should take to Vegas. All the puppies could have been black or all could have been blue, although usually there is a mix. Technically all black & whites in Cardigans are tris - either tan points (which is what one traditionally thinks of when tri is mentioned) or brindle points and depending on the genetics, brindle points don't always carry for tan points. Not knowing the point colors of the sire and dam, I can't say whether this was sound prediction or not. Nancy should know though.

It looks like the male is the dominant puppy of the litter (not something we can handle), and is also probably, if things go as our breeder thinks it will over the next 8 weeks, the show pick of the litter. Needless to say, we are questioning whether or not to compromise one of the things we really wanted in our puppy.

Okay, I think it is waaaaaayyyyyyyy to early to call which one is the dominant puppy. They are still little lumps right now. I'd no more make a call on personality and temperament on the lumps in my dining room now than I'd guarantee what color puppies are going to be still in the womb. We do have a squealer and they're eyes are opening and they're beginning to get up on their fat little legs - but that's the best I can do at this point. There are some things one can feel structurally and markings of course, but best one can do at this point is HOPE as far as show potential goes.

On one hand... we're talking color. That's superficial, really. I at least feel guilty and selfish for being picky. On the other hand, we have put SO much work into this dog search. Shouldn't we be able to get just the dog we want?

I don't think you are being too picky and yes, color in a sense is superficial, but again you are investing a lot into this puppy on a number of levels. Mother Nature doesn't always cooperate and maybe this is a way of saying, this wasn't the litter for you.

I e-mailed our "backup" Pembroke breeder to check in with her, reiterate our interest, and see what she has on the ground so far (ideally, we were set to check back with her at the end of this month). I also talked a little to our breeder about this decision and got a name of a breeder 3 hours away from us who just actually had a litter of 11 cardigans in case she has something available.

A word of caution, warranted or not, but IF you are really Cardigan people at heart and soul, a Pembroke might not be a good fit for you. A corgi isn't just a corgi isn't just a corgi and I think you realize this. Both breeds are great, just not always interchangeable depending on the household.

What are you guys thinking? Am I being crazy and vain? If my head sounds unclear as I write this, it is. Basically, I've already had a fairly bad and draining day for some other, unrelated reasons and getting this phone call was the icing on the cake. I'm confused and overwhelmed at this point.

Get a good night's sleep and process in the morning. Your excitement was soooo apparent and contagious and the let down you are feeling is crushing at the moment. At least you have a lead for another litter of Cardigans (and hey, I consider 3 hours one way "local" <VBG> - been there, done that and got a couple of t-shirts too). Just catch your breath right now. I am really sorry and can sympathize with you.

Debbie