Today Yatzie weighs 32 kgs! This morning she started nesting in our wardrobe and laid down under the clothes amongst the shoes! After that she went upstairs to lie down in the puppybox, breathing heavily! She is really prepared for the birth of the puppies even though it is still 11 days to go!

Now it is very easy to feel the puppies moving! They are so lively. Yatzie is quiet and sleeps a lot. Here you see her beside my desk. She is very content and it seems to me that she likes the feeling of being pregnant - even though it is quite heavy for her to jump into the car! We help her now!

I shaved the pregnant lady today! She got tired from standing up so the result was far from perfect. But that is not so important - as long as Yatzie gets less hot and feels comfortable. Now one can better see the amaxing belly that was hiding under the fur. She is so much bigger this time than in her first litter 2 1/2 years ago. I added a photo of her from august when her fur was very short. Then you see the big difference.

Moët whispers in mama Yatzies ear: Tell me please, how many sisters and brothers will I get?

The pregnancy has now reached day 46. The puppies are more than 7 cms long! All their little organs are already developed and the fur has begun to grow. The coat is one of the last organs to form, as is the skeleton which only begins to ossify in the final third of gestation. I have for days now laid my hands on her belly to try to feel the puppies moving. Today I think I felt a little movement in there, but I am not sure. These are the days when you should be bale to feel them! Yatzie has gained 4,5 kilos already and her belly is enormous. On the first photo you can see her big belly, even though a lot of hair is covering it. I am planning to shave her one of these days since she gets very hot when she is inside. It is also more hygenic during the whelping period with a short fur.

Mother and daughter sleeping head to head. Isn't that just so cute?

While Yatzie is hypnotizing the bones I thought I hid from her high up on a shelf hoping she can make them fly down to her, Moët is looking outside hoping that we soon will go for a nice walk again. These two barbets have totally different priorities at the moment! PS: Of course Yatzie got her bone and Moët her walk too!

Yatzie's body is going through many changes. Her belly is very big already, her nipples are swollen and there is already plenty of milk! Over the past 10 days Yatzie has been extremely focussed on eating and constantly hungry. She has also been drinking very much. Her weight is on top of or above the norm for this period of the pregnancy. She has already gained 2,5 kgs. The past two days she has quietened down a little, and is not desperate for food but eats with very good apetite. She is happy and content, but prefers to stay at home and eat and rest. We take shorter walks several times a day instead of very long ones. The puppies are growing very quickly now! Within a few days it should be possible to feel them moving!

The malteser Nikki is Yatzie and Moët's "cousine" who has lived in Spain the last year with Bart's mother. Now she is moving to Holland! Look how sweetly Nikki and Moët play together! It is amazing to see how a quite large dog like Moët adjusts to a small dog like Nikki in her way of playing. But just as interesting to see Nikki totally fearlessly interacting with her! But then Nikki has two big brothers in Spain, one Berner Senner and one Rottweiler crossing, so she is used to big dogs!

It gets dark early this time of the year, and for the dogs to be easy to spot I put on reflex vests during the evening walk. Yatzie's vest hardly fits any longer... and this is only day 36!

I try to activate the dogs during our walks. Yatzie's favourite game is to search for a dummy that I hide or throw. This time Moët manages to steal and put down the dummy somewhere before I see it but Yatzie finds it quickly. And happily chews on the sweet she gets  after she brings the dummy to me!

When I bring out my camera Yatzie always sits down to pose for me. She sits patiently until I am done (and that can take sometime since I often need to take many shots before I am content!) Here is a shot of her cute face from our walk this morning.

Today is day 35 of the pregnancy and a new phase begins. Until now the bitch should not have gained weight (but Yatzie did gain a little less than a kilo) and she should eat her normal portions. But from now the puppies start to grow faster and Yatzie needs to eat more and stronger food. She knows it! All she does all day long is to ask for food.  She eats all she gets and more if she can. Bones laying around that were not interesting before are now very valuable. I give her carrots to satisfy her need to chew, and she loves it (normally not). One can already notice that her belly is growing and her nipples are more swollen. She is a pregnant beautiful "lady"!

There is a lot to prepare before the puppies arrive. Passed by this prenatal shop with Yatzie - but unfortunately they did not have any suitable equipment for pregnant dogs!

Today was day 29 since Yatzie's ovulation and we were finally able to make the ultra sound. The vet saw many little hearts beating, he counted 7 or 8! We are so happy! Darling Yatzie - another puppy adventure is awaiting you and us! In a months time, between February 10 - 12, the puppies will be born!

Today I found Yatzie eating from our Christmas Ginger Bread House that was standing in the window... On New Year's night she stole my oliebol (a very typical Dutch sweet bread that you eat for New Year) out of my hand... This is not Yatzie's normal behaviour :-) ! I think she is pregnant!

Our New Year wish: that there are barbet puppies (Toff-zies!) growing!

Yatzie and Moët celebrated New Year with their good friend Bo (and Bart and I with Bo's owner - our good friends Peter and Maaike)! Gott Slut (good ending) we say in Swedish and Happy wishes for the New Year to all our blog friends!