Gianna Has Pups 9-8-10:
I went out to the barn and found the front half flooded this morning. In an effort for Tom to fix the spickets in the pastures he went to the barn and started turning on and off all the water spouts to see what was and wasn’t working. Obviously one spout wasn’t working at the time and Tom forgot to shut it off. Well it was working this morning. As I was trying to sweep the water out I realized that I hadn’t checked on Gianna. At least she was in the back of the barn that wasn’t flooded.
To my surprise Gianna looked up at me and 2 pups were at her belly nice and dry. I immediately went inside and then heard more crying. I looked and looked and finally found two pups on the side of the bale stacks and one was stuck in the chain link fence. Simply adorable to see it but they were cold and now was not the time to get the camera. I picked them up and rubbed them and then set them down with mom for a drink. Wow four pups born without me and then I heard another cry. OMG. I found the last pup under a wood board that we placed under the table with the fan on top of it. I was amazed at how it got under there and that it was ok. Again it too was cold so after some rubbing I placed with Gianna.
Everything was now going well and mom was quiet as pups nursed. All of a sudden Gianna got up in a funny stance and I knew one more was coming. Sure enough at 10:30 AM the last of the pups were born. Gianna and Santino are proud to announce they have a total of 6 pups- 3 females and 3 males.
Funny but when I look back at this whole pregnancy I can’t believe Gianna actually had pups. This is Gianna’s first litter (this is Santino’s 3rd) and to be honest with you I never saw them breed. I watched Santino make several attempts with Gianna growling and moving away at first. Then I saw where Gianna became receptive but it was summer in Arizona and Santino would try but give up so quickly due to the heat. Therefore, I never saw them mate and assumed it didn’t work.
Next we had the trip cross country. In my calculation Gianna should have been 4 – 5 weeks into the pregnancy. The stress alone could have made Gianna lose them. Then she was in a totally new home which I’m sure came with more stress.
I’ve watched Gianna carefully throughout her pregnancy and it wasn’t until she was in her sixth week did I confirm to myself that she was actually carrying. Her nipples were swelling and she was slowly getting thicker but her temperment towards Santino didn’t change too much like my other female maremmas did. She was typically very happy and calm.
Every once in a while I would feel a kick and I assumed then that she was carrying maybe one or two pups. Even in the end when I could feel the kicking more often it was still in the same place which made me think I was correct in the count.
Gianna has had me fooled all along. Nothing has gone the way it should starting with the breeding, puppies kicking to give me the correct or closer count, and then her temperature didn’t give me the sign that she was going to whelp. In all my other females when their temp dropped to 98 I knew they were going to whelp within 48 hours. Last night I took Gianna’s temp and she was at 102. Hence why I missed the birthing of her first 5 pups!
My Gianna is just full of surprises!
Only one female is sold at the moment. All Maremma puppies are for sale. They are wonderful lgds. They are raised with our herd of 24 alpacas. For more information please contact me at info@desertmtnalpacas.com or you can also view our site at www.desertmtnalpacas.com/maremmas-livestock-guardian-dogs.html.
