ATB: Happy Pregnant Pippin

I will never tire of the wonder and miracle of life. As I write today's post I am especially reminded of this because today it is our daughter's birthday.  Thirty something years ago I held within my arms my most perfect and beautiful daughter shortly after birth.  Through the fog of a planned c-section I heard the nurse say "It's a girl!" This was before ultrasounds were performed routinely to determine the sex of a baby and it meant that the layette consisted of safe colors of mint green, soft yellow, and perhaps for the more hopeful a definite outfit of blue or pink.  Coming home outfits were a huge deal back then and grandparents often vied to be the first one to go out and buy the most wonderful outfit in the appropriate color in hopes that their new grand baby would go home wearing THEIR gift! As insignificant as that may seem now, I will confess that hidden away somewhere I actually have not only the coming home outfits of our son and our daughter but those of mine and Johns.

Both of our kids were born in the fall months and I remember most everything about their births. This time of year is a wonderful time for babies to arrive, canine and human. The hot and humid summer days are pretty much behind us and we have the beautiful golden days of autumn.  It's a time to be active, to enjoy the crispness of the mornings and evening and also to embrace the warmth of the mid day sun.  I have a reason to take hold of the fall of 2014 in a brand new way with hope and with promise of more physical activity following my total knee replacement surgery which was five months ago. I also have the joy of anticipation as we await the arrival of Wilson & Pippin's puppies.

Happy Pippin!

Pippin by my side while her son and
her granddaughter 'come around"

Earlier this week John and I drove up to the Maine Bird Dog Club Field Trial grounds. This is a Maine Wildlife Management Area where American Field and AKC trials are held. We wanted to reinforce the retrieving skills of several of the crew, continue the introduction of shotgun to the younger ones, give the finished dogs a chance to shine, and above all spend some time with each other doing what we love to do with the dogs we share our hearts with.  Slowly but surely I am making progress in my return to John's side in the field.  My job which I chose to accept was to take some photographs to document the progress of a couple of dogs in particular. My personal goal was to spend as little time as possible sitting in my directors chair and as much as possible physically being among the dogs and doing my best to take the photos John was looking for. The day was amazing, fun, and totally enjoyable for all of us!  Especially so for Pippin.

Pippin on Point and below, she
carries the chukar shot over her.

At first I couldn't decide what would be better for Pippin. Her well being especially level of emotional stress is a priority for me right now. She wants me near and this will increase as her pregnancy advances. I will happily comply and look forward to when the "puppy cave" is ready for us to spend quiet time together there in a couple of weeks.  For the time being though life is for living and that applies to all of All Things Brittany including Miss Pippin.

Pippin came along for the ride and was quite the princess riding in the back seat along with Jack who as we all know is the Golden Boy. Stopping for coffee and donuts they were successful in persuading us to give them each a tiny bite of the tiny donuts. We arrived at the grounds and John immediately began to set everything up and I tried to help as best I could. He does have a particular way of doing things and I have learned as the good wife (ha!) to otherwise find various tasks to keep me occupied until hubby has things set up the way he would like. In no time at all John was ready to begin running dogs and I was standing by with my camera. Every dog had their turn to find the birds which John had planted and as I would expect, they did not disappoint! I could go into detail about each of them but this post is, after all, supposed to be about Pippin.

Pippin was happy and content to sit in the dog topper and watch the world go by.  John yelled over to me and said "you wanna run Pip-Pip?"  And I shouted back that I did but only if he felt like it.  It was not like I was especially helpful. He had already walked back and forth several times and the day was getting warmer as the moments went by. I didn't want to waste a bird on Pippin as she hasn't been on them much this summer but John put a chukar out for our girl.

Possessing the genetics and breeding of an outstanding and beautiful bird dog Pippin likewise did not disappoint.  As soon as John released her to the field she ran with a style, purpose and grace one would expect a Brittany of her caliber to demonstrate.  I've had the pleasure to see several of her pups and grandpups working and it is easy to see what she passes on.  Pippin hunts within shotgun range but also has the boldness and confidence to range out, quartering a field while turning back in to keep an eye on where we are.

I loved observing Pippin detect and then work the scent cone as surely as I have observed countless pups and adults from our program over the years.  If you closely observe your dog often enough you just know the instant their nose picks up the scent. It was undeniable that every fiber of her being was hard wired to tune into that single wave length communicating to her there was indeed a gamebird to locate. Her nose was hard at work expertly separating the scent of tweety birds,song birds, rabbits, mice, moles and all manner of smells.  Pippin's entire purpose for living in that moment was to follow that invisible, compelling scent cone that would lead to her bird. Some people call it 'being birdy' but I fail as a commentator while watching my dog work. In fact, I really don't say very much at all.  I just watch, I admire, and I smile a lot. A lot of times John and I will simply exchange a knowing glance from across the field and holler out "Hey! Did you just see that? WOW!"

It was that kind of day with all the dogs. A "WOW" day.  The kind of day that you can't wait to share with others.  But especially so with Pippin.  Maybe I expected less because of her advancing pregnancy and anticipated a patronizing, obligatory run on birds that was just cute. After all we could always stage a photo shoot and take a picture when it looks like she is pointing a bird, right? Not me. Not John.  And certainly not Pippin who was incapable that day of demonstrating anything less than perfection.

Speaking of Pippin's pregnancy at this point in time the skeletons of the embryos mineralizes, the toes are separating, toenails appearing, eyelids forming.  In one of the ultrasound views we could easily make out each vertebrae in the spine as well as identify limbs. Pip's nutritional needs are changing. We are now feeding her Purina Pro Plan Puppy food, which is the same food her pups will eventually be eating. She is becoming increasingly more uncomfortable as her abdomen is ever expanding. Boy, to me she really looks bigger than last time but it's hard to tell. Pippin has such a well sprung rib cage her appearance is deceiving.  This week she may begin to shed the hair from around her nipples. Eventually her entire tummy area will be hairless.  Those times we do not utilize ultrasounds to confirm a pregnancy this shedding is something I am always excited to see happen! Pippin is such a good, good girl and has no problem finding plenty of opportunities and locations to fully stretch out and make herself comfortable.  Her favorite thing to do is find a place nearby me, roll over and plead for a belly rub.  No problem, Pip-pip. No problem at all.

Take care and God bless you always, John, Ann, and All Things Brittany