Caesar

by Lyle Zerla

Last summer I decided to breed one of my bitches to a dog with a little more aggressiveness. I chose Blue Ridge Bobbi Lou. Her pedigree is laced with Field Champions such as,IFC Adirondak BobbyandFC Dingus Macrea. Before she came in season, I took her to my veterinarian to be checked since this would be the first time she would be bred. The Brucellosis test was negative and the doctor said that there were no physical reasons that she could not be successfully bred. Her vaccinations were updated several weeks prior to her being bred.

I selectedLPRC Brown House Red Al, for a stud dog. Red Al is owned by Don McVay, Sr. of Fredricksburg, Ohio, Red Al had the aggressiveness that Bobbi was lacking. Bobbi's strong point is her great line control, while Red Al's strong points are superior conformation and drive. If the puppies inherited the strong points of each parent, I would have some very good dogs.

On December 21, 1994, the eleventh day of Bobbi's heat cycle, we made a two-hour trip to West Lafayette, Ohio, to the home of Don's son, Don, Jr. Bobbi was successfully mated to Red Al. She was due to whelp on February 23, 1995.

I stopped hunting her on January 7, but I continued to exercise her with two-mile walks on a lead.

On February 15, I brought Bobbi in and introduced her to the whelping box and pen in the basement. Bobbi looked like she had swallowed a very large basketball.

On February 18, my wife, Connie, wakened me at 6:00 a.m. saying that she had been up all night with Bobbi and that Bobbi was very restless. I went downstairs to check on her and she appeared to be fine, but restless. If the puppies were whelped on the 18th, they would be five days premature and their survival rate would be low.

I went back upstairs and promptly fell asleep on the couch. At 10:00 a.m., Connie wakened me again to tell me that we had two puppies, one alive and one dead. The water sac for the third puppy appeared and broke, but there was no puppy. An examination revealed that it was a breech-birth and the puppy was stuck. We couldn't dislodge it, so we called the veterinarian. He wasn't in, so the receptionist advised us to call the animal emergency room in Wheeling, WV.

Dr. Beth Vesco was on duty and she advised us to bring in both the mother and the live puppy as soon as possible. We placed Bobbi in a box, wrapped the puppy to keep her warm, and headed for the emergency room.

Upon our arrival, Dr. Vesco examined Bobbi. She tried to dislodge the puppy caught in the birth canal with forceps, but it would not budge. Dr. Vesco gave her a shot of oxytocin to induce stronger contractions, but it was to no avail.

Dr. Vesco informed us that she needed to perform a Caesarian section on Bobbi. Dr. Vesco then called her afternoon assistant in early and called a near-by veterinarian's office and asked them to send an assistant. With her day-turn assistant, she began to prep Bobbi for the surgery.

When the two assistants arrived, Dr. Vesco started the operation. She would not put Bobbi under very deeply for fear of injuring the puppies. They were going to have a struggle to survive as it was.

There was a window in the door to the operating room, so Connie and I got to watch the operation. Very deftly, Dr. Vesco opened Bobbi's abdomen, reached in, and pulled out both horns of the uterus. They appeared to be the size of two men's socks.

After three quick stroked of her scalpel, Dr. Vesco began to pull puppies out and hand them to her assistants. Laying them in the palms of their hands, they began swinging them in a downward motion in an effort to clear their lungs.

The puppy that was caught in the birth canal was dead, as was a second who had begun the descent. This left five puppies for the assistants to work on. Being five days premature, they were not doing very well.

After an hour, the girls had two puppies living because of their constant stroking and stimulation of their chests. By now, the assistants were exhausted. They enlisted Connie's and my aid in stimulating the puppies.

One of the puppies began to get weaker and take longer and longer between breaths. It expired about an hour and a half after it was born. The remaining Caesarian-born puppy was clinging to life, but its lungs were very congested.

About 10:00 p.m., Connie and I headed for home with our two puppies, one a natural birth and one by Caesarian.

We kept them on a heating pad and bottle-fed them every hour and half, all night long. About 4:00 a.m., the Caesarian-born puppy began to cry very loudly. It managed to clear its lungs. From then on, its breathing became stronger and stronger.

At noon the next day, Dr. Vesco called and said that Bobbi could come home.

We put Bobbi in the whelping box with the puppies. She picked up the Caesarian-born puppy and took it out of the box. She wanted nothing to do with it. I petted Bobbi and then petted the puppy while Bobbi was licking the other puppy. I reintroduced the puppy to her and she accepted it.

Connie razzed me about the cost of our new puppies: Stud fee, trip to West Lafayette, Caesarian section, one day's lost wages, and follow-up visit to the veterinarian. The puppies were pretty expensive.

In honor of the first person born by Caesarian section, we named the puppy Blue Ridge Caesar Lou. (The "Lou" comes from Connie's middle name. All of our pets have Lou for the middle name.)

Connie's grandfather's name was Caesar and his faithful companion for many years was his wife, Mary. We named the other pup Blue Ridge Mary Lou.

At the age of one year and six days, Blue Ridge Caesar Lou was awarded Best of Show at the First Capital Rabbit Hunters by bench judge, Mike Myers, finishing her for Bench Champion.