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On the 22nd of May Rumi gave birth to 12 puppies. It was a marathon and we were all very tired afterwards. The puppies are very lively and healthy with very descent weights from birth on. We are slowly getting into a routine of caring for this huge litter. We feel happy, blessed and exhausted at the same time. Rumi is very devoted to her new role as a mother and is doing her utmost to clean, nurture and feed this lot.

9 males & 3 females – as it looks at this point all little ones will be blessed with loving (working) homes.

My dream has come true..

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We have entered the last week of the pregnancy and Rumi is huge. Her belly is hanging like a swimming pool ball under her and she moves like an old dog. Since yesterday her appetite has dropped and her breathing sounds heavy and I really feel with her. Seeing this makes me happy I did not wait another year, this is really tough for her and luckily she was topfit when mating. I myself am starting to feel restless, having read a lot on birthing I am a little nervous that everything will go well. Luckily two great midwives have packed their travel bags and ready to come to assist when things get started. Will you all please send positive birthwibes our way to comfort a nervous dog-moms heart?

We have another 2 weeks to go before the expected birthdate of the first Flatastic litter. Rumi is not doing much at daytime. It is too hot and she is tired. So we eat and sleep. In the evenings we try to encourage her to walk a bit more to maintain some condition. She is moving slowly like and oldtimer VW bus. She also looks a bit square too..

Last February everything seemed perfectly normal, apart from the Covid-19 crisis in China. The first unexpected change in our 2020 planning was the fact that Rumi’s sister Phoenix (Flow of Spirits Holly Blue) came into heat. Rumi has up until now always followed her sister with 1 1/2 year in-between heat. Lenk Krispijn (Rumi’s breeder) and I had up to that point been on the outlook for the right stud for Rumi for some time already, but we had had a hard time finding Mr. Right. I remember Lenk calling me with the news about Phoenix being in heat meaning Rumi would probably follow soon..we were both excited and overwhelmed at the same time, because we had expected the girls to come in heat during winter 2020.

Our stud search and last health checks had to speed up because if we did not find him on time – we might miss the chance of having puppies within an acceptable time range for Rumi. So Lenk and I pushed a lot of computer buttons and we narrowed the search down to 3 studs who looked promising on paper. All German owned dogs with good working pedigrees and moderate temperament. Two of the dogs were father and son and I met the last two dogs in Germany myself on beforehand. I liked the father the most because he had such a people oriented character and something gracieus in his way of being with Rumi and his owner and I had a good connection.The son showed a lot of drive for running and game, a really nice stud too.

Meanwhile Covid-19 had started to reach Europe… and Rumi came into heat, so we really had to speed up in decision making. We decided to go on a road trip to Germany and meet and test the studs. First we had some planning and consideration to do as Covid-19 was closing in. We went with the VW bus full of handgel, wine and snacks, booked a nice hotel and on the road we went.

Day 1 visiting north Germany:

Testing father Pax and son Aki. It was a really nice day and we worked all three dogs – the dogs were put out on a limb with difficult exercises (marking, free search, problem solving and tracking). Rumi was a bit hormone jumpy and not showing the best of her heel work but worked very quickly as usual and had no problems getting all retrieves in. The two boys did great and they showed talent, will to please and problem solving too. We were very pleased and found ourselves in a luxury position having two possible studs for Rumi. We enjoyed time with kind Sandra, who has fantastic perseverance and passion for the breed and together we enjoyed some wine and cheese that I had brought and later a lovely dinner.

The next morning we continued to the Hamburg area to meet Ulrike and Brösel. We had little time due to Ulrike’s schedule and our limited time so after a long drive and a quick cup of coffee we went outside to work the dogs. Before we even got started with game and dummies we were all three rather impressed by Brösel’s energy. He was joyful and friendly, soft in his way of greeting and he settled down very quickly. While talking to Ulrike he came to cuddle a bit with all of us but again in a polite and soft matter for a stud. This is the overal impression, he is not filling the room so to speak like Rumi does but his energy is calm, happy and settled, not asking for much attention, awaiting what is happening next without being too timide.

His heel work is very good for a dog that is primarily being used to hunt and has no problem complying in what his handler asks. When the leash comes off he focuses and when away from his handler the energy goes up and the tail action rises. We were very impressed by his power of working, solving things easily, how lightly and easy he moves in different terrein and when presented with challenges he takes a moment to work it out and then takes an eager go at it. I like that he works with passion without losing the thinking part. After having done an extensive amount of different retrieves it was time to show Rumi to Ulrike. The hormone effect had risen an extra nudge and my heel work was a disaster but Rumi sure put herself on the screen. Full of power and passion – tail up high and shamelessly flirting with Brösel who got no chance of attempting anything. Rumi sure held controle on her side. Luckily Ulrike liked Rumi too and after a quick goodbye we drove back to the Netherlands with raw skin on our hands of all the disinfecting.

We knew right away that we had found Mr. Right. He just fits the best: great working skills, good anatomy for Rumi because of his modest size and compact build body, cool temperament without being dull or slow, pedigree to die for and he is very healthy. Apart from all of the above there is something about Brösel that makes you want to wrap him up and bring back home..So in my eyes, it does not matter if the future puppies will resemble him or Rumi, they will all be Flatastic flatcoated retrievers.

We are intense happy to announce that my long time wish has now officially been confirmed:

Puppies are on their way🎉

Today we went to Sterkliniek Nieuwveen to have an Utrasound of Rumi. Vet Michiel Albers performed the Utrasound and counted 5-6 puppies. But due to Rumi’s hairy belly he could not scan the whole way up. We did not want to shave her belly as this can cause stress, which will influence the puppies. So we still have to wait for some more surprise. Most importantly they all looked very healthy and alive & kicking. Heartbeats were easy to see to – this is very special. Rumi was not amused about having to be put on the back but when she discovered that it involved belly stroking – she relaxed into the position. Of course I whispered in her ear how flatastic she was doing. So my husband and I bought the loveliest champagne & rasberry tart on the way home to celebrate.

Our Ferrari, our race horse has changed into a lazy dog – spending her days sleeping and begging for food. Her belly is growing and she has really started to look like a grown up with her eyes in a wise glow. We are enjoying every moment of the proces and allowing her to set the pace and decide where to rest and when to cuddle. We still motivate her for enough exercise in order to stay fit. This Friday we have an appointment at the vet’s so we are counting the days now and looking forward to a litter size indication. Meanwhile we are being flooded with puppy requests by people who have made little preparation in buying a flatcoated retriever puppy. We will only take serious requests in consideration by owners who are choosing to spend lifelong time in dog sports (irregular which kind of sport/activity) with their dog. This litter is not suited for people only wanting a family dog as the pups are likely to be active, intelligent, passionate and have a keen nose for game. They will need mental stimulation through their whole life.

Only 1 week to go before we will visit the vet’s place for Ultrasound to see if she has puppies hidden in her belly. We are very exited here at home, because there is no doubt that something’s cooking. A few days ago Rumi started to look as if she had swallowed a football and we lovingly changed her nickname from Mrs. Grey to Mrs. Alligator (check out how alligators look from above). This morning she did not feel very well..she is obviously suffering from morning sickness and for the first time ever in her life she did not want to eat her breakfast right a way, the poor girl. A bit of fresh air and a little nap was just enough for her to rejuvenate and after a good belly massage she should be ok for the day.

Normally I keep Rumi in training year round, with excemption of our family holidays where we do more “fun-training”. Having a dog on a high exercise & training level can push the stress-hormone levels up. So in our normal schedule we have balancing days with short walks where sniffing is priority. Now we expect her to be with puppies we already turned the regular gun dog training down to a third. Now the time has come to shift to other activities where she is not tempted to exercise more and faster than her body would like to. My aim is to change the fast running and high arousal activities like gun dog training and bicycling to a more balanced way of exercising, where Rumi is not being aroused to run fast or pushing limits. At the same time we do not want to create frustration and drop in dopamine due to disappointment. So I have to be creative..

Good alternatives for Rumi at this point include activities where mental stimulation is provided in a dosed manner, inviting her to use the cognitive part of her brain by choice. This involves a lot of sniffing but also other sensory activity. So today we went to an enrichment garden. She loves to come here and have the freedom to explore, sniff, watch, climb and it is lovely to see her face all the different experiences. Beside this weekly activity we will make small “sniffaries” in the garden and do evening walks at different places with different smells. Of course I will also let her do one or two gundog things once a while, but only for 5 minutes to prevent extra arousal. When a bitch is carrying her hormones change a lot, this has a huge impact on behavior but first of all how she experiences the world. It is likely that dogs become more fearful or less courageous when hormones are changing – normally seen in adolescent dogs and when with puppies. So we try to keep things nice and calm for her, apart from the regular free running walks and give her the right exercise in an amount that will keep her fit, but not put pressure on her mental state. Inheritance is not only about the pedigree but also about the period of pregnancy and nurturing, meaning that the puppies inherit predisposition to the chemical state (hormones) in which the mother is. So we avoid unnecessary stress these days.

I believe that mental stimulation and other calm activities (sniffing/exploring in a low pace) should be a part of any dog’s life next to regular exercise on walks…and humans for that sake as well. It really helps us all to gear down in the middle of hectic lifestyles and rebalance ourselves.

For more information on sniffaries and enrichment check out Facebook page “Understand Animals”, in The Netherlands on the internet search for “Snuffeltuinen”. In my area dog school “Feedback” has a really nice place..

Me and my family wish you all a lovely Easter holiday, hoping you are all safe and sound in good health. While spending time in social distancing, I contemplate how thankful I am for the dogs in our lives..they keep us grounded and bring us smiles on a daily basis. Rumi is most of all thinking of food these days and following me around for cuddles and contact. It must be the hormones…

After a successful lift-off of this page – Flatastic also got facebook’ed. You will find us under the name: Flatastic flatcoated retrievers.

Na een succesvolle lift-off van deze site werd het ook tijd om Flatastic op Facebook te zetten. We zijn te vinden onder de naam Flatastic flatcoated retrievers.