topic Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live! in Community Chat

Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

momtochloe — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 14:03:15 GMT

Normally I post this in the Animal Lovers forum but I thought today maybe others would be interested. SDP breeds Great Danes to be service dogs for folks with mobility issues and are part of the Explore.org family. They have a set of 24/7/365 cameras so you can check in on them (yep, even on Christmas!) and today Lanie is in the process of giving birth. She has already had two healthy males (Nicholas and Cole) and I believe there are more to come. If you have some downtime today, you may want to swing by there as they have several cameras (including donkeys which they help rescue):

http://explore.org/live-cams/player/great-danes-puppy-nursery-cam

Merry Christmas and welcome to the world Nicholas and Cole as you are going to do great work! . . .

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Sissyrose — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 14:24:39 GMT

Thank you for posting here. Merry Christmas to you!

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Poodlepet2 — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 14:41:50 GMT

Thank you for posting this! I don't know how long this is going to take, but how wonderful! For some reason, I'm not getting sound: did they say how many pups are coming?

Hugs,

Poodlepet2

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Sissyrose — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 14:47:27 GMT

I am not getting sound either. Read some of the comments below on that page...

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

pommom — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 14:46:24 GMT

Thanks so much for posting this. I caught the birth of the third pup. I didn't have sound either, but the picture said it all. Mama Great Dane is so loved as are her new borns.

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

momtochloe — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 15:01:22 GMT

Sound is not available in the room that Lanie is giving birth in as that particular camera with microphone (please know the microphone is not on 24/7) is currently on Gussie who gave birth about a week or so ago to nine widdles . . .

I don't know the schedule for SDP today but if you are available at around 5pm EST they may have a live discussion (they have a daily mail call at that time) and may provide puppy updates.

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Poodlepet2 — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 15:19:00 GMT

Well, any morning plans I had are derailed! I'm surprised they aren't allowing mom to break the placenta.....can you imagine nursing while giving birth???? Boy, am I taking a walk down memory lane!

Poodlepet2

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

momtochloe — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 15:27:00 GMT

@Poodlepet2 wrote:
Well, any morning plans I had are derailed! I'm surprised they aren't allowing mom to break the placenta.....can you imagine nursing while giving birth???? Boy, am I taking a walk down memory lane!
Poodlepet2

Oh @Poodlepet2 I have to admit I can't watch full time as when the puppies are actually being birthed I am so worried that something is going to go wrong I almost make myself sick . . . needless to say I do not have two legged children . . .

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Poodlepet2 — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 15:43:29 GMT

I have a close friend who bred bichons and standard poodles: It has been my privilege to have been invited over during whelping time. I don't know if this holds true for "everybody", but it amazes me how placid the larger breeds are during the birth process. With the smaller breeds that I've seen-that wasn't true at all. It was gut wrenching at times. This is amazing!

Mfc, if you haven't seen "Call the Midwife" on PBS, the holiday special is on tonight, and the new season begins in January.

Hugs,

Poodlepet2

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Carriestp — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 16:41:19 GMT

Beautiful mom...

She currently has four puppies...Nicholas, Cole, Piet and Lucy.

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

momtochloe — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 16:51:01 GMT

@Poodlepet2 wrote:
I have a close friend who bred bichons and standard poodles: It has been my privilege to have been invited over during whelping time. I don't know if this holds true for "everybody", but it amazes me how placid the larger breeds are during the birth process. With the smaller breeds that I've seen-that wasn't true at all. It was gut wrenching at times. This is amazing!

Mfc, if you haven't seen "Call the Midwife" on PBS, the holiday special is on tonight, and the new season begins in January.
Hugs,
Poodlepet2

Tee hee @Poodlepet2 as our family is kind of Maltese centric I had to rush one of our babies to the emergency room and as kismet would have it her breeder was there giving birth to another litter (I know, go figure) . . . great news is all puppies turned out great but goodness I do more than appreciate those that are "hands on" during that process as I don't know if I have the fortitude for that . . .

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Toppers3 — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 17:29:32 GMT

Thanks for posting this here, @momtochloe.

I just so enjoy watching them.

They are such beautiful and majestic dogs.

The puppies are so adorable, and their markings are so cute!!

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

MalteseMomma — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 17:35:20 GMT

I find this rather SAD

Rather than BREED these service dogs ,they should RESCUE them from shelters.

Shelter dogs have more than enough love and faithfullness to go around and they would be doing a world of good

Just because a dog is breeded from another Service dog does not guarentee it will be good at that job!!!.

What a sad waste of animals! imo

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Lacey1 — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 18:00:10 GMT

Thank you for posting that link, what an incredible channel!

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

momtochloe — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 22:05:49 GMT

@MalteseMomma wrote:
I find this rather SAD

Rather than BREED these service dogs ,they should RESCUE them from shelters.

Shelter dogs have more than enough love and faithfullness to go around and they would be doing a world of good

Just because a dog is breeded from another Service dog does not guarentee it will be good at that job!!!.

What a sad waste of animals! imo

@MalteseMomma I hear what you are saying and please know SDP is also heavily involved in animal rescue of all kinds including other breeds of animals (if you take a look at their cameras you will see stalls full of rescued donkeys).

Service dogs are usually raised to accentuate their specific talents. For SDP, they breed them to be more stocky than normal Danes so they can better distribute the weight that their human may place on them. These dogs are trained literally from birth on to assist but at least at SDP they are allowed to "choose" their partner meaning they watch very carefully if a dog is interested in a potential recipient and they take it from there to see if it will be a good match of both parties as they are very protective of their dogs and follow up on them constantly.

One that stands out is Bella who was chosen by George. Bella is a child that has a rare genetic condition that effects her bones and even though she volunteered at SDP often, no other dog showed much interest in her until George came along and now they are inseparable. George was also recently named Service Dog of the Year:

http://www.akc.org/news/great-dane-service-dog-helps-girl/

Again, I am all for adopting a dog and I would never go to a breeder but in cases like this I support their efforts.

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

Carriestp — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 22:12:11 GMT

Last I saw mom was all cuddled up sleeping with her four babies. Simply adorable.

Re: Service Dog Project is having puppies live!

momtochloe — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 22:18:09 GMT

@Carriestp wrote:
Last I saw mom was all cuddled up sleeping with her four babies. Simply adorable.

Aren't they sweet @Carriestp? This is Lanie's first litter so they are paying extra special attention to make sure everything is ok but it looks like she delivered her furbabies like a pro. If you check the other cameras you can see Gussie's nine puppies in the room next door. It's amazing to compare their sizes as they grow so quickly when they are Danes . . .