Opal is very visibly pregnant now and her abdominal area has grown by approximately 15 centimeters in diameter to 87 cms. She definitely has a waddle to her walk when we go for our outings – which most recently consists of walks on the lake. The winter refuses to loosen its grip here and the days continue to be either snowy or bitterly cold…. For the most part Opal doesn’t seem to mind and loves getting out for a walk in the wintery wonderland. This week is a turning point in her pregnancy as we are now heading into the final part of gestation. The fetuses will develop very quickly; their skeletons (which started out as cartilage) will mineralize and solidify and they gain weight. Amazingly, three-quarters of growth occurs during the final third of gestation. Opal’s nutritional requirements will be at a high during these final weeks so we will continue to make sure she has the best possible diet with lots of fresh meat, fruit and vegetables. Her stomach space will also decrease over the next 14 days so we need to ensure that anything she is eating will give her optimum nutrition.
We have the whelping box already up and in place, but Opal has other ideas and has started scouting out her own birthing location outdoors !! How she would ever be able to sustain puppies outside in minus 30 degrees Celsius is beyond me…. but she seems to think that the corner of the garden (where she dug a nice little den last year when she was about to have puppies) would once more be the perfect location to raise her family. I will need to have a talk with her on that one….
We look forward to the big day and can hardly wait to meet Opal and Hudson’s little bundles of joy.