We know many of you are anxious to have puppies from Harley in the spring so here’s an update.
By our best guess based on her past schedule, Harley should have gone into heat 11/20/2018 but she did not. She is showing all the signs of going into heat (clingy, moody, lots if “interest” from River and Dexter and even Emma at times) but she’s not there yet. This is not all that uncommon for winter heats as they are often delayed due to the short days.
We had a rather expensive progesterone blood test done on her a few weeks ago and she was at “level 1”. This could mean many things but in the end, it does mean that heat 
“should” be coming. Terri is also running “Ferning” tests from her dried saliva under a microscope a few times per week and we see continued evidence of progesterone. As you can see from the graphic, if free progesterone is present, she’s in her cycle somewhere.
Canine heat is at best a difficult thing to forecast and they can vary. Here are the current possibilities for Harley:
- She had an early and silent heat and we missed it or she skipped her heat
- Most unlikely
- She started heat and then just stopped
- Very unlikely
- She started heat and stopped and will start again
- Called a “split heat” – yes, it’s a thing
- She is just late going into heat
- Most likely, especially since it’s winter
Canine heat can be late by as much as 2 months so at this point we are at the mercy of Mother Nature and can only wait and watch. We will continue to watch, love, care for, and test her. We do our best to keep you updated with her progress.
Once she is pregnant, the pregnancy lasts roughly 63 days. After the puppies are whelped, they need to be weaned, healthy and at least 8 weeks old before they go to to their forever homes. For now we will let you do the math and will provide better estimates when the action actually starts.
We are very excited to have secured Tucker as sire for the upcoming litter. His loving owner has been kept up-to-date and is standing ready when Harley is.
Sincerest thanks for your patience and understanding.