ABOUT RAINESGIFT RENN WITH KILBOURNE

You'll know its Renn because she likes to carry sticks ...big sticks!!!

Renn has had rather a stop start show career, she won very well as a youngster winning Best puppy in breed at Darlington under David Bellamy (then Lathkill) and again at Driffield under GF Williams in 2001.She continued to do well into Junior. She won a fantastic yearling class at Crufts in 2003 under Chris Holmes and boy did she have to move that day! Renn excels on the move and is a joy to have on the end of a lead. This I think is why she has remained in the cards throughout her show career. She has qualified every year for Crufts and has been exhibited four times being placed each time. As a slow developer I decided the best thing to do would be to have a litter out of her early, give her a break then bring her out into the ring as the finished article.
It didn't happen quite as planned .Her first mating was to proven, none miss kind of boy and unfortunately it didn’t work!
The second dog I chose well .....she was mated to him on two separate occasions as was her auntie Brea and in both cases still no puppies !
My next dog took me all the way to deepest darkest Cumbria, he loved her, but not in that way! He was a young in-experienced boy and all he wanted to do was play with her. We tried way into the night (and saw the most amazing stars I have ever seen, it was worth going all that way just for that!) and the next morning, still no joy. We drove then into Scotland eventually using an unproven boy .Still no puppies!
Now if anyone ever tells you about all the money you make having a litter of puppies , laugh because trust me I wouldn’t like to begin to add up the amount of money I’ve spent trying to get Renn into whelp ....Pre-mate tests , swobs ,phone calls, diesel, wear and tear on your car, lost stud fees, B&B’s , loss of fees to entered shows , scans ..... it goes on .
My next venture was even more costly! I flew into the country from Norway the brother to my lovely Linnet. NU CH. Hempths Otard. Otti came into the country via Manchester with Pets on Jets ( wonderful company) and proved to be the most fantastic character from the minute he backed out of his box. Everyone that met Otti fell in love with him including Renn. She duly came into season and I think we mated her 6 times from day 10 to day 21. One month later she started to get those little “wings” that happen on the loin. She was eventually scanned .....and yes there they were ,puppies !! Of course - I cried I’m not sure if it was through joy or relief! On the 30th July she gave birth to 5 puppies 3 girls and 2 boys . She proved to be a good mum and looked rather fantastic all the way through it. Unfortunately the girls were not what I wanted and along with one of the dogs all went into pet homes. One dog “Inzie” went to Dogs for The Disabled and is currently doing really well in his training.
In August 2007 I decided to have one last try with Renn as by this time she was six and a half. I chose a stud dog down in Wales Castlerock Magic Charm of Graylswater . He had just one litter under his belt but I had been to see them and had been impressed. Also Renns kind of sister (same father and their mothers are full sisters) had been mated to this dogs mothers sibling and had produced a beautiful bitch over in Holland for Wies Boermans . We did two matings one on the Saturday and one on the Monday and all went well.
On the Wednesday evening disaster struck I came home to find Renn was clearly in the grip of a Torsion(my first). I made the normally half an hour journey to my vets at one hundred miles an hour (literally). When he arrived Ian tried to tube her but he knew she was too far gone so the operating room was prepared. The minute he cut her open the contents of her stomach burst all over him and the room. I stayed with her until the operation was finished (well in the doorway I can’t look at such things) and he had brought her back around and she was in her cage. It wasn’t until after that he told me that she had died twice on the table and that he had stitched her up dead. He hadn’t stitched the stomach to the outer wall as her insides had started to go black. Ian had gone back in at three in the morning and in his words “expecting to find one dead dog” but he said as he opened the door he could hear the unmistakable sound of a Flat coat tail. Renn clearly had other ideas. She just thrived from that moment on. My next problem was that I was due to go on my Family holiday/ First anniversary trip to The Isle of Mull in Scotland the next day. In of course in stepped Nurse Laura Keight who would love to take the credit for Renns miraculous recovery but as Laura will admit it’s all down to finding her in time, a fantastic and very experienced vet and although people tell me (I’m not so sure) it’s also down to the fact that my dogs are so fit . Personally I just think she and I are just bloody lucky! We left for holiday on the Friday afternoon and Renn stayed in the vets until the Saturday.
Laura’s only problem with her all the following week was keeping her calm. She isn’t a manic dog but she is an active dog who does love to counter surf. She also spins and circles for her meal! She was fed six times a day on baby food and chicken and rice mashed up for weeks after the operation and just continued to bloom. She continued to bloom on our arrival home and no one would believe that anything had ever happened to her. We had no problem with her stitches Ian had done a beautiful job. I was in denial about the whole mating thing and just assumed that although she hadn’t gone into shock the whole operation thing would have killed off any sperm or fertilised eggs. I also didn’t want to imagine what would happen if she had to carry a litter of puppies.
Again Renn had other ideas. As her coat and tail grew and she continued to put on weight the”wings” appeared again, her teats got bigger.... she couldn’t be? The fabulous scanner Sam Wilcox arrived ... she was carrying six puppies and had taken from her first mating which will have made her 4-5 days pregnant when she had the Torsion .She sailed through the pregancy and looked absolutely radiant!
The six puppies were born on the 23rd October 2007, 3 boys 3 girls. She delivered them l in 1hour 35 minutes with no problems. She reared them impeccably and like last time has proved to be a wonderful mother. This time I have kept two. I had decided that whatever I would keep a Renn daughter .As she was conceived on a full moon and weirdly born on a full moon, my daughter Alex said she was to be named “Luna”. She is to be known as Rainesgift Fleur De Luna. I hadn’t counted on the boys being as lovely as they were and so “ Remus” ( Proffessor Remus Lupin aka Moony – Harry Potter fans here) or known professionally as “ Rainesgift Over The Moon has stayed and although it’s early days I am "over the moon" with him . They are lovely puppies with lovely characters he is so laid back loving and steady. She is another story and reminds me very much of Renn at this age. She is very busy incredibly intelligent and already has an amazing nose on her!
Renn has always been an individual bitch very intelligent and biddable. She has from a young age been fascinated by the puppies that have been born here and has always been the first to go and check out the whelping box if allowed. She now has her own to play with daily and she is making the most of it. She has the most sweetest of natures if slightly obsessive like her mother “Berrie”. But now to add to that she’s also a miracle!
I still do as I’ve always done with the dogs I don’t feed off the ground I don’t feed before or after exercise ... but after all the things I have read I still don’t think I could have done anything or do anything different that would have prevented the torsion happening .... HAYLEY JAN 2008