Annie's Excellent Adventure

By Dana Day

“Well?”
I look over my shoulder & answer,
“I don’t know”.
Annie looks up into my eyes as if to say,
“I have a secret”.
I give her a rub down, a kiss and tell her, through telepathy of course,
“I will know your secret…eventually!”
This scenario plays itself out everyday….sometimes twice per day, sometimes more.

We have never had this particular problem before. Our other girls displayed their “condition” with pride. Both had protruding bellies, voracious appetites and a total lack of work ethic. Not our Anika. She has kept her girlish figure intact and her appetite comes & goes. It has been unseasonably warm so her lack of interest in pulling a sled could be confused as normal. Heck, what Siberian in their right mind would want to run in, what they would consider, a heat wave!

So, here we all sit…wondering, waiting & left wanting.

You might be thinking, “Why haven’t they used X-rays or ultrasound?” Through an unfortunate series of events/timing, our vet was away on holidays. Besides, we really didn’t think it would be necessary….until it became so! We are now relying on the vast collection of information we have gathered. Friends tell us of personal experiences. One story keeps firm in my mind. Kathy told me of a litter that was delivered at day 72! Our forum friends have also reminded us that not all pregnant females show. Ah yes, more tidbits to hold onto. Don’t get me wrong, we really do appreciate all the information that is tossed our way, we need all the help we can get!

This whole journey began 8 months ago when we decided that we just HAD to have an Anika baby. She came into heat and we kept a close watch on her. She was flirtatious but shy. This being understandable behaviour coming from a virgin bitch. She went through all of the normal stages….except for one. The most important component was missing. Anika wouldn’t flag her tail or stand for breeding. All activity stopped! This was our first encounter with a split heat. Oh sure, we had read all of the articles. In fact when Anika’s heat failed to progress, we ran straight to our book shelf! Any fears of an abnormal heat turning ugly were pushed aside. We were also relieved to learn that split heats are usually self-resolving and, more often than not, followed by a normal heat. Anika did resume with her flirtatious nature, 2 weeks down the road. Unfortunately by this time our virgin stud was completely & utterly confused!

Nearing the end of work season, Anika starts another heat. Yippee! If first you don’t succeed….! We hatch a plan to corral the two love birds in our isolation kennel so that they will have “easy access” to one another. This transpires into a loud & raucous howling fest which only adds to our work stress. Throughout this second attempt, our stud muffin CoCo gives it his all. Even though Anika was still playing the coy, young maiden, he never gave up…or at lease we hope he didn’t! We never actually saw a “tie”. We were away from the love-nest 50% of the time.

So begins the two months of wonder, or should I say “wondering”?! Anika has always been shy with men, strange or not. As a matter of fact, she has been wary of most people. Suddenly she has decided that Mike is not so bad after all! She climbs into our bed, makes herself a nest between us and decides that everyday is a good day to sleep in. She has also ascertained that pulling a sled is not for her. Of course this revelation comes to the surface right when we are far from home and I must now take her for a nice, long, slow, scenic wander through the forest. Next…the stuffy grab. Anika LOVES her stuffy and despises anyone who comes near it. We immediately put it away so as not to insight a brawl. Her appetite seems to grow according to her mood. Sometimes she is ravenous; sometime she is a somewhat picky eater. Hmmmm. It’s enough to drive us absolutely crazy! As I sit here at the computer, Anika is snuggled up contentedly in true motherly fashion.
If she is not pregnant than these are Strange Days Indeed!

Well, at least we have learned our lesson. We have questions about a particular “date” that CoCo had with another one of our girls. You can bet all your hard-earned cash that we will have her at our vet’s office on day 30. No ifs, ands or buts!