Kluane was due to give birth to her first poodle puppy on Monday, April 19, 2021.

It was on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 that I learned Kluane was having a singleton puppy. All of us who were involved in breeding Kluane had hoped for a full litter of puppies from Klu. But, breeding in a COVID-19 year was never going to be easy. And the fact Klu was even pregnant, given the pandemic-initiated obstacles we had to overcome to breed her, was happy news.
I was going to be grateful for whatever I got!

So it was Wednesday evening when I began to change my vision from a litter of puppies, to just one single puppy. The news of one puppy meant less of almost everything that I had bought to prepare for Kluane’s first whelping experience. But it also meant more of other things; more warming pads to keep a single puppy warm and comfortable, more rice stuffed socks to mimic littermates, more minir obstacles in the whelping pen to help a singleton puppy learn to deal with frustration and a lot more reading and research about raising singleton puppies.

On Friday, Kluane and I headed back into the veterinarian’s office for a reverse progesterone test and an ultrasound.

The reverse progesterone test is especially important for a small litter or a singleton puppy because it is common for the mama dog’s body to not get the signal that it is time to go into labor and give birth. By doing a reverse progesterone, we can measure Kluane’s progesterone levels and monitor her for when her levels drop below a number of 2.0. Once her numbers drop below a 2.0, it’s time to take the puppy!

The reason for the ultrasound was to make sure the puppy was ready to be born. Since we weren’t going to chance Kluane or her puppy’s life to a natural birth when we had no reason to believe Klu’s body would naturally go into whelp with just one puppy, Klu’s veterinarian suggested we schedule a c-section and I wholeheartedly agreed.

Our plan was to get an initial read on Klu’s progesterone levels, check on puppy’s growth progress on Friday. And then plan the c-section for Sunday or Monday.
That was the plan. But, as with many things, even the best laid plans can go to waste. And so, on Friday, April 16, 2021 when I took Kluane in for her reverse progesterone we discovered she was below a 2.0. After the ultrasound check, we knew the puppy was healthy and ready to be born. We also knew Kluane’s body was ready for the puppy to be born!

Mentally, I was not prepared to bring home a puppy! I felt I didn’t have everything I needed, I had no assistance to get Kluane and the puppy home after the c-section, and home was a two hour drive! I really didn’t expect to visit the vet with Kluane on Friday, only to go home with Kluane and a puppy on that same Friday! But, it became obvious fairly quickly that, much like a human birth, Kluane was not waiting for me to be ready. One way or another, a puppy was coming home with us on Friday evening!

As soon as I got word that Kluane was going to be having her puppy on Friday, I called my daughter to come and help me.

Luckily, my daughter had an open schedule for her Friday night and told me there was no where else she’d rather be! My great friend, Kathy, and her daughter, Carlee, were also able to come to the veterinarian’s office and offer moral support.

I couldn’t contain my excitement while we waited for news that Kluane was in surgery for her c-section. We knew that once Kluane went in, it would only be 10 or so minutes before we had a puppy. I was very grateful to have a vet with experience and expertise when it comes to c-sections. I had absolute faith that everything would go smoothly.

But even with that faith, I was still excited and nervous about what was to come. A puppy! It wasn’t going to be a litter, just a single puppy. But, in that moment, all I cared about was getting that single puppy out into the world healthy, happy, and ready to conquer any challenge!

And so we waited. It felt like hours and hours, waiting for word that Kluane had delivered her puppy. In reality, it wasn’t very long at all before we got word of the puppy’s healthy birth. The nurse brought the puppy out to show us, wrapped in a tiny blue blanket.
”It’s a little boy!” she proudly announced as she brought him out to us.

We all cheered. And tears filled my eyes as I held that precious puppy for the very first time. He was so small, and warm, and a deep black color. In a word, he was perfect.

Kluane’s puppy weighed 11 oz when he was born. And he was feisty! And he was strong! Just moments old and he was already trying to climb over his mama to get to a nice snuggle spot for food and rest. We stayed at Kluane’s vet’s office until we knew that the puppy was a strong and confident nurser. We also wanted to make sure Kluane was comfortable with her new charge. Since she didn’t whelp naturally, we wanted to make absolutely sure she understood that she had a new baby to care for.

The ride home was filled with so much excitement! My daughter and I were so tired by the time we got into the car to drive back to Talkeetna. I was forever grateful that my daughter opted to spend the night with me on Kluane and her puppy’s first night home. My husband was traveling and he wasn’t’ going to get home until sometime Saturday morning. So having another buddy with me on that first night was absolutely priceless.

When we did finally get home, all of us were exhausted. Kluane was adjusting well to her new role and my daughter and I made a plan to take turns watching Kluane and her puppy on that first night together. I took first duty and made myself a place inside the whelping box. One advantage to only having a single puppy was that there was plenty of room for me to snuggle into the whelping box with my sweet Klu and her new, precious boy.

That first night, I couldn’t stop staring at the puppy. I would touch his small, newborn body with my finger and stroke his brand new hair while feeling his little lungs fill with air and exhale as he slept. Everything he did was a small miracle to me. He was perfect. I knew it from the moment I set eyes on this feisty little soul.

Kluane took to nursing and mothering fairly quickly for a c-section mama dog. It took her about 5 days to get t the hang of the nuances of being a dog mom. She was great about nursing her puppy right from the beginning. She needed very little help from me to get the hang of things. And once she was truly healed and involved in her puppy’s life, there was no stopping her from being with her baby. She has done well in raising her first born puppy. I am so proud of all of Kluane’s efforts!

Puppy got his name at about 6 weeks of life. It’s a name that suits him perfectly! I am so excited to watch him grow into his name and prove himself as a true little traveler.

I am so proud to introduce the world to Galavanting The Road Less Traveled; callname- Sojourner.

Watch this blog along with the Galavanting instagram and Facebook page for updates on Sojourner’s special journey. He’s a wonderful poodle puppy and his future is so bright.

I am so glad he’s here in my life!