Leidenschaft Kennels

I’m grateful you all recognize how very busy we are, and you’re patiently waiting for news. I’m sad to say we’re down to 7 males and 2 females, with our little Grey Boy not doing well at all. We’re doing all we can, and have had so much help, and appreciate everyone of you for your kind words. At this time, I can honestly say we can’t accommodate everyone on our waiting list. I will be contacting people directly as to who will not be getting a P-litter puppy. And that list could be cut as well if we lose any more. Normally we take deposits when the litter is one week old, but this time we will wait for 4 weeks as the surviving puppies begin the weaning process. I wish I had better news. We are beyond devastated.

⚠️TRIGGER WARNING⚠️

First off, I apologize to everyone who didn’t get the information privately before we made this public. We simply didn’t have the time. Our hearts are shattered at the loss of our sweet Rogue. The best Momma ever!

The litter was large and Rogue was suffering from uterine inertia. She simply didn’t have room to contract, or break her water. We decided to do an emergency C-section on Tuesday morning. We were blessed with 16 of 17 pups out alive. Rogue’s vitals were stable when we brought her home, and she nursed her litter for about 3 hours total, 8 puppies at a time. We’re guessing she had a blood clot; she died while nursing.

We’ve been hand feeding around the clock, and many friends have come to help, and many more from away have offered financial support, and hugs, and prayers. Sadly in the wee hours of this morning, we lost our smallest male to fading puppy syndrome, and I fear, our smallest female is heading in that direction. We are trying to save her.

We are numb, but for the babies, we are putting one foot in front of the other.

A friend of a friend reached out, offering her Australian Shepherd as a surrogate nanny. Bunny arrived last night and accepted the pups without hesitation. Today she is actually putting herself between the pups and anyone going into the whelping box. It’s unbelievable. She had very little milk, but with extra groceries, and the vigorous pups stimulating her, she is coming back to her milk. And even just the bum cleaning and physical stimulation are a huge help.

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Initially my reaction to a surrogate nanny was absolute rejection. I felt so guilty and didn’t want anyone else to raise Rogue’s babies. Of course logic prevailed. Thursday morning, I was preparing for the morning nursing with my cup of tea. I happened to glance down at my tea mug, bubbles floating from stirring in the sugar, and the heart in my tea cup spoke louder than any words could. My girl was telling me it was okay.

We are so blessed to have our extended dog family, and as much as your messages mean to us, please forgive us if we are brief to answer, or not at all just yet. I am taking the month of November off work to be home with the litter. We are determined to keep as many of Rogue’s precious babies alive as possible. They have jobs to do, lives to enrich, and love to give. Thank you Dominica McCutcheon for Bunny. Thanks to everyone else who plays a part in saving the P-litter. You are priceless.

Confirmed today by ultrasound, Rogue vom Klingsgarten IS pregnant with our P-litter! Dr. Finley anticipates a good sized litter. We will x-ray on October 18 to get a better count.

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We’re excited to announce the mating of our two German imports, Zeus vom Goldbergsee, and Rogue vom Klingsgarten. We will confirm pregnancy with an ultrasound on September 27, and puppies should be due on October 25. Typically they would be ready for new homes December 25th, but we WILL NOT place puppies into any home until after the holiday season. It’s such a busy, exciting, and of course stressful time of year and definitely not a great time to add a puppy to the mix.

We already have a long list of applicants for both performance and companion dogs. That said, we are always accepting applications for our litters via our Potential Puppy Owner Questionnaire. Please understand our waiting list is malleable. We don’t choose based on who has been waiting the longest, we choose by suitability of the home to the temperament and drives of the puppies we end up with. We breed working lines for sport and civil applications so we must make sure we don’t put too much puppy into a companion dog home. This is why the waiting list for companion puppies is much longer than sport/civil applicants. Also, just like a job interview, we choose people who prove to us they are the best one for the job (of raising our puppy). Engage with us, list your assets, your experience, your drives to do the job. You got this! 😉
Follow along on social media, we’ll provide updates via Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Our P-litter group is here!

With our last O-litter puppy heading for his new home tomorrow, it’s time to look to the future.
We are excited to announce our very first GERMAN IMPORT combo! It’s our P-litter, but could also be our R2 litter as the two breeders of this pair are Ralf Grede, owner of Goldbergsee kennels, and Rolf Waßmuth, owner of Klingsgarten kennels.
Within the next few weeks we should be able to announce this mating! We anticipate an October litter, with new homes in December. You can view this combo’s pedigree here!

While we had a large number of applications this past year, we are always excited to receive new ones so we can find the perfect match for every person and puppy, based on drive and temperament type. If you’re interested in this or future litters, please submit your application via our Potential Puppy Owner Questionnaire. Remember to be more than a piece of paper in our files. Reach out via social media and let us get to know you so we have the best success at doing our job – Making Perfect Matches!
Stay tuned for more updates!

To say this has been an emotional weekend would be a colossal understatement. On Friday, May 7th we said goodbye to our amazing Glock. Then on Saturday, May 8th into the morning of Sunday May 9th, we welcomed his first grandpups, our O-litter. We are exhausted, sad, overjoyed, and hopeful. We’re excited to see what his daughter Khira produces. She has a lot of his strength and sharpness!

There is no one photo, or enough words to sum up the life of a beloved dog. This happens to be one of my favourites. Ron Murray at a training day with his dog. This photo demonstrates a bond that has existed since we brought him into the world, and a love that will exist forever. After a few weeks of not eating and losing weight, we helped Glock reach The Rainbow Bridge with love and dignity. His fan base is unbelievable, and we are blessed to have many of his offspring showing the world what an amazing working line he came from. Those who have/had his siblings, and those who have his offspring, know well the consistency of type, nerve, temperament, and drives. We thank everyone for the well wishes and condolences.

Khira started off on the right track, waited until 7 AM Saturday morning to begin labour. First puppy born at 8:58, a healthy male! But from there, things kind of went downhill. It was more than 2 hours for the 2nd pup, and then slow but steady until 5:43 PM. And by slow, I mean only six puppies in almost 10 hours. The next puppy was a little more than an hour later but she did not survive. SEVEN hours later, we had our 7th pup. Many walks and much oxytocin, and a call to the vet later, we agreed it was time for an emergency C-section. One more girl was born on the 1 hour drive to the vet, but she was not alive at presentation. By this time it’s been 24 hours since Khira began to whelp, and our thoughts were bleak. We were supposed to have at least 11 according to the xray, and we only had 7 alive, 2 dead. This left at least 2, possibly more to retrieve. Doing a C-section was our only option, but we didn’t expect anymore live puppies. NOT doing a C-section when we did, would have put Mom at high risk for infection and death to her, and potentially the litter.

We have a special relationship with one of our vets; he owns his own practice, which means he makes the rules. We have always been welcomed into surgery, and today was no exception. While Ron stayed home to watch Khira’s two-legged sister Sophia, Alyssa (co-owner of Khira) and I participated in the arrival of three more big, beautiful, LIVELY baby girls. We are very grateful to Shawn, Wendy, and Nicole for giving up their lazy Sunday MOTHER’S DAY morning to assist our beautiful girl into motherhood.

So, after all that drama… the O-litter is here!!! We have five males and five females at this moment. Khira is recovering from surgery, and the pups are nursing and thriving. As with any litter, the next several days, and early weeks are critical. We intend to keep everyone alive if at all possible. This is the main reason we don’t accept deposits until the litter is one week old. This litter is PRESOLD, with a long waiting list behind it. We look forward to sharing their development via our various forms of social media.

Again, thanks to everyone for your condolences, best wishes, cheering squad, and concern while we wade through the circle of life.