I\u2019m not one to count chickens before they hatch or in this case puppies, but either Shadow needs to do rather more work on holding in her tummy muscles or there\u2019s something going on that looks promising. If she isn\u2019t pregnant she is going to have to go on a mammoth diet. If she is pregnant then either she has lost some control of her muscles given it\u2019s her third litter or there it is going to be a big litter. I\u2019m sure that at this stage before she didn\u2019t really look very pregnant, but since last weekend she has started to look more than a little rotund. She would be just over 4 weeks pregnant now so there are another 4 \u00bd weeks to go or a little more. She is very affectionate and quite definitely hormonal in a motherly affectionate sort of way. It has even led to my Mistress spending a little longer looking at names and I think we have a shortlist. At this stage the shortlist has 4 preferred boys names and 4 girls although the order may change. We will have a list of 6 of each by the time they are born, not because we think there could be as many as 12 but it\u2019s possible they might all be boys or all girls. It does happen though not very often. So far our litters have been fairly evenly split. The shortlist for boys is Casanova \u2013 in the hope he will become a stud dog. Che \u2013 which is the Portugese word used in some South American countries to mean \u2018friend\u2019. Chekov \u2013 because one of our puppies always seems to turn out to be bright, and Cholmondeley (which for those of you who don\u2019t know the name is pronounced Chumley and is a bit of a joke in our house for any word that sounds different than its spelling). The shortlist for girls is Cinderella after the fairytale and pantomime character. Cracker \u2013 because it\u2019s Christmas. Cuddles \u2013 because that\u2019s what we are like and my Mistress had a stuffed rabbit pyjama case that went by that name when she was a child. I say \u2018had\u2019 but there is a strong possibility it is in the wardrobe in the spare room! Finally Crumble because my Mistress likes it. Now we just need everything to go ok.<\/p>\n
Alfie\u2019s Diary \u2013 the Book is available at Amazon UK –https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/B00583ZGSA<\/a><\/p>\n You can find short stories to read at www.alfiedog.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"