Puppies Are HERE!
Nina and puppies - January 15, 2010
The first was delivered at 3:33 AM last night (this morning, I guess), the last at 7:11 this morning. They politely went boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy. We have 4 boys and 3 girls, everyone has a long tail except for one boy and one girl. So far everyone is doing well, one boy (the third puppy born, and the short tailed boy) was born upside down (tail first or head first doesn’t matter, as long as the puppy is facing down, this guy was facing up, which makes them harder to deliver since they’re bending the opposite way to the path they have to follow), so I had to help deliver him (thank goodness for all that reading, research and mentoring! I knew what to do!), he took a while to be born and then took a bit of suctioning and encouraging to pink up and start moving around, but he did and is now keeping up with his siblings. Stephanie kindly dragged herself out of bed and drove down here at 3AM to help, and thank goodness she did! I don’t know how people manage on their own, we would have had a much harder time without all her help.
Nina is doing well, she worked very hard, and only had a bit of a panic with the first one (What do I lick? What do I chew? Should I bury it under the towel?), after that, she was a pro. She’s being a good mum and is having a nap with the babies (although she’s still figuring out how to lie down comfortably with all those puppies). She ate better today than she’s eaten in two weeks! And she can finally scratch her ears again! It is HARD WORK for a dog! And it is MESSY WORK for a person! This dog breeding thing is not for the faint hearted or weak stomached!
They are squeaking like baby alligators, or kittens, or someone tuning a radio.