My dad called me yesterday and asked me how my day had gone. Pretty much like this - Got up at 4am, Fed little puppies, Fed Big Puppies, Fed Really Big Puppies (Dallas, Vegas & Kenya), Fed myself. Weighed puppies, cleaned bedding, Fed Little puppies, Fed Big puppies, did some laundry, Fed Kenya and Vegas, Ran into Town for an errand, Fed Little puppies, Fed Big Puppies, Took a Nap, Fed Little Puppies, Fed Big Puppies, Fed Really Big Puppies... Went to Bed... Really boring stuff.
I think it is all catching up with me, yesterday I was just exhausted and the act of driving into town was so tiring and I keep thinking this will get better and I will be able to do some work and I am sure I will soon, but right now, I am taking full advantage of Thanksgiving weekend.
The Big puppies are just growing so fast and are now starting to interact with each other, my goal for the day is to pull out some puppy toys and put them into the whelping box for them. Vegas is being a good mom and I tell her she needs to go feed her puppies, she just looks at me, like really, do I have to. They can suck down 3 ounces of formula in nothing flat so I can only imagine how she must feel. I cannot start supplementing them with puppy food for another week and I am sure in her mind that cannot happen soon enough
Kenya's babies are also growing are starting to smell her when she comes into the whelping box. We are supplementing them as well, not quite as much but just to give Kenya a bit of a break. We have found it also helps Mint Girl, if we can put her on a bottle, she doesn't get knocked of a nipple as easy and she is much more content with a full belly. Lady Bug has her favorite back nipple and I put her on it and she holds on for dear life, isn't going to let go for nothing.
The antibiotics are kicking in for Kenya and I think she is finally starting to feel better. She is eating well which for her is a good thing. She is a princess and feels that she needs to have a variety of food at all times, not just when she has babies. I found the trick though - Goats Milk if I poor goats milk over her food she will eat every last morsel.
I ordered a big bag of puppy food so that I will have it on hand for next weekend when we start the babies out on mush and trying to stay ahead of the game in regards to what I need on hand. I received the new puppy gating that I purchased for the living room and today I think I will try and set it up just to see what I need and how it will all work out. I know I will need a couple of big tarps to put under everything and I need to go out and find my rabbit hutch liners that I use as Potty Boxes since the best time to start potty training them is when they make the move into the living room. In the past I have used shavings and different types of pellets which were a pain in the ass. Someone on a forum mentioned alfalfa pellets for the litter box and I think I might try that. Seems to me that they would smell more like grass and they said they were less expensive than wood pellets, so now I just need to get down to the local feed store and see if I can get some.
Ladybug
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Friday, November 29, 2019
The Day After
I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving with family and friends and didn't eat too much. Larena and I made a small turkey and somehow throughout the day managed to cook a full dinner for the two of us. We ate it in spurts based on whatever was done at the time and both managed to get a two hour nap in the afternoon, which is a beautiful thing.
The Bigs and the Littles as we are calling them are doing great, I did not have to tube feed Lady Bug at all yesterday, she is getting feisty again and digs in for the back nipple on mom and won't let go. I think she is going to make it which makes me so happy, she is so sweet and I just love her little Swiss Kiss on the back of her head.
Mint girl continues to thrive as well and all the littles are actually starting to smell mom when she comes in and make their way to her. We did pictures yesterday and I will work on getting them updated on the blog. We ended up changing poor Lt Blue Boy's Color collar again, so he started out at Maroon, then went to Lt Blue and is now Gold - We found the Lt Blue and Mint colors were just too close to each other and Gold will stand out more, especially when they are all in the same pen at a later date.
The Bigs are little pigs, OMG they can polish off two ounces of formula in a split second. Let's just say that at 4:06 this morning I started to top them off after nursing on mom. 10 puppies, burping them after they are done and I was finished at 4:36 so I think they got this thing down. Their eyes continue to open and brown. I have never had a blue eye as it is a double recessive gene but their is always that worry that one will crop up and until those little peepers open, I tend to hold my breath praying that we won't have a blue eye, none in this litter.
Kenya is starting to do better and you can tell the antibiotics are kicking in, plus we found that left over formula and or Goats Milk on top of her food is the bomb and she will polish off every little bit that is in her bowl. Vegas on the other hand will eat her food, Dallas' food if he has walked away and hover over Kenya in anticipation that she can have hers too. Vegas loves her food and this being a mom thing is the best. Three or four meals a day rather than two - YES, life is good in her book.
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Happy Thanksgiving
We made it to one and two weeks of age - Yeah! It's the little things in life to be thankful for. Right now there are so many things I am thankful for. I am thankful I have amazing girls who have had beautiful puppies and are perfectly fine helping each other mother. I am thankful for Larena Harrison who insisted upon moving in with me for these last two weeks and for the next week so that I could get some rest. I am thankful for my employee's and my dad, who have been keeping my business running and taking care of customers so that I could be home with babies, and I am thankful for my fantastic Vet who always seems to answer my texts and is always there for me. There is more, but these are the top ones at this time.
Lady Bug continues to do well on the new formula. I had to tube her again at 7 am yesterday and did it again at 7pm just before I went to bed, to be on the safe side. She is gaining weight and has energy to actually get in and nurse on mom. We have been topping her off with the formula and I think she may have turned a corner. Hopefully I won't have to tube feed her today.
Mint girl is also doing well on the new formula and loves nursing off the bottle, I think it is easier for her, she still tends to throw herself to one side and gets herself turned upside down, but she is also getting stronger and has been able to right herself on more than one occasion. I took a video of her yesterday and sent it to my mentor who agrees with me that I should have my doggie chiropractor look at her on the 4th of December when he is in town, she agrees that she could have something out of alignment that is throwing her off. This seems like the first logical step in trying to fix whatever is ailing her. In the meantime we continue to call her turtle and gotten to the point where we know her cry for help.
The older puppies haven't done so well on the new formula. We were giving them a little bit mixed in with their other formula since we had some left over. It had given them pretty stinky poops and poor Lime boy seemed very constipated yesterday and had a belly ache. This is where I am so thankful for my vet. I shot a video of him and she texted back to give him a warm water bath and rub his tummy in the water to see if that would help him. It did, he totally relaxed in the bath and was just fine afterward, plus he was so much fluffier and clean. Larena and I decided it probably wouldn't hurt any of the puppies at this stage of their life to have a warm water bath and so we are going to try and do one or two puppies a day over the next week, just to give them another experience and hopefully make it not so stressful when they have to have that real bath for the first time.
I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends. People have offered to bring us food, but we are planning on cooking a small turkey today. It won't be an elaborate dinner and we will most likely have to take turns cooking in between puppies, but we will manage and plus the girls will love having turkey mixed in with their meals.
At some point today we will also get new pictures of everyone and get those up tomorrow for you
Lady Bug continues to do well on the new formula. I had to tube her again at 7 am yesterday and did it again at 7pm just before I went to bed, to be on the safe side. She is gaining weight and has energy to actually get in and nurse on mom. We have been topping her off with the formula and I think she may have turned a corner. Hopefully I won't have to tube feed her today.
Mint girl is also doing well on the new formula and loves nursing off the bottle, I think it is easier for her, she still tends to throw herself to one side and gets herself turned upside down, but she is also getting stronger and has been able to right herself on more than one occasion. I took a video of her yesterday and sent it to my mentor who agrees with me that I should have my doggie chiropractor look at her on the 4th of December when he is in town, she agrees that she could have something out of alignment that is throwing her off. This seems like the first logical step in trying to fix whatever is ailing her. In the meantime we continue to call her turtle and gotten to the point where we know her cry for help.
The older puppies haven't done so well on the new formula. We were giving them a little bit mixed in with their other formula since we had some left over. It had given them pretty stinky poops and poor Lime boy seemed very constipated yesterday and had a belly ache. This is where I am so thankful for my vet. I shot a video of him and she texted back to give him a warm water bath and rub his tummy in the water to see if that would help him. It did, he totally relaxed in the bath and was just fine afterward, plus he was so much fluffier and clean. Larena and I decided it probably wouldn't hurt any of the puppies at this stage of their life to have a warm water bath and so we are going to try and do one or two puppies a day over the next week, just to give them another experience and hopefully make it not so stressful when they have to have that real bath for the first time.
I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends. People have offered to bring us food, but we are planning on cooking a small turkey today. It won't be an elaborate dinner and we will most likely have to take turns cooking in between puppies, but we will manage and plus the girls will love having turkey mixed in with their meals.
At some point today we will also get new pictures of everyone and get those up tomorrow for you
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Let There Be Light
In more ways than one - Vegas' babies eyes are opening and I think we have turned the corner with Lady Bug!
I was talking with a good friend of mine in town who is a Golden Breeder, she assisted reviving puppies during both C Sections and wanted to check on me and the babies and see how everyone was doing. I told her what was happening with Lady Bug and she said, I am going to bring over my magic formula for her which she did. We Tubed 9 cc's into her in the afternoon and between that and the sub Q fluids I had given her an hour before the formula, she seemed to be making progress.
I went to bed after she left around 8pm and Larena didn't wake me up until 4am, OMG, sleep is a beautiful thing. She said that Lady Bug nursed on mom and she took a bottle from Larena with the magic formula all through the night and she was actually getting herself from the heating pad to mom to nurse. Oh Happy Dance. I just tubed her again so she doesn't fall backwards and we know how much she is getting and just checked on her, she is actually kneading the whelping pad as she sleeps so I think she may have turned the corner and I am hopeful that she will have gained some weight when I do morning weigh in at 8am.
Mint girl is also getting stronger and she can actually turn herself over when she gets on her back now, so that is also a good sign.
And over in the other Whelping Box we have eyeballs poking through little slits! It is about to be a grand new world for these babies, a couple of the boys hit the three pound mark last night and they are all fat and happy babies. Terri could not believe how big they were when she came by the house last night. They certainly fit the image of rolly polly, fat and happy babies.
Life is good, I have had almost 8 hours of sleep and all babies are starting to thrive and do well, I do believe it is going to be a wonderful Thanksgiving at Casa Lavender Hill - oh wait - that's tomorrow.
I was talking with a good friend of mine in town who is a Golden Breeder, she assisted reviving puppies during both C Sections and wanted to check on me and the babies and see how everyone was doing. I told her what was happening with Lady Bug and she said, I am going to bring over my magic formula for her which she did. We Tubed 9 cc's into her in the afternoon and between that and the sub Q fluids I had given her an hour before the formula, she seemed to be making progress.
I went to bed after she left around 8pm and Larena didn't wake me up until 4am, OMG, sleep is a beautiful thing. She said that Lady Bug nursed on mom and she took a bottle from Larena with the magic formula all through the night and she was actually getting herself from the heating pad to mom to nurse. Oh Happy Dance. I just tubed her again so she doesn't fall backwards and we know how much she is getting and just checked on her, she is actually kneading the whelping pad as she sleeps so I think she may have turned the corner and I am hopeful that she will have gained some weight when I do morning weigh in at 8am.
Mint girl is also getting stronger and she can actually turn herself over when she gets on her back now, so that is also a good sign.
And over in the other Whelping Box we have eyeballs poking through little slits! It is about to be a grand new world for these babies, a couple of the boys hit the three pound mark last night and they are all fat and happy babies. Terri could not believe how big they were when she came by the house last night. They certainly fit the image of rolly polly, fat and happy babies.
Life is good, I have had almost 8 hours of sleep and all babies are starting to thrive and do well, I do believe it is going to be a wonderful Thanksgiving at Casa Lavender Hill - oh wait - that's tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Not Out of the Woods Yet
Lady Bug did much better yesterday after tubing her through the night. She rallied, was nursing off of mom and we were able to supplement her with a bottle throughout the day. She is still not gaining weight and tonight she is back to not thriving again. I tube fed her at 1:30 this morning and will do so again at 3:30 and hoping that she pulls through this. It is certainly taking a village and thank God for my village.
My son and his girlfriend came up yesterday, John worked outside and chopped wood, stacked it on the front porch, picked up my generator that had been at the shop getting a tune up for winter and loaded it on the back porch so now we are ready for any winter storms, should I lose power, it won't mean lugging 18 puppies and 2 moms to the motorhome to keep warm, LOL! Not sure my motorhome could handle that. Just having these little things done is a big relief, we had a big windstorm the other night and lights flickered off and on and I just kept thinking, please don't let the power go out, I have puppies.
Erin helped Larena with puppies, while I tried to catnap through the day. I am pretty sure Erin thought she was in heaven and she is pretty smitten with a couple of Vegas' babies. Orange boy climbed in her lap and slept for at least an hour on her legs. She said she has quite a bit of free time and can come up more often in December when Larena has to leave us for a while. I am not looking forward to that, she is my pet sitter and had taken on another assignment from the 9th of December to the 8th of January. She said she can come up for about 3 hours a day during that time, but I am going to miss having her here. As long as I can get these puppies of Kenya's thriving like Vegas' puppies before she leaves I should be ok with the folks that have offered to come up and help.
Vegas' puppies are doing awesome, we now have the major frenzy when mom comes into the box and it is interesting to watch them. They know she is there and since their eyes are not open yet, their little noses just twitch and they stumble over each other like drunken sailors. I think mom's odor must bounce off the sides of the whelping box because tonight I watched most of the puppies turn towards the box and then make an about face to follow scent to mom. For those that do nose work with their dogs, you will understand what is happening and I find it very interesting to watch as this is taking place. The sense of smell is an amazing thing. Their pigment is coming in on their little noses and they are growing like weeds.
All of Kenya's babies are thriving and gaining weight except for Lady Bug and Mint. Mint at least will take the bottle when offered and she does get herself on a nipple, but continues to go around in circles and get herself upside down as a turtle, time will tell if she is going to be special needs or if this will correct itself. I have a doggie chiropractor that is going to stop by early December and hopefully it will just be a minor adjustment needed from being in a squished in utero.
I have not given up on Lady Bug, I will say I am getting much more confident in tube feeding, it still scares the crap out of me, but I will continue to do it as long as needed. I had really hoped that when I went to bed yesterday that I would wake up to Larena telling me that she had gained weight and was holding her own, but that is not the case, so prayers are still needed for her.
My son and his girlfriend came up yesterday, John worked outside and chopped wood, stacked it on the front porch, picked up my generator that had been at the shop getting a tune up for winter and loaded it on the back porch so now we are ready for any winter storms, should I lose power, it won't mean lugging 18 puppies and 2 moms to the motorhome to keep warm, LOL! Not sure my motorhome could handle that. Just having these little things done is a big relief, we had a big windstorm the other night and lights flickered off and on and I just kept thinking, please don't let the power go out, I have puppies.
Erin helped Larena with puppies, while I tried to catnap through the day. I am pretty sure Erin thought she was in heaven and she is pretty smitten with a couple of Vegas' babies. Orange boy climbed in her lap and slept for at least an hour on her legs. She said she has quite a bit of free time and can come up more often in December when Larena has to leave us for a while. I am not looking forward to that, she is my pet sitter and had taken on another assignment from the 9th of December to the 8th of January. She said she can come up for about 3 hours a day during that time, but I am going to miss having her here. As long as I can get these puppies of Kenya's thriving like Vegas' puppies before she leaves I should be ok with the folks that have offered to come up and help.
Vegas' puppies are doing awesome, we now have the major frenzy when mom comes into the box and it is interesting to watch them. They know she is there and since their eyes are not open yet, their little noses just twitch and they stumble over each other like drunken sailors. I think mom's odor must bounce off the sides of the whelping box because tonight I watched most of the puppies turn towards the box and then make an about face to follow scent to mom. For those that do nose work with their dogs, you will understand what is happening and I find it very interesting to watch as this is taking place. The sense of smell is an amazing thing. Their pigment is coming in on their little noses and they are growing like weeds.
All of Kenya's babies are thriving and gaining weight except for Lady Bug and Mint. Mint at least will take the bottle when offered and she does get herself on a nipple, but continues to go around in circles and get herself upside down as a turtle, time will tell if she is going to be special needs or if this will correct itself. I have a doggie chiropractor that is going to stop by early December and hopefully it will just be a minor adjustment needed from being in a squished in utero.
I have not given up on Lady Bug, I will say I am getting much more confident in tube feeding, it still scares the crap out of me, but I will continue to do it as long as needed. I had really hoped that when I went to bed yesterday that I would wake up to Larena telling me that she had gained weight and was holding her own, but that is not the case, so prayers are still needed for her.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Lady Bug
Yesterday was Dew Claw day for Kenya's litter, my vet wanted me to come in at noon, right during the Seahawk Game so I couldn't ask anyone to come and watch Vegas' litter while Larena and I took Kenya and the babies to the vet. Normally I like to have someone in the car with mom while I am in the vets office getting the dew claws removed. I didn't want to Leave Vegas' litter unattended so Larena stayed home, Kenya and I went in with her babies and I left the football game on the radio for Kenya to keep tabs on what was happening while I went in with the babies. Kenya wasn't happy about me leaving with her babies but once I returned back with them all was right in her world again.
We only had two pups in this litter that had double rear dew claws, so I am thinking this is a dad thing, as I have never had them before and ended up with them on both sets of litters. I debated about whether or not we should even take off Lady Bugs, she has been the smallest of the puppies and continues to lose weight which is not a good thing. My vet looked her over and said yes we should take them off and she would give them all sub q fluids to help them get through this.
When we returned home, all pups were happily nursing on mom through the afternoon. I went to bed early and Larena woke me at Midnight very concerned about Lady Bug, she just wasn't latching on to mom, wouldn't take a bottle or suckle from a sponge. So glad she woke me and I have been in constant motion with that little girl from midnight to 5 this morning. 10 minutes on the heating pad, 10 minutes in my lap with a sponge dipped in formula and me simulating the sucking motion for her, then the heating pad, back to the sponge. After an hour, I brought Vegas in, had her lay on the bed and put the puppy on her, she suckled on Vegas for a few minutes than ran out of energy. Another hour of heating pad, sponge, heating pad, sponge, Vegas, heating pad, sponge, you get the idea. At 5 am I had to break down and tube feed her, I hate tube feeding, but I am not going to lose this little girl, dammit, she is a fighter and I know it, I just need to get her over this hurdle. After giving her 2 ounces of formula and on the heating pad for 10 minutes she seems to have more energy. I have her back on mom for the time being and she is trying to suckle. I will tube her again in another hour if she hasn't really latched on by then.
For those of you that don't know what tube feeding is, it is taking a small (very small in this case) tube and coaxing it down her throat into her belly and then attaching a syringe and slowly pushing the food directly into her stomach. It doesn't hurt them, but the danger is getting it down the wrong pipe and putting the food into their lungs instead of their stomach. I have had to do it in the past, I hate doing it and it scares the crap out of me every time I do it, so I will try anything else I can before resorting to those measures, but right now as I am typing next to the whelping box, she has renewed energy and is actually nursing on mom, which is a good thing.
Kenya is being amazing, she knows her baby isn't doing well and she knows we are trying to help. She didn't even falter or hesitate when I brought Vegas into her room and put her baby on her, it was as if she knew this was what needed to happen. Vegas knew she was needed and she keeps coming in to check on the babies every 1/2 hour or so to make sure she isn't needed again. I cannot say enough, how much I love my girls, they are the absolute best.
I have a feeling it is going to be a long day watching lady bug and making sure she continues to thrive. We sure could use everyone's prayers and I hope I can give you a better report tomorrow.
Today's picture is Lady Bug nursing on Vegas
We only had two pups in this litter that had double rear dew claws, so I am thinking this is a dad thing, as I have never had them before and ended up with them on both sets of litters. I debated about whether or not we should even take off Lady Bugs, she has been the smallest of the puppies and continues to lose weight which is not a good thing. My vet looked her over and said yes we should take them off and she would give them all sub q fluids to help them get through this.
When we returned home, all pups were happily nursing on mom through the afternoon. I went to bed early and Larena woke me at Midnight very concerned about Lady Bug, she just wasn't latching on to mom, wouldn't take a bottle or suckle from a sponge. So glad she woke me and I have been in constant motion with that little girl from midnight to 5 this morning. 10 minutes on the heating pad, 10 minutes in my lap with a sponge dipped in formula and me simulating the sucking motion for her, then the heating pad, back to the sponge. After an hour, I brought Vegas in, had her lay on the bed and put the puppy on her, she suckled on Vegas for a few minutes than ran out of energy. Another hour of heating pad, sponge, heating pad, sponge, Vegas, heating pad, sponge, you get the idea. At 5 am I had to break down and tube feed her, I hate tube feeding, but I am not going to lose this little girl, dammit, she is a fighter and I know it, I just need to get her over this hurdle. After giving her 2 ounces of formula and on the heating pad for 10 minutes she seems to have more energy. I have her back on mom for the time being and she is trying to suckle. I will tube her again in another hour if she hasn't really latched on by then.
For those of you that don't know what tube feeding is, it is taking a small (very small in this case) tube and coaxing it down her throat into her belly and then attaching a syringe and slowly pushing the food directly into her stomach. It doesn't hurt them, but the danger is getting it down the wrong pipe and putting the food into their lungs instead of their stomach. I have had to do it in the past, I hate doing it and it scares the crap out of me every time I do it, so I will try anything else I can before resorting to those measures, but right now as I am typing next to the whelping box, she has renewed energy and is actually nursing on mom, which is a good thing.
Kenya is being amazing, she knows her baby isn't doing well and she knows we are trying to help. She didn't even falter or hesitate when I brought Vegas into her room and put her baby on her, it was as if she knew this was what needed to happen. Vegas knew she was needed and she keeps coming in to check on the babies every 1/2 hour or so to make sure she isn't needed again. I cannot say enough, how much I love my girls, they are the absolute best.
I have a feeling it is going to be a long day watching lady bug and making sure she continues to thrive. We sure could use everyone's prayers and I hope I can give you a better report tomorrow.
Today's picture is Lady Bug nursing on Vegas
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Vegas to the Rescue
Lime Girl is getting stronger each day and can almost right herself back when she gets in the turtle position, so this is excellent news and I am hopeful that she will continue to improve and thrive.
Kenya's milk seems to have let down, this is also wonderful news. Puppies tend to lose weight the first 48 to 72 hours and it is one of the hardest parts about breeding. There is a fine line of supplementing the puppies with formula so they don't get too weak and yet not supplementing so that moms milk comes in. It was an easy decision to make with Vegas, 10 puppies 8 teats, not enough no matter what I do. With Kenya 8 puppies, 8 teats, good colostrum so I chose not to and they are small right now. Yesterday I tried to supplement the three smaller girls with a bottle but they would not take it and I was getting worried with their weights - so Vegas came to the rescue.
Cindy was here and so she took Vegas out to the living room, I took one of Kenya's babies and we put her on Vegas to nurse. Vegas wanted to clean her, but we wouldn't let her and she latched on for a good 15 minutes. Then I took her back to Kenya, rubbing her on KK before I put her down. KK wasn't worried a bit and we did that with the three smallest girls. I think having mom's milk or in this case aunties milk was better than formula and it looks like they are starting to turn the corner, which is a good thing, considering they are getting their dew claws removed today.
Cindy helped clipped toenails for everyone and stayed with the babies so I could run out and do some errands. I ended up changing some of the ribbons on Kenya's Litter so that we could tell them all apart when they are all going to be in the same pen at a later date. Silver became Grey (because I didn't like the ribbon texture) Maroon became Lt Blue, Lavender became Turquoise.
Vegas' litter is continuing to grow and thrive, Boy what a difference a week makes on these guys, they now smell mom when she comes in and the frenzy to get to the milk bar is quite something. Their eyes are still not open and I expect to start to see slits any day now, but they are trying to get up and walk around, they are very strong and it is quite funny when Vegas comes in the box. Their little noses start twitching and they start moving towards the milk bar, they all clamber up for a nipple and inevitably someone gets knocked off and they roll down the pile and try again, wish I could get a video of them on here, but haven't figured out how to do that yet. Still having problems just trying to change pictures, LOL
Today's picture is Lime boy in a milk coma
Kenya's milk seems to have let down, this is also wonderful news. Puppies tend to lose weight the first 48 to 72 hours and it is one of the hardest parts about breeding. There is a fine line of supplementing the puppies with formula so they don't get too weak and yet not supplementing so that moms milk comes in. It was an easy decision to make with Vegas, 10 puppies 8 teats, not enough no matter what I do. With Kenya 8 puppies, 8 teats, good colostrum so I chose not to and they are small right now. Yesterday I tried to supplement the three smaller girls with a bottle but they would not take it and I was getting worried with their weights - so Vegas came to the rescue.
Cindy was here and so she took Vegas out to the living room, I took one of Kenya's babies and we put her on Vegas to nurse. Vegas wanted to clean her, but we wouldn't let her and she latched on for a good 15 minutes. Then I took her back to Kenya, rubbing her on KK before I put her down. KK wasn't worried a bit and we did that with the three smallest girls. I think having mom's milk or in this case aunties milk was better than formula and it looks like they are starting to turn the corner, which is a good thing, considering they are getting their dew claws removed today.
Cindy helped clipped toenails for everyone and stayed with the babies so I could run out and do some errands. I ended up changing some of the ribbons on Kenya's Litter so that we could tell them all apart when they are all going to be in the same pen at a later date. Silver became Grey (because I didn't like the ribbon texture) Maroon became Lt Blue, Lavender became Turquoise.
Vegas' litter is continuing to grow and thrive, Boy what a difference a week makes on these guys, they now smell mom when she comes in and the frenzy to get to the milk bar is quite something. Their eyes are still not open and I expect to start to see slits any day now, but they are trying to get up and walk around, they are very strong and it is quite funny when Vegas comes in the box. Their little noses start twitching and they start moving towards the milk bar, they all clamber up for a nipple and inevitably someone gets knocked off and they roll down the pile and try again, wish I could get a video of them on here, but haven't figured out how to do that yet. Still having problems just trying to change pictures, LOL
Today's picture is Lime boy in a milk coma
Saturday, November 23, 2019
New Pictures
For the longest time I could not get these new pictures up - it kept saying invalid something or another and I finally decided to go to sleep and try again tonight, I ended up going to a different browser and then it would let me change the pictures - so there you have it.
I have labeled all the puppies at the beginning either V for Vegas or K for Kenya. Of course the Vegas puppies are a week older and much larger.
Kenya is being an amazing mom, she has hardly left the whelping box, her milk is flowing and the babies are constantly on her, although they haven't started to gain yet, which is always the case and always worrisome. I am reluctant to supplement, because I know she has enough milk for them and I know this is just what happens and I am hoping they can start gaining today before I take them in tomorrow for dew claw removal.
We have one little girl - Mint Girl who I am watching closely, I am hoping that she just got squished in utero and nothing else is going on. She tends to put her head to one side and ends up on her back a lot, we have nicknamed her turtle for that reason. Hopefully this will clear up and there isn't something neurologic going on or this can also be a sign of a deaf puppy. I have never had this happen before and time is what we need to determine if it will get better or worse, in the meantime, she could use everyone's good thoughts and prayers for her to continue to thrive and get better.
Vegas' babies are getting fatter and bigger by the day, I swear I can just watch them growing. She is getting better about spending time in the whelping box and we are not having to supplement as much, we still are supplementing but it doesn't need to be every two hours as we were before. She is starting to feel much better and has a bounce in her step and earlier today she barked at me because she was hungry and wanted some food, nice to have my girl back.
I have labeled all the puppies at the beginning either V for Vegas or K for Kenya. Of course the Vegas puppies are a week older and much larger.
Kenya is being an amazing mom, she has hardly left the whelping box, her milk is flowing and the babies are constantly on her, although they haven't started to gain yet, which is always the case and always worrisome. I am reluctant to supplement, because I know she has enough milk for them and I know this is just what happens and I am hoping they can start gaining today before I take them in tomorrow for dew claw removal.
We have one little girl - Mint Girl who I am watching closely, I am hoping that she just got squished in utero and nothing else is going on. She tends to put her head to one side and ends up on her back a lot, we have nicknamed her turtle for that reason. Hopefully this will clear up and there isn't something neurologic going on or this can also be a sign of a deaf puppy. I have never had this happen before and time is what we need to determine if it will get better or worse, in the meantime, she could use everyone's good thoughts and prayers for her to continue to thrive and get better.
Vegas' babies are getting fatter and bigger by the day, I swear I can just watch them growing. She is getting better about spending time in the whelping box and we are not having to supplement as much, we still are supplementing but it doesn't need to be every two hours as we were before. She is starting to feel much better and has a bounce in her step and earlier today she barked at me because she was hungry and wanted some food, nice to have my girl back.
Friday, November 22, 2019
Full House
Kenya and her babies are doing awesome! She is so proud of herself and so happy to have eight babies of her own to clean and love on and they are clean and loved. She has hardly moved an inch since she has been home, went out once to go potty and that was like pulling teeth to get her to come out of the whelping box.
I have a spare bedroom that has been my whelping room, it has the big whelping box and a bed and all of my supplies. Next to that room is my office and that is where we put Vegas' whelping box. I have a gate up between the two rooms and we kept Kenya away from Vegas while she was getting used to having puppies. Yesterday, Vegas could care less if Kenya came into her room and only when Kenya climed into Vegas' whelping box this morning did Vegas show any signs of caring one way or another. Now that Kenya has her babies, Vegas is going crazy, every time there is a peep coming from that room, she whines and wimpers and wants to go take care of those babies. We have told her that she cannot and thought for a moment while Kenya was still out of it, we would let her look in and see that there were babies and Kenya was there and all was well. Kenya gave a little growl to let her know these are mine - go away and I took Vegas out. She is still not happy about it, but has been better the last few hours than she was earlier in the night.
Larena is still staying with me - Thank God. I have been taking the night shift from 1 or 2 am (whenever Larena cannot stay awake any longer) until about 9 or 10am when she wakes up. Then I take a nap for a couple of hours and she watches the babies, she takes a nap in the late afternoon and then I go to bed around 7 or 8pm until she wakes me at 1 or 2 in the morning. It seems to be working. I am getting used to being up all night, but unfortunately my clients are not happy with me and I am going to have to take some time to catch up on work, at least figure out what needs to be done, so my employee's can handle it while I am home with puppies.
Cindy came today and she was super excited to see the babies. She was able to be there and help with the C section and to say the girls were happy to see her was an understatement. She is coming back on Saturday so that I can go into the office for a few hours to see what is what.
Larena and I will take pictures of Kenya's babies this afternoon and I will get them up on this blog probably tomorrow night.
I have a spare bedroom that has been my whelping room, it has the big whelping box and a bed and all of my supplies. Next to that room is my office and that is where we put Vegas' whelping box. I have a gate up between the two rooms and we kept Kenya away from Vegas while she was getting used to having puppies. Yesterday, Vegas could care less if Kenya came into her room and only when Kenya climed into Vegas' whelping box this morning did Vegas show any signs of caring one way or another. Now that Kenya has her babies, Vegas is going crazy, every time there is a peep coming from that room, she whines and wimpers and wants to go take care of those babies. We have told her that she cannot and thought for a moment while Kenya was still out of it, we would let her look in and see that there were babies and Kenya was there and all was well. Kenya gave a little growl to let her know these are mine - go away and I took Vegas out. She is still not happy about it, but has been better the last few hours than she was earlier in the night.
Larena is still staying with me - Thank God. I have been taking the night shift from 1 or 2 am (whenever Larena cannot stay awake any longer) until about 9 or 10am when she wakes up. Then I take a nap for a couple of hours and she watches the babies, she takes a nap in the late afternoon and then I go to bed around 7 or 8pm until she wakes me at 1 or 2 in the morning. It seems to be working. I am getting used to being up all night, but unfortunately my clients are not happy with me and I am going to have to take some time to catch up on work, at least figure out what needs to be done, so my employee's can handle it while I am home with puppies.
Cindy came today and she was super excited to see the babies. She was able to be there and help with the C section and to say the girls were happy to see her was an understatement. She is coming back on Saturday so that I can go into the office for a few hours to see what is what.
Larena and I will take pictures of Kenya's babies this afternoon and I will get them up on this blog probably tomorrow night.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Today will be the Day
Yesterday I took Kenya into my vet and she did an ultrasound to make sure there was no problems with the babies. All looked good, my vet thinks they are going to be large, heart rates were good and they were moving and shaking. She felt that we should give Kenya one more night of trying to having these babies on her own and if nothing happened we would take them by c section today at 11:30 in the morning.
Nothing happened last night, so it looks like we will be doing a c section this morning. Poor Kenya when I fed Dallas and Vegas she looked at me like, why can't I eat, I told her she was going to have surgery today so we could see her puppies and she just gave me the look and went and laid down on the couch.
I will post again after we get settled this afternoon and let you know how it all goes.
Update - Kenya had 4 boys and 4 girls by c section this afternoon. Momma took some time to recover from the surgery but all are doing well and are home at this time.
Vegas is beside herself that there are new babies in the house and she wants them so badly, Kenya has already let her know to back off, these are her babies.
Going to be a long night - will post more later
Nothing happened last night, so it looks like we will be doing a c section this morning. Poor Kenya when I fed Dallas and Vegas she looked at me like, why can't I eat, I told her she was going to have surgery today so we could see her puppies and she just gave me the look and went and laid down on the couch.
I will post again after we get settled this afternoon and let you know how it all goes.
Update - Kenya had 4 boys and 4 girls by c section this afternoon. Momma took some time to recover from the surgery but all are doing well and are home at this time.
Vegas is beside herself that there are new babies in the house and she wants them so badly, Kenya has already let her know to back off, these are her babies.
Going to be a long night - will post more later
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Status Quo
I wish I could say that Kenya is showing signs of starting labor but that is not the case. She is panting some, but still eating, her temperature has not dropped and otherwise shows no indication that she is ready to have puppies. This is the part I hate. I know today is day 63, today is the day she should have her puppies and I will talk to my vet this morning after she is up and see what she thinks we should do. I am tempted to wait one more day before going in and taking them and I would be ever so grateful if she would just start going into labor and have her puppies today.
Vegas on the meantime is tired of nursing babies. She is attentive and will stay with them for a couple of hours and then she is like, can I go out on the porch and cool off now, I am hot and boobies hurt. She has milk and is otherwise very attentive, making sure they are clean, but we are watching her because sometimes she gets excited to get in and out of the whelping box and I am afraid she is going to step on someone.
Yesterday we left the gate open and Kenya came and poked her head in, she wants these babies so badly, she watches intently when I am weighing them and hoping and praying that I will just put a puppy down for her to dote on. Vegas could care less that she was in the room with us and actually left the room while Kenya had her head over the whelping box, I thought if she saw the babies it might kick start something in her that she needed to have hers any day now.
This morning I think I am finally kicking this head cold, best I have felt in 5 days. Still not out of the woodwork yet on it, but making progress and my head isn't pounding. Yesterday I think was the worst day for me, Larena kept shooing me off to bed, telling me I needed to get some rest and get better, she had things under control and I needed to sleep. I am not sure what I would have done without her.
Today's picture is still white boy - it won't let me load a new picture for today, Sorry
Vegas on the meantime is tired of nursing babies. She is attentive and will stay with them for a couple of hours and then she is like, can I go out on the porch and cool off now, I am hot and boobies hurt. She has milk and is otherwise very attentive, making sure they are clean, but we are watching her because sometimes she gets excited to get in and out of the whelping box and I am afraid she is going to step on someone.
Yesterday we left the gate open and Kenya came and poked her head in, she wants these babies so badly, she watches intently when I am weighing them and hoping and praying that I will just put a puppy down for her to dote on. Vegas could care less that she was in the room with us and actually left the room while Kenya had her head over the whelping box, I thought if she saw the babies it might kick start something in her that she needed to have hers any day now.
This morning I think I am finally kicking this head cold, best I have felt in 5 days. Still not out of the woodwork yet on it, but making progress and my head isn't pounding. Yesterday I think was the worst day for me, Larena kept shooing me off to bed, telling me I needed to get some rest and get better, she had things under control and I needed to sleep. I am not sure what I would have done without her.
Today's picture is still white boy - it won't let me load a new picture for today, Sorry
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Dew Claws, Double Dew Claws and No Dew Claws
Yesterday was a big day for the puppies. My vet (who is amazing by the way) said to bring them in on Sunday - yes Sunday at 2pm and we would be able to do dew claws. I think she actually prefers it this way, after hours, because I can go in back with her, where she has better lighting, hold the puppies and no one is around to bother her during the process.
This is the first time I had puppies with Double dew claws - two of them had knarley looking dew claws on the rear, and two others had what she called 1 1/2 dew claws, 2 that had normal dew claws and four that had none, again a first for me. It will be interesting to see what Kenya's puppies produce and if this is a Cuervo trait or not.
She also checked over Vegas and decided we should put her on some antibiotics just to be on the safe side and gave me some medicam because she has been pretty uncomfortable the last couple of days. I am checking her regularly and no redness on her teats but she gets really warm and wants to go outside, dig herself to China and lay in the dirt. She starts digging and I tell her no and she just looks at me, like go ahead and turn your back because the minute you do, I am heading to China and you know it. I have started to put some wet towels in the freezer and when she gets fussy like this, I have her lay on the couch and put a cold towel on her, which she relaxes and is happy about. Everything is a learning curve and with each girl it seems to be something different.
I have been supplementing the puppies with formula, even though her milk is in, it is just not enough to feed these 10 babies. We constantly have a list by the whelping box and mark down the time, the color and how much they are getting so that we can rotate them around, getting as much of mom's milk into them as possible but just topping them off with the formula.
Kenya is still not showing any signs of labor and is quite content to sleep on the couch right now, although I am pretty sure she was jealous that Vegas got a big bowl of ice cream and she didn't this morning. I told her as soon as she has her babies I will give her a big bowl of ice cream too. The girls need calcium and the ice cream is cooling, has some sugar which they need and who doesn't love Vanilla Ice Cream.
We had our first visitor today - my son and his girlfriend, he knows the ropes, only clean clothes, no shoes and wash your hands. He had to laugh as he opened up the refrigerator and said - yep looks like a dog refrigerator, Are you taking care of yourself at all? Point well taken as I am still coughing up a storm from this stupid airplane cold I got, but hopefully I am on the mend from that.
Picture today is White Boy
This is the first time I had puppies with Double dew claws - two of them had knarley looking dew claws on the rear, and two others had what she called 1 1/2 dew claws, 2 that had normal dew claws and four that had none, again a first for me. It will be interesting to see what Kenya's puppies produce and if this is a Cuervo trait or not.
She also checked over Vegas and decided we should put her on some antibiotics just to be on the safe side and gave me some medicam because she has been pretty uncomfortable the last couple of days. I am checking her regularly and no redness on her teats but she gets really warm and wants to go outside, dig herself to China and lay in the dirt. She starts digging and I tell her no and she just looks at me, like go ahead and turn your back because the minute you do, I am heading to China and you know it. I have started to put some wet towels in the freezer and when she gets fussy like this, I have her lay on the couch and put a cold towel on her, which she relaxes and is happy about. Everything is a learning curve and with each girl it seems to be something different.
I have been supplementing the puppies with formula, even though her milk is in, it is just not enough to feed these 10 babies. We constantly have a list by the whelping box and mark down the time, the color and how much they are getting so that we can rotate them around, getting as much of mom's milk into them as possible but just topping them off with the formula.
Kenya is still not showing any signs of labor and is quite content to sleep on the couch right now, although I am pretty sure she was jealous that Vegas got a big bowl of ice cream and she didn't this morning. I told her as soon as she has her babies I will give her a big bowl of ice cream too. The girls need calcium and the ice cream is cooling, has some sugar which they need and who doesn't love Vanilla Ice Cream.
We had our first visitor today - my son and his girlfriend, he knows the ropes, only clean clothes, no shoes and wash your hands. He had to laugh as he opened up the refrigerator and said - yep looks like a dog refrigerator, Are you taking care of yourself at all? Point well taken as I am still coughing up a storm from this stupid airplane cold I got, but hopefully I am on the mend from that.
Picture today is White Boy
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Pictures are Up
Yesterday we managed to get everyone's pictures, toenails were trimmed and Vegas' milk has come in, Life is good! Vegas is a wonderful mom, she doesn't like leaving the whelping box and is very upset when her babies cry. Let's just say they are very clean babies.
I am so happy her milk has come in, nothing like hearing the glunk, glunk, glunk of puppies drinking at the same time, it makes my heart sing.
I am also thankful since I ended up picking up some kind of airplane crud on my trip home and have been battling a nasty cold. Larena has been wonderful in making me get caught up on my sleep and she has been doing most of the monitoring. I think I am finally starting to turn the corner, which is a good thing as we get ready for Round 2 with Kenya.
Kenya's babies are starting to drop and she is looking larger, she is being such a good girl and she wants to be with Vegas' babies so bad. We both make sure that we spend time with her and let her know that she is the queen of the universe, which she is pretty sure she is.
The above picture is of Light Pink Girl when she decided to snuggle on mom's leg yesterday.
I am so happy her milk has come in, nothing like hearing the glunk, glunk, glunk of puppies drinking at the same time, it makes my heart sing.
I am also thankful since I ended up picking up some kind of airplane crud on my trip home and have been battling a nasty cold. Larena has been wonderful in making me get caught up on my sleep and she has been doing most of the monitoring. I think I am finally starting to turn the corner, which is a good thing as we get ready for Round 2 with Kenya.
Kenya's babies are starting to drop and she is looking larger, she is being such a good girl and she wants to be with Vegas' babies so bad. We both make sure that we spend time with her and let her know that she is the queen of the universe, which she is pretty sure she is.
The above picture is of Light Pink Girl when she decided to snuggle on mom's leg yesterday.
Saturday, November 16, 2019
2 Days Old
Sorry I haven't managed to get pictures up yet, hopefully that can happen today. Yesterday we decided I better go out and get supplies while I could since before I know it, Kenya will be having her babies.
This has been a real balancing act, keeping Kenya away from Vegas' babies and yet having her be the princess that she is pretty sure she is and has come to expect to be treated as such. Larena and I take turns taking naps and I let Kenya sleep with me so that she has some one on one time with mom. I have also been trying to organize her whelping room and so have her with me when I am in there of course.
Vegas is being an excellent mom, one little peep and she is on it, trying to determine why her babies are crying. Her milk still hasn't come in and we are still supplementing with a bottle. Puppies always lose weight the first 24 hours after they come home, that is just the nature of the beast. I am happy to say that last night no one lost any more weight, at least half of the puppies are back to their original weights and so I think we are on the right track. I weigh puppies morning and night for the first two weeks so that I can make sure that no one is getting behind before it is too late. I have a boy and a girl that are very vocal about their food. The girl will happily take the bottle whenever we give it to her, but the boy has decided he doesn't want no stinking bottle, he wants a teat and he is going to be very vocal about it until he gets one. Whenever we hear a peep we can pretty much tell at this point wether it is one of these two puppies and I will say that Red Girl is pretty much the noise maker at this time.
Today is trimming toenail day and when Larena gets up from her nap we will work on taking some pictures for everyone.
This has been a real balancing act, keeping Kenya away from Vegas' babies and yet having her be the princess that she is pretty sure she is and has come to expect to be treated as such. Larena and I take turns taking naps and I let Kenya sleep with me so that she has some one on one time with mom. I have also been trying to organize her whelping room and so have her with me when I am in there of course.
Vegas is being an excellent mom, one little peep and she is on it, trying to determine why her babies are crying. Her milk still hasn't come in and we are still supplementing with a bottle. Puppies always lose weight the first 24 hours after they come home, that is just the nature of the beast. I am happy to say that last night no one lost any more weight, at least half of the puppies are back to their original weights and so I think we are on the right track. I weigh puppies morning and night for the first two weeks so that I can make sure that no one is getting behind before it is too late. I have a boy and a girl that are very vocal about their food. The girl will happily take the bottle whenever we give it to her, but the boy has decided he doesn't want no stinking bottle, he wants a teat and he is going to be very vocal about it until he gets one. Whenever we hear a peep we can pretty much tell at this point wether it is one of these two puppies and I will say that Red Girl is pretty much the noise maker at this time.
Today is trimming toenail day and when Larena gets up from her nap we will work on taking some pictures for everyone.
Friday, November 15, 2019
10 Beautiful Babies!!!
Well Vegas has outdone herself. She was so tired and ready for them to come out. She was the best patient and happy with anything my vet did in the process of getting ready.
I am glad I listened to my instincts, the largest boy was stuck in the birthing canal and could not move in either direction. My vet had a heck of a time getting him dislodged and of course there were two others in the birthing canal right behind him that were also ready to come out. One of those little girls took a long time to get revived and we never really did get her to squeek in the vets office, but now that we are home, she has found her voice and it is a loud one, LOL!
Within 30 minutes of putting her under, all babies were out - my excellent team of helpers rubbed and dried and help to revive and get the babies going. Because the three puppies were stuck my vet had to make another incision to get them out and it took a long time to sew Vegas up properly. She was very groggy for a long time and three hours after we walked in, we all left for home.
With some calcium in her system she has now taken to her puppies, milk still hasn't come in, but I am supplementing what she has and after going though every baby bottle in the house, I think I have found one that seems to be working for everyone, well almost everyone.
We have 6 boys and 4 girls, the smallest is red girl weighing 1 pound 2 ounces and the largest is green boy weighing 1 pound 8 ounces. Overall Vegas was carrying 13.2 pounds of puppies around, no matter she was ready to be done with it.
My housesitter came back to the house with me and has offered to stay until we get this all down, Thank God for her. After we got everyone settled, she let me take a four hour nap since I have been operating on not much sleep. Now I have the late shift and she is sleeping. We will rotate and get our routine down and I figure about the time that has happened, Kenya will have her babies and we will have to figure it all over again.
Kenya was quite beside herself that there were babies in the house, she was sure they should be hers, she checked her whelping box when she heard them and has not been happy with me for putting her outside for a little bit. I want to give Vegas time to realize these are her babies before allowing Kenya to see them and I have a little gate system set up between the two rooms so that Kenya can get to her box without seeing Vegas in hers.
Goodnight and I will try and get some pictures up tomorrow for you.
I am glad I listened to my instincts, the largest boy was stuck in the birthing canal and could not move in either direction. My vet had a heck of a time getting him dislodged and of course there were two others in the birthing canal right behind him that were also ready to come out. One of those little girls took a long time to get revived and we never really did get her to squeek in the vets office, but now that we are home, she has found her voice and it is a loud one, LOL!
Within 30 minutes of putting her under, all babies were out - my excellent team of helpers rubbed and dried and help to revive and get the babies going. Because the three puppies were stuck my vet had to make another incision to get them out and it took a long time to sew Vegas up properly. She was very groggy for a long time and three hours after we walked in, we all left for home.
With some calcium in her system she has now taken to her puppies, milk still hasn't come in, but I am supplementing what she has and after going though every baby bottle in the house, I think I have found one that seems to be working for everyone, well almost everyone.
We have 6 boys and 4 girls, the smallest is red girl weighing 1 pound 2 ounces and the largest is green boy weighing 1 pound 8 ounces. Overall Vegas was carrying 13.2 pounds of puppies around, no matter she was ready to be done with it.
My housesitter came back to the house with me and has offered to stay until we get this all down, Thank God for her. After we got everyone settled, she let me take a four hour nap since I have been operating on not much sleep. Now I have the late shift and she is sleeping. We will rotate and get our routine down and I figure about the time that has happened, Kenya will have her babies and we will have to figure it all over again.
Kenya was quite beside herself that there were babies in the house, she was sure they should be hers, she checked her whelping box when she heard them and has not been happy with me for putting her outside for a little bit. I want to give Vegas time to realize these are her babies before allowing Kenya to see them and I have a little gate system set up between the two rooms so that Kenya can get to her box without seeing Vegas in hers.
Goodnight and I will try and get some pictures up tomorrow for you.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Sleepless in Port Angeles
Vegas' temp dropped last night at 5:30pm which normally signals that puppies are coming within the next 24 hours. Poor girl she was just miserable last night and this is the part about breeding that I hate, especially with new moms. I am sure somewhere in the genetic makeup they understand what is happening, but I know that she wanted me to make it all go away last night and if I could have I would have. Instead she paced, panted, nested and made sure that neither of us got any sleep.
This morning nothing much is different, we take 20 minute power naps and then she goes at it again. I have spoken with my vet and the plan is to take the puppies by c section at 5:30 if nothing has changed before then. Hopefully she can free whelp and get things moving but if not we agree that they will be coming out one way or another if nothing else has changed.
I have been lining up my puppy helpers who are all on call and happy to help. Sometimes it takes a village and I am so thnkful that mine is awesome. I will keep you all posted and in the meantime, I think I am going to take another nap while I can.
This morning nothing much is different, we take 20 minute power naps and then she goes at it again. I have spoken with my vet and the plan is to take the puppies by c section at 5:30 if nothing has changed before then. Hopefully she can free whelp and get things moving but if not we agree that they will be coming out one way or another if nothing else has changed.
I have been lining up my puppy helpers who are all on call and happy to help. Sometimes it takes a village and I am so thnkful that mine is awesome. I will keep you all posted and in the meantime, I think I am going to take another nap while I can.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Home From Morocco
I got home last night around 7pm and oh the greeting I received. It is so rewarding to have three big loveable dogs all try and be in my lap at the same time.
While I was away, Vegas' whelping box was finished and she is quite happy to spend time in it. Kenya wanted to take over both boxes but my housesitter was really good about putting Kenya in her box and letting her know that was hers and the other one belonged to Vegas.
Vegas has been panting a lot, she hasn't started to nest yet, but is starting to slow down her food intake which is hard to believe. My vet didn't want to take an xray of her today because she doesn't want to stress her and have her go into labor early. I will be watching her very closely over the next few days and hopefully she can whelp these babies naturally, without any issues. My vet is amazing and has said she isn't going anywhere and I just need to give her a call any time day or night and she will come in. I am also getting my puppy rubbers lined up just incase we have to have a c section. I am very fortunate, even though I live in a remote area, there is a network of various dog breeders in the area that always come together to help each other day or night when the need is there.
The big surprise of the day though was when I took Kenya in for her x ray. I didn't think she looked very big and I figured she probably had maybe four puppies. My vet downloaded the xray and said "Holy Moly there are a bunch of puppies in there" We think we counted 8 possibly 9 puppies!
To say that I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed right now is an understatement. I am trying to go through all of my supplies and make sure I have all my ducks in order. Thank God for Amazon Prime and my amazing pet sitter, who has said she will come and help me out.
I will keep you all posted as things progress and please keep the girls in your thoughts and prayers for a successful and uneventful delivery.
While I was away, Vegas' whelping box was finished and she is quite happy to spend time in it. Kenya wanted to take over both boxes but my housesitter was really good about putting Kenya in her box and letting her know that was hers and the other one belonged to Vegas.
Vegas has been panting a lot, she hasn't started to nest yet, but is starting to slow down her food intake which is hard to believe. My vet didn't want to take an xray of her today because she doesn't want to stress her and have her go into labor early. I will be watching her very closely over the next few days and hopefully she can whelp these babies naturally, without any issues. My vet is amazing and has said she isn't going anywhere and I just need to give her a call any time day or night and she will come in. I am also getting my puppy rubbers lined up just incase we have to have a c section. I am very fortunate, even though I live in a remote area, there is a network of various dog breeders in the area that always come together to help each other day or night when the need is there.
The big surprise of the day though was when I took Kenya in for her x ray. I didn't think she looked very big and I figured she probably had maybe four puppies. My vet downloaded the xray and said "Holy Moly there are a bunch of puppies in there" We think we counted 8 possibly 9 puppies!
To say that I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed right now is an understatement. I am trying to go through all of my supplies and make sure I have all my ducks in order. Thank God for Amazon Prime and my amazing pet sitter, who has said she will come and help me out.
I will keep you all posted as things progress and please keep the girls in your thoughts and prayers for a successful and uneventful delivery.
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