Truffle welcomes her first pup at a civilized hour of the morning...and proceeds to keep delivering them all day long! Nine little beauties for Truffle and Carlos: "Heather", "Thistle", "Whisky", "Piper", "Tartan", (Highland) "Fling", & "Clootie Dumpling", Not to forget the young lairds: "Claymore" and "Rumbledethumps"!
A dish of ice cream=calcium, sugar, and fluids for mama
Good mamas know how to multi-task
Just hours old and all 9 tucked in for the night (on Truffles special blankie)
It's hard to exaggerate when we talk about DeeDee's stellar temperament! (Not surprising as she comes from a long line of Service dogs.) Her pups are just newborns and still she is so very patient and kind when her human family come to visit her.
The Pups' first excursion into the Big Outdoors--eyes not even open yet, but there is some active sniffing going on! (Poor Deedee was a little miffed, even though we only took a few out at a time. She gave us the cold shoulder for the rest of the afternoon! Mama knows best...)
Deedee kindly waited until a convenient 5:00 AM to start whelping her puppies, allowing catnapping for both of us through the night! She just did not look that big and even with my hand-held Doppler, I could only find 5-6 heartbeats (all of which sounded strong and healthy).
But sure enough, there are eight puppies--all uniformly big and chubby. Deedee (aka "Meadow Park Esther") is a big Labby-bodied tank of a girl, and she had lots of space in there, so everyone had plenty of space to develop!
First little black pup is born
The first five were born in quick succession from 5:15 AM to 7:00 AM, but it took the other 3 another two hours or so to work their ways all the way down to the exit.
Just hours old, the pups are enthusiastic about their first meal--so important, as mama's colostrum is only available for 2 days at most.
Black and White Satin
There are 2 caramel-cream boys (liver nose); 1 apricot-cream boy (black nose); 1 caramel-ice girl; 2 black boys; and 2 black girls. Looks like all fleece coats to me from papa Blitz and no wool coats like mama. Wavy to a little curly.
Deedee enjoyed a calcium-rich pick-me-up (or two) at the halfway mark
The Deeds is a real pro as a mama--The Best!
Like any experienced mom, Deedee adheres to the axiom "Sleep when your baby sleeps."
The black pups have shiny, satiny coats
So strong and robust, at just 12 hours old!
Nursing Beautifully (Click on the YouTube "Full Screen Button"):
Chelsea and Blitz's pups have started to open their eyes (gradually)at around 18 days. They can still only see a few feet in front of them. As with most new puppies, they often startle slightly or at least seem surprised at large moving shapes (even mama) looming over their box and are curious about seeing each other for the first time. I have observed that within a few hours of puppies opening their eyes, they suddenly will raise themselves up and start tottering around on their legs, rather than dragging their little bodies around on their bellies like fat little seal pups.
We have put soft felt collars on the pups to better manage weighing, deworming, and other routine puppy care
"Tioga" is taking a break to observe his world from a cozy spot
"Whitney" still spending most of the days (and nights) snoozing
"Sierra's" eyes have only just unsealed
"Shasta"
Some of the pups do not open their eyes for days after the first ones do
Uncle Cosmo approves of little "Lassen"
"El Capitan"
Although it looks cute, yawning is a sign of stress, and we put pups back in the nest when this occurs
Hungry Shasta is looking for mama
("Note to self: no point in nursing on this furry bit here.")
"Eek! So that's what you look like!?"
Wawona
Whitney already practicing the "Doodle Flop"--a true prodigy!
