16 February 2005 - Happy Birthday!

Three years ago, today, we had quite a lot of excitement here.

Here are some photos from the evening the puppies were born. What a night that was. Cinny knew that things weren't quite right in her tummy. I found her hiding behind the bed in the small bedroom after dinner. I could smell something wasn't right. Literally. I got a hand behind her, and found a pup half delivered already. I backed her out of that spot, and we got her laid down on some towels.

Then for the next 5 hours we delivered puppies. The first couple worried us, as they weren't breathing properly as they came out. Winnie got their airways drained, though, and blew on their faces, and they started to squeak.

The fifth pup was a surprise. We had just delivered the fourth, and had the first three down to suck, when there was a squeak from behind Cinny. Now how did one of those pups get back there. But this one was all wet, having just come out unannounced and unnoticed. we'll be keeping a watch on her though, as she is the smallest in the litter.

The eighth was a surprise, too. The x-rays at the vet had only showed 7 pups, but we were unconvinced, so we waited. Sure enough, just after midnight on the morning of the 17th, we got an eight pup.

We were pretty happy she let us help. Some dogs don't want any interference, but she seemed happy to have us there to help get the amniotic sacks off, and to get them cleaned up. She also seemed happy to have someone there to tell her she was a good girl, and she was doing a good job.

In all, we got 3 girls and 5 boys. They ranged in weight that night from 11 to 16 ounces. we tried to keep track of them by marking them with strings around them. We were afraid to tie these too tight, though, and by morning they were all off.

Funny (or gross) moment of the night. - Dogs like to eat the afterbirth. Both as a hormonal thing, and to clean away the scent of blood from any predators. After the first two, we didn't want her eating any more of them, as they can also cause an upset tummy. So, I got a trash sack, and started dropping them in there. Of course, I didn't watch where I put it, and at a crucial moment sat down to help with a delivery, right on top of the sack. There was the ultimate POP-SQUISH sound as the garbage sack broke and the afterbirth exploded all over the seat of my pants. Eww!