Here is Scarlet. Scarlet just wants to say HI!
Blue, another boy, surveys his domain….
Pink and Scarlet are both girls in the litter. Pink just wants to know, “How did I get up on this stump and how high up is it?”
Green, a boy, is looking out to see you!
All are getting bigger and sassier! I took this photo as they turned one week old but the Memorial Day Holiday has been keeping me hopping!
Fancy says Hello!
Here’s the carry out order you made….Puppies in a box!
For two of them, it has been 24 hours since they made their entrance into the world. For the last two born, it’s not quite a full 24 hours yet.
The first night brought lots of contented snoozing and nursing. We are off to a good start!
My morning routine is always full–taking care of boarding guests–both dogs and cats, receiving dogs for grooming appointments and getting them started, cleaning, feeding, walks, you name it!
The Memorial Day Holiday is just getting started and we are getting many, many guests. Our Dogwood tree is in bloom and the premises looks so like a beautiful spring!
Add the periodic, yet irregular and unpredictable, arrival of puppies and you would think chaos would erupt.
But truly, we are well prepared. I have two helpers today:
Easdale: the pet best care is in good hands and running like a top. I’m checking in and out of the operations as I shuttle between Fancy in her quiet corner by my bedroom and the front office and grooming area.
Fancy’s reaction to the first new puppy is comical. She is fascinated and at the same time quizzical as to how that got here! At first, she sits back looking at Blue Boy and watches his blind search for her. Puppies are born blind and deaf, but they are tactile heat-seeking guided missiles.
She’s not so sure about him touching her and jumps up once or twice when he finds her. With lots of soft voiced praise from me on what a fine job she’s doing, in just a short while, she curls up around him. All the wonderful mothering instincts kick in. Fancy, in short order, becomes an attentive gentle mother.
Soon, our second puppy makes her appearance. Here are the official stats:
7:40 am Female 9.5 oz (normal wt) No white markings strong/normal PINK
Yep, still being original for 30+ years to use PINK ribbon on the first born female. After that, there is no special meaning to any other color.
9:30 am Male 12 oz No white markings GREEN
12:30 pm Female 14.5 oz No white markings SCARLET
I *think* this is the last puppy….pretty sure…..It’s about what the vet predicted on the ultrasound….
…restless mother dog!
But let’s go back to a few days ago:
Fancy had grown out quite shaggy and needed her maternity trim. Here she is after the bath but before the trim:
And now we brush some more, and then the trimming. Masses of curls drop, revealing…..
…a less wooly Fancy who wears an expression that seems to mean that she’s looking forward to getting her figure back!
This photo was taken Wednesday morning, May 22, on her official due date. Her temperature dropped two degrees, a sure sign of whelping within 24 hours. We officially went on
“PUPPY WATCH!”
All day I watched and she was content, not restless at all. Later that night was a different story.
All night she scratched periodically, raking her nails across the plywood floor of the whelping box. Instinct causes this nesting behavior and I have observed that when a contraction begins, the mother will sometimes go into a frenzy of scratching and preparing the nest. This usually translates into my neatly laid newspaper lining the box being shredded and ripped into odd vertical shapes that are no use at all to anyone. AND….it means that a very loud ripping, clawing noise repeated at odd intervals throughout the night. Sleep isn’t really possible for either Paul or me in the room next to her, but we catnapped anyway. After going like that all night long, naturally it isn’t until 6:40 am that the first makes an appearance!
Official stats:
6:40 am Male 16 oz (Huge!) no white marking whatsoever Normal/strong BLUE
BLUE gives a whole new meaning to “Pound Puppy!”
It has been a long (30+ year) tradition of mine to use BLUE ribbon on the first born male. OK, not original….
And here is the glamour pose for mother and her first born son. Yes, this is the first time Fancy has ever had puppies. She is extremely bright eyed and happy about it!
More on our next post as the puppies are born….stay tuned!
His name is CH Seneca Minnesota Razzle CDX RE AXP AJP (below) shown with his owner/handler. Razzle was also a specialty winner on the way to his Championship! He is a true all-rounder.
smartairedales 