Birth of a Puppy

Hello Folks

Hope you are all having a good easter weekend, ours has been interestings.. so on Friday, my momma dog to be, starting hanging out very close with me, she kept going into the crate in the living room and then coming back out again.. hmmmm

Then she tried to climb under the living room sofa, hmmm, she followed me into the bathroom and openned the closet door, reached up and pulled down towels and layed down with a, "just shut the door will you" look on her face.. so they went into the wash, and she followed me back out, well by nine that night, she was asking me to go downstairs and so down we went..

Labour had started, with some signs of contracts off and on, it was a very normal progress, and we had her set up in her birthbox and boy did she give those towels a good dig and pull session to work out her pain..

Finally at just after 11pm, she got down to business, and got quiet and started laying down and really pushing.. well within a few min, that lovely sound happened.. I don't really know how to explain it, but there is a sound to a dog giving birth and It can wake me up within a heart beat if I was dozing, which I was not at this time, so slurp, slurp and baby starts making noise.. Afterbirth is accounted for, and all is going well.. I can see that its a very dark brown baby with lots of white, but otherwise, I am letting momma bond and keeping a close eye on how its going..

At this point, if all is well, I try and stay out of the way.. and within seven min of being born, puppy number one is nursing and momma dog is settling down a bit.. so at this point its time for a puppy check.

So here is my run though

Sex : Female

Color: Yellow Gene

Pattern: White muzzle, wide White blaze, White collar, White Chest and front legs, White socks on rear, white tail tip

Dewclaws : double on rear, single on front

Check for Cleft: negative

Check for sounds of fluid in lungs: negative

Check cord: looking good

Check the rest of the body: normal

Weight : 13.1 oz or just a touch under 400 grams, nice big active baby.

And then back with Momma dog, and I wait, and I wait, and I wait..and I start to doze off and on, and I wait, and I wait.. and finally, at four am, I have to admit that it appears that all is done and well.. and I have my first single litter of puppies!!

One puppy, a lovely puppy to be sure, but what happened to the rest of the litter.. I know that dogs can absorb puppies, and I have had it before but it was still a big surprise to me, she did not look small enough to only have one puppy, and I know that I am going to have some sad puppy owners to be, but I will be breeding for more litters in 2007, but I am afraid that the wait will be a little longer then any of us thought..

I still can't believe that I only have one!

So here are the newborn non-flash blurry photos of little girl, I managed to sneak them when Momma had to go out for a pee, I will take more in a natural light soon. So the puppy is growing and gaining weight well, Momma dog is doing great, eating well, tons of milk, but very much, I only have one, so is very attached to her.. but we are slowly learning to share, I have never had a single puppy to raise, and I would imagine that I will need to learn a bit about if I need to do anything different for her.

Updates to follow on a regular basis..

Barks