If all goes well, puppies are due around 28 November.
By measuring the size of the puppies' skulls and the width of Siri's pelvic opening, it was determined that the puppies should be able to fit through Siri's pelvis. Thus Siri might be able to have the puppies naturally (free-whelp), rather than needing a cesarean section (c-section). The rule of thumb is that if there is only one puppy, a c-section is almost always necessary; whereas if there are three or more puppies, one should try to free-whelp. If there are only two puppies, it is not clear what to do.
When we got home, I carried Siri outside to potty. When I put Siri down she immediately ran inside to my bedroom and the whelping (really nursery) box that I had set up. As soon as I put the puppies into the whelping box, Siri began licking the puppies and tucking the puppies undereath her to keep her puppies warm. I was happy to see the puppies start to nurse. Later I weighed the puppies:
These are excellent weights for newborn Norwich.
Morning picture. The blood spots are from Siri. Siri will have bloody vaginal discharges for several weeks as things heal inside from her c-section. As long as nothing smells bad, I am told not to worry. I will be changing the bedding in the whelping box daily. When I have puppies, my washing machine gets a daily workout!
Puppies nursing. It is not unusual for newborn puppies to loose weight in the first 12 to 24 hours after birth. Not these boys! Both boys had weight gains at the morning weighing and at the evening weighing. This evening both puppies are up by ten percent of their birth weight. I am very happy to see this, as it means that the puppies have definitely gotten colostrum (first milk) from Siri which is rich in antibodies. During the first 12 to 24 hours of life, a puppy's GI track allows those big antibody molecules to pass into the puppy's bloodstream; afterwards they will not. So whatever immunities Siri has had have now been transferred to her puppies. Over time these maternal antibodies will die off, but for now the puppies have some antibody protection.
Note that the puppy on the right has lost his brown collar, which came off sometime during the night. I am not a fan of the velcro collars; I prefer to just use yarn. So I put the puppies up on my bed and changed their collars. The puppy who had the brown collar now has a blue collar, and I will call him "Blue" for now. The puppy who had the black collar now has a white collar, and I will call him "White". Blue twice now has slipped an arm throw his yarn collar, necessitating me to change his collar to make it tighter (but not too tight) around his neck.
Around noon time, Siri finally left the puppies to go outside to potty. I was able to weigh Siri and take her temperature (which was normal). I will be taking Siri's temperature daily for a week to make sure that she has not caught any infection from her c-section surgery.
Mostly Siri has the puppies tucked underneath. I only getting a good look at the puppies when Siri goes outside to potty. The puppies are starting to loose that wrinkly look that newborns have.
Later in the morning I was able to get this photo of the puppies nursing. Note the circular depression in the whelping box in which Siri and the puppies are lying. Underneath the bedding in the whelping box is a "whelping nest" - a rubber bowl that is heated. Newborn puppies up until the age of around two weeks do not generate any internal body heat. Thus newborn puppies cannot generate a fever to help fight off viruses and bacteria. I especially worry about the canine herpes virus, which breeders fear as it can quickly carry off an entire litter of puppies. Plus if a puppy gets chilled the puppy can not digest food. So it is important to keep the puppies warm. Mothers of puppies do this by tucking puppies underneath them and using their body heat to keep the puppies warm. But without supplemental heat, it would not be unusual to lose one or more puppies. In the past I have tried keeping the room with the puppies warm, but this unfortunately makes the mother uncomfortable. I have also tried heating pads and heating lamps. But I find that my mothers and puppies really like a whelping nest, although whelping nests are not cheap.
At noon I was able get a nice picture of the puppies while Siri was outside. I was especially happy to see Blue sleeping on his side.
Puppies nursing in the evening.
Blue, who was heavier than his brother White at birth, has continued to maintain his lead over his brother in their weight race. This morning Blue joined the 300-gram club. White is not far behind.
Note the clear nails (really claws) that White has. In a week or so, the nails will darken.
Puppies are born blind and deaf. At birth puppies have a good sense of smell, plus a weak sense of warmth. Puppies use both to find and crawl towards their mother so that they can nurse and stay warm. If a puppy can not find its mother, the puppy will cry which will attract the mother.
I like to let my mothers have a couple of days of peace with their newborn puppies. So my other dogs have been with my petsitter. Today I brought everyone home. I think Siri was happy to see everyone ... until some got too close to the whelping box... at which point Siri began growling in warning. Siri has even charged out of the whelping box at anyone who got too close. This is all normal behavior for canine mothers who are protective of their puppies.
To my horror, when I weighed Blue in the morning I found that he had lost weight. His brother White had joined the 300-gram club, but Blue had slipped back below 300 grams. Also Blue did not seem as active as previously and did not seem to want to nurse. My mind started thinking about possible causes. If Blue had gas, did that stop him from nursing? Had Blue gotten chilled during the night? Had a virus invaded my whelping box? Was this the start of Puppy Lung Development Disease? (A newborn's lungs are not fully developed at birth, but continue to develop afterwards. Puppy Lung Development Disease is when this development stops, and the puppy has more and more difficulty breathing until the puppy dies. I have had puppies with Puppy Lung Development Disease and it is horrible to watch. I have contributed their bodies to a research study on Puppy Lung Development Disease.)
I kept checking on Blue during the morning, and would put him next to a nibble to encourage him to nurse. Finally around noon, I saw Blue nursing again. Blue also seemed more active. That made me less worried. I was happy at the evening weighing to find that Blue was back above 300 grams (but just barely). I will continue to worry about Blue until I see more weight gain by him.
White using Blue as a pillow. I took White off Blue as I did not want Blue to have any difficulty breathing.
Puppy lung development disease is thought to be related to "Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia" - a rare, fatal disease of human infants. No treatment exists for puppies either.
I got out my incubator and oxygen concentrator, in the hope that extra oxygen would make Blue more comfortable. But both Blue and Siri got upset each time I tried to put Blue in the incubator. Finally I gave up and decided to let Blue spend his remaining time with his brother and mother.
Morning picture. A moment after I took this picture, mommy Siri came and laid with Blue.
A puppy who has difficulty breathing can not nurse. So starvation often results. Fortunately I know how to tube feed a puppy, so I can make Blue comfortable from hunger pains. Tube feeding is where you pass a thin tube down the mouth of the puppy into the stomach and then inject liquid food through the tube. Tube feeding is scary the first several times that you do it. If you get the tube into the lungs rather than the stomach the puppy will drown when you inject the liquid food. But if the puppy can make a sound when the tube in inserted all the way, then you know the tube is in the stomach. The liquid food that is used is a puppy milk replacement called Esbilac. The problem with tube feeding is that a newborn puppy's stomach is not very large, so one has to tube feed frequently ... ideally every two hours. Unfortunately the nutrition seems to give Blue more strength to cry as it becomes harder and harder for him to breathe.
I am close to tears as I write this. Breeding is not all playing with cute puppies. There are also moments like this.
White continues to do well and gain weight.
Morning picture. Siri is eating, White in in the whelping nest where it is warm, and Blue is on the right. As I always do when I find a puppy out of the whelping nest, I moved Blue back into the whelping nest. But Blue was very limp and listless. At the morning weighing, Blue had lost more weight during the night. Also White lost a little weight ... although since his stomach has seemed like he has swallowed a beach ball, I was not too concerned.
When Siri is not in the whelping box, I often find Siri near the whelping box. Sometimes Siri is behind the whelping box. But if any of my other dogs get close to the whelping box, Siri starts growling in warning. If the warning is not heeded, Siri will charge with teeth bared and snarling and chase the offender away.
I kept tube feeding Blue as the morning went on. I had to be out of the house for a couple of hours in the middle of the day, and fully expected to find Blue dead when I got home. Instead he was still alive ... and seemed to have better skin tone. In fact, Blue fought me when I tube fed him. (Tube feeding is essentially force feeding.)
This evening I actually saw Blue nursing. It was weak nursing, but it was nursing. (Any time I check the whelping box I always shove any puppy not nursing up against Siri and a nipple.)
Blue's weight was up at the evening weigh-in, to just below 300 grams. And Blue's breathing seems better tonight, less rapid. I am trying not to get my hopes up. Perhaps instead of puppy lung, Blue has had some infection.
Just so that I have something to worry about, White only gained a gram today. I hope this is just a pause in his growth and not something else.
The puppies are one week old today and weigh as follows:
Blue had a nice weight gain during the night. So that makes me hopeful. But then I see Blue do something like this (possibly to help him breathe easier?) and I am discouraged. White's weight this morning is still not above his personal best.
I am really confused about Blue. When I first suspected puppy lung development disease, I spoke with another Norwich breeder and she confirmed that what I described sounded like puppy lung development disease to her also. I am trying not to get too hopeful that Blue may survive.
Puppies nursing. I am continuing to put Blue next to a nipple every time I check the whelping box. White seems more active than Blue. At the evening weigh-in, Blue had lost some weight (but stayed above 300 grams), while White resumed his march to 400 grams.
The whelping nest is warm enough that the puppies do not need to sleep together for warmth. But sometimes they do sleep together.
Nursing. (White is on the left.) Now that White is heavier than his brother, it is easy for White to push Blue off of a nipple.
Both puppies had nice weight gains overnight. Unfortunately Blue lost weight during the day, and now weighs slightly less than yesterday evening. White only gained a few grams today. I am back to being seriously worried about Blue.
Mommy Siri guarding the whelping box containing the puppies. The whelping box rests on a platform that holds the whelping nest. The pile of old books is there to make a step so that Siri can get into the whelping box.
The puppies' aunt Gwynie is the first to jump into the whelping box to investigate the puppies. Siri was sleeping besides the whelping box, but woke up and chased Gwynie out.
Siri cleaning White. If you look closely, you can see the red of Siri's tongue. Newborn puppies can not pee or poop on their own. The mother has to stimulate by licking the puppy to get the puppy to pee or poop. The mother than drinks the pee and eats the poop to keep the nest clean.
Blue kept fussing during the night, and I kept checking on him. I noticed that Blue was taking big breathes and seemed to be getting weaker. It again seemed to me like Puppy Lung Development Disease. I decided to restart tube feeding Blue; he did not fight being tube-fed. After I tube-fed Blue at 3 am, I fell asleep until 7 am.
Morning picture. I woke up to find that Blue had died sometime during the early hours. Siri was not upset, and was sitting by Blue's body. I put Blue's body in a bag in the refrigerator (not the freezer) to keep it cool, and later in the morning took the body to NC State for an autopsy. I expect it will take a couple of weeks before I get the autopsy report.
When I first suspected puppy lung disease, I had grieved. Then I allowed myself to hope when Blue seemed to get better. Now I am just numb. I kept busy all day, but I dread going to bed as I know my mind will turn over everything that happened and I will wonder if I did enough. If anyone reading this so wishes, send a donation to the AKC Canine Health Foundation Norwich Terrier Donor Advised Fund. Hopefully some day researchers will find a genetic marker for this horrible disease, and we breeders can breed away from it.
I cut White's nails (really claws) today. I used a human nail clipper and just blunted the tips of White's claws. If you do not cut a dog's nails, the nail (claw) will eventually break causing pain. I blunted the tips so that White will not scratch Siri when nursing.
White demonstrating the "lay on your back" method of nursing. White continues to have good weight gains.
Puppies at this stage are mostly all stomach, but White may be an over-achiever! When I look in the whelping box, what I aways hope to see is the puppy "twitching" or "jerking". This is normal. It is thought to be caused by nerves growing. The puppy will be still, but then all of sudden make a jerk. You have to stare at the puppy to catch it.
Yes, Siri's stomach was shaved as part of her c-section.
Mommy Siri has White on some kind of feeding schedule (known only to Siri). For the past couple of days Siri has come with me and the other dogs for our daily walk in the woods. Usually Siri either turns back early or runs ahead ... and greets us when the rest of us get home. Being hunting season, the hunters were out in force today with their hunting dogs. This always causes lots of barking by my dogs, as they protect their area and warn the hunting dogs to stay away. Instead of coming with us on our daily walk today, Siri stuck close to home to make sure no one harmed her puppy.
When White is nursing, Siri will twist around so that she can lick White's bottom. That is Siri's nose right up underneath White's rear end.
Siri guarding the approach to her puppy. I later picked up my postal scale which you can see in the picture.
White nursing. I feel embarrassed about my "shaggy" Norwich. But I still do not want to stress Siri by stripping her until White is a bit older.
I finally saw White sleeping on his side and later on his back today. I like to see this as too much sleeping on the stomach can cause the chest to flatten. Puppy bones at this stage are very "plastic" and can mold themselves into abnormal shapes if too much pressure is put on them. Note the white patch on the chest. This will gradually shrink as White grows.
White lifting his head. White's eyes are not yet open, but that is something that could happen any day now.
White is two weeks old today and weighed 605 grams at the morning weigh in. (And more in the evening.) I just looked back over my records and I have had boys weigh similar at this age. I guess I should not worry that White seems on the plump side!
I caught White just starting to open his eyes. (You can seem mommy Siri in the background checking on what I am doing with her puppy.) It will be a day or so until the eyes fully open ... and then a bit more time until the eyes start to focus on things. Something that I will be watching for is if White stops opening his eyes. I have had this happen before; if so, off to the vet we will go.
Even if White does not have sight, as soon as he smells Mommy get into the welping box, he often wakes up, raises his head and starts crawling over to Mommy and the milk bar. A puppy crawling is like a seal crawling.
I wormed White today with 0.1 ml of pyrantel. White will get wormed with pytrantel every two weeks until he is ten weeks old. Siri was wormed with a three-day course of fenbendazole two weeks before she had her puppies, two days after she had her puppies, and Siri now begins another three-day round on fenbendazole. This may sound like a lot, but worms - which normally are dormant in an adult - "wake up" because of the hormones of pregnancy and get passed to a puppy. Worms if left unchecked can multiply and kill puppies. So deworming is highly recommended!
When mommy gets in the whelping box, then White wakes up and crawls over to nurse. But now instead of instantly falling back to sleep when mommy says "enough" and leaves, White looks around for maybe a moment before falling asleep. These periods of wakefulness will slowly increase.
I put Revolution (selamectin) - a topical medication that kills fleas and ticks - on Siri today. I had to time it so that Siri would not be near White for about an hour while the medication was being absorbed. (I took Siri and my other dogs for a long walk while the Revolution dried.) Revolution is also good for killing heartworms. But the primary reason that I put Revolution on Siri is because of cheyletiella mites. Normally Siri's immune system keeps these mites under control. But because the immune system is depressed during pregnancy, these mites can multiply and get out of control. If the mites get on the puppy and multiply, it can look like the puppy has "walking dandruff" and make the puppy very uncomfortable, and even affect the puppies health. These mites will also attack people. Many Norwich breeders - myself included - have become allergic to these mites. So when we see a Norwich scratching excessively, we reach for Revolution to put on the dog. Sometimes multiple doses are necessary to bring an infestation under control.
I put a plush toy in the whelping box with White. I did this mostly to give his eyes something to focus on during those rare moments when he wakes up and opens his eyes. White has never seemed very interested in sleeping next to something. I suspect the warmth of the whelping nest is all that he really wants.
This diary will have a short break over the next couple of days. Tomorrow - with the exception of grandmother Mandy - I will take all my dogs including White to my petsitter. Then Mandy and I will set out for Orlando and the AKC Agility Invitational which is being held this weekend. I will ask my petsitter to take pictures of White. I will post pictures and an update when Mandy and I return home.
My petsitter sent me these pictures:
In the evening, I picked up White and my other dogs from my petsitter and we drove home.
At three weeks of age, my pessimism turns to cautious optimism that White will survive. Things can still go wrong, but it is much less likely.
The other thing I noticed today is how much more active White is. Before I left for the weekend, White would only be awake for a few seconds before falling back to sleep. Now he is awake for at least a minute, sometimes more. This time that White is awake will continue to get longer and longer.
White had crawled out of the heated whelping nest and was sleeping in a corner. This confirms that White is now generating his own body heat. However I will continue to keep the whelping nest plugged in and heated.
It is past time for me to name White. I do not name puppies when they are born in case something goes wrong. But now that I expect that White will live it is time to give him a proper registered name and an informal call name. My kennel name is "Shaksper", so all my dogs' names have some connection with William Shakespeare. White's registered name will be "Shaksper General Chang", with call name "Chang". So what is the Shakespeare connection you ask? I always try to choose a name from something Shakespearian that occured in my life just before puppies are born. It could be from a Shakespeare play or movie that I had recently seen or book that I had read ... no thread is too tenuous. In this case, the movie "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" was on television as I was flipping channels over Thanksgiving just before the puppies were born. The villian in the movie - played by Christopher Plummer - is the Klingon "General Chang" who quotes Shakespeare throughout the movie. And since White originally had a black collar, the name seems to fit. So White is now Chang, which is how I will refer to him going forward.
Chang sleeping on his back. And later sleeping on his back next to his toys. Note the stain to the right of the toys. Mommy Siri does a good job of keeping her puppy clean. But sometime Siri is not around when Chang has to pee. I change and wash the bedding in the whelping box every day.
Chang again sleeping in the corner of the whelping box. I suspect that Chang is getting bored with the whelping box. Normally by now I would have set up a playpen in my living room for Chang for during the day. Instead today I let Chang come up and crawl around on my bed.
Chang sleeping with a toy
While on my bed, Chang sees if Aunt Gwynie has any milk. Since Gwynie does not have any milk, Chang bites at Gwynie's ears. Chang does not have any teeth yet, but you can feel them underneath the gums getting ready to erupt.
Chang on my bed with Mommy Siri looking on. Chang is crawling over Aunt Gwynie. Chang tried to get some milk from Aunt Gwynie. Since Gwynie does not have any milk, Chang crawled over and started nursing from Siri. Note grandmother Mandy at the foot of my bed, whose head is just over Siri's head in the picture.
I finally had enough energy to build Chang's playpen in my living room. Siri got in the crate with Chang to assure him that it was a safe place. Later Chang crawled out of the crate to explore. But what Chang really wanted was to nurse. In the evening, I put Chang back in the whelping box for the night.
Chang in his playpen. Today was the first day that I saw Chang "walk". Prior to this Chang used his front feet to crawl around, often pushing himself backwards as much as forwards. But today I finally saw Chang up on all fours, taking about two steps before his rear feet would slide out from underneath him and his butt would again be on the ground.
Somehow Chang got out of the playpen. I suspect that Chang got up on the wooden log and then tumbled out. The wooden log is there to keep Chang in the playpen while allowing Mommy Siri to go in and out.
Chang looking through the bars of the playpen. It seems that I did not get all the cobwebs off the x-pen as I should have.
Chang sitting in his playpen. Earlier Chang was running around the playpen - really staggering around like a drunken sailor - but I could not get a good photo.
Aunt Gwynie cleaning Chang.
Chang plotting his escape from the playpen.
Chang continues to plot his escape from the playpen.
I was finally able to get a half-way decent photo of Chang standing up and showing air underneath his belly..
Chang finally made good on his escape from the playpen. Later after I put Chang back inside the playpen, he crawled over the wooden barrier again and got out. Chang even crawled back over the wooden barrier when he wanted to get back inside the playpen. I will leave the wooden barrier up, mostly to slow Chang down and give him something to crawl over.
For some reason, puppies always like to circumnavigate the outside of the playpen, going between the x-pen and the wall.
Chang attacking the bear. Chang was grabbing and shaking the bear.
Aunt Gwynie and Chang. Chang was on the pillow underneath my desk with Aunt Gwynie. But before I could get my camera, Chang moved off to the floor where it is warm because of the radiant-floor heating.
Morning picture - Mommy Siri and Chang.
I decided that today was the day I would start feeding Chang. So I ground up about 15 ml of puppy kibble and mixed it with an equal mixture of Royal Canin Puppy Starter (a canned food). Chang thought this was great and ate almost the entire amount. Mommy Siri got to eat the leftovers. I will be feeding Chang four times a day - breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bedtime. I expect that Chang will also be nursing ... as long as Siri lets him.
Now that I have started to feed Chang, I also need to start potty training him. Thus Chang had his first trip outside. Fortunately the weather was mild. I now will be taking Chang outside after he eats, whenever he wakes up from a nap, and several times during the night.
Chang sleeping on the dog bed underneath my desk.
Chang outside again.
Chang napping in one of my big dog crates. I leave the crates open and my adult dogs often go inside to take a nap.
Chang taking a nap on one of the big dog beds in my living room. Later Mommy Siri joined Chang.
Chang playing with Aunt Gwynie.
Chang continues to have a good appetite.
As a single puppy, Chang does not have anyone his own age with which to play (wrestle). Chang does have his older sister, aunts, and mommy, but it is not the same thing as a sibling. On the other hand as a singleton, Chang gets a bit more freedom and privileges than it I had to watch more than one puppy. For example, once I have taken Chang outside and seen him potty, I allow him up on my bed in the evening. After crawling around for a while, Chang usually goes to sleep.
Today Chang climbed up the baby dogwalk on my porch. Chang did it the hard way - he first climbed over the mat that previous puppies had pulled off, then climbed up the slippery white board to finally reach the top. But instead of continuing down the other end of the dogwalk, Change turned around and retraced his steps that lead him to the top.
Chang biting at mommy's tail.
For dinner, my adult dogs got some hard-boiled egg on top of their kibble. I gave Chang the yolk from one egg. Chang thought the yolk was a great treat.
After (almost) conquering the baby dogwalk on my porch, today Chang showed that he can do my baby teeter. Chang also went into my baby tunnel, but after exploring a short way turned around and came back out.
Visitors! Chang had his first visitors today. Griffin and John brought Estelle to see her new little brother. Here is Griffin holding Chang. And Estelle and Chang together.
Morning picture - Chang found my bathroom
Chang (in the distance) exploring my gravel driveway. Chang turned around after I took this picture, probably figuring that he had gone far enough away from my house.
Chang demonstrated again that he really does know how to do my baby teeter. Today Chang added going all the way through my baby tunnel to his list of accomplishments.
Chang playing in the motherlode of all toys.
Some catch up - Chang's new owners tell me that they plan
to call him "Gucci". So I have been calling him "Gucci" also.
I received the autopsy report on Gucci's brother, Blue. As
I suspected, the cause of death was puppy lung development disease.
After several days of trying, I finally got a photo of Gucci and mommy
Siri together.
Out for a walk. Gucci with
a chicken egg shell that he found.
At the vet's office, Gucci met a
black cat! Gucci getting
microchiped. And being
examined by the vet in order
to get a "certificate of health" so that Gucci can travel.
Finally saying goodbye to
the office staff ... who have treats!
Gucci's first time wearing a harness and
being on a leash.
Gucci quickly became used to them.
At the airport where Gucci said goodbye
to his family
- clockwise from Gucci are mommy Siri, big sister Izzy, and grandmother Mandy.
Gucci with new owner José.
José flew in and we met him at the airport. Now Gucci and
José are flying to Gucci's new home in Iowa. As always when
a puppy leaves me, I will be sad for a few days. But I am confident
that José and Jennifer will give Gucci a good home.
This concludes the puppy diary of Siri's 2022-2023
litter. I am sorry that I was not able to provide
commentary while I was sick. But at least I was able to
keep the diary alive!Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
