Rather than doing a vaginal artificial insemination with Kenny's semen (think turkey baster), to increase the odds of pregnancy a transcervical insemination (TCI) was done. In a TCI a small hollow rod (an endoscope) is inserted into the vagina and past the cervix. This allows the semen to be deposited directly into the uterus. (Normally semen have to swim through the vagina and the cervix to reach the eggs in the uterus.) The rod has a light and a camera at the tip that lets the veterinarian see on a monitor so that the vet can find and guide the rod past the cervix. This is a specialty procedure, only done by veterinarians board-certified in reproduction (theriogenologists). Normally a dog would need to be under anesthesia during such an endoscopy. It is only because Nellie is in heat and receptive that she allows this while awake.
I normally do not have intact male dogs in my house when I have girls in season. So having Justin visit involved a certain amount of logistical rearrranging at my house. I built a separate temporary indoor/outdoor run for Justin off the other side of my house. Justin stayed there unless I was able to closely supervise him around my girls. When Justin was with my girls, he made himself a nuisanse with the girls who had recently been in season. (The girls still smelled good.) The girls would tell Justin that they were not interested in his attention. But Justin would just wait a minute and then see if the girl that had caught his eye (or rather his nose) had changed her mind. Towards the end of Justin's visit, things settled down. Justin enjoyed walks in the nearby forest with the rest of my pack. I hope Justin had a good time during his visit. I returned Justin to Dale after he did his duty by Marian.
If Gwynie gets pregnant, this will be Gwynie's third and final litter.
Nellie's due date is estimated to be around 1 May.
Marian's due date is estimated to be around 8 May.
Justin is the same sire as I used for Marian. I have used Justin before as a stud dog, and I like the puppies that he produces.
With Nellie and her Kenny puppies, my decision is to go for a planned c-section. Since Kenny is dead, we only have a limited amount of his semen still available. Plus frozen semen breedings have a reduced chance of resulting in a pregnancy. And finally, the price to use Kenny's semen is that I promised Kenny's owner, Barbara Crosby, a puppy from the breeding. (Barbara wants a female puppy. I also want a female puppy.) So the puppies that Nellie is carrying are more valuable than from a usual breeding. Thus my decision to go for a planned c-section.
Today Nellie and I travelled to NC State for progesterone testing. Rising progesterone levels tell when to breed during a canine's heat cycle. The progesterone hormone continues to rise during a pregnancy till about halfway, when it starts to fall. When progesterone gets low enough, labor is initiated. So to estimate the best day for Nellie's c-section, her progesterone will be tested. To test progesterone, some blood is drawn from Nellie, then spun down for serum. The serum is put in an expensive machine that can tell the amount of progesterone. Today was mostly to get an idea of where Nellie's progesterone level is at. But next week I expect we will be travelling to NC State each day until the vets say "today is the day". Starting Monday we will be getting up early to have Nellie at NC State for a an early morning appointment in case it is the day.
Besides drawing blood from Nellie, the vets also ultrasounded Nellie's abdomen to check on the puppies. They wanted to check that each puppy has a good heartbeat (above 200 beats per minute). All the puppies did. The attending vet said that he is confident that Nellie is carrying at least three puppies. When the surgeon does the c-section, we will find out for sure.
Nellie's progesterone level today turned out to be lower than expected. So just in case Nellie goes into labor early (like on Sunday when NC State is not going to have a surgeon available), I was given the name of other emergency hospitals in the greater area.
Also today, Marian came to stay with me for the last two weeks of her pregnancy. I thought that Nellie was huge. Marian is even more plump that Nellie ... and Marian's due date is a week later than Nellie's. Marian may very well be carrying four puppies.
In order to be prepared just in case Nellie comes into labor early, today I built Nellie's welping box in my bedroom next to my bed. "Whelping box" is a misnomer, as Nellie is going to have her puppies in an operating room. A better name would be "nursery box". But as everyone says "whelping box", so will I.
First I built the base with the "whelping nest". The whelping nest will help keep the pupping warm. That is Nellie in the picture, checking out my work. Then after cleaning it with a solution of bleach, on top I built the whelping box. Now all that is needed are puppies!
I spent part of today going down my check list of whelping supplies, making sure that I kn0w where everything is and that I have sufficient numbers. I found that the battery in my puppy scale needed replacing, which I did.
When we got home I gave Nellie a dose of the topical medication selemectin (Revolution). Besides being a heartworm/flea/tick medication, selemectin is good for killing cheyletiella mites, something Norwich are prone too ... and who offen make their appearence during pregnancy when the immune system is depressed. These mites cause itchiness ... on both dogs and people! Many Norwich breeders get exposed and become allergic to these mites. I can tell you from personal experience that the itchiness is no fun. Consequently I dose my expectant mothers a few days before they are due to whelp, and later after puppies are born.
Nellie and I drove to NC State in the morning for her progesterone and ultrasound test. Here is Nellie upside down in the cradle so that the vets can easily examine her belly and put the ultrasound probe on her belly. Everything looked good with the puppies via ultrasound (heartbeats, gut motility, etc). But Nellie's progesterone value still has not dropped enough for the vets to decide that the puppies have "cooked" sufficiently. So today was not "the day" for Nellie's c-section.
Around 3 am this morning, I woke up to find Nellie panting heavily. And also digging among the pillows on which she (and my head) were lying. After a few moments Nellie stopped and rested, but then did the same again. I thought to myself "yup, Nellie is in stage one labor. Today is going to be the day." I then rolled over and tried to get some more sleep until it was time to get up.
I deliberately did not offer Nellie any breakfast as it was likely that she would be having surgery. After everyone else had breakfast, I loaded everyone into my car and we all drove to NC State for Nellie's morning appointment. While Nellie and I were in the waiting room, I noticed that Nellie was acting differently and I suspected that Nellie had gone into stage two labor (actively pushing). When we got into the exam room, the attending vet confirmed that Nellie was in stage two labor.
As usual Nellie had some blood drawn for progesterone testing and was ultrasounded to check on her puppies. This time at least one puppy had a heart beat under 200 beats per minute, which was worrisome. So they started preping Nellie for a c-section. Suddenly the attending vet said "Hold on, everyone. I see feet." Nellie had started to push out a puppy!
The attending vet was much more relaxed than I would have been, saying that as long as there was progress she was not going to intervene. Nellie pushed and each time a little more of the puppy appeared. The vets students who were helping were all excited as they got to see a natural birth. Finally the attending vet lubed up her finger, made sure that the puppy was not stuck, and helped the puppy out.
Then there was alternating toweling off the puppy, suctioning mucus out of the puppy's mouth, and vigorously rubbing the puppy. Finally the puppy began squeaking (meaning that it was breathing) and we all relaxed. Nellie got to meet her puppy and gave it a few licks. Nellie was tired and laid down. Only then did we look and find out that the puppy was a male. The puppy was given a red collar, which is how I will refer to him.
After that Nellie was whisked off to surgery. Remember that there were puppies whose heatbeats were lower than desired, so a c-section was indicated and there was no thought about letting Nellie try to free-whelp (deliver naturally) her other puppies. I then drove my other dogs to stay with my petsitter, as I like my mothers to come home to a quiet house for the first few days after having puppies.
Around 11 am I got a phone call that two other puppies had been born during Nellie's c-section - another boy and a girl. So in total Nellie had a girl and two boys. I was told that everyone was doing well and to return later in the afternoon.
I got back to the vet school around 1 pm and got my first look at the puppies - Red, Blue, and the girl, Pink. (The red light is from a heat lamp.) I was told that the puppies had all nursed plus they had been tube-fed with Esbilac, a commercial puppy formula. This explained why all the puppies had fat bellies, like Pink. It is important that puppies nurse in the first 12 hours or so after birth. That first milk is called colostrum and is rich in maternal antibodies. Puppies can only absorb these large molecules during the first day of life, after which their guts will only let small molecules pass into the blood stream.
As there was some concern about Nellie recovering sufficently from anesthesia, we did not leave until around 3 pm. The puppies rode in the front-seat passenger footwell, so that I could keep an eye on them. There was a hot-water bottle underneath the towel to keep the puppies warm.
When we got home, I put Nellie and her puppies in the whelping box next to my bed. I gave Nellie some food and water, and watched as the puppies climbed over each other to get to a nipple. I weighed each puppy:
While I have been writing this, I have been periodically checking on Nellie and her puppies. The puppies continue to nurse, which is what I like to see.
Morning picture - The stains you see on the pad in the whelping box are from Nellie. Nellie will have vaginal discharges for the next several weeks, a normal consequence of giving birth.
All the puppies gained weight overnight. Blue and Pink joined the 200-gram club. Pink is in the lead in race to gain weight, followed by Blue, then Red. This was their weight order at birth.
Upon examining the puppies today, I noticed that Pink has rear dewclaws, but that the boys do not. All the puppies have front dewclaws (nails).
Because I have a judging assignment this weekend and I must be away, today I took Nellie and her puppies to my petsitter, Ali. This time the puppies were transported in a crate with mommy Nellie. (And I brought all my other dogs home where another petsitter will stay with them while I am away.)
Later in the day Ali sent me the following pictures showing that Nellie and her puppies have settled in.
In the evening I picked up Nellie and her puppies on my way home from judging. We got home after dark. Nellie seemed happy to see everyone, but quickly let everyone know to stay away from the whelping box and her puppies. (I heard several low growls from Nellie warning the others to stay away.) When I weighed the puppies, I found that Blue and Pink had joined the 300-gram weight club, with Pink regaining her lead over Red.
I was surprised the Nellie wanted to go on the morning walk with the rest of my pack. Evidently Nellie has her puppies on enough of a feeding schedule (known only to her) that Nellie felt comfortable leaving the puppies. But during the day Nellie mostly stayed either in the whelping box letting her puppies nurse, or nearby the whelping box like underneath my bed.
Nellie's puppies have started practicing for their audition with the June Taylor Dancers (a famous dance company). Here they are making a "C". And later practicing their triangle. Notice the full belly of Red. He is trying to catch up with his siblings. By the end of the day, Red had joined the 300-gram weight club, but still was behind Blue (in the lead) and Pink.
But today really belonged to Marian and Gwynie who had important veterinary visits at NC State.
First up was Gwynie to see if she was pregnant. There is no canine urine test for pregnancy (as there is for humans), so ultrasound during a possible pregancy is the only way to verify a canine pregnancy. Gwynie was put upside down in a cradle , the ultrasound probe against her bellie, and we all stared at the ultrasound screen. And we saw a fetus - confirming that Gwynie was pregnant! After the repro vet did more looking around with the ultrasound, she declared that Gwynie is carrying definitely two puppies (because she saw two at the same time on the screen) and possibly three puppies.
Next up was Marian. Marian had stayed with her primary owners while I was away judging, as I figured that Marian would be more comfortable at her home while I was away. Amy brought Marian and we met at NC State. Marian was taken off for pre-whelping x-rays of her abdomen and pelvis. One reason for the x-ray is to get an accurate count of the number of puppies. (Remember that ultraound is unreliable for an accurate count.) The x-ray showed four puppies, as we all guessed because of how wide Marian was.
The second reason for the x-ray is to help make a decision whether to do a planned c-section or whether to allow Marian to try to free-whelp (naturally deliver her puppies). Radiology measures the skull size of the largest puppy plus the width of the pelvis opening. There are various formulas (really guesses) as to how much smaller a puppy's skull should be than the size of the pelvic opening for a free-whelp; otherwize a c-section is recommended. The intial report from radiology led us to believe that a c-section would be necessary. So we started staging Marian for a c-section. Some blood was drawn to check Marian's progesterone level. And the heartbeat rates of Marian's puppies were checked by ultrasound. A later revised report from radiology led both myself and the repro vet to believe that Marian might be able to free-whelp her puppies. So that became the plan.
Marian came home with me to wait until she started to come into labor.
When the puppies nurse, they will push on mommy's stomach to help the milk let down. This pushing against the stomach causes the head to move back, so you get this bobbing motion of the puppy heads. Notice the clear nails of Pink. The nails of the puppies will slowly darken up over the next few days.
I built the whelping box (really "nursery box") for Marian today in my bedroom. First the base with the whelping nest, covered with a pad, and then the whelping box on top. Actually I was feeling some urgency about getting this done, as I was trying to decide if Marian had entered stage one labor. Marian only ate half her dinner last night and half her breakfast this morning. I had seen Marian do a little nesting behavior (digging) in the dog beds in my living room. And someone - I suspected Marian - had thrown up. Plus I saw Marian go out to pee and poop. (Expectant mothers clean themselves out right before going into labor.) When Marian refused to eat any dinner, that was the last sign that led me to believe that she was in stage one labor. (Although I was not sure.) I live in a rural area. Because I do not want to be caught far away from emergency veterinary help with a pregnant mother in stage two labor (contractions), I put my whelping plan into action. I loaded Marian plus all my dogs - minus Nellie and her puppies - in my car, plus all the prepacked things that I thought I might need for a whelping. We then drove off, leaving a confused Nellie wondering why she was being left behind. I did not believe that I would be gone for more than 24 hours, plus I felt that Nellie was taking excellent care of her puppies, and all the puppies were doing well. So I left Nellie with plenty of food and water to take care of her puppies herself.
First stop was my petsitter (Ali) with whom I left all the dogs in my car with the exception of Marian. Marian and I then drove to a good friend's house which was only a 20 minute drive from NC State. I got Marian setup in the closet of my friend's guest bedroom, and set out everything that I had brought and thought that I would need to assist Marian in whelping her puppies.
Around 9 pm I noticed that Marian was starting to have contractions. This made me glad that I had moved today rather than wait for the morning. A contraction looks like the dog is straining to poop. I called Marian's primary owner, Amy, who came over and sat with us, as Amy wanted to watch. I crawled into the closet with Marian, and Amy blocked the closet door. Marian would have a contraction or two, then rest and pant. Around 9:30 pm I noticed a bulge from Marian's vagina. A puppy was coming! I could feel the sack. Marian continued to have intermittent contractions. But by 10 pm, no puppy had been delivered. I called the NC State repro emergency phone number and I was advised to bring Marian to the hospital. Amy went home and Marian and I went to the hospital.
At the hospital Marian was examined, but then I was informed that the surgeon on duty was already working on another emergency case and was not expected to be finished any time soon. I was given two options. Go to another facility in the area that had a surgeon on duty, or the repro vet was willing to come in and try to manually manipulate the puppy to get the puppy out. The risk with manual manipulation was that it might not work, and then a c-section would still be necessary. As I had seen the repro vet manually manipulate one of Nellie's puppies, I elected that option. And so the repro vet was called and she arrived approximately 20 minutes later.
Around two am, Dr. Lection informed me that a girl had been born after being stuck, but also was alive.
Around four am, since the fourth puppy had not appeared, Dr. Lection asked for permission to give Marian a shot of oxytocin, a hormone that stimulates contractions. Evidently Marian's energy was flagging. I gave permission as I wanted to avoid Marian having to undergo a c-section. A half hour later Dr. Lection informed me that the fourth puppy, a boy, had been born after being stuck, but that they were not able to revive him.
So two live puppies out of four. Not good. In retrospect, we should have done a planned c-section for Marian. But all the information we had indicated that Marian should have been able to pass the puppies and deliver naturally. But instead all four puppies got stuck. Free-whelp versus c-setion. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Free-whelp (natural birth) is safer for the mother, but risks the puppies. C-section is riskier for the mother, but safer for the puppies.
Dr. Lection warned me that Marian's vagina was going to be swollen, bruised, and sore from all the efforst to deliver the puppies. I want to publically thank Dr. Lection for staying up all night and her expertise in delivering Marian's puppies.
Around 5 am, I got my first look at the puppies. There is a hot-water bottle underneath the towel to keep the puppies warm. The boy's collar is purple, and the girl's collar is green. So that is how I will refer to them for now. I loaded Marian and her puppies into my car and we then drove home, arriving around 7 am.
I first got Marian and her puppies settled in their whelping box. Then I weighed Marian's puppies.
Needless to say, by this time I was approaching zombiehood. So a badly needed nap was taken.
Nellie was happy that we were back. Today Nellie's puppies were one week old and weigh as follows:
In the evening
Marian's puppies only had me up a few times during the night. At their morning weigh-in, Purple had gained some weight but still was not above his birth weight. Green was continuing a steady increase.
I had to make an unplanned trip this morning. I have a special needs boy, "JC", who no doubt will make an appearance in this diary at some point. JC has a fluid-filled spinal cord lesion of unknown origin at C2. The neurologists at NC State do not want to operate for fear of totally paralyzing JC. Right now JC walks funny but is fecal and urine incontinent. Otherwise JC is a happy little boy. I have got JC in a phase one clinical study using stem cells being run out of Cornell. Unfortunately Cornell shipped the stem cells for infusion without telling us, with the package arriving yesterday. The stem cells only have a limited shelf life. So this morning I drove to my petsitter, picked up JC, took JC to have his stem cells infused via a catheter, and brought JC home. Fortunately both Nellie and Marian had everything in hand, and I should not have worried so much - especially about Marian and her puppies.
Puppies are born blind and deaf; they only have a sense of smell and can sense warmth. They can not walk and can only crawl. When they crawl it looks like seals pulling themselves over ice. Surprisingly puppies can actually move quickly when they crawl. Unless asleep, a newborn puppy will cry and crawl in increasing larger circles in an effort to find mommy.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Marian still has a large amount of vaginal discharge. I have started Marian on a three-day course of fenbendazole. I put the fenbendazole on top of some canned food. To convince Marian that the caned food is edible with the yucky medicine on top of it, I have to hand-feed the mixture to Marian to get her to eat it.
Marian sitting outside her whelping box guarding her puppies. Marian still spends most of her time inside the whelping box with her puppies.
Evening pictures:
At the evening weigh-in, Purple continued his slow gain but still is not above his birth weight. All of Nellie's puppies joined the 400-gram club today, with Blue retaking his lead, and Red and Pink tied for second.
Morning pictures:
Nellie's puppies practicing for their dance audition.
Puppies can not pee or poop on their own, but require stimulation (licking) from their mother. Marian has been licking her puppies so much that Marian has worn some of the color off of her puppies' collars.
Marian outside the whelping box, but nearby her puppies. Later Green nursing while Purple naps. (I also took a nap in the afternoon.) Marian's puppies were mostly quiet - in other words, sleeping - during the day.
Nellie's puppies:
Evening pictures:
Pink grabbed the lead back from Blue in Nellie's puppies' weight race. Red is again bringing up the rear. Green joined the 200-gram club today, but brother Purple is not far behind in their weight race. At least Purple and Green are gaining weight. I have to say that I am concerned about how slowly they are gaining weight. I fear that Purple and Green are using up calories crawling around crying rather than growing.
Morning pictures:
Before I left in the morning, I found Marian and her puppies all naping underneath the heat lamp. In the morning I drove to my petsitter and retrieved the rest of my pack and brought them home. Even if Marian was not in the whelping box, she continued to guard her puppies.
Upon investigating I found that the whelping nest was incorrectly set (probably from when I last used it). I got the manual out and reset the temperature to 98 degrees Fahrenheit. But then I started to worry about "cooking" - making it too hot for - both Marian and her puppies. Notice Marian panting. So I turned off the heat lamp for the rest of the day.
Amy and Tom came to visit Marian and see Marian's puppies. As the puppies were just sleeping, there was not a lot of action to see. Amy and Tom were happy to see Marian, and to verify for themselves that Marian was ok.
As the nails (really claws) of Nellie's puppies were getting long and starting to catch on fabric, today I used a human nail clipper to just blunt the claws.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Pink nursing. You can see Pink's tongue making a seal with Nellie's nipple.
Green nursing while brother Purple naps. Later both Green and Purple getting milk from mommy Marian.
Evening pictures:
Blue has grabbed back the lead from Pink in Nellie's puppies weight race. Purple joined the 200-gram club and roared ahead of Green in their race.
Morning pictures:
I had to chase Tashi out of Nellie's whelping box this morning. Tashi is just a puppy herself, being just six-months old (today).
When I took my pack on their morning walk, Marian initially came with us. But when we made our usual turn onto a path leading into the forest, I could see Marian thinking about whether she should follow ... or stay with her puppies. (You may have to look closely to see Marian in the middle of the field.) That is my barn in the background, with my apartment where we all live underneath the solar hot water panels. (Perhaps someday the field will have a real house built on it.) Marian decided to turn back and stay with her puppies. Nellie - whose puppies are one week older - come with the rest of us for the walk.
Green using brother Purple as a pillow. While handling Marian's puppies I discovered that Green has a rear dewclaw ... but only on her right rear leg. Purple does not have any rear dewclaws. A rear dewclaw is high up on the leg and only attached to the leg by a flap of skin. Front dewclaws - which dogs have on both legs - are attached by tendons. Professional groomers hate dewclaws, and often breeders have dewclaws surgically removed within the first few days of birth. Front dewclaws are the canine equivalent of thumbs, and in my opinion (and in the opinion of experts whom I respect, specifically Dr. Chris Zink) should not be removed. Rear dewclaws, being high on the leg can easily be torn off if they catch on something (which can be painful), so the advice is to remove them when convenient. When Green is under anesthesia for her first dental cleaning, her rear dewclaw can easily be removed.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Evening pictures:
Pink joined the 500-gram club today, retaking the lead from Blue in their weigh race. While Red is bringing up the rear with regards to weight, he is first on another dimension. Besides being the first puppy to be born, Red is the first to open his eyes when I pick him up. Red closes his eyes when I put him down, and it will take a few days before he can focus.
Purple continued his lead over Green in their weight race.
Once again Marian turned back and decided not to go on our morning walk.
When I check on the puppies - which I do several times during the day - what I want to see is if each puppy is "twitching". A puppy will be still, and then all of a sudden jerk or twitch. It is thought that these jerks are caused by nerves growing.
Marian napping with her puppies.
All of Nellie's puppies opened their eyes today ... well, in the morning Pink only opened one eye, but by the evening weighing she opened both eyes when I picked her up. So today I started putting a toy in Nellie's whelping box to give the puppies something to focus on rather than just the blank walls of the whelping box.
Blue thinks mommy Nellie makes a good pillow.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
In the afternoon I found six-month old Tashi in Nellie's whelping box. Nellie's puppies were very confused as to why there was no milk. I quickly shooed Tashi out of the whelping box before Nellie noticed and took offense.
After finding Marian sleeping on her back, I am less worried that Marian is finding motherhood stressful. Note Green taking advantage of the easy access to a nipple.
No evening pictures today. I took Tashi to Canine Good Citizen (CGC) class in the evening and it was too dark for pictures by the time we got home.
Red and Blue joined Pink in the 500-gram club today, but Pink kept her lead. Purple joined the 300-gram club today, widening his lead over sister Green.
One of the things that I live in fear of is "puppy lung development disease". Puppy lungs - and human baby lungs - continue to develop after birth. If this development does not go as it should, a puppy struggles to breath and eventually dies. I have had puppies die of puppy lung development disease and it is horrible to watch. Each time I have contributed the body for research on the problem.
Because Green is crawling while crying, I do not think she has puppy lung developement disease. But I do not know why she is crying which is frustrating. I thought that a low temperature of the whelping nest was the problem. But having raised the temperature higher, I am at a loss as to why Green is crying. I finally got her settled, only to be woken up again by Green around 6 am.
Morning pictures:
Today is brought to you by the letter "V".
After the butler serves breakfast to Nellie and Marian ... Nellie now comes out and wants to eat with my other dogs (each in their own crate), while Marian prefers breakfast in bed (her whelping box) ... and after the butler weighs both mommys and all the puppies, the butler turns to the daily changing of the bedding in the whelping boxes. This is done one whelping box at a time. I put the puppies temporarily up on my bed, with their frantic mother who is concerned about my moving her puppies. I then disassemble the whelping box - the four panels just slot together, but the panels are heavy which makes them difficult to move. I then throw the used bedding behind me and fluff out the newly washed bedding over the whelping nest. This causes the mommy to jump down to inspect the used bedding to make sure that no puppy got trapped and was being thrown out. I then rebuild the whelping box on top of the bedding. All this is done with several four-legged supervisors closely inspecting what I am doing. I then return the puppies on my bed to their whelping box, and repeat the whole process for the other whelping box. My washing machine then gets its daily workout.
Nellie's puppies in their newly changed whelping box and Marian and her puppies settling into their whelping box.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Green using brother Purple as a pillow (although it looks like Purple is hugging Green). Note how washed out the strands of Green's collar are. This is from mommy Marian licking Green. It makes it hard to tell the difference in color between what Green and Purple are wearing. Mostly now I go by the color of the fur ... Green has a darker fur than Purple.
Evening pictures:
I was happy to see that the eyes of all of Nellie's puppies opened again today when I picked each puppy up. Sometimes after opening, one or both eyes will shut the next day ... necessitating a trip to the vets.
Moring pictures:
Nellie's puppies are two-weeks old today, and Marian's puppies are one-week old.
They weigh as follows:
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Marian's puppies are about 30 grams behind where Nellie's puppies
were at one week of age, with Green being even further behind. I am
not worried - as I am seeing steady increase by both Purple and Green -
but I am concerned.
At two weeks of age there are some changes for Nellie's puppies. The
first is that I will only weigh them once a day (in the morning). At this
point puppies will often not show an increase (and one can often see
a decrease) if you weigh every 12 hours. One can go crazy with worry
that way! So best to just weigh every 24 hours. And Nellie's puppies
have shown nice weight gains so far, so I am even less worried about
their weights.
The second change is that instead of weighing on my gram-sensitive postal
scale, I will weigh Nellie's puppies on my "big dog" scale. This
has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that my "big dog" scale
has a feature that averages the weight over five seconds. This is great
for a puppy that is moving around. On my gram-sensitive postal scale, the
weights bounce around and one has to wait for a time when a puppy is
still to read the weight. I push a button, my big-dog scale counts five-seconds
and then displays the average weight. As long as the puppy stays on the scale,
I get their weight. (As the puppies get older, keeping them on the scale
will become a problem.) The disadvantage of my "big dog" scale is that
it only measures to the nearest five grams. So the weights will always end
in 0 or 5.
Another change for the puppies is that starting today -
and every two weeks - I will give each puppy some deworming
medication (pyrantel), the amount based upon their weight.
Right now each puppy just gets 0.1 mL of pyrantel. I use a syringe
to put the medication on their tongue. Fortunately pyrantel must not taste
bad, but the puppies were wondering about this new taste sensation.
I should also deworm mommy Nellie with another three-day dose
of fenbendazole. But because I was away judging causing
Nellie's previous fenbendazole treatment to be delayed,
I am going to delay this treatment by a few days.
I did give Nellie a dose of Revolution (selamectin) today.
This flea/tick/heartworm medication also kills cheyletiella
mites. I had to put Nellie is a crate for an hour after
applying this topical medication in order to keep Nellie
separated from her puppies until the medication was
absorded. The puppies are too young yet for selamectin.
I waited until I saw Nellie finish nursing the puppies
before giving the Revolution, as I knew that Nellie would
not be frantic about being with the puppies for a while.
Red - aka Mr. First - is the puppy who is the first
to get
his head stuck inside my tetrahedron (triangular pyramid) plush toy.
Marian and her puppies. I turned off
the heating lamp after the day got warm.
Nellie licking her puppy in order to
stimulate the puppy to pee and poop. Newborn puppies can not defecate
without stimulation. Canine mothers drink the pee and eat the poop, most
likely an evolutionary strategy to keep the den clean.
Evening pictures:
Morning pictures:
Later in the morning I found Marian in
Nellie's whelping box with Nellie's puppies while Nellie watches
from outside the whelping box. I have also seen Nellie
peek into Marian's whelping box to look at Marian's puppies.
The two mothers seem interested in each other's puppies,
and allow the other mother near their puppies.
Marian joined us for our
morning walk today into the forest. (This is Marian
in the lead, with Freema following.) It was almost as
if Marian is saying "Hurry up, I have to get back to my
puppies". Our usual walking path makes a big circle around my
house. Instead of finishing the walk with us, when we got
close to my house, Marian
took a side path directly back to my apartment and her
puppies.. That is the backside of my barn and you can
see the solar electric panels that provide my electricity.
(I live "off-grid".)
Marian keeping a watchful
eye on her puppies. On the far right you can just see
the nose of Tashi.
Besides weighing the puppies, I am also weighing the mommies.
One reason is to make sure that a mommy is getting enough calories
to feed her puppies. Today I noticed that Nellie's weight had dropped
enough to cause me to give her increased rations.
Nellie letting her puppies nurse.
Purple leaning against mommy Marian
almost as if he is sitting up.
Nellie's puppies are starting to spend some time awake exploring their
environment ... just a minute right now before falling back to sleep
... but the time will slowly increase. Here is
Pink "tasting" brother Blue.
Like all babies, a puppy's first instinct is to put things in their mouth!
Mommy Nellie was in the whelping box and the puppies crawled over to
nurse. I was able to get this photo of the puppies
raising their heads
in search of a nipple. But then Nellie moved off and nobody got
any milk.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Marian guarding her puppies. In the
evening when I was writing the puppy diary, I felt a familiar bit of
fur at my feet. Marian had come out and was
underneath my chair. Even later Marian came up on my bed as I was
reading before lights out. But then I noticed that Marian got down
off my bed and went back to her puppies.
Green finally joined the 300-gram club today, but is almost 50 grams behind her
brother Purple.
Today Marian completed the entire morning walk with the
rest of my pack. However both Nellie and Marian rushed
inside when we got home to check on their puppies.
Nellie's puppies
nursing. Notice that it is starting to get crowded
at the milk bar.
Marian got upset when I put Nellie's puppies up on my
bed while I changed the bedding in Nellie's whelping box.
I had to put Marian up on my bed so that Marian could see
that Nellie's puppies were safe. Marian did not interact
with Nellie's puppies. Marian just watched the puppies
until I put them back into Nellie's whelping box.
Nellie's puppies are making what I recognize as the first
efforts to learn to walk. Step one is get up on their
front feet. They are trying!
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Blue and Pink joined the 600-gram club today. The
weight order has stayed the same for the past couple
of days ... first Pink, then Blue, and finally Red.
Marian's puppies continue to have steady weight
gains.
I rarely see both
Green and Purple nursing at the same time.
Blue using brother Red
as a pillow.
Pink with her
head raised to nurse. You can just
see in the background that one of the boys has figured out that if he just
lies on his back, a nipple is at just the right height. While
the puppies are nursing, mother Nellie takes the
opportunity to lick her
puppies to stimulate them to pee (which she drinks).
What I usually see when Marian is nursing,
just one puppy nursing. Green and Purple
seem to take turns ... or more likely Marian has them on slightly different
schedules.
I trimmed the nails (really claws) of Marian's puppies
today. I noticed that Green has a milky white discharge
from her left eye. I am watching daily for Marian's
puppies to open their eyes, which should happen around now.
I hope the discharge does not prevent Green from opening
her eyes or mean something worse. I always have something
to worry about!
What I like to see when I look in a whelping box -
everyone with tummies
full and taking a nap. That is Purple in the corner,
mommy Marian, and Green in the whelping nest.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Red joined his siblings in the 600-gram club. Purple joined the
400-gram club today.
Marian again went on the morning walk with the rest of us, but
again took the short-cut back to the house towards the
end of the walk.
Puppies on my bed while I changed the mats in the whelping boxes:
I noticed today that Marian had licked away the discharge from Green's left eye.
Nellie's puppies napping together.
Marian with Green nursing, while Purple sleeps.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
I find it interesting that almost all the puppies are up against a side
of their whelping box. Do they find the contact comforting? Or were
they crawling, ran into the wall, and then fell asleep?
In the evening I saw Red and Blue wrestling. Puppy
wrestling is like sumo wrestling. The objective seems
to be to push the other puppy over. Not having hands,
the puppies use their mouths like thumbs in the game of
"thumb war" to get an advantage.
Green finally joined the 400-gram club today. Green is still about
50 grams behind her brother Purple.
Morning pictures:
The two mothers during
our morning walk, Marian is on the left, Nellis is on the
right. Marian did the entire walk with us this morning.
Red showing his ability to
get up on his front legs.
Marian's puppies:
Nellie is not gentle when she wants to lick her puppies.
Nellie will stick her nose right underneath a puppy (as
Nellie is doing with
Pink); often flipping the puppy on its back in order
to more easily lick the puppy's genitals and anus.
Green nursing. And later
both Green and Purple nursing.
Nellie's
puppies nursing. A few moments later, Nellie rolled over
to give the puppies easier access to the milk bar.
Later I picked up a piece of poop left by one of Nellie's puppies.
I found the poop before Nellie saw it and ate it.
A fellow breeder recommended warm compresses for any crust
on closed puppies' eyes. Green did not have any crust today, but Purple
did. I used a cotton ball soaked in warm water on both puppies'
closed eyes. By the end of the day, Green had opened her left eye.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Pink is the first of her siblings to join the 700-gram club.
Blue is such an exhibitionist.
Green using mommy Marian
as a pillow. (A
closer view.)
Nellie's puppies
demonstrating the triangle
formation - Pink and Red are the legs of the triangle,
Blue is the hypotenuse.
Marian's puppies are starting to lift their heads. Nellie's puppies
are crawling around, bumping into each other and the toy in the
whelping box. Nellie's puppies are starting to make a trilling
sound which seems to indicate annoyance when they bump into
a littermate, while they are trying to walk.
Nellie's puppies nursing - Note
how Red has gone low, while Pink has gone high for those favored
rear teates on either side of Nellie's belly. I have slowing
been increasing the amount of kibble that Nellie gets. In addition
to her two helpings of cottage cheese, Nellie is now eating double
the amount of kibble that she normally gets.
Except for nursing and licking her puppies, Nellie does
not spend much time in her whelping box now. Nellie will
often jump into the whelping box, the puppies will all
wake up and start moving towards Nellie, Nellie will lick
one or two of the puppies, but then Nellie will jump out
of the whelping box, leaving the puppies frustrated about
where mommy - and the yummy milk - have gone.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
In the morning, Green's left eye was open and her right
eye was partially open; by the evening both eyes would
open when I picked her up. Purple's right eye which
had been closed in the morning would open when I picked
him up in the evening, but his left eye remained closed.
Red and Blue joined sister Pink in the 700-gram club today,
but their order remains the same - Pink is the heaviest,
then Blue, with Red bring up the rear. Purple and Green
continued to make steady weight gains.
Nellie does not spend much time with her puppies,
preferring to be with my other dogs. But Nellie checks on her puppies
frequently, often just peeking into the whelping
box to make sure that all is well. Marian still guards her puppies in their
whelping box.
Nellie's puppies are three-weeks old today, and Marian's puppies
are two-weeks old. The puppies weigh as follows:
Nellie's puppies:
Nellie's puppies now want to crawl off the scale when I go
to weigh them, which makes getting their birthday pictures
difficult. Marian's puppies - now being two weeks old -
have now also graduated to being weighed on my "big dog" scale.
Since Marian's puppies are two-weeks old they got their
first worming of pyrantel today, which they will get
every two weeks until they are around twelve weeks old.
The amount of pyrantel each puppy gets depends on its
weight. But right now the amount is just a taste.
Now that Nellie's puppies are three-weeks old, my pessimism
turns to cautious optimism that they will survive. Things
can still go wrong, but the odds are that Nellie's puppies will grow
up to be fine Norwich terrorists. Consequently
today is Nellie's puppies "name day". For the past week I have been
playing around with names. Each puppy will get a formal
"registered" name plus an informal "call" name. The registered
name is their formal name with the American Kennel CLub; the call name
can be - and often is - changed on a whim. My naming convention
is something having to do with William Shakespeare. Often I get
names from a play, book, or television show related to Shakespeare
that I have recently seen. Recently I have been watching the
BBC television sitcom "Upstart Crow". The actress Helen Monks who
plays Shakespeare's older daughter really impressed me with
her performance. So that gave me the idea for Pink's name. Now
Shakespeare only had one son, Hamnet, but fortunely two different
young actors played him on the television show - Sebastion Barker in
season 1 and Joe Willis in season 2 and 3. So that gave
me the idea for Red and Blue's names. So their registered names
(and call names) will be:
From now on I will refer to Nellie's puppies by their call names.
Both of Green's eyes were open this morning, but only
Purple's right eye was open. Puppy eyes normally open
sometime between day 10 and day 14. Since Purple was two
weeks old and his left eye was not open, plus both puppies
had been having discharge from their eyes, I was worried.
So I loaded Marian, Purple, and Green into a crate and off
we went to my local vet. Of course by the time we were
in an exam room and I pulled Purple out of the crate, Purple
was starting to open his right eye. My vet examined the
eyes of both Purple and Green, said everything was normal;
Purple was just a late bloomer with regards to opening
his eyes. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures
of Marian's puppies first vet visit.
As a birthday present for both litters, I replaced
the colars of Pink, Purple and Green with new (more
visible) versions.
Nellie's puppies:
We were up very early this morning. I was leaving today
for a four-day judging assignment and needed to get my
two litters and their mothers to my petsitter, Ali,
before heading to the airport. (The rest of my dogs
stayed at home with another petsitter.) Marian's puppies
are still small enough that they can ride is a crate
with mommy. But Nellie's puppies are too large to all
fit in a crate with their mommy. So Nellie's puppies
all rode together in a
separate crate.
Pictures from Ali:
Today is T minus two weeks till Gwynie's due date.
After getting Ali and Mike's opinions about the puppies (an independent viewpoint
is always interesting!) I packed everyone - Nellie and her puppies, Marian
and her puppies - into my car and we made the long drive home. It was very
late by the time we got home, I got everyone settled, and I collapsed into
bed.
Nellie's puppies are four-weeks old today, and Marian's
puppies are three-weeks old today. The puppies weigh as
follows:
Nellie's puppies:
Note that Hamish has nosed ahead of Willy and Suzi in their weight
race.
Marian's puppies:
Now that Marian's puppies are three-weeks old, I have a reasonable
expectation that they will survive. So today is Marian's puppies "name day".
Amy - Marian's primary owner - suggested their names, which fit in with
my naming convention of something from the BBC sitcom "Upstart Crow".
Here are the name by which Marian's puppies will be registered (and their
call names):
Both Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson appeared as guest stars in "Upstart Crow".
Going forward, I will refer to Marian's puppies by their call name.
Nellies's puppies sleeping head to tail.
Hamish plotting his escape from the whelping
box. Later I found Hamish walking around outside the whelping box. I suspect Hamish
"flopped" out of the whelping box.
Nellie and her puppies. Nellie's puppies, being
a week older than Marian's puppies, are much more active. Marian's puppies are
still doing a lot of sleeping, but are starting to
be active in the brief times when they are awake.
The stains you see in the whelping boxes are where a puppy
has pooped, its mommy has licked up and eaten the poop, but when
licking left the stain. This is why every day the butler has to change
and wash the pads in the whelping boxes.
Since Hamish climbed out of the whelping
box yesterday, I had the butler set up the
puppy playpen in my living
room next to my desk. The two mommies
immediately checked the
playpen to make sure that the playpen was set up to
their standards. (That is Nellie partially in the crate, with
Marian right behind her.)
When I put Nellie's puppies in the playpen, two of my younger
dogs formed a
welcome committee. (Maggie is the
red one; Tashi is the black and tan. In the bottom left
is Nellie's puppies' great-great-grandmother, Mandy, who I am
sure is disgusted that more rug rats have appeared.)
Hamish was the first to go over and taste the water in the water
bowl. Hamish shook his head, as if to say "Yuk, that is not milk".
Hamish then had no problem climbing over the wooden block to leave
the playpen and explore my living room. Hamish found that
there were
difficulties while exploring.
After Hamish had explored a bit, I put him back in the playpen
where he joined Willy and Suzi who had found that the
crate in the playpen was a
nice place for
a nap.
After their nap, Suzi
climbed out of the playpen, and Willy followed. Suzi and Willy
were less interested in exploring, but rather wanted to
find mommy Nellie and
her delicious milk. (That is Tashi in the upper left getting
into the photo.)
I clipped all the puppies' nails today - Nellie's
puppies and Marian' puppies. I left Nellie's puppies
in the playpen and then dremeled the nails of my older
dogs. When I was finished I found Nellie's puppies asleep in the playpen.
(Note the yellow urine stains at the entrance to the crate.
The puppies are trying to keep their sleeping area clean,
but can only hold it long enough to get to the entrance
of the crate. But it is a start on potty training.)
Marian's puppies remained
in their whelping box in my bedroom. Marian would come
in and let Kenny and Emma
nurse, but other than nursing Marian now mostly stays
out of her whelping box.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
After I gave my big dogs their bedtime snack (a dental treat) and
mommy Nellie and mommy Marian their evening cottage cheese, I noticed
that both Nellie and Marian went and nursed their puppies:
I put Nellie's puppies back into their whelping box for the night.
The butler then changed the pads in the puppy playpen, and took
the dirty pads to the laundry room.
Suzi regained her lead in their weight race today, followed by Hamish,
then Willy. Kenny joined the 800-gram club today.
Hearing is the last sense that puppies get. I suspected that I had
missed the puppies' ear canals opening and their getting the sense
of hearing. My usual way of telling is when great-great-grandmother Mandy
gives her loud morning bark of "Get up everyone. It is time for breakfast."
(unfortunately usually given when the sun is just peeking over the horizon).
When puppies first start to hear, they raise their heads when they hear Mandy
as if to say "What is that racket?". Both litters of puppies probably can
hear by now. But I got confirmation this morning that Nellie's puppies can hear.
When Mandy gave her morning bark, Nellie's puppies answered Mandy back with a chorus
of howls!
Morning nursing:
Willy and Suzi saying "We were framed!"
(Note how both have their snouts between the bars.)
I had to be out of the house for what turned out to be longer than I expected.
I left Nellie's puppies in the playpen (which meant that they could get out
into my living room). Marian's puppies stayed in their whelping box. I needn't
have worried - although I did. All was well when I got home.
All was well with Marian's puppies in their whelping box.
As a treat for Nellie's puppies, I had the cook prepare their first meal
- Royal Canin Puppy Starter (a canned food). There was
some interest
by the puppies. They did a respectable job of
eating some of the
food. Mommy Nellie - like mommies everywhere - had clean up duty. But
what the puppies really
wanted for dinner was milk.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
When I went to take pictures of Marian's puppies, I found
Kenny biting Emma's front
leg and shaking it vigorously, as if to say "it is
time to wake up". Since none of the puppies have teeth
yet, Kenny really was not hurting Emma. When shaking
the front leg did not work, Kenny turned his attention
to Emma's rear leg. But as that did not wake Emma, Kenny walked away.
All of Nellie's puppies joined the 1-kilogram club today, with
Hamish and Suzi tied for the lead. Emma joined the 700-gram
club today, but is over 100 grams behind Kenny.
Nellie's puppies
having breakfast. Nellie's puppies
had a decent appetite, but preferred mommy
Nellie's milk
Marian feeding her puppies.
Suzi biting at a
toy that makes a crinkily sound. Emma and Kenny
playing bitey face.
Emma biting at some
teething rings (although Emma does not have any teeth yet).
While the butler
changes the bedding in Marian's whelping box, Marian
comforts the puppies on my bed by
letting them nurse.
Amy and Tom came to
visit Marian and her puppies. Amy is holding Kenny; Tom
is holding Emma.
Amy and Tom are Marian's primary owners and kindly let me
breed Marian.
Some pictures by Tom:
As an experiment, I put Marian's puppies into the puppy
playpen with Nellie's puppies. Everyone got along,
although I did see Suzi
biting at Kenny's collar. But visiting with relatives
is exhausting, so Kenny
and Emma took a nap. (Nellie's puppies are the
great-grand-uncle and great-grand-aunt of Marian's
puppies.)
Nellie's puppies:
Later I found Hamish on the
dog bed underneath my desk.
Suzie retook the lead in their weight race, followed by Hamish, then Willy.
Kenny and Emma had steady weight gains.
Marian's puppies were much more accommodating.
I took Nellie's puppies outside today.
Nellie's puppies having lunch. And
milk for desert. Then an
after lunch nap. (Hamish is in the foreground,
then Willy, and Suzi in in the crate.)
Marian again comforting
the puppies on my bed while the butler changes the
bedding in their whelping box.
I again put the puppies all together in the puppy
playpen. Nellie's puppies climbed out of the playpen and
explored; Marian's puppies mostly stayed in the playpen.
Here is Hamish encouraging Kenny to
come out and play.
I helped the chef prepare dinner for my dogs and the
puppies today. After I picked up some bowls for my dogs,
I turned around from the counter ... only to see to my
horror blood on the floor. All the dogs were milling
around barking at me to move faster and feed them. In my
shock I dropped one of the food bowls which only caused
a mad scramble among my dogs to eat the spilled kibble.
I quickly scanned everyone trying to figure out who
was bleeding. Not having any luck, I got methodical.
I first picked up and checked the pregnant Gwynie, as she
would be most likely to be bleeding and her bleeding would
be the most serious. It was not Gwynie, so I put Gwynie
in a crate. Next I checked my visitor dogs. I have a
standing offer with anyone who co-owns a dog with me, that
they can leave their dog with me if they are traveling.
(Some call it "Camp Blair".) Boo's (aka Boo2) primary
owners were in Europe; fortunately Boo was not bleeding, so
Boo went into a crate. Next I checked mommy Marian; Marian
was not bleeding so she went into a crate. Next I picked
up mommy Nellie ... and found that Nellie had broken a nail
(really a claw) on her front right leg ... which was the
cause of all the bloody
footprints on my floor. I got the bleeding stopped,
and everyone in their crates and fed (plus Nellie's puppies
in the puppy playpen). I consulted my first-aid book
for dogs (and also called a more experienced breeder).
Other than stopping the bleeding nothing further needed
to be done. I was warned that Nellie would likely be
lame from soreness on that leg for a few days. Before I
let everyone out of their crates, I mopped up the blood.
I still do not know how Nellie broke her nail.
Nellie's puppies:
Marian's puppies:
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
