The babies are now 7 days old and have changed drastically. They all weigh around a pound and a half. They are sleeping longer between feedings, mommy is leaving them more often, and they are trying out their little legs. They seem to be content with their situation in life. Mom is great with all the interruptions and doesn't mind strangers coming in to visit. I'm already preparing myself for when Dec. 1st comes along and they start going to their new homes. On the other hand I'm thankful that they will be going to good homes to live out their happy lab life. I'm keeping a boy and a girl, so that will help with the separation. I will keep a little black girl for future breeding and showing, then also a white male for therapy, breeding, and showing. At a month I will put them through tests to see what each little puppy's strenghs are. That way I can place them accordingly. We always want to have a positive experience and that goes with dogs as well. Happy at Happy Labs Kennel
One Week...
It was just a week ago that Belle Starr started her journey into puppybirth. A long and grueling 30 hours. It started with temp drop, restlessness, looking for a nesting area, and being by her people. Then onto delivering the 11 babies. Here she is today feeling confident in herself as a mom, and taking good care of those little bundles. Each and every one of them. Yesterday we took great care in making sure she had some fun time so we can keep that lab tail wagging. For a first time mom, she is doing an awesome job and is tolerant of people helping her and being with her pups. Shadow still goes in and checks on them once in a while. Once yesterday he was standing by the box looking at the pups and one made a loud sound, he jumped back and the look on his face was a Canon moment without the Canon. Hilarious to watch. They now are colored coded for identification. Should look into getting bar codes.... Their weight varies from 1 pound 4 ounces to 1 pound 8 ounces. So good to see them gaining and keeping up with each other. We are really hoping that by trading groups out with mom is helping the smaller ones out. Fortunate we are retired to where we can make sure someone is helping her 24-7. I believe my husband fell asleep while on duty, but won't say anything. He has been awesome and couldn't have done a good job without him. And those pups are fine...
Visit to the Vet
I'm sure that wasn't the best experience for the little guys and gals. First off they were all in the warming box at once. Just a little crowded. The sun was bright and hot, the smell was off, and people were poking, probing, and removing things. Mom was hot and uncomfortable as well. But the checkups were good and he dew claws removed. To be honest I was scared to see the vet bill, but to our surprise it was very reasonable. We really like and appreciate Pruyn Vet Clinic in Missoula. Their weight varies from l pound 2 ounces to 1 pound 8 ounces. The creams seem to be running a little bigger than the blacks. There are 2 little boys #8 & #9 who look alike and are always together. I call them the twins. Amazing how fast they are growing. The good news is that they are sleeping for longer periods of time and we don't have to change them out so often.
Silly Me!
So while ordering all my supplies for whelping, I visited a lot of sites and ended up making several orders. Then last week I discovered that I hadn't ordered colored collars for the newbies. On October 2, I found some and ordered them, thinking that they would arrive in a few days. Well yesterday when they hadn't arrived yet, I went back to see where they were being shipped from. When I looked at the site, I saw that they are coming from Ontario, Canada. Okay, now that explains the delay. Anyway, I made some makeshift ones out of ribbon and velcro to get us by until they get here. Which I really hope is today for we are making our first trip to the vet and I want to make sure they are well identified. So far we haven't supplemented milk or anything for them and seem to be growing good and are content. In fact they are growing so fast that this weekend we are going to fix up a bigger warming box for them. They pretty much fill up the one they are in. They make the cutest little sounds and sometimes they sound like a kitten. That sure grabs my attention....Belle Starr is sleeping more and her system is returning back to normal. When we give her some pups, she cleans them, and once they are hooked up, she goes to sleep and soon all you hear is her snoring. She has lost weight and is looking really good. I'll take her and a couple of her pups to the International Dog Show and see how they do. She was up for best of breed a couple of times when we went this spring. One thing about having a big litter that needs a lot of attention, us humans have learned to power nap and make toast a meal. I did make a crock pot full of chicken yesterday, which was yummy....
Sleep?
About now I could use a good straight 8 hours of sleep. I did get 6 before my night shift and I'm waiting for this one to end so I can go get a couple of more hours. Some people can go with a small amount of sleep. But not this one. Fred does better with that than I do. But I have to admit that I can hear him snoring some big ones different times throughout the day. I couldn't imagine trying to do this on my own. Puppies are growing as I type this. It's amazing how much they change in a day. It is day 3 and they are starting to change a bunch. The cream and yellow one's feet, ears, and muzzles are starting to turn black. Some of the ears are flopping down. At birth the ears were plastered against their heads. You can start to distinguish the differences between some of them. Especially the cream and yellow ones. There are going to be some of both. The little black ones all look alike. Some are just a little bigger. Hope that the colored bands arrive today for we really need them. The only one we have marked is a little black girl (last one to arrive) for she was a little sluggish the first day and so we put pink yarn around her neck so that we could make sure she got lots to eat. Her nickname is Ribbon and she is turning into a little feisty one. Love those puppies.. Vet day tomorrow....
Day 3