New arrivals

pennys puppies arrived this time yesterday. Penny's first stage labour started around 11pm Thursday, for 14 hours her cervix painfully dilated, she did all the normal things, nesting, biting her wooden box when she was in pain, storing food and not eating, urinating a lot. Eventually she had contractions around 2pm Friday and started on her first puppy sadly the puppy never arrived, so she tried an hour later and again an hour later. I kept an eye out for the warning signs in her discharge but all was fine. Had a call out to the vet at 5 to say she may be coming in for a c section. At 6 I asked penny if she wanted my help, and right on queue she whined a big cry so off we went to the vets. She actually enjoyed the trip in the car, penny loves the car air blowing her ears around. The vet tried an injection and helping the puppy manually in the the birth canal, but they puppy was not having it. So c section it was. Puppy's were removed around 8pm penny's surgery also involved having her spayed since we don't want her to have any more litters made sense to do it at the same time. She had a lot of bleeding but the vets sorted her out. She had two big girls. A small litter is quiet common for her age and small litters often result in a c section. As the puppies are often bigger as the mum has only had two to supply nutrients too. When penny came around she was a bit grumpy so the nurses had to feed her puppies then we got to collect her and pups at around 1am Saturday.  At a steep cost of £1165, you must always consider this is a possibility when breeding she had two puppies, do the math there is no money in breeding don't do it for money do it for the maintenance of the breed, the love of animals but never for money. Anyway we get the puppies home and like the perfect mummy she is it was only minuets before penny asked me to put them in with her. They was in a basket in the kitchen and she in her whelp ing box so she could come see them if she wanted but with no pressure to feed them as she was not feeling well. Whether it be natural birth or c section there is always a chance a mum may not have milk or not feed them, we was prepared for this with milk and bottles ready. But she took to them wonderfully, she is recovering very well, up and about a bit but never leaving her pups more than a few minuets, she won't let me hold them for long either, she loves them so much. I think she expected to have more than two, looking around for more puppies. But that's how it goes sometimes. We are busy finding names for them and deciding if to keep one of penny's final babies.

Puppies due soon

It's that time again, after a long period penny Is expecting her final litter of puppies, she is due in a week and we are all busy preparing for the birth. Her whelping box is ready and her delivery kit is prepared, towels washed and folded, she had her hair cut short so it's easier to keep clean, and she is on her special maternity diet to give her all the protein she need for healthy babies. Now it's just a waiting game. I am always super excited for puppies to arrive but also nervous about all the things that can go wrong. Last year my other dog Molly had a complicated emergency c section and delivered 11 puppies 1 still born but they all had to be hand reared and I can tell you hand feeding 10 puppies every 2 hours was life consuming. Some died along the way as hand rearing is complex but 8 made it to new lives with loving families. I am sure that penny will be fine but I sure am saying my prayers for her and her babies. Keep reading for updates on the birth and pictures as the puppies grow and develop till they leave for their new homes.