The Day Before, and The Day After…
Emma had her pups last Monday morning. Her adventure though began Sunday, a day earlier…
She had been getting bigger by the day as noted above, but on Sunday the poor thing looked like an overstuffed sausage.
She was more restless as Sunday wore on, and then she started to go into corners and scratch. We knew time was getting short and so we readied the basement. Out came the cot and up went Emma to settle in next to the whelping box.
With the human births that I have attended, there has always been multiple family members and medical attendants around. However, I have had the good fortune to spend the eve of Emma’s last two labors one on one in solitude in our cellar. Both times we spent the night crowded together on the small cot, her back and fur pressed against my chest. It has been a very unique experience sharing such a primeval ritual with another species. She is restless, and breaths in short panting breaths for hours at a time. The cot shakes with the force of her rapid breathing. Every so often her panting would stop and she would listen as if waiting for some inner signal. Beneath my fingers her babies were active. Hours go by. Occasionally she would give me a lick as if to say thank you for your support. Both of us drifted off to sleep for short periods of time, neither one of us changing our positions. Then on the morrow, about sunrise each time, she would get quiet, listen again, and then a large wavelike contraction would be palpable in her abdomen. Once that occurred, we moved to the whelping box and awaited the start of the birthing process.
Those events are described in the previous blog. After her enormous work, she enjoyed, deserved, and needed, a warm bath.
The following morning everyone began the daily ritual of the weigh in..
The other pups go into the little white box to await their turn..
Emma gets to bond with a little one on one time..
And after the whelping area is cleaned, everyone piles in for a snuggle before the next nursing moments begin again.
The pups have already been to the vet, and all are very healthy. We have contacted the earliest clients on our waiting list, and are very pleased to say that we have two families who have waited since our last litter almost a year and a half ago for one of our puppies. Their wait is over. We are moving down the list, but with vacations, it is hard to know if folks are getting their emails or phone calls. Over half the pups are spoken for now, with many more clients to go. If we do not get a response from the clients we have contacted this week by next Friday, they will lose their chance, and then we will contact the next people waiting. I am sorry we cannot satisfy everyone who has written us, but mother nature has given us what she has.