Day 1 puppy photos!

As promised....(or else I'd be hunted down for not taking some!! By SEVERAL people even!)

I was kind of concerned about milk with Ell, as she hadn't really bagged up (dairy term sorry). I am NOT worried any longer! ALL puppies were between 10-12 oz. at birth and all have gained 1.5-2 FULL ounces in 24 hours! I am just tickled with this information and they are all fat and sassy. I must say day old puppies sure do move around a lot! These puppies were basically crawling either in tight, fast circles when I tried to take photos, or were on a death march to only they know where to. It was so fun. Ell is such a SUPER mom, just like Zoe, and she is already loving her svelte figure again. She only gained about 6 pounds during pregnancy by the morning of her whelp, and that is about right with the puppy weights and then figure in placentas etc.

The first FIVE puppies were all born within 65 minutes. She would barely contract once or twice and the puppy would nearly shoot out like a cannon. I felt like I needed a catcher's mitt to stop them. She was on a mission! The 6th puppy came out an hour later, and the 7th, an hour after that. The 8th puppy, a brown brindle bitch, I lost after 5 full hours between puppy #7 and her. Ell had stopped pushing, although was still contracting. My vet, upon palpation was able to touch the sac and it was sitting right behind the pelvic ridge, just out of reach and Ell was pretty pooped out. We gave a shot of Oxytocin and within 3 and 1/2 minutes the puppy shot out, d.o.a. The sad part is I sad it moving earlier when the other seven were nursing, and it was still close to her ribs, in the belly. She was either moving around b.c. she was suffocating, or because she was trying to move her little body to the birth canal. A well marked, normal sized puppy with no birth defects. After weighing the pros and cons of Oxy with several vet techs, vets and cardi breeders, I opted to use it, to expel the puppy, and save Ell, rather than take her in for a section, as that is also hard on a bitch. I feel I did the right thing, considering the puppy had sat at the pelvic ridge for several hours, even after we ran around outside with a leash, flashlight and towels in case it was dropped outside in the snow/ice. We did laps around my kitchen, we walked up and down stairs. we played 'touch' (Ell loves doing that in agility too) and we could not get her to push or to pass that puppy. Considering the nightmare whelping with Zoe and stuck puppies I was reliving all of it again with this puppy, but it was not mean to be. That puppy was NOT coming out without intervention. Ell was d.o.n.e. I guess after 5 puppies in an hour, with little time to rest, she should be tired, even though it seemed like it was hardly effecting her at the time.

For photos of that puppy, or for more on the story of whelping, just give me a holler, I'll be glad to relive it again. Perhaps learn something from it.

Here's a family photo from this AM I finally loaded up for you :)
And introducing, in order of appearance:



* red brindle girl. with black mask! Born breech.
See! its touching the eye!


* Red/Sable male. I'm guessing its just a red, but it sure is dark! and a black mask! How does one tell the difference between red newborns and sables?



* black and white, brindle pointed girl: (blaze doesn't go all the way to the collar!)



* Black and white male brindle pointed. Barb Hoffman said some of the blacks could be black brindle and I think this boy is. He doesn't have the brindle pointing (not all black/whites show them I know) but he seems more 'brown' today. This sure is a learning litter for me with colors!



* black and white boy with 'tan' points:



* black and white male with brindle points. narrow blaze

* Red/sable girl, black mask. She was the biggest pup, nearly 12 ounces at birth. She was born breech!


I would love to see how each puppy grows, not only structurally, but marking wise...if the masks will fade, or be dominant like Ell's. How much color 'fills' in on the face as they grow, and the shades of colors the body will do as they grow up.

Also, I believe Ell carries fluff, as her dad was coated, and Pilot does too. When can I expect to see some fluff puppies showing up? OR maybe I'd get lucky and not have one :) :)

I had dreams of having all brindle fluffs and BOYS , but that thankfully didn't happen lol

Will this do at least for a day or so? Please?