Regalgoldens Golden Retrievers

Miss Coral having a nap! “The Free-for-All” It all starts innocently enough. One puppy will lick or nibble on another puppy’s ear or any exposed body part, and that one in turn does likewise to an unsuspecting sibling and so on and so on. Before long the entire mini-pack is engaged in a friendly brouhaha. The playing field is pretty level between the boys and girls as Miss Amber was witnessed trying to ingest her brother’s leg. Along with the nibbling, the activities include jousting and wrestling punctuated by miniature growls, squeaks and barks. Mind you, it’s all good fun and after a period of frenzied activity, it culminates in a big snore-fest where the puppies use each other as pillows. Now that the whelping box has an extension, the puppies have room to run laps. They use the original portion as their lounge where they sleep, play, dine and cuddle with each other. The addition which is lined with unprinted newspaper and shredded paper is used as a...

What a wonderful world it is! “Change of Address” This week Heidi and her puppies made the big move from the bedroom to their own little hideaway in the library. The extension was also added to the whelping box to provide some extra room for the puppies to pick up a bit of speed when they’re on their little walkabouts. No matter how much room they have, they always seem to gravitate back to that safe haven known as mom. This week saw the introduction of the puppies to gruel or mush:  a healthy concoction of oatmeal, honey, goat’s milk and vitamins to supplement the feedings they get from their mom. One never knows how a new litter will embrace this new confection. Initially, the gang was a little apprehensive about consuming something that their mom did not dispense. With their heads bobbing up and down into the bowl at high speeds, Mr. Walnut (aka Walter) and Miss Amber sent a message to the rest of the group that this new delicacy was indeed fin...

Heidi with her precious babies. She is an amazing mom! Cabbage Patch Mom A breeder’s (or a mother’s) life is not without its challenges. This week Heidi contracted mastitis, an inflam m ation of the mam m a ry gland , usually the result of an infection caused by a little bite or scratch. This is not uncommon in large litters and not serious when diagnosed and treated in its early stages. We opted for two courses of treatment: the medical solution of a regimen of antibiotics and the homeopathic one of strapping a cabbage leaf to the affected area. Heidi’s malady improved very rapidly, but the rest of the pack sure was curious about this mobile salad bar. The big news this week is that the puppies have opened their eyes – the windows to their little souls. While they can initially only differentiate between light and dark through a kind of haze, this will clear up very quickly over the next week or so until they experience normal sight. The little ones are able to hear quite well...

Miss Ivory and Mr. Ebony all snuggled together! As the first week draws to a close, we reflect on the journey that has brought us to this happy point in time. Heidi has become the stellar mom we always knew she would be, although it didn’t quite start out that way. For the weeks leading up to the birth, a mother-to-be knows she’s going to have a litter. When puppies are delivered via C-section, it’s a bit perplexing for her because somehow the babies have magically appeared when she awakens from her anesthesia. It takes mom a while to realize that these are her babies! In Heidi’s case, she immediately allowed the puppies to nurse, but kept a wary eye on these tiny creatures as they moved around in the whelping box. Part of mom’s job description is to stimulate her newborn pups to encourage them to eliminate by licking them. For the day or so that it took for her to fully embrace the notion that these were her puppies, we had to perform the task by rubbing each puppy with a tow...