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| In Dreamland! |
“Juxtapositions”
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 confounding for her because somehow the babies have miraculously appeared. Once at home, Bailey was quite apprehensive about these squealing little creatures so she attempted to bunk down in the adjacent whelping box that we had reserved for expectant Mango and her litter. On her bathroom break, she even hid inside a little doghouse that we have in the run. With a little coaxing, Bailey came to realize that these were in fact her babies! Almost in an instant, she turned into supermom. Moving forward, Bailey insisted on having “breakfast in bed” and needed to be persuaded to come out of the whelping box to have a bathroom break. Once outside, she would literally run to a spot to do her business and run back to tend to her puppies. Much to our relief, Bailey appears to have abandoned any notion she once may have had to locate her litter in a hole she’d excavated in the backyard.
Puppies are born without sight or hearing and it will be a while before their eyes open, so for now their senses of smell and touch are what guide them to their mom. At this stage, puppies spend virtually all of their time eating and sleeping and this group is no exception. The results are evident as the puppies all have plump bellies that expand and contract like little accordions when they sleep. The gang includes Miss Chardonnay, Miss Champagne and Mr. Merlot.
Part of mom’s job description is to stimulate her newborn pups to eliminate by licking them. In this regard, Bailey’s maternal instincts kicked in right away and she became a very focused and loving mother, attending to the needs of her little family with every whimper. The puppies have all gained well and have easily doubled their birth weight. We weigh them at least twice daily for the first couple of weeks in order to carefully monitor their progress.
Bailey has proven to be such a good-natured mom that when Mango arrived home with her seven puppies, we were able to cross-foster (have Bailey nurse Mango’s puppies) to give Mango some time to recover from her C-section. Mango’s lucky to have such a caring “sister” in Bailey.
That’s it for now, but be sure to join us next week for another beguiling installment of “Puppy Tales”.
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