Heidi and Rockit’s Litter

Proud mom Heidi.

“The Test Drive”

After her temperature dropped and she spent a restless night, we knew that Saturday was going to be Heidi’s big day. We rose at 6:30 a.m. to attend to the rest of our pack and get a few last minute things in order. In the meantime, Heidi rummaged around in the bedroom to plan for the event. She lay in the empty whelping box we had set up for her and that seemed to feel okay. She jumped on the bed….well only just her front paws because she needed some assistance to get all the way up and that felt pretty good too. But when Heidi discovered that the door to Sierra’s whelping box was open with Sierra out on a break, she saw her chance and settled in with Sierra’s puppies. She even began to nurse some of them. This felt good. It felt right. And this box already came with a set of puppies! We tried to convince Heidi that she really needed to make her own puppies, but she would have none of that. We finally had to use a lead to extract her from there. Needless to say, we hastily set Sierra and her brood up with a change of address to avoid further confusion.

At 8:00 a.m. as if she had just punched in her time card, Heidi found a comfortable spot on our bed and was finally ready. Moments later, we were greeted by Miss Marshmallow. Unlike some of her female pack mates who pop out puppies with certain regularity, Heidi made her own schedule. Next up was Mr. Cherry Cheesecake after 45 minutes followed by Mr. Apple Crisp after an hour and 15 minutes. And so it went for the next 10 hours or so with intervals ranging from 10 minutes to two and a half hours. Just after 11:00 a.m. we welcomed Miss Plum Pudding followed by Miss Blueberry Tart, Mr. Chocolate Fudge, Mr. Key Lime Pie and finally little Mr. Twinkie.

Miss Marshmallow and Mr. Apple Crisp.

Heidi wasted no time in getting acquainted with her little group and was stimulating them by licking them to help kick start their tiny metabolisms. She doesn’t leave the whelping box except on very brief bathroom breaks and even begins to whimper if she feels she needs a little assistance from her two-legged family to help tend to the needs of her babies.

And so begin the adventures of Heidi’s mini-pack in a series we call “Puppy Tales”.