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Showing posts from August, 2018

Haydain and Misty’s Litter – Week Three

So darn kissable! “The Washroom Break” It was a typical summer day. A warm breeze blew through the trees rustling the leaves sporadically. Off in the distance the chipmunks were communicating with their trademark chatter. Periodically a tiny indecipherable sound penetrated nature’s soundtrack. Softly at first and then again until the voice became more insistent. This required some investigation on our part. It didn’t take long to locate the source. It appeared that somehow Mr. Jelly Bean had escaped the confines of the whelping box. Without the benefit of a map or GPS, the little tyke managed to traverse a circuitous route into the ensuite bathroom. Needless to say, he was safely airlifted back to the whelping box to reunite with his sisters. Now that their vision is established beyond simply being able to detect light, dark and movement, the puppies are becoming increasingly curious about their surroundings and each other. They are beginning to get acquainted with their litte

Haydain and Misty’s Litter – Week Two

Contentment “Triple Your Pleasure” It’s all about food in this place. Misty continues to have this uncanny ability to advise of mealtime precisely on the hour. Of course, her little flock has followed suit with their love of nourishment as they’ve now tripled their birth weights. Since they’re still in their birthday suits, we’ve not had to loosen their belts, but we have had to make adjustments to their collars. At first glance, it may appear that the puppies spend all their time eating and sleeping, but they do spend a good deal of time exercising. As but as they lay there asleep, they are constantly twitching. These involuntary actions, referred to as “activated sleep”, help strengthen their leg muscles and begin to build muscle mass. This allows them to plod around on all fours when they’re in search of their mom for a snack. Mom adds to this challenge by continually messing up the towels in the whelping box, thereby creating rolling hills that the puppies need to paddle

Haydain and Misty’s Litter – Week One

Welcome to the world! “Around and Around We Go” As we headed into the home stretch with Misty’s pregnancy, it was evident that our girl was feeling a tad uncomfortable with that mass of puppies rummaging around in her belly. We situated her on our bed and waited while Misty did laps crawling around the top of it on her belly like a navy seal. Finally, the big moment arrived at 10:20 in the evening in the form of Miss Candy Apple. A scant twenty-two minutes later, Mr. Jelly Bean made his debut. Such a quick follow up gave us false hope because each subsequent puppy took between three quarters of an hour to two hours to materialize. The next was Miss Truffle, followed by Miss Gummi Bear, Miss Licorice and finally, Miss Taffy. One would think that it would get a little easier with each puppy, however Miss Taffy decided to come out feet first. Mom was not impressed and that was despite the bowls of ice cream we’d been giving her throughout. It took her a full day and a half to get

Misty - 61 days Pre-parturition

Our smiley Misty! As we head into the final couple of days, Misty is finally slowing down. This morning she was beginning to nest, which is a sign the big event approaching. Misty knows exactly when it’s mealtime and barks at us if we are not feeding her promptly. She is dining four times a day and races to the kitchen at 7 am, noon, 3 pm and 7 pm.  We have set up the whelping box (birthing box) in our bedroom. While most expectant moms attempt to dig a giant hole somewhere in our backyard - usually under one of our spruce trees, we prefer a cleaner, more cozy, sanitary spot. We’re sure Misty will warm up to the idea soon enough! This is Misty’s first litter and if she is like her mom Sierra, she will prefer a dark den-like setting, so we’ve covered the roof of the whelping box with a blanket to make it somewhat like a tent. The above photo from National Geographic gives you an idea of what the puppies look like around this time. The puppies now have fully defined pu