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| Mr. Sambuca just a few hours old. |
“The Ventriloquist”
Puppies are generally born in the wee hours, but Faith blessed us with one of those rare daytime deliveries even if it was a bit early for us. Her water broke at around 6:00 in the morning on Sunday and by 7:10 am, Mr. Sambuca made his debut. There’s no set schedule for whelping. Miss Limoncello appeared an hour later and Miss Grand Marnier in quick succession 20 minutes after that. And then we waited. Two hours passed. While the first group was huddled together in the incubator where we’d just placed them in anticipation of another grand entrance, we heard a faint cry from one of the puppies. Or did we? It soon became apparent that this little voice was coming from within. A quick inspection revealed a puppy in the birth canal but not within reach.... After some quick thinking, a whole lot of worry and a brisk walk in the yard with Faith, she deposited Mr. Marsala mid-air into a waiting towel. Fortunately, his siblings, Miss Kahlua, Miss Crème de Menthe and Mr. Blue Curaçao were not so dramatic as each appeared in 30-minute intervals on the bed. Throughout the entire process, Faith wasted no time in assuming her motherly duties to stimulate and clean her puppies by licking them.Apart from nourishment, a mother’s milk contains antibodies vital to the puppies’ survival for the first several weeks of their lives. We weigh the puppies at least twice daily for the first week to ensure that everyone is getting equal access to the milk bar. At the one-week mark, everyone’s weight has pretty much doubled which is clearly a testament to Faith’s abilities as a mom. Faith spends virtually all of her time tending to her pups, but after day five, she’d jump up onto our bed for a quick snuggle before resuming her duties in the whelping box which is a 4 ft. square enclosure lined with mats and towels that mom and her mini-pack reside in.
Newborn puppies are unable to regulate their own body temperature and over the first three weeks, their temperature climbs one degree a week until it reaches the normal range. When mom is on her break, we use a heat lamp to keep everyone warm and cozy. These kids love to nestle into their mom or use her paws for a pillow as they dream the dreams that puppies do.
That’s it for now but be sure to join us next week for another beguiling installment of “Puppy Tales”.
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