Pippin: Experience as a 1st Time Mother

Pippin & her beautiful puppies

Pippin's 9 day old puppies 'mew' contently in the background as we rest together on the cot in the whelping area. She turns an attentive ear to listen to their sounds and knows all is well with her new family of 6 Brittany pups.  She is happy to leave her 'nest' for some well deserved, all too brief moments of R&R.  Pippin has snuggled close and tight to me, casually offering her belly in hopes of a belly rub. I tell her she doesn't have to ask twice, "You've got it Pip", and she raises her head to rest it on my arm, closing her eyes.

Pippin's carefree, independent lifestyle has changed completely these past 9 days.  Without the benefit of maturity or experience and relying purely on instinct she is thrust into the cares and responsibilities of motherhood.  I have likened her approach to this as that of a young teenage mother. Really not quite ready to settle down and put the needs of another life first, they struggle between the reality of the situation and the deep love that in most cases is there within.  This analogy allowed me to react with patience and understanding as Pippin went through instinctive and reactive motions of motherhood such as nursing her pups and licking them. Any assistance in the early hours of her new role seemed to bring a reluctance on Pippin's part to further pursue the instincts that are leading, beckoning to her.  I recognized this and perceived it as being caught in a type of limbo, of not being really sure of what was going on at all while  uniquely in a place of transition from one season of life to the other. 

To know Pippin is to know a Brittany dog with spunk, attitude and strong will; all the very things we love about her!  She's extremely expressive and Pippin's eyes seem most often to communicate a general sense of annoyance that "All Things Brittany" does not mean "All Things Pippin."  A sweet, know it all Brittany who does not experientialy know diddly squat about motherhood.  Fortunately for the Pippinator - we do!

Pippins love and attentiveness towards her puppies was strong from the start despite how annoyed she seemed when "THEY" came out of "THERE"!!  From what Chevy's owner Doug said, Pippin was also quite 'annoyed' during the entire act of mating.  Due to her personality and perception that her life had been intruded upon Pippin and I shared a bit of a learning curve those first 36 hours.  If I was too closely involved with monitoring her pups it was as if she said "OK. YOU think you are so smart. YOU take care of them."  During labor Pippin insisted the pups would be born underneath the cot, something we never did see eye to eye on.  I could almost see her sticking her tongue out at me as she returned to this spot once the pups had been safely delivered in the whelping box.  Knowing Pippin, being under the cot meant she was invisible, tucked away in a place where she could command the whole world to go away. (SORRY PIP. AIN'T HAPPENIN'.)

It was clear we needed to establish a comfort level between the us, where we could totally trust her to properly care for her pups while also a place where she knew we'd intervene without a lot of fanfare when she lost her way, or just wasn't sure.  Exhaustion was setting in quickly for canine and humans alike.  Pippin reached a point of simply needing to shutdown and sleep.  (We felt the same way too!) John and I decided to keep the pups in the puppy basket over hot water bottles wrapped in a blanket and under the heat lamp, keeping close watch of the temperature while Pippin slept soundly. All the pups had found their way to nurse as they were born so each had the all important colostrum and they too were sleeping soundly.  We placed a couple of pups next to her for nursing and she happily sniffed them and nudged them but her heart still was not in it.  We weighed each pup frequently especially little Holly who was just 6.2 oz when born. Little ones like this are often rooted off of the nipple by larger litter mates.  Pippin did clean her pups but not as thoroughly as needed.  Still, at the same time we did not want to discourage her or cause her to simply dismiss it as being our job.  So when she was asleep we made sure the pups were cleaned and eliminating correctly.

Sometimes another hurdle to overcome with a first time mother who is use to being princess of her domain is they will prefer their owners company over their need to care for their pups - in the beginning.  John is very good about reminding me of the need not to over nurture a new mother for this very reason.  Sometimes even the very sound of my voice can be distracting and interrupt a successful nursing session.  I moved slowly, deliberately, and quietly. We have learned not to be so anxious in taking a pup away from mom too soon after it is born.  Helping remove the sac and offering the umbilical cord to the mother in hopes she will sever it herself is one thing.  Whisking a neonatal, newborn pup still covered with the residual of placenta, afterbirth, and blood away from her is quite another thing. Discovering weight and gender really is not as important as encouraging the initial bonding between dam/pup. We hover nearby and take digital photos of each pup and worry later about matching time of birth, weight, gender, and identifying marks.  Unless a puppy is clearly in distress or in danger we will not intervene within those early moments of life. My concern is that mom "gets it" through the continual cleaning, licking of each pup. John and I are always sitting at the edge of the box ready to reach in and assist.  We know the warning signs, what to look for, what to listen for and will immediately pick a pup up to do whatever needs to be done to assure it's health, safety, and well being. Sometimes pups will inhale a little fluid during delivery and you can hear it when they first breath. We will aspirate gently and then slowly but firmly hold a little puppy head down and swing it in an arc to expel any liquids.  We're there to roughly dry it with a washcloth to simulate it's circulation and get it moving.  And no matter what is going on, we let mom keep that baby in her plain sight. 

In addition to those anticipated situations we were also ready to hold Pippin's hand for however long it took following the birth of her beautiful puppies.  And hold it we did.  It didn't take long. By the end of the second day, after we had been to the vets for dewclaw removal and tail docking, we were confident our new 'teenage mom' was putting the needs of her pups first. For me the real breakthrough came when Pippin did not rise up from nursing her pups to greet me.  I approached her calmly but spoke not a word.  I looked into her eyes which by now were bright and smiling.  My joy was complete when I saw that she was giving me a "happy tail", wagging it for all she was worth without budging an inch away from her family. 

At 9 days old the pups have doubled their birth weight. The litter weight average is 1.5 lbs.  I see little slits beginning to form where eyes will soon open. Already.  Last night John remarked that they are beginning to change their movement from a crawling/swimming motion to lifting themselves up on their teeny tiny unsteady but strong legs.  And as happy as Pip is to see me, her choice is to stay with her pups if they are nursing.Way to go Pippin! Welcome to motherhood - you're doing a great job.

Take care and God bless, John, Ann and ATB