Yesterday, on September 13 from 9 a.m. to about 2.30 p.m. John and I had the joy of helping Holly Beth welcome 11 beautiful puppies into the world! She and her puppies are doing very well. She’s one incredible girl our Holly Beth. True to form, she did deliver several pups outdoors during a typical outing to go pee but never fear, this time I was well prepared. She wasn’t going to catch me off guard! Prayers for a fairly uneventful delivery were definitely answered. 11 healthy thriving puppies in 5 1/2 hours.
Most pups were whelped within just a short time of each other. They began nursing all on their own shortly after birth and Holly went right to work keeping them and their 'nest' clean.
There are 3 boys (1 is orange and white, 2 are white and liver and 8 girls (3 are orange and white, 5 are liver and white). Today, they are all laying with Holly in the ATB family cradle (whelping box) that was the first home of other precious puppies, including Holly and probably her grandmother and great grandmother.
In our eyes the first 72 hours or so are very critical. The pups and Holly will be closely monitored. There’s a huge demand on her body right now and at first her appetite is iffy to say the least. We entice her with all manner of food at this point and bring her food to her as she will not leave the pups readily. During whelping we gave her nursing mother’s pudding, yogurt, and cottage cheese to provide the necessary calcium to keep her contractions strong and consistent. The longest whelping pause was 1 hour and during that time we offered her a calcium supplement. The puppies are kept warm under a heat light safely suspended and secured above them. During the first week or so the average temperature needs to be about 90. We have an infrared thermometer to point at the area to make sure it’s just right. We will continue to feed Holly all of the high calcium and high fat dairy products that she wants. I need to make another batch of nursing mother's pudding.
We take nothing for granted in the lives of Holly and Oly’s puppies nor in Holly herself. We will schedule the removal of dewclaws and tail docking soon. While John and I both know how to perform this task we prefer to bring them all to our vets. This way Holly will get checked out as well as each puppy. The sooner the better these procedures are done the better for the well being of them all. The argument against going to the vets is for health reasons and the expense. This isn't an issue as our repro vet has a private, separate area that is constantly cleaned and disinfected reserved for puppies and mom only.
During these 72 hours the puppies will be weighed frequently to be sure they are gaining. There are a couple of smaller babies who we will make sure are nursing well and are not pushed aside from the larger littermates.
I have set the Roku tv to the Pandora station which is playing soothing instrumental music. Right now we are listening to Dan Gibson’s Solitudes. It is perfect. Since yesterday, Holly has lapped up almost two bottles of Pedialyte, helping to keep her hydrated. That was followed by some special chicken that John prepared for her mixed in with her food. Giving her just a small amount at first because I wasn’t sure she’d take to it, she ended up having 3 dishes full! Yay! She goes outside to stretch her legs and relieve herself as needed but wants to run right back to her puppies.
Thank you for your prayers so much. Please don't stop! Take care and God bless,
John, Ann, Holly and puppies, and the rest of the crew!
Congratulations!!!
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