The Puppies Have Arrived
It has been very stressful waiting for the puppies along with everything else, but they have finally been born.
I had to work night shifts on Sunday & Monday so Noelle would call and text me all the time. Every time was for something like... "She is panting", "She looks sad", or "I think she stopped eating". We have been reading many web sites about dog birth lately. All said that the first stage of labor lasts 6-12 hours. Most said they stop eating 24 hours before hand. They also said that they strain and struggle in pain for about 30 minutes before they get to the pushing.
So I kept telling Noelle that even if it was the first stage we would have time for me to finish work and come home. We were very worried that the web sites said that the first time dogs give birth you have to help because they do not always know what to do. Every night I got home hoping and thinking this would be the night.
Well, when I got home Monday night (which was my last night at work) the girls were asleep and I found these poopy slimy globs on the kitchen floor. I figured maybe it would be happening soon. She seemed fine otherwise and ate and went to bed. Tuesday morning she went out to go pee and was jumping at the birds in the tree. She came in and ate a ton so I started to feel like she would never give birth. She had some more of the slimy diarrhea globs so I looked it up online to find nothing.
I started to feel very tired because I didn't get much sleep so I took a nap around 2pm. I started to wake up and saw Jack in Hermione's nest. I told him to get out as I still lay there on the couch groggy.
Again he jumped into her nest, so this got me up to yell at him. I did not want all that time getting Hermione comfortable in her nest to be ruined because he was all of a sudden getting in it. So he got out and went over by Hermione who was sitting in the kitchen.
I heard a dog cry in the nest and after a second it dawned on me that no one was in the nest. I looked and didn't see anything. We had put a blanket in the bottom, then an old comforter, and then sheets to soften it for her. I started to pull everything out and then I saw a little puppy. Hermione had cleaned it all up and chewed off the umbilical cord just like she was supposed to.
I take awhile to fully wake up. James and the girls always laugh at how out of it I am when I wake up. It started to dawn on me that she had her first puppy and I didn't notice. Then I started to freak out because my house was becoming crazy and the girls were still at school. Jack was running around trying to see the puppy, Hermione was leaving a blood spot anywhere she sat but she would not go back in her nest because Jack was running around, and I still had not checked the puppy.
I decided to first put Jack outside. I ran back in to get Hermione in her nest. Then Jack started crying like someone was killing him. So I went back outside to find that he had stuck his head in the gate and popped it. Any time he really wants to come inside he shoves his head in the gate.
He has learned that when he pulls it back out the gate pops open. After running around the neighborhood a few times we got smart and put 2 bungee cords on it too. So I latched the gate again and went back to Hermione to put her in her nest again. Jack again was crying bloody murder and popped the gate so I had to bring him in and put him in the kennel.
He continued to cry and bark but at least I could tend to Hermione and know he was not getting out of the yard. He REALLY wanted to be by the puppy.
Just as I got able to check on the puppy the girls came home. All of this from me waking up until them getting home took 15 minutes. So I figured we had awhile to rest. The web sites all said they rest around an hour to 4 hours between puppies. Hermione kept trying to come out of her nest so Ally sat inside of it with the puppy. Right away she had another puppy.
This one had the sac very tight around it so after she kept licking it and it would not pull away. I tore it a little for her. We got that one all cleaned up and then another one came. We let her clean them as much as she wanted and when she walked away from them we would take them and dry them, tie the cord, and cut them shorter. We ended up rushing as it went on because they just kept coming one after another.
Finally after the 5th one she laid down to rest. We left her alone for awhile to rest and see if she would have more. After about 30 minutes she got up and started looking for her puppies. She really wanted them so we figured she had to be done and so we gave them back to her to start nursing. She nursed for about 15 minutes and out came puppy #6. Finally she was done for real. She did great !!! She made it look so easy. She just turned to lick herself and by the time we got there to check she had a puppy already cleaned off.
She ended up with 2 girls & 4 boys. Of the puppies 4 are black with white spots and 2 are all white.
I had to work night shifts on Sunday & Monday so Noelle would call and text me all the time. Every time was for something like... "She is panting", "She looks sad", or "I think she stopped eating". We have been reading many web sites about dog birth lately. All said that the first stage of labor lasts 6-12 hours. Most said they stop eating 24 hours before hand. They also said that they strain and struggle in pain for about 30 minutes before they get to the pushing.
So I kept telling Noelle that even if it was the first stage we would have time for me to finish work and come home. We were very worried that the web sites said that the first time dogs give birth you have to help because they do not always know what to do. Every night I got home hoping and thinking this would be the night.
Well, when I got home Monday night (which was my last night at work) the girls were asleep and I found these poopy slimy globs on the kitchen floor. I figured maybe it would be happening soon. She seemed fine otherwise and ate and went to bed. Tuesday morning she went out to go pee and was jumping at the birds in the tree. She came in and ate a ton so I started to feel like she would never give birth. She had some more of the slimy diarrhea globs so I looked it up online to find nothing.
I started to feel very tired because I didn't get much sleep so I took a nap around 2pm. I started to wake up and saw Jack in Hermione's nest. I told him to get out as I still lay there on the couch groggy.
Again he jumped into her nest, so this got me up to yell at him. I did not want all that time getting Hermione comfortable in her nest to be ruined because he was all of a sudden getting in it. So he got out and went over by Hermione who was sitting in the kitchen.
I heard a dog cry in the nest and after a second it dawned on me that no one was in the nest. I looked and didn't see anything. We had put a blanket in the bottom, then an old comforter, and then sheets to soften it for her. I started to pull everything out and then I saw a little puppy. Hermione had cleaned it all up and chewed off the umbilical cord just like she was supposed to.
I take awhile to fully wake up. James and the girls always laugh at how out of it I am when I wake up. It started to dawn on me that she had her first puppy and I didn't notice. Then I started to freak out because my house was becoming crazy and the girls were still at school. Jack was running around trying to see the puppy, Hermione was leaving a blood spot anywhere she sat but she would not go back in her nest because Jack was running around, and I still had not checked the puppy.
I decided to first put Jack outside. I ran back in to get Hermione in her nest. Then Jack started crying like someone was killing him. So I went back outside to find that he had stuck his head in the gate and popped it. Any time he really wants to come inside he shoves his head in the gate.
He has learned that when he pulls it back out the gate pops open. After running around the neighborhood a few times we got smart and put 2 bungee cords on it too. So I latched the gate again and went back to Hermione to put her in her nest again. Jack again was crying bloody murder and popped the gate so I had to bring him in and put him in the kennel.
He continued to cry and bark but at least I could tend to Hermione and know he was not getting out of the yard. He REALLY wanted to be by the puppy.
Just as I got able to check on the puppy the girls came home. All of this from me waking up until them getting home took 15 minutes. So I figured we had awhile to rest. The web sites all said they rest around an hour to 4 hours between puppies. Hermione kept trying to come out of her nest so Ally sat inside of it with the puppy. Right away she had another puppy.
This one had the sac very tight around it so after she kept licking it and it would not pull away. I tore it a little for her. We got that one all cleaned up and then another one came. We let her clean them as much as she wanted and when she walked away from them we would take them and dry them, tie the cord, and cut them shorter. We ended up rushing as it went on because they just kept coming one after another.
Finally after the 5th one she laid down to rest. We left her alone for awhile to rest and see if she would have more. After about 30 minutes she got up and started looking for her puppies. She really wanted them so we figured she had to be done and so we gave them back to her to start nursing. She nursed for about 15 minutes and out came puppy #6. Finally she was done for real. She did great !!! She made it look so easy. She just turned to lick herself and by the time we got there to check she had a puppy already cleaned off.
She ended up with 2 girls & 4 boys. Of the puppies 4 are black with white spots and 2 are all white.
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