Puppy update: 1 week old!

Our little wiggly puppies are a week old today. They've started to use their back legs some and not just army crawl but not a whole lot else has changed. Just lots of sleeping, nursing, growing and making little puppy noises. My favorite thing at this phase is to watch them sleep. All the moving they do in their sleep is pretty entertaining. They are all growing pretty well! Dark Blue (use to be Orange) had a loss the first day but quickly caught up. All the others have been growing since day 1! Their "names" have changed since all of the collars I tried making wouldn't stay tied. Now they have velcro puppy collars. Dark Blue and Purple have marbled noses like their mama had. Too bad they'll probably loose that after awhile..like their mama. A little milestone: They got their nails clipped for the first time today.

Family picture!


Close ups and stats:
In birth order:
Light Green- Male
Birth- 12.8 oz
1 Week- 1 lbs 6 oz


Dark Blue- Female
Birth- 15.7 oz
1 Week- 1 lbs 8 oz


Pink- Female
Birth- 13.1 oz
1 Week- 1 lbs 9 oz


Light Blue- Female
Birth- 12.7 oz
1 Week- 1 lbs 7 oz


Dark Green- Female
Birth- 12.2 oz
1 Week- 1 lbs 5 oz


Purple- Female
Birth- 13.4 oz
1 Week- 1 lbs 6 oz


Red- Male
Birth- 14.6 oz
1 Week- 1 lbs 10 oz


Black- Female
Birth- 11.5 oz
1 Week- 1 lbs 5 oz

The puppies are here!!

I'll start from the beginning. Keme had a temperature drop yesterday morning. That was our first warning that it wasn't going to be long. That night she was nesting, panting and started leaking. I thought she may have them over night but she didn't. This morning her temperature was still low but she was now panting and shivering. She spent a lot of time stretched out in her box.



So I double checked that everything was ready.

The emergency station and her box:


The weighing/marking station. The fabric collars got replaced with string because the fabric kept coming untied.


About an hour before she gave birth to the first puppy, she got very clingy. The first puppy, a boy, was born at 3:45pm weighing only 115g/4oz...he was a stillborn.

Over the next 4 hours, she had 8 more puppies!! She did great! Only a couple really needed suctioning and only one needed me to take the bag off.

Puppy 2: 4:15 Male 363g/12.8oz
Puppy 3: 4:33 Female 445g/15.7oz
Puppy 4: 4:49 Female 371g/13.1oz
Puppy 5: 5:31 Female 360g/12.7oz
Puppy 6: 5:41 Female 346g/12.2oz
Puppy 7: 6:25 Female 380g/13.4oz
Puppy 8: 7:14 Male 414g/14.6oz
Puppy 9: 7:37 Female 325g/11.5oz

Pictures!
Resting after #2


After #3


Nursing!






Water break


All done! Good job mama!!


One of the cats had to check out what was going on.


Sean funny: Sean saw Keme cleaning a puppy and her freaked out say "Mama! She eating baby puppy!" So I had to explain that she was just cleaning her. He also wants to make a picture for the puppies. We'll do that tomorrow. :)

All snuggled together in a basket while mama had a potty break/sponge bath and I cleaned the box.


Time for the close ups! Their names for now are their color on their string.
Red


Orange


Yellow


Green


Blue


Purple


Black


Brown

Keme's Story

A litter of puppies had been found on the side of the road. The lady that found them thought she could make some money off of them...all of them but one. She knew of someone that did dog rescue and dropped the "ugly" dog off at her doorstep. That lady started trying to find a new home for the puppy. I saw that puppy on craigslist and emailed the rescue lady. Soon, we brought that puppy home.



She was an adorable puppy!! We thought awhile for a name and ended up deciding on Keme (key-me). We thought it was fitting because it means secret and this puppy has some secrets.



For one reason then another, getting her spayed got put off. Then she went into heat. We didn't think too much of it because our other dog is female and fixed. We planned to get her spayed after her heat cycle was over.



Until one afternoon... I found the neighbor's German Shepherd mix in our yard!! He had jumped our fence!



I wasn't happy to say the least! I just hoped that Keme wasn't pregnant but kept an eye out for signs. A month and a half later, we're preparing for puppies.




She recently started sitting sideways.

Last night we got her whelping box. We tore down her crate and moved her bed into the box to hopefully get her comfortable with it. We estimate (according to the day we caught the dog in our yard) that her due date is April 23rd...2 weeks from now. I would not have breed any dog on purpose but I can't lie; I'm a little excited about the idea of tiny puppies!




Side story here: Our neighbor is a really crappy dog owner. She had 3 dogs at the time; 2 chihuahuas and a German Shepherd mix. All of the dogs constantly get out. The poor German Shepherd mix was left outside 24/7...even in snow and rain. After this incident, their dog continued to get in our yard. Our miniature dachshund was outside one day when I heard a yelp. The German Shepherd was standing over her. That was the last straw. I started calling animal control every time the dog was out of their yard. He was eventually picked up. I hope he's been adopted out to a better home because I know he hasn't been back ...even though the neighbor has has 2 other big dogs since. I've only seen them for a day though. I wonder about them.

Conversations with Sean- Dog Dots and Puppies

Keme, our mutt, is pregnant. One of the signs is her nipples becoming more prominent. Sean noticed them today.

Sean- "Mama!! Those are her dots!!"
Me- "She'll use them to nurse her puppies"
Sean- "Yea, when they get here. Then they will go home."
Me- "That's right. They will stay here for a little while then they will go to their homes." --I've never mentioned that the puppies will be rehomed to him.
Sean- "Like we go to Grandma's! We eat dinner. We play legos. We come back home."

Also, according to Sean, the puppies are in dog houses in Keme's belly.