The editor would like to apologise to her readers for misleading them about the puppies’ monikers and prematurely announcing the puppies’ official names. Sadly the Kennel Club rejected 3 of our chosen titles just because other mini-schnauzer owners have the cheek to have thought of them first!
After prolonged and panicked cogitation we have 3 more suggestions; Bobby’s Girl, Itsy Bitsy and The Amazing Blanche (or perhaps Molly Coddle)
However we have the pedigree certificates for Sandy, “A Proper Charlie” also True Blue “What a Wag” and Letty “Merry Go Round” and will have to submit our new ideas on Monday.
That means I have to edit the picasa web album *sigh*
I had the puppies on my lap yesterday, glanced down at Letty and she looked straight back at me. It was something of a shock. Flo has also opened her eyes. Their ears are changing position and getting bigger so they stick out and look like they are wearing Mickey Mouse hats. True Blue likes to sleep on his back, paws in the air. He gets it from his Grandma! We are also getting bigger, longer poo.
Pedigree dogs are like the royal family and have many names. The names we are calling them are just nicknames to keep them going until their “forever” families choose their real name. But then I have to register the puppies with the Kennel Club and I have to choose names (in line with a bewildering array of rules: 2 words, not duplicating any other mini etc) to go on the registration certificates. So, for example, Nina is called on her registration Minimoll Choc Chip Cookie. Tommy, the dad, is Deansgate Tom Foolery. My theme is names with idea of foolishness, fantasy and chaos. And I have 2 boys and 4 girls to name.
I like “A proper Charlie” and “What a Wag” for my boys. The girls, with our misogynist language, are more difficult as idioms with girls names tend to be rude – Sweet Fanny Adams for example.
So please vote for your 4 favourites or your most witty suggestion can be added!
Day 1 and Day 8 As the collage shows, the growth of the puppies has been phenomenal. We have been tracking it more scientifically that Sarah’s photos of puppies in the weighing bowl. The puppies’ target is doubling their birth weight in 7-10 days. Blanche … Continue reading Yes, its a Kenwood Mixer bowl
So we’ve all come safely to the end of week one, which is something to give thanks for, as the puppies’ life is precarious at this stage and will be for another week.
Here is a video from straight after the whelping. Do you see the enormous collars? Wait for the photo at the end to see them shrink. Its magic.
At this stage they blindly swim towards warmth and food and if they reach the side of the whelping box they follow the side until they can’t travel any further because there are 2 sides making a corner. This in itself is not a problem except that all 6 are doing it so if they gravitate to the same corner then puppy gridlock occurs under the safety bars. What is interesting is that Nina will observe this and bark and collect a human to be traffic cop. Of course the puppies immediately resume their journeys on the same heading!
I think I may have been suffering from Caninus Fretfulus Syndrome. We haven’t liked Nina’s panting, and then she started leaving them to hide under my bed so we were worried about eclampsia caused by calcium deficiency so Nina now has porridge for breakfast and Calcium (with phosophorous and Vit D) for her bed time treats.
Okay okay, I admit it, we called the vet because we wanted to be sure. And we also asked about cutting off the dewclaws which the traditionalists promote as avoiding inevitable nasty damage to the foot and modernist call unnecessary mutilation.
Oh and the panting was probably caused by too much heat. Everyone warns how hot the puppies need to be and as I run a/c in the same room I was afraid we might create an indoor cloud. However we have removed the heatpad from inside the box and placed it underneath the front 6 inches so the pups congregate there put Nina can cope. Its colder than everyone advises but the pups seem okay with it.
My latest worry is Sandy’s weight but that is a separate post to come.
Nina’s behaviour has been interesting to observe.
She spent most of the first 24 hours with the pups but since then has been taking longer and longer breaks away from them so she is re-establishing some of the relationships and habits with us and, I think, putting the greedy puppies on a timetable. Her absence means that none of the pups can sneak a desultory meal, and upon her return they are very ready to concentrate on sucking.
She does check with them looking over the whelping box wall to see and sniff if they are okay. If she think they need toileting she relentless tips them over and starts licking the bottom – so at the end of 6 puppies there is a neat line of clean puppies.
She also becomes very alert if someone is taking the puppies away from her. We’ve had a fair few visitors; its like having a new baby in the house! and she follows the pup that been taken for a cuddle across the room. I have been cutting nails (they are like rose thorns sticking into Nina’s more tender areas as the puppies feed) but it is like cutting eye-lashes. Nina doesn’t bother to move but watches me out of the corner of her eye.
The last occupation of the week has been cultivating puppy buyers. Of my waiting list I reckon I have lost 50% for various reasons. My questionnaire is now 14 questions long. It is interesting that some people approve of being interrogated because that reassures them that I am looking out for the puppies. I have also been googling postcodes so I can see the house the buyer lives in, and the names and phone numbers so I can see if they have been selling lots of puppies, or have unpaid traffic tickets etc.
So I have 2 deposits in my back account! And we are organising visits to get to know one another. I think I may need to find 1 buyer more. Of couse, it is likely that 1 of the 6 buyers will have to back out before collection date.
5.50pm Flo arrives, bottom first (which makes 4 breech pups!) but is another healthy, active pup. She gets the florescent pink collar. That’s 4 girls and 2 boys. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1Rpni_WHuUt] But those placenta must come out and so we wait (and munch on tea and rock … Continue reading So will it be 3 girls/3 boys? (biology alert)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jXvAQtkkEQ I’ve put this segment of video on as waiting is definitely a part of whelping. However, with things happening so fast at the beginning so that we didn’t even have time to cross the room for scissors, we now have time to pause, admire, … Continue reading Why are we waiting
Ivy arrived bottom first but Lynne knew what to do and it caused no problems. Ivy is no guzzleguts so you will see on the video attempts to get her to latch on for the very first important feed of cholostrom, and when she doesn’t to try to clear her airways.
We all have a role to play Lynne is working on Ivy, who is having trouble latching on, so Lynne is working to clear her airways, even swinging her in the air, while Mum keeps an eye on number 3 who is on his way, and number 1 is on my lap with a water bottle. Having the whelping on the bed avoids having to crouch like one does for a whelping box birth – that old-fashioned piece of rubber sheet was perfect for the job. About five times during the 2 hours, we changed the soiled towel, on top of the rubber, for a clean one.
Ivy will have a dark green collar and will weigh in at 182g
Saturday seems a lifetime ago but I remember that Nina had had 2 false starts so when she began panting, I was skeptical and it wasn’t under her lower quarters were quivering that I began to watch closely, and then when she went under the bed I raised the alarm. Lynne and Mum arrived and moved Nina onto the end of my bed with just time enough for Nina to push and, nose first, Blanche arrived at 4.42, a substantial 250g. Lynne wiped the membrane bag off her and showed her to Nina while cutting the umbilical cord. Lynne has a simple method of clamping; Pinching then end with thumb and finger for 20 seconds.
I suspect that Blanche has had a lot of practise at eating on the inside as she had no trouble on the outside. She was invested with the white collar which added to later confusion by slipping down to become a belt!
Nina's Puppies 