Gracie and her babies proved me wrong. I kept saying NO WAY will she go that long. Small dogs don't, and she didn't last time. I kept thinking that those babies were growing by the minute and I just hoped they didn't get too big for her to be able to handle it by herself. Please.
On July 16th at 3:20 a.m. Gracie had her first pup (Red) in a brand new plush dog bed on the floor of our bedroom. I had stayed up until 1:30 waiting. I knew she would be starting labour any minute. But finally I thought I'd better get some sleep in case she had them in the morning. Wouldn't you know. Her next 5 puppies were born in the whelping box. Again, 4 boys and 2 girls. No problems. However, she had some big pups. I suspected she would, but it's another thing to see these guys. The first pup was 5 oz, which is what I would consider a good size. That's just because in my limited experience 6 oz has been the biggest pup we've had, including Gracie's litter from last summer. Here's their weights at birth and today, in ounces:
- Red 5.2/8.4
- Orange 7.3/6.6 - she dropped to 6.3 so at least she's showing a bit of an increase
- Yellow 6.9/8.9
- Blue 5.1/6.3 - that's what she was yesterday. Gotta watch these girls (Orange is a girl too)
- Green 6.8/8.3
- Purple 9.3/10.2
I think the boys are hogging the nipples. I worked at getting Blue in on the action yesterday and she gained. I guess I'd better keep doing that for her and for Orange as well. They don't have to be hogs, just given an opportunity to have what they need.
Of course Punky is now whining in the direction of the house where Gracie is, and she's getting absolutely annoying about wanting to see the puppies on my computer screen. I finally even put a bed on my desk but she won't stay in it. She wants to go back and forth from one screen to the other. This is how kids get spoiled. Give them attention for something 'cute', not thinking that some day that 'cute' behaviour is not going to be so 'cute' anymore. In fact, it's annoying!!
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