Day 11

All the girls on Day 11.

Day 8

Swirly top nursing and Girl 5 spotted tummy.

Day 5 & 6 Pictures...

Pictures...

DAY THREE....

Okay, I have been asked for MORE PICTURES.... here are some of the little divas... demanding...demure...delightful and divulging in too much puppy milk! The little chubbettes!

Tickle Toes...and other neurological stimulation...

I have begun the "Supper Puppy" i.e. Developing High Achievers techniques on the puppies. These are a series of quick, simple exercises that help stimulate the pups neurological systems. One such exercise is to tickle the toes of a pup for 3-5 seconds once each day These exercises are believed to help improve cardio vascular performance, strengthen adrenal glands, and increase tolerance to stress and resistance to disease as adults. Over stimulating can have adverse effects so it is important to not over stimulate at this age.

Four Days Old...

The Girls are four days old and all are doing well. All are gaining weight. Girl 3 is huge and is already trying to get up on her feet to run around the whelping box. All are super strong pups. I have been weighing them daily to make sure all are gaining like they should. Swirly Top is very vocal if she doesn't get a faucet to nurse on right away.

Peeps in the night...

Yesterday we went to the vet for 2 day checkup and dew claws. All are doing great.
I am exhausted... everytime they make a peep I have to make sure that all is okay. They seem to make alot more "peeps" at night... Hmmm.....

All is well in the whelping box...

All is well that comes out well? Anyway... Taffy and "The Girls" are all doing well. All gained a bit of weight in the first day. Especially the big girl who clogged up the puppyworks yesterday! 13 1/2 oz at birth! She is queen of the whelping box and has crawled from end to end. She must have been the pup that I could feel doing backflips in Taffy's belly for the past couple of weeks.
They have their pink nail polish on. I mark my puppies by putting a bit of fingernail polish on different toes (1-2-3-4-5). Someone asked me how I got all girls... well... I noticed right before the whelping began that I only had pink polish and couldn't find my blue bottle (pink for the girls of course and blue for the boys). Hmmm.... wonder if that was a sign? The other thing was I had purchased two new plush blankets for the whelping box and I got blue and blue and white poka dots, so of course that jinxed it for having boys... I should have gotten a pink one too.
One girl has an interesting cowlick swirl right on the back of her head. I have never seen this on a pup before. My mom has been calling her DQ for Dairy Queen - you know for the swirl on top. But then I realized that DQ isn't a good nickname in dog show terms so she will have to get a new nickname for her swirly top. : )
Can't you tell I am tired and punchy. Time to try to sleep...

The Taffijon Puppies Are Here!!!

All Five Girls!
2 Liver girls born naturally at 9:45 and 10:00 a.m. this morning... then one was stuck. 3 Black girls born via c-section after 12:15 p.m. We saved them all. No patches. All are nursing and are strong and healthy. Taffy is tired and I am tired. Time to try for a nap.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I hope!

Made it through the night...

No puppers yet... Taffy was restless, nesting and sleeping all night long. Muscus plug came out at 5:22 a.m. and just now again at 7:20 a.m. She is still wagging her tail when I talk to her so she can't be that serious yet. The pups are doing gymnastics in there. I can see and feel them turning around and trying to find a way out. They say they get quiet before whelping, but I have seen them active and them come out before... we shall see...

I didn't like that old Quilt anyway...

The old quilt in the whelping box is toast! Taffy toast... she shredded it! Taffy is in nesting mode. She is wanting to stay in the whelping box all of the time now. Except for when she runs outside to potty, then she beelines right back to the box. She will probably keep me up all night long and have her pups tomorrow sometime... better make some coffee...

Taffy is now nesting on and off. First she messed up the comforter covering the couch and burrowed in behind the pillows. Now she is lying next to me on the double stack of dog beds on the floor. She ruffles them all up rests for awhile and then messes them all up again. This is all just preparatory... she isn't serious yet.

Things are moving around down there...

Taffy was restless night last night. She was uncomfortable and wanted out to potty a couple of times after 3:30 a.m. She kept on changing positions in bed. I could feel pups moving around in there. Temperature this morning was 98.8, not quite the drop but down from what it usually is. She isn't nesting much and not panting so we still have a ways to go. BUT she DID go into the whelping box on her own for a bit last night... so she knows what it is for.

Getting closer...but not that close yet...

Taffy is getting quieter and quieter and wants to stay close to momma, wherever I go. She goes outside just to do her thing and then she wants right back inside. She did look at the whelping box when I set it up, but hasn't set a paw in it yet. I think she knows that means having babies and she isn't quite ready for that yet. : ) The puppies have dropped lower in her abdomen and she has a tiny bit of milk in her back teats.

On Wednesday I started taking her temperature twice a day. Nothing to report on that. All is normal and no drop yet. It is early, but I like to be prepared.