It's Friday evening the 30th. The pups are doing really well. A couple of them are walking short distances and appear to be very strong. No eyes open yet. that will probably happen in the next 4-5 days. The large male is 2.5# as of yesterday. He is really ahead of the others. Bonnie mentioned that this one is going to be an incredibly driven dog if he continues to exhibit these alpha dog traits. Addie continues to be a great mom. She is keeping the pups very clean and isn't bothered at all by their romping around and their continued pulling and pushing.

Tuesday, A week and a day

It is Tuesday night and I figured I better make a new entry. James and Michaela were over to see the pups last night. James has 4th round pick of the litter. Last night was the 1st time he and Michaela were able to visit the pups. I love to see the expressions of joy when people see them for the 1st time. I think James is going to be a great master for the pup that he picks. Christina and Andrew were here over the weekend and Christina has her eye on the one with the pink collar. It is a little early to pick so she may change her mind as time goes on. I am very pleased at Addie's acceptance of visitors. she doesn't seem to mind as long as there are not too many people all at once. She is looking very healthy and is eating and drinking very well. She is in great spirits and of course no surprise to many of you, she desires to play pass very much. We are keeping her activity to a min. so that she does not injure her incision. We have been weighing the pups about every other day. They are growing like crazy and are very healthy. One of the pups, a male (yellow collar), is really a bull. He is very determined to get his way at the feeding station and thinks nothing of pushing one of his siblings to the side to get to a nipple. He even crawls right over the top of the others and plunges in where he feels he can. His weight at birth was 1 1/8 #, he now weighs 2 1/8 #. The smallest at birth was 15/16 # (2 pups) and now weigh 2#(Green - Female), and 1 5/8 #(blue/white - female) respectively. As you can see, he is in the upper percentile for size and growth. We have given him several names through the week trying to reflect his personality. We started with Tank, then Gorilla, then Bear. We felt that bear was more in line with the way he looks and acts. The next major step they will take is the opening of their eyes. This should happen in about 5-7 days from now. A couple are starting to use their legs and support themselves briefly. Bear has advanced the most and is getting around quite well. Please feel free to make comments to the blog if you get a chance. I hope to get a couple of photos up soon.

Friday pics

Addie seems like she may be back to her normal self. Doesn't she look happy!
How cute are they snuggling with eachother!

I think she has inherited her mom's tongue afterall. (Addie has the worlds largest tongue)

Friday Morning

And, The Beat Goes On. These guys are hours shy of being four days old and they are getting cuter every day. Addie seems to have gotten through her ordeal of being sick yesterday morning. Dr. G suggested that we give her chicken and rice and of course Addie didn't mind that diet. She is doing really well and just loves her pups. We took the 8some and Mom over to Dr. G's yesterday afternoon and had their dew-claws removed (Addie's were done when she was a pup). Mom waited in the truck while this was done so that she wouldn't get upset by the pups crying as the claws were being removed. The process was quick and didn't appear to be terribly traumatic for the pups. I elected to have the pups dew-claws removed because in the field there is a risk of the dew-claw being injured or torn while they are running through grain fields and brush. Also, around the house, it is easy get the claw caught in carpet pile and tear. It is my intent for these pups to go to homes where they will be trained as working dogs and not be couch potatoes. The breeding of Addie and Coals has been very carefully planned and was not a case of Addie mating with just any Lab out there. Both Addie's lines and Coal's lines have highly recognized awards and qualifications for their performances and it is important to both Bonnie and me that these pups be placed in an appropriate home where they will be trained to their potential. Roy Morejon, from whom I acquired Addie, was instrumental in recommending Addie be bred with Coals. He has trained Labs for years and knows what to look for in dogs so as to produce great offspring.

It is Thursday morning and we awakened to Addie being sick. I must have given her too much rich food this morning and last night. I was probably too anxious about getting her weight up and I fed her some chicken and salmon, both high in protein. Maybe there was too much salt and richness in both of them. She was very thirsty before she got sick. She has settled down and is drinking water now. Her appetite hasn't returned, but, according to Dr. G that is normal considering the circumstances. He will check her out this afternoon when I take the pups over to have their dew claws removed. The pups continue to feed well and are all being typical newborns. Check out the new links. Coals, the sire, lives at Sierra's Kennels which is a dogs dreamland for care and boarding. Bonnie, the owner, has been a Godsend to us during this birthing and rearing process. How fortunate for us to have her involved. I think you will enjoy the website where you can read about Coals. Also there is a link to Keri Herer's Pet Photography. She takes really nice photos that any pet owner would be proud of.

A few more pics from Day 2...

Sleeping on momma's feet...

It is day three. All is well, the puppy that we have been watching seems to be doing as well as the other 7. All eight pups are feeding aggressively and appear quite content after feeding. Addie (mom) had a great day today. One of her friends, Steve Hobson stopped by to say hello. Addie saw that as an opportunity to play ball. We went outside and played a couple of rounds of slow pass with her. This is the first time she has left the pups for some down time. Addie has been exhibiting all the signs of a great mom. It is hard to believe that a type A, hyper dog, is able to settle down and parent 8 newborns. I'm impressed!!!
I don't have any photos today, however, I hope to post some tomorrow.

Day 2...

...and cuter than ever! I'll post more tomorrow, but here is one little peanut in Andrew's hands.

May 19, 2008

Addie has puppies! Finally!



(a life saver in more ways than one!)



first meal


AT HOME (finally!)

[From Denny]

Well, she finally did it. Addie went into labor Sunday evening and broke her initial water sac at 2:00 am Monday morning. She then started having very mild contractions. At 7:00 am I called our Vet and discussed with him my concern about the mild contractions. He suggested I take her in to his office at 8:15 am. On the way there she broke her major water sac and after examining her, the Doctor felt that we should see the 1st pup by 2:00 pm. We didn’t, and not only did we not get a pup, she didn’t really experience any strong contractions during that time frame. After discussing this with the Dr., we agreed that if there wasn’t any delivery by 4:00pm I would take Addie back to the his office and he would perform a “C” section delivery.
At 5:45pm Addie became the mom of 8 newborns, 6 females and 2 males. All pure black. We thought she was pregnant with 10, she had 9 of which one was stillborn. 7 of the 8 are very healthy, with one that required a lot of assistance getting started into the new world.
At 1:00 am, Tuesday, that pup spit up a significant amount of milk, so, I am keeping a close eye on her. Hopefully the spitting up was not related to the delay in arrival. I’ll keep you posted.
It is 1:27am Tuesday morning and I just observed her feeding strongly.
One of the concerns when there is a “C” delivery, is the acceptance of the newborns by the mother. Addie took to the pups immediately and new exactly what her job was and has been doing a remarkable job mothering her new pups.
I haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hrs. and it looks as though the next couple of days will be the same.

We also had Addie Spayed during the operation. We were going to have it done at a later date before we knew she had to have the “C” section. It was practical to do it after the delivery while she was already opened up.
I’ll keep you posted on how the weak pup is doing.
Den