New Puppies!
November 14, 2011
Sasha’s litter was whelped Thursday, October 20, 2011. After delivering one puppy during the night, nothing else happened, and we took her in to the vet. After 8 years of breeding without a single incident, Sasha had an emergency c-section, and ended up having a total hysterectomy due to a uterine infection. No other puppies survived.
We were very thankful for the lone black male, whom we dubbed “Lucky” for obvious reasons. But we were devestated, on top of the stress and exhaustion caused by two back-to-back all-nighters, first with the laboring Sasha, and then with her in recovery from surgery. We racked our brains, and beat ourselves up, trying to figure out what we should have done differently. But our wonderful vet, as well as some more seasoned breeders, told us that sometimes these things just happen, and there is no way we could have known.
Lucky is already reserved, and he is thriving, with all the attention of his mama and his owners. He is now 3 1/2 weeks old, and started solid food today. One lick of those puppy kibbles softened by homemade beef broth and he went wild over it! Our children are fighting over who gets to feed him now.
A week after Sasha, on October 27, Java’s litter was born. Java was not supposed to have a litter, but Charlie, the scoundrel, found a way to tear a hole in the chain link of her kennel while they were supposed to have been kept separated. We figure by the time he got that heavy wire fencing out of the way, Java’s peak of the fertility had passed. So Java had a tiny litter of 2 puppies, one chocolate male and one black female.
The black female is reserved, and has already been named Ginger. We are calling the chocolate male “Teddy.” He is still available…
Java’s puppies are 2 1/2 weeks old. Their eyes are open and they are trying to totter around on their unsteady legs. Good thing we have enough to go around. We have 4 children, but one is only 11 months old and doesn’t know that there are just enough puppies for all her siblings to have one to hold (fortunately!)
We will be driving up with the puppies right before Christmas. Lucky will be 9 weeks old, and Teddy and Ginger will be 8 weeks. Just in time to get them settled in a little before Christmas day. One puppy left… (And if you were holding out for a yellow, we should be breeding Tana and Charlie any day for a litter that will go home in March.)
