Spryte's temperature Saturday morning had dropped even more to 98.7, puppies where coming soon! She didn't eat her breakfast and started to nest around the house. I put her in the whelping box, and grabbed a book, thinking we could still be many hours away.
How wrong I was. From start to finish the whole delivery only took about three hours (10am-1pm). That included all the pre labour shaking and contractions and stuff. It felt like a whirlwind experience!
Spryte's water broke and then minutes later I could see a puppy hanging out of her by the umbilical cord. My heart was pounding hard as I grabbed the puppy and helped Spryte remove the sac. The first puppy was the sable female. Next came the sable male and he dropped out of Spryte maybe 5 minutes after the first one arrived. I wasn't expecting the next one so quickly and Spryte didn't even seem to notice that he had arrived. She was too busy with the first one, so I broke the sac and spent a long time rubbing him and trying to get him moving and breathing. He was gasping and slow to come around. But once I had him warm and dry he started to breath normally and began to eat happily beside his sister.
Next came the small bi black female. She wasn't too far behind the male, maybe 15 minutes. She just popped right out, no issues and Spryte started tending to her right away. I was shocked at how small she was compared to the others, she is at least half as small as her siblings! We have been working hard to get her eating every hour and helping her gain her strength. After many feedings where I had to place the nipple in her mouth and hold her in place, she is now coming along nicely and starting to feed on her own. She is vigorously feeding and acting just like the rest of the bunch.
The last one born was the larger bi black female (I'm saying bi black for the two right now because they are so dark and it's hard to tell. but there is a chance both bi blacks are actually dark sables. time will tell). She was probably 45 minutes behind the last one. She is big! The biggest of the group. But she also had no problems entering this world and Spryte got right down to business with this one too.
So I am thrilled and relieved to say that my first puppy delivery has gone well. No complications and easy births. Spryte is loving her newborns and never stops her mother duties. She is a great mom, just like her mother was. Huge thanks to my husband Paul for helping out with the puppies, looking after Spryte and giving me moral support!
I'll post most of my updates on here, so keep watching for more pics and puppy news!
Photos of puppies at nearly 24 hours old
large bi black female & sable male
Sable male & small bi black female
mommy and the crew
look at how proud she is!
Spryte does look happpy!
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