I AM IN AWE OF MY DOG

I cannot remember as a child our dogs having puppies. I know they did, I just don't remember. Watching Sophie giving birth, then cleaning her puppies, was just amazing to me. Watching her cleaning them was a trip, I honestly thought she was going to hurt them. I said as much to Harold, he told me she knows what to do. Each day I am more and more in awe of this process.

We purchased two heating lamps to keep the puppies warm. Living in Volcano, it can get into the low forties in the late evening and early morning hours. Volcano's weather is constantly changing throughout the day. One minute, it will be hot and sunny, then, cloudy and cold or pouring rain. However, I do feel sorry for Sophie with the heating lamps, she hates being hot.

On Friday, we had a beautiful sunny morning. I got up to check on the puppies at 8:00a.m., Sophie was frantic in her kennel. When I let her out of her kennel, thinking she need to go potty, she went behind one of the other kennels and started to dig. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, due to the sun being out she was worried the puppies were too hot. I shut the warming lights off and she instantly settled down. Mind you, I am new at all this. Later that afternoon, she started doing her frantic act again, the temperature was dropping. I turned the lights on, she once again settled down.

I am constantly checking on them, making sure all of them are eating well. I did not have children, I can't imagine how new mothers do it. The constant worrying is just too much and these are only puppies. 

My family thought I was nuts last night cause I didn't want to leave them for too long, after all it was New Year's.  But, it was a pretty cold night and I was worried about them. We went to my sisters house for about an hour and a half. Believe it or not I had a hard time being away from them. When I got home, I checked on them and they were fine. I got up at 3:00a.m. to check on them, the temperature had dropped quite a bit, I lowered the lights which warmed them up.

They are getting bigger day by day, I still worry about the last born. He is so tiny and the other three seem to push him out of the way. So I sit there and make sure he gets a belly full each feeding. 

The second puppy from the left is the little guy I worry about

As usual, I asked to pose and she did!

 As you can see by the above photos, he is such a little guy compared to the other three.

PROUD MAMA

I am so proud of Sophie, she takes such good care of her babies. She doesn't want to leave them at all. Prior to having her babies, if I crabbed her leash, she would absolutely go nuts. Now I have to drag her out of her kennel to get her to go potty.     

 

I

TWO MORE PUPPIES

Last night at 8 o'clock Sophie gave birth to a girl, 17 minutes later she had another boy. Both puppies were weak but are now doing well.

THEY'RE HERE

Last night was a very long night. Sophie started labor about 8:30. She was restless and panting. Then she started digging in her whelping box. By midnight, she was really going nuts, switching positions trying to get comfortable. This went on for another two hours,

At 2:00 a.m., I went into the house to ask Mr. Aloha if he thought she should have had her puppies by now. I was concerned she may have a puppy which may be too big to give birth too. Sophie did not get very big, so my thought process was not paranoia. By the time I went down stairs which was all of three minutes, she was giving birth to the first male. Eight minutes later, the second male was born.

I stayed with her till 4a.m. to make sure there were no more and went to bed.

Mother and babies are doing fine. I honestly don't know if I will be doing this again. Will post more pictures later. I really should go to sleep now.

IT'S OFFICIAL THERE WILL BE PUPPIES AT CHRISTMAS

Sophie is finally showing. Now she looks pregnant. It was so hard to tell until this past Wednesday. Now we have to hustle to get things ready for next year. I am so excited and nervous, this is the first time a dog of mine is having puppies in over twenty years. Will try to post a picture of her in the next to days!

NOT MUCH TO WRITE ABOUT, JUST UPDATED PICTURES

As you can see by theses pictures, it is difficult to tell if she is pregnant. The anticipation is driving me and the people who want to buy her puppies nuts. It is difficult at this point, to get excited at the thought of Christmas puppies.

Posing nicely for a picture

Another nice pose.

Playing with her toy.

Sophie's intense stare

Sitting in the shade

Waiting for me to throw her ball

This is the first time I got her to stand for a picture

Side profile picture

PREGNANT OR NOT?

That is the question of the day, week, hour? Sophie is supposed to be due on December 25, that is less than twenty days and yet she doesn't look pregnant. Oh well, maybe she is maybe she isn't. It's possible she is only going to have one or two puppies. Which is unfortunate, being that I have three possible five people interested in purchasing one. Not to mention I would have like to keep one, this just makes it easier not to keep one.