“Fire Cracker” Puppies!

The big day… Deja had her puppies on 4th of July! What is worse than having puppies on a weekend? Having puppies on a HOLIDAY/weekend! As opposed to how things might have been in years past, now adays, vet care on “off hours” for repro is extremely limited! When Deja had her temp drop the morning of 7/3, it was suggested I bring her in for a progesterone test to SEE if she was close enough to delivery to do a C-section on 7/3? The  problem with this option is… that temp drop can last up to 36 hours. That is the time puppies need for their lungs to develop to survive outside of mom. Taking puppies “early”… NOT a good option! We opted to wait it out knowing we would be “on our own” for Deja’s whelping.

We’ve delivered LOTS of litters over the years so weren’t overly worried. Mother Nature knows what to do! The waiting though… It is ALWAYS the hardest part! Deja’s first stage of labor lasted 34 hours! At 6:00 p.m. on 7/4, Deja’s water broke! Time for puppies… the first puppy came 18 minutes later! Deja consistently delivered a puppy approximately every 15 minutes after that… Hardly time to catch one’s breathe before the next puppy arrived!

Sadly, not all puppies survive no matter what heroics are done. This is always very sad and why “having puppies” (or any baby animal) in order for children to experience birth… it’s NEVER a good idea! Still, we feel very blessed with 7 healthy puppies; 4 girls and 3 boys!

I’m in the process of contacting folks that are on my “wait list” (and giving them a chance to reply back). And am taking care of Deja and her puppies! If I haven’t contacted you yet, please be patient! In the meantime, photos of the puppies approximately 12 hours old!