Today was the day for Trelane and Barbie to meet and I have to say, it was really rather sweet. It only took a couple minutes for the trembling to stop and for Barbie to relax in her lap. She looked up at her, even giving her a quick kiss on the face, and then seemed to be like, “Ok, this is good!”

A lap all of her own is what we want for any of our retired dogs and Barbie is one that oh-so deserves that! Congrats to our sweet girl and her new forever family! Thank you for loving her!

We caught it just in the nick and time that’s for sure. Once we got in there it was apparent that the breeding did in fact take. There were seven embryo sacks but two were seconds from rupturing. It appeared as though two of the sacks had already tried to self-heal, with what looked to be scar tissue attached to them. Once ruptured to get a sample for testing it was clear she was filled with infection. If they had ruptured she would’ve died for sure.

I cannot tell you how happy I am that we caught this I have followed my gut. Barbie has lived to tell the tale and live from this day forward as a spayed, happy and healthy girl.

Julie comes to both As The Tail Wags Grooming locations once a month and performs dental cleanings without anesthesia. She does such an amazing job and for a dog that is less than joyful over being out and about, handled it all beautifully! It was the best stress-free option for her. I beyond recommend Julie and suggest that you contact the Oviedo or Titusville shops and get on the appointment list.

And now that we have reached the 2 week milestone I can also share that I have really struggled with how I am going to name this litter. I was leaning towards naming them after their father, using “naughty” and/or “charming” but honesty, there are not name cocktails out there with that theme. Following mom, “Barbie” is a tad too girly with so many boys in the litter. That’s when it hit me! The Rio Summer Olympics! Ohh yeah! I found some VERY cool cocktails – Be on the  lookout for their name announcements!

I found the puppies piled up on the side of the bin,  between it and the side of pool. At first sight, it seemed to be no big deal. Perhaps they all came out to nurse on mom and regathered where they lay? One by one I picked them up to put them back into the center of the bin. It was the final puppy – Barbie’s third male – what was laying in the gap between the bin and the pool, right next to the heating pad. The puppy was rather warm to the touch and lethargic. Puppy cool-down was required along with some quick action.

A cool washcloth and some vigorous rubbing did the trick (you can also use rubbing alcohol on the pads of their feet and on their belly). He cooled off and after about an hour he was finally alert enough to nurse and cuddle off mom. I am back on puppy watch and we will supplement him for a bit to help increase that alertness.

The puppies have all sustained their birthweight and have their plump bellies. All except the last puppy – the black and tan girl  – were normal presentations at birth and you can already start to see their heads reshape. It will be interesting to see how they develop along with who is a smooth coat and who is a long. We do have the opportunity for both varieties with this breeding so perhaps we need to start placing bets again?

We went downstairs to feed the dogs their breakfast. When I realized that Barbie wasn’t eating – a major sign of an impending whelp – I reach down to pick her to get a temp check and realized that her entire rear end was sopping wet. I found the source to the wet bed!

The next 45 minutes were spent watching Barbie move her babies down towards the birth canal. Once they moved down, in true classic Barbie style, it all moved pretty fast. Her first puppy, a black and tan boy, arrived weighing in at 3.3 ozs. As with all Barbie litters, her second puppy was right behind the first, arriving minutes later. Our second black and tan boy weighed 3.4 ozs. but he has a lot more white markings.

For the next hour, Barbie worked on getting the placenta’s out.  That is one thing that is beyond nerve wracking during her whelping – the pups come out but the placentas stay in for an unnerving length of time. The first came out with ease but the second took some work but was immediately followed with her third puppy. It was delivered with the placenta all in one! Yahoo! Our first girl is the largest in the litter, weighing in at 4.2 ozs and is marked with the most amazingly placed spots!

For the next 20 minute she worked on betting out puppy number 4. I knew immediately something was wrong when I saw the green discharge. It was a 2.3 oz TINY spotted male that arrived out of the sack. While I worked on him, Barbie worked on cleaning herself and then pushing out the fifth puppy. There are several techniques used on struggling newborn pups to help clear the lungs and airways. We did them all on her tiny one but with no heartbeat, it was finally called at 2:50 pm.

Returning to whelping box we welcomed Barbie’s next puppy, a third black and tan boy, weighing 3.3 oz. and this guy has a tiny sliver of white on his head. 10 minutes later her final puppy arrived. Another black and tan but this one is her second girl! the second largest on the litter, she weighed in at 3.6 oz.

Welcome Harry and Barbie babies! Mom and babies are down great! They are warm and dry, cuddled up and ready take on the world!