ColliesHorsesArtLove

The Butterballs ~ Day 6

Here's Butterball #2 (??). Since in my comment to Dianne that she said he could be named "Basil", I also am reminded of the Monty Python skit where the very large man was offered an "after dinner mint" after indulging himself beyond belief and was so stuffed he couldn't eat it, but the waiter pushed it on him....thinking about that skit still makes me laugh and I haven't seen it since I was a teenager.

This little puppy gained .6 ounces over night, then another .4 ounces in a few hours. He's nursing practically every time I look at him. Cool.

Since some of you have asked for a close up profile of the boy, here ya go!

Butterball #1 ~ Sage........aaaawwwwww......

Puppy Names

I've been thinking about names for the bitch puppy and hoping Sue comes up with a name for her boy, so Jolene here you go!

Tirzah's name came from a mare I had briefly a LONG time ago that didn't stick. She was beautiful but a little too much for us, so she went and I figured I'd use her name when the right horse or dog showed up. It means "Delight". Tirzah is a delight. She's a glass is totally full type of collie.

Anyway, I started my search a few nights ago online and did not see any names I liked except Sage. Not only do I love that herb for a gazillion reasons, the meaning of wise seemed appropriate especially because the last several days I've had to trust this bitch to eat when she was hungry, not when I thought she should. She is not the snacker that her darling little brother is. It seems she thinks I'm a dumb shit but I'm over it now. 

That would be the end of the story except last night I emailed Sue to let her know I picked a name (and hope she had come up with a name for her puppy). She emailed back "Are you kidding me???!!" Sage was on the top of her list for her boy! So funny!

I really thought since they aren't going to be living together we could have "Sage 1" & "Sage 2" or "Sage A" & "Sage B", or "Foomer Doomer Sage....." etc. She laughed but said she would keep looking. So it's official. Sage is the girl and in this bottom photo she is sleeping. He's nursing in all the photos.

Like mommy like daughter.

What's Happening Outside?

I have done 1 or 2 other things besides living in the whelping box. I went to the slider to take a photo of the horses making their way across the pasture. I love when they do this ~ walk in single file. It's so horsey looking.

Puppy Portraits ~ 4 Days ~ I Have A Lot Of Time On My Hands....

The boy is on the left, bitch on the right. I love seeing them get stronger every day.

Is this just the cutest??? I betcha she lays like that when she's little. Tirzah & littermates all did for a long time.

When she's done she's done. Don't ask her again.

Puppy bitch ~ this is not the easiest thing do myself. My arm is only so long and my camera thinks I'm on crack, not to mention what the puppies think.

Puppy dog. I'm REALLY liking his head every time I look at it. It will be interesting to see how they develop.

Tirzah Puppies ~ 3 Days

I promise I won't blog every single day of these puppies growing up but thought you all wanted to know how good they are doing considering things have been a little touchy.

They nursed all night and Tirzah's mastitis seemed to have vanished. All the hardness was gone early this morning. The worst thing that happened today is the girl seemed a little lethargic and not wanting to nurse as much, while her little brother was nursing every chance he could. We had one tube feeding session with her, then a little sugar water to perk her up and she's been back to nursing like she has been.  

They are so cute. Someone emailed me and asked how I could let the boy go with all that's gone on, but he's going to such a great home, will be close and I'm pretty attached to both of them.

Another day older and closer to me eventually sleeping all thru the night!

Booby Problems

The little boy is strong now and a nursing fool, but now Tirzah has mastitis. I was worried that was going to happen with only having 2 puppies and milk enough for a litter of 10, so we are dealing with that today. I noticed the girl puppy wasn't nursing as much last night and then not at all for 3 or 4 hours but she looked good and wasn't fussing. 

I've been putting hot wet towels on Tirzah and nursing her manually to help the situation and have taken to putting her in the dog bath with very warm water using the sprayer and keeping on her massively huge milk bags. After doing that and getting icky tasting milk off of her, the puppies had a fantastic nursing session on almost all of her teats. I finally started to tube the girl also as she wasn't gaining weight. We have an appt. this afternoon at the vet to have a check-up and maybe some antibiotics.

This is the little boy standing nursing a little bit ago. You can see the girl's paw in the lower right hand corner. Is he just adorable?? And, LONG, LEAN & NO DEPTH!! Hahaha!!

Never Say Never

 
All is well. But it wasn't at 5 am this morning. 

I went to bed last night possibly more exhausted than I've been in a long time. I kept an eye on the puppies and would get up and cover them with a little towel if they felt cold but I didn't actually watch to see if they were nursing. Rule #1. Don't sleep when you have newborn puppies. You can sleep when you die (and after not sleeping for nights it will seem like you will die). 

At 5 am I heard that not so familiar death cry from the little boy. I jumped up immediately to tend to the puppy and called Sue. Poor Sue. I heard she gets up early, but probably not at 5 am on a regular day. I told her to come and help me tube feed this little boy. He was so weak and had gone downhill quickly compared to the night before. We decided I should call the vet first which I did but it went to vm. I called Sue back and in a minute he was stretching his little body backwards and gasping for air. I told Sue he was dying. Omg. Poor me. Poor Sue! I told him no. I just couldn't lose this little baby puppy. At that point the vet called me back and she walked me thru to give him oxygen which I did and he came around immediately. I was warming him up and within 10-15 minutes I could hold him on Tirzah and he would nurse. I suddenly saw the event with the chicken had big meaning. That chicken was dead, nearly and this puppy was doing the same thing. But now I thought he would rally like that chicken did. I couldn't even tell you which one she was now.

I have had a few litters. Not a lot, but over the course of 22 years, I'm thinking 8 or 10 that I've whelped. I've always been hard core about never tubing, because in my mind a puppy that doesn't come out vigorous is not an ideal candidate to pass on genes. And I didn't even know how to tube. There have been a few puppies (though not a lot) that I let go see the light and some that now I wished I hadn't been so hardcore, like SeaB's two sisters that were just small and weak. Very much like this little boy was when he was born. Now that Kaia is gone and was the love of my life, I regret that decision.

So fast forward to this litter that wasn't so easy to be hard core. I have so much invested in it, emotionally and financially. Losing two right off the bat was sad, but I'm not willing to lose this baby for hard core beliefs. So never say never. Life is really too complicated.

So now the baby boy sleeps a lot on me. He's happiest when I put him on my belly and hold him. And he's finally gained weight. The little girl is sturdy and strong, and I am so happy about that.

Tirzah Puppies ~ 10-12 Hours Old

The boy's on the left, the girl on the right. They are DARK!!! I really thought I had my tri bitch when she was born because the sables have very dark masks, like the tris. Awww....I think she'll be a fluff ball. Sue & I think the little boy is going to be long, lean and clean!! Yippie!!!

The little guy has really come around in just the last 2-3 hours. He's getting very strong with nursing and both these babies are very similar looking. Sue saved my butt today by coming by and bringing some puppy stuff I needed, including some liver and goat's milk. She also brought in a themometer from her car to show me it was a tad bit hot in here. Thanks so much Sue!!!

Have I slept yet? No. Do I need to? I guess not.

The Baby Tirzahs Are Here!!!

Ok, the quick post ~ I AM SO TIRED.

Tirzah had 4 puppies. The sad thing is two were born dead and but we have two alive and nursing.

She had a sable bitch born dead first, the another sable bitch that came out nursing, then a tri dog (oh....so sad about that for so many reasons) born dead and a sable male who struggled and seems to be ok now. The two she lost apparently were just in the canal too long as there was nothing wrong with them. I am so sad, feel like I should have done something different, but I'm not sure what as it seemed like she wasn't in labor long enough to worry. I drove Tirzah & the puppies up to the vet to get a pit shot. She came out to the car and said everyone looked great but that Tirzah probably got tired and wasn't pushing actively enough. She said if I bred her again, to be on the safe side I should schedule a c-section. I don't plan on breeding her again though I do have a repeat stud service back to Shadow, so it will probably be either Soleil or Cardiff. Tirzah's first litter was easy and everyone was fine, so I'm thinking age has a little to do with it, but who knows. These puppies (all of them) are quite small compared to what I am used to so who knows what is up with that. If they are strong and nursing, and gaining weight I won't worry. So, that's the scoop! I really want to sleep but I think that might not happen til next week. Yeah Tirzah!!!! Oh oh!! THANK YOU Laura for coming over out of a deep sleep and hanging out with me and also to Julie & Martha for being on call. That really helps!

Guess Who Didn't Eat Her Dinner Tonight???

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tirzah is FINALLY acting like she's thinking about babies. I don't think it's imminent ~ like tonight but then who knows. She's been in the closet flinging around T's laundry and that's very sweet! T didn't want his underwear photographed so I waited for her to move.......anyway, this is pretty much very new behavior so it's extremely exciting!!

I gotta clean up dinner and put away my 12 meals of Pioneer Woman's Chicken Soup. YUM. It might be all we eat for the next week. I also bought brownies. (Those aren't made yet.) That's what I learned from Lori when we whelped puppies. You whelp collie puppies and eat brownies. Awwhh.....

So stay tuned!!!!