BACK IN TIME...THE PUPS ARE BORN MAY 31, 2004

It began with a yell, “BLAKE, COME QUICK, HELP!” What? Oh no. I'm coming. As I sprang from my bed at 3:00am, I knew it was happening..and I arrived to see the first pup, still in the sac. The sac was torn, the chord was cut, and the pup was given to mom to clean and lick. We thought it would come much faster, but of course it wasn't going to be easy on us. After a 1.5 hour interim, the next pup was taken out of its sac and again the chord was cut, the pup given to mom and she knew now what to do. It kind of grossed us out when mom ate the afterbirth.. not a pretty site. I'm telling ya. But she did this after each pup..all 9, that's right...9 of them.

They were all named prior to this by none other than ME. So male names were Charley, Tommy, Teddy Jr.

Girl names: Betty, Sally, Sue. Luna, Georgia, Besame(this is spanish for kiss me).

Well, Charley was the first, followed later by Tommy, then Sue, Sally, Teddy JR., Luna, Georgia, and Besame. The problem was after Georgia, we assumed she was through. It had already been 13 hours so who wouldn't think she was done. After about an hour, I went in to check...and a good thing too, as Besame was still in her sac. I yelled out, the others came, and we removed the sac. Poor tiny pup seemed to have mucous in her airways, so with a turkey baster, we sucked some of the blockage away. Breathing trouble prompted an emergency visit to the vet..remember it's Memorial Day....and got her on the road to recovery. Besame was absolutely perfect and so kissable..wow!

We got to watch them as they progressed. The seemed to grow quickly and from the first vist to the vet (3 to 5 ounces for each pup) to the last visit prior to adoption..3 to 5 pounds. Amazing that we had them trained to do their business outside prior to adoption. Doug kept them in his shower stall with bedding and water. They were taken out every 2 hours..and fed twice daily. Mom began weening them after 4 weeks. She didn't appreciate them tugging at her belly...those new teeth are sharper than tacks. So twice daily the pups were fed with a proper puppy food soaked in milk replacement to make a sort of gruel. They loved it and all would gather around thw two dishes placed down for them. For certain, nothing was wrong with their appetites. Anyway, when the shower stall was opened, mom was out first..and they all followed after her outside to the pool deck and through the door to the grass. By 4 weeks they were using the doggie door to get into the grass on their own. Part of this part of the yard was divided off by a chicken wire fence because of the dirt and newly planted grass. We watched, later, as they each crawled up the chicken wire and tumbled into the forbidden zone. Little loveable rascals...all of them. Talk about chow hounds--- boy could they eat, and became fat as little butterballs by the end of 6 weeks. Unfortunately we lost one pup the 2nd morning. We aren't sure what happened, but we were saddened by the loss.

We were preparing for our upcoming trip to England, so Doug did his best to have them all adopted out of our care before our trip (this was hard, as we had already grown quite attached to them all). All but two, and his parents kept them here in Georgia until our return. They also dropped off one in Jacksonville on their way to Georgia.

Doug kept Charley (I think because I pushed him) as he was the first born. He is a loveable, affectionate fur ball. He loves giving kisses..and now will give kisses when asked...and if he can do it...even without asking. He also chews anything that he can get in his mouth. He loves to bring in things from outside, i.e. sticks, weeds, rocks...but he'd rather chew on leather (shoes, luggage, belts) if he gets a chance. I suppose at some point this will diminish..please!

Here is a link to photos of the loveable rascalian furballs..

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