Fun With Names

Besides their identifying color, I have given each puppy a temporary name. Most of these names correspond to their color. Of course, these temporary names will be used only by me. The Paws puppy raisers get to pick the pups permanent names. Wilma’s litter has been assigned the letter “H”, so each puppy’s name will begin with “H”. Paws will supply a list of possible "H" names, from which the raisers get to submit their top choices. Then Paws will make the final choice, making sure each pup gets a different name.

The name I am using are as follows:

Green and Yellow are Sparty and Wayne for Michigan State and Wayne State, the 2 universities I graduated from.

Purple is Lilac named by my mom who loves lilac bushes.

Black is Barney, after my friend Tracie’s 14 yr old beagle who recently had to be put down.

Orange is Brucie, after my orange tabby cat who lived to be 20.

Pink is Precious after my neighbors cat.

Red is Clifford, the Big Red Dog, even though Red is my tiniest pup.

Hot Pink is Princess named by my neighbor Marilyn who helped bring these little ones into the world.

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Rainbow is Little Miss Surprise because that’s what she was.

And Lime is Pebbles because Wilma just has to have a baby named Pebbles!

The First Escapee

This morning I got up, went into the nursery and much to my surprise, found a puppy outside the whelping box! Little Mr. Orange, aka Brucie, somehow climbed over the side. The box is about 12 inches high, with a flap in front to make it easier for Wilma to get in and out. Well, the flap is now closed for good. It is way too early for these little munchkins to be out of their nest. Wilma will have to step over it.

Uncle Kramer

Kramer has been such a good boy during this whole crazy time. He spent delivery day locked in my bedroom. At one point, when there were several puppies crying and Wilma grunting with contractions, Kramer started whining and barking. I went in to see him, took him by the collar and led him to the nursery. I let him see the pups and Wilma. He reached down and licked Wilma on the head and she reached up and licked his chin. Marilyn and I melted! Then I put him back in the bedroom where he was pretty quiet the rest of the day. He just needed to know what was going on.

I’ve been letting him in the nursery more and more to see the pups. He stands at the edge of the box and cranes his neck as he sniffs the whole box over. Sometimes he reaches down and sniffs one of the pups or a pile of pups close up. And Wilma completely trusts him with her babies. He’s not really too interested in the pups, and the pups don’t know he’s there. But I know that someday they will love their Uncle Kramer.

Kramer jumps with excitement whenever Wilma comes out of the nursery. He grabs a toy and tries to get her to play. Of course when Wilma is out of the nursery, it’s either to eat, to potty, or to lay and rest. I keep telling him “Don’t worry Kramer, someday your sister will be back to her goofy playful self.”

Super Dog

Life isn't all eating and sleeping. Everyday, all ten puppies hit the gym for a series of 7 exercises, called the "Super Dog" program. The benefits of these stimulation exercises include:

• improved cardivascular performance
• stronger heart beats and adrenal glands
• more tolerence to stess
• greater resistance to disease.

Not bad for only 2 minutes per day!

Each exercise is done only a few seconds or until the pup squirms.






Lie on belly.

Lie on back.

Hold up

Hold down

Tickle Foot Pad

Squeeze tail







Also, hold pup on a cold towel. But my favorite part is the end where you pet and snuggle the little pup until it is calm and falls asleep.

A Day In the Life

Puppies this age don’t do much more than sleep and eat. Sometime they sleep in a pile and sometimes they sleep scattered around. They twitch and whimper and sometimes let out a little cry. They might stretch out a leg or even move to a new spot, but mostly they just sleep.

Then in steps Mom and the box seems to come alive. The pups slowly wake up and the migration begins. Pretty soon they are all in place, sucking and gulping and slurping. Sometimes there’s a scream because someone doesn’t get their way or because mom is giving them a bath. It’s amazing just how noisy they can be!

Then come the sighs of contentment as their bellies fill up. And pretty soon they are asleep again. This cycle continues over and over throughout the day, but I never get tired of watching it.

My, How They've Changed!

It’s been 8 days and I can’t believe how much these little munchkins have changed. Their ears started out as bare little triangles, sometimes sticking straight out. Now they are laying flat, getting furry, and looking more like fuzzy golden ears.

Their little faces were pink and bare and their noses pink too. Now their noses are much darker and their faces are fuzzy with dark fur. And they are starting to get whiskers.

The pads on their feet were also pink and tender. They are dark now too, almost black. And I’ve already had to trim their tiny toenails. It won’t be long before I have the pitter patter of 40 little feet running around.

Puppy Nursing Tips

Tip #1: The farther you stretch out your leg, the more milk you get.



Tip #2: Don't waste energy holding yourself up when you can lay across your brother.


Tip #3: Always take a long nap when done.

Five Days Old

Today was 5 Day Old Portrait Day

The Boys: Red, Green, Orange, Yellow, Black

And the Girls: Pink, Purple, Hot Pink, Lime and Multi

Sad News

Little Blue Futon, pup number 1, died last night. He stopped nursing on his own Sunday and I tried hard to save him for 2 days. He put up a good fight, but he just wasn't strong enough. I kept him warm and comfortable and he slipped away in his sleep. Whether he's in Heaven or at the Rainbow Bridge, I'm sure Kelso is taking good care of him.

The Story of Their Birth

Yesterday was a long day but it flew by. It started with a phone call from Clare, the Paws breeding coordinator. He wanted to know how Wilma was doing. She was still panting, her temp had gone back up a bit, she had eaten some breakfast, and still no contractions. I wondered if I should go to work. After we talked about how far away that was and how long I'd be gone, and how much longer Wilma could be and if someone could check in on Wilma, I decided it'd be OK if I went in. So I went to work and Marilyn, my neighbor came over to check in on Wilma. She said she heard crying when she opened the door and was worried that something was wrong with Wilma. But when she got to the nursery, Wilma was sitting in her whelping box smiling at her. The crying was coming from the futon mattress I had on the floor next to the whelping box. A puppy was under the blankets. Marilyn picked it up, gave it to Wilma and called me. I flew home (in the 6 inches of new snow that was still falling.) I was so upset that I went to work and wasn't there for Wilma when she needed me. But I guess she didn't really need me. She delivered the little boy all on her own! She just didn't know what to do with him after that.

Marilyn stayed to help me and we delivered 9 more puppies during the next 6 hours. Some came an hour apart, some came 10 minutes apart, but most were about 40 minutes apart. I learned how to clamp, cut and tie off umbilical cords, how to break open sacs, how to help a puppy start breathing by clearing the fluid from a it's throat, and how to pull a breech puppy's head out. We dried off each pup, weighed each pup, gave each pup a colored collar, fed Wilma between pups, and recorded it all. We finally had time to get the pups to eat after number 4 was delivered. Everything went very smooth, almost text book. My only worried moment was when puppy number 10 wasn't coming out, despite Wilma's contractions. I called Clare, I called my vet, they both said don't panic yet and pretty soon puppy 10 was there. It was an hour and a half behind puppy 9. I called Clare and my vet to say "Finally, we are done!" Ten puppies, 6 boys and 4 girls.

Marilyn went home, I cleaned up the whelping box and the room, took Wilma outside, fed her, got her back into the box with all 10 puppies, made myself a margarita and started calling family and friends to tell them about the pups. I was sitting on the futon, talking to a friend about the whole experience when I saw Wilma pop out another puppy! I said "There's 11, I gotta go" and hung up. What a surprise! Another healthy 14 oz girl!

The puppies are doing great! Wilma is doing great! She was meant to be a mom. And I am enjoying watching them interact with each other and with their mom. It is truly amazing!