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PUPPIES! Oh boy!
Every dog-loving little kid has grown up wanting to
witness the birth and growth of a litter of puppies. Actually, we
have all wanted to participate in the event.
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But, the reality of having puppies is not as carefree and
God-like as the abstract concept. Our first shock came as we read
that on average, 25% of all puppies are born dead or die shortly after
whelping.
Gulp! |
With the help of our breeder, we prepared ourselves by
reading books, gathering an emergency crash cart of first aid supplies on
our kitchen butcher block. |
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Mary Pat and Hollis examine our Emergency Crash Cart supplies.
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We read "The Whelping and Rearing of Puppies: A
Complete and Practical Guide" by Muriel P. Lee. We studied "How
to Help Your Puppy Grow Up to Be a Wonderful Dog" by Elizabeth
Randolph.
As Syntax, our first dachshund and chosen mother dog, got close to her
delivery day, we practiced swinging mock puppies so we could clear the
airways of the real ones in distress. Syntax's breeder gave us tips
and worried us with horror stories. Our vet added her advice and
preparation suggestions.
We counted the days since the artificial insemination, planned our
vacations from work, and went over our check lists again and again. |
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Geoff took Syntax's temperature at least once a day
-- it drops when the puppies are about a day from arriving. And, we got
our blunt scissors ready for cutting too tough umbilical cords. |
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Geoff, Syntax, and Audit take their temperatures.
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After Syntax's temperature fell, Geoff and I went
sleepless through the night, watching puppy heads poke up in Syntax's
stomach. "Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" was on the VCR,
but no one watched for more than a minute.
Syntax tried to sleep. But, every time she shifted,
we tried to position her for puppy delivery. By six in the morning, we
were all exhausted but there were still no puppies. We phoned our
vet, who came over and ordered us all to our respective beds. At 1
p.m. in the afternoon, Syntax started the delivery. |
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Fortunately for us all, Syntax had read the "how
to" books herself. She delivered the puppies, licked them to
life, crushed -- didn't bite -- the umbilical cords, and cleaned each new
pup. She whelped seven perfect puppies, finishing
around 6 p.m. She was tired, but very pleased.
After Syntax had an x-ray to make sure she was done,
we gave her a whole steak from our favorite restaurant. She then
settled down to nurse. |
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The normal litter size for miniature long hair dachshunds
is one or two puppies. Syntax was not dragging on the ground, so we
thought "one", although our vet had a psychic feeling that
Syntax was carrying four.
Seven puppies was unheard of in local dachshund lore.
No matter! Syntax was an incredibly healthy bitch
and a great mother. Our other female, Audit, stepped into the
whelping box and starting giving milk to help out. |
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| We were wonderfully lucky having so many -- and so
healthy -- puppies. We were ready for disaster, and instead nature
reminded us that she has been whelping dogs long before we ever thought of
helping her with a litter. |
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We found good homes for the dogs... and we had our second litter 18 years after the first. We may do litters more often, but not until after retirement!
And, we knew 5 of the 7 "puppies" their whole lives. Array and Vector died here at home, within feet of where they were whelped at the ages of 15 and 17 respectively. Robespierre lived past 19, and Happy passed away at 19 years and 362 days.
Good boys and girls! |
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