Shysie's and Sox's Puppies
were born 2/10
and can be adopted 3/31
We are taking deposits.
Shysie 6 days before due date.
Shysie on 2/7/2006, 1 day
before due date.
We call her our "big" little dog.
Shysie keeping watch over
Bethany while she naps.
Guarding a napping child is just her speed right now.
In the wee hours of
2/10/2006 labor begins!
Shysie labored in and gave birth to her pups in Wendy's lap. All
of our animals tend to go to her when they are in labor or sick.
Nala, our 65-75 lb German Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix had her
puppies in Wendy's lap also.
She's thankful Shysie is much, much, smaller!
The first pup, a
beautiful, black, little boy, did not make it.
We were enroute to the vet hospital for an emergency c-section
when she was finally able to push him most of the way out.
Sadly, he was already gone.
His amniotic sac burst while he was still in the womb and the dry
birth was slow and arduous.
She cleaned him, fussed over him and finally said goodbye.
Here comes another one!
A blonde little boy! His fur is actually whiter than in the picture.
Here's the last one that
was born...a black little girl with socks like her Daddy--Sox.
Her name is "Boots" and we will be keeping her.
This cute little fellow was the third one born. He is also the smallest and has a nice apple shaped head. He's just adorable! We are calling him "Peanut."
Lest someone assumes the
worst: Shysie is not kept in a "crate." All of
our dogs are members of our family. We used this heavy wire crate
with the door open to keep our small children from falling on or
dropping heavy toys on her small pups. A box or laundry basket
would not have been adequate protection. These pups are just too
tiny to take a chance. It being enclosed on 5 sides also
discourages them from reaching in and picking one up.
If you look, you will see where we folder newspapers up on the
sides to keep drafts away from the pups.
Shysie comes to check on her little boy.
Peanut and siblings at 48 hours old
You can really see the size difference in this photo.
Sox is miserable without
Shysie. This is their 3rd or 4th litter together, but their first
in our home.
Sox has decided to catch up on a little t.v. since Shysie is
ignoring him while she tends to their pups.
He's also following us around putting one paw on us at every
opportunity to get extra attention.
Time for a fill up for Peanut.
Shysie is so content curled up with her pups.
See my little belly now?
Update: Sadly Peanut didn' tmake it. He was a "fading
puppy." :-(
This picture was taken on 2/17 when the pups
were 1 week of age.
They could curl up and lie on the CD!
Caught being good!
I found Bethany and Caleb standing outside Shysie's whelping box
looking in with longing faces.
You could just tell they wanted to look at and touch the puppies,
but they would not break our rule about handling pups without a
grown up around.
So, to reward them for their good behavior (and to encourage
more), they got some puppy time in.
My how we've grown in one week! Taken 2/24 @ 2
weeks.
Even though she's taking more time away from them, Shysie still
spends most of the day snuggled up enjoying her pups.
She doesn't mind her human family touching her pups, but a ruckus
is raised if anything feline or canine approaches her little
nest.
Take 3/3 @ 3 weeks. The growth is not as apparent in the photo as it was in the last two weeks due to the angle.
Aren't we adorable. Our ears are starting to stick up a little.
Here's the male cuddled in Clint's hands.
I am the troublemaker! 3 weeks old!
I'm adorable and like to have my belly rubbed. 4 weeks
My tail wags a mile a minute and I like chewing on fingers. 4 weeks