Della's work/life balance

She can and does monitor the pups even when
 she isn't in the pool with them.

We are all working on finding balance. One of us is still with Della and the puppies 24/7. I'm not sure why exactly. Initially we felt the need to watch them to make sure no one got crushed and to make sure everyone was healthy. The fear of crushing is still real, but Della has proven herself to be pretty cautious and the pups have proven to be pretty resilient. Lately the monitoring has turned more to making sure Della is feeding them frequently enough because she's more inclined to spend more time outside the tub now. She is still very attentive to their needs, however, and it's mostly about our own fears. Still, we weigh everyone twice a day and try to make sure that the two or three smallest pups get equal or extra feeding time to ensure that they thrive and don't fall behind.

Della up on the bed with me for some quality snuggle time.

Della is developing her own balance between the job of raising puppies and the life of being a dog. She seems to be doing very well with both. We are feeding her two cups of puppy food, six times per day, with additions of chicken broth, canned food, cottage cheese, yogurt, and canned pumpkin. She appears to have more milk than ever, which is good because the pups will consume more and more as they grow.

Quality time outdoors with Serena is equally important.

Serena, Theo, and Della in the pasture. Theo is a large shepherd, but he looks small next to them.

It's no secret that the other dogs around here are currently getting less than their share of time and attention. That's inevitable and just the way it is for the moment. They are mostly ok with it but I'm trying to restore a little balance by making a point of getting one or more of them out for a walk or a romp in the pasture each day. Theo was out for the pasture run with the female Danes yesterday and we played ball, so he was happy. Smokey was free to come out as well, but I don't think he ever left the dog yard. Later in the evening I took Maya and Zeus up to Pleasant Grove for our regular two miler. I hadn't had Zeus out for a walk since the puppies were born and he was ready to go. He's a bit of a wanderer, back and forth in front of me, when he walks, but he doesn't pull at all and we had a really nice walk.

I was a little worried that Della would prefer the outdoor dog life and want to give up on her day job, but she returned to feed and clean the pups when she was needed and she was more content to do so having had some time away.