Birthdays

The last few days have been a whirlwind of both activity and inactivity. I usually post news on my blog, but I haven't had time to do anything more than Facebook posts lately. I don't blog from my phone because that's impractical and I haven't left the momma dog's side for long enough to get to my computer. 

Most everyone who reads this has been following along on Facebook anyway, but I'll recap. I've been sleeping out in the Daneland accommodations with the pregnant foster Dane. Saturday morning I once again awoke to find her alone, no puppies, so I went to the house to make breakfast. It was Clay's birthday and I wanted to at least wish him happy birthday before he left for work. He had to work because Saturday was the grand opening at Patch Brewing Co. where he is now general manager. I couldn't go because I was on puppy watch. When I went back out, I found her nursing three newborn pups. I also found one that had been stillborn. I moved her and the pups into the whelping box I had built and got her settled on some blankets. She proceeded to have more puppies throughout the day until we were up to ten live births. That sounds nice and easy, but there was actually a lot of blood, goo, and unpleasantness involved. I have pics and video to prove it but I won't post them here.

I thought she was done, but she had three more yet to go, although they would all be delivered dead. I had to help one get all the way out. The final three were heartbreaking because she tried to revive them and didn't want me to remove them although eventually of course I did. She had had a very long session of labor and ten living pups was more than enough, fourteen would not have been feasible and all would have suffered. 

The ten survivors seem to be doing well and she's got plenty of milk for everyone while they are this size anyway. When they are first born it takes them a while to figure out where and how to begin nursing and that was a nervous time for me. But they all seem to have gotten the hang of it and are rotating between eating and sleeping. That's about all they do right now and that's what they need to do. 

She's taking good care of them and we have both begun to relax a bit today. She needed sleep so I've left her alone some today, although I still plan to sleep out there tonight and probably for a while to come. With the puppies out of her I could see her body condition and she needs weight. I'm bringing her food 3-4 times a day and putting in front of her to eat because she doesn't want to leave the pups. 

I realized how lucky we were to have had Della for a couple weeks before she gave birth. First, it gave us the chance to pump as much nutrition into her as possible to help both her and the in utero pups. Della ate 4-5 times a day, everything that was offered, and still hunted her own food right up to the day before her delivery. We didn't get the chance to do that with this girl. Second, it gave us the chance to bond with her such that she had no hesitation about letting us handle the pups and help as we thought necessary. I had just a couple days with this girl and I'm glad I had that much at least, because she trusted me enough to let me help and to just be present with her through this. She's not letting anyone else handle her puppies at this point, but she lets Clay come in and sit down next to them at least.

We've named her Allison, which was my mother's family name. Puppy names will come out tomorrow.

Allison cleaning a newborn merle pup.

We were surprised to have only one black pup after being told that she had been

bred to a black Dane. That was a lie, the variety of colors that came out indicate that

the father was another merle Dane. The black pup is the smallest of the bunch.

I felt better after I had seen each pup successfully latch onto a nipple. 

Each birth took a little bit out of her, by the end of the day she was exhausted.

This little girl is just ridiculously cute with her pink muzzle and black nose.

A rare siting of Erika away from her compound. Apparently it takes a litter of 

Great Dane puppies to lure her across the boundary line of her home.

Allison is getting breakfast, lunch, and dinner served to her in bed.

Here's her body condition postpartum. 

A pile of puppies

Their eyes aren't open yet, so when one of them wanders off, they rely on smell or their voice

to get back to mom. Allison will pick up the pup and bring it back if they wander too far.

I've had this little birch tree sitting in a container since last fall.

Today I planted it and buried the stillborn pups along with it.

It will grow up and provided much needed shade from the afternoon sun, 

making those four pups a part of Daneland long after the other ten have been adopted and moved on.

I'm grateful that she let me be a part of this extraordinary experience and to be a part of her family.