Help Us Find Names For Our Boys!
Hubby and I are having a tough time trying to pick out good German names for our boys. There are just not too many. I have put together these names and a short poll. Vote for your favorite name and tomorrow Hubby and I will decide which ones we will use!
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Meanwhile here is a little video of the puppies from Wednesday morning. They are the sweetest things!
Three Days Old
How come, every day when I wake up, I look over at the puppies and they have somehow gotten cuter?
We slept in this morning until 6:30. Greta had me up once in the night because she was feeling cold and wanted me to turn on the heater for the puppies. How did I know this? Well, I’m actually not sure. You see I was sound asleep one minute and the next I was awake and I just knew she was worried about the warmth of her babies. Call it mental telepathy!
Greta is a good Mommy. She tends to her brood very well. She doesn’t want to leave them for any reason. Hubby and I have to carry her outside so she can wee-wee. Yes, she is happiest when she is laying down with her babies and they are nursing her.
They are pretty cute. Mr Green is one of the sweetest. He loves to eat! It seems that every time I check on them during the day, Mr. Green is nursing!
He seems to be best friends with his sister. They are usually side by side, or on top of one another. She is very sweet. I think she looks very feminine, our little Christel!
Yellow and Red boys are both big eaters, while our Mr. Blue eats, but also enjoys snuggling. So far they have all gained well over an ounce. Greta is eating like crazy and she is acting like herself once again.
I’ve been marveling at how small they are. Then I laugh. They are not any smaller than Anneliese’s pups were, but you forget. Then you hold that tiny puppy in the palm of your hand again and your realize, these guys really are that small!
Another 10 days until their eyes will open. For now, they are truly helpless and the only thing that they accomplish each day is filling their bellies with milk and sleeping. That’s okay. Soon enough they will be running around in the back yard!
I kind of hope that time slows down a little right now. Since this is Greta’s last litter, I want to savor it. I want to watch the babies for hours. I want to share this with her. Sadly, time seems to fly by and before I know it, these babies will be going to their new forever homes.
The Blog Thieves Got Me!
I wrote a long post last night about the puppies. It was beautiful. Eloquent! One of my very best! I had it all saved and set up and this morning when I checked….It had disappeared!
Granted, I was tired. I’d also taken something for a headache, but still, the post should have been there!
I will try to recreate my masterpiece, but frankly, since the blog thieves got it, I’m not sure that this is possible!
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On Monday we had Greta the the Vet to get out her IV. She is doing remarkably well and we are all thrilled. She lost 4 1/2 pounds and is back to eating and drinking as she normally does.
Each puppy was examined and they are doing well also. That is a real blessing!
I started to think on the drive back, how my life is really quite amazing. You see, when I was young I knew I wanted to get married, have children and be a Mommy. I could see that as clear as day. What I had no clue about was, what did I want to do as a career.
I’m a nurturer by heart, yet I’m also pretty emotional, so being a nurse, or something like that wouldn’t really work for me. I’d be destroyed if I ever lost a patient, even though I know that this is the cycle of life.
Then in 1996 I met the most wonderful little doggy named Shubi and my life changed. She showed me many things, but after losing my youngest daughter, and many years of depression after that, Shubi showed me how to love again and how to live!
And she never said a word! (Just an occasional bark!)
Shubi showed me how to make my own kind of music.
So now, here I am a Granny to 14 puppies total, with the prospect of Anneliese giving me more little miracles to love and then move along to their forever friends.
You see, for me, that is the joy. I am able to bring these little creatures into the world, love them, teach them all that that they need to know about being little doggies, and then send them on to their new forever homes.
I found my music in the midst of this crazy world. The music is of mewling newborn puppies, barking growing puppies, and the laughter of the people who come to get their new baby from me.
And to think, it all started with a little puppy from Landshut, (in Bavaria) Germany.
The Puppies Day 1
When I woke on Sunday morning I felt happier than I have in a while. It dawned on me that I have been pretty stressed and worried about Greta all during this pregnancy. So today when I opened my eyes and looked down into the whelping box and saw Greta and her happy and healthy pack of babies, I just smiled! What a beautiful sight! Greta and her babies!
I lay there in the early morning hours and watched the puppies suckle on their mother’s teat. I watched their little pink tongues wrap around the nipple and occasionally a little bit of milk rim the mouth.
Greta washed them and snuggled them and I could see in her body language the ancient bonding of mother and baby. Oh, she is such a good mother to her little puppies.
The puppies are pretty active. They spend a lot of time eating and then they sleep. Occasionally one will climb away from the pack, but is soon brought back to the fold, usually by me.
How wonderful to have babies back in the house!
4 Boys & 1 Girl!
Greta went into labor Friday night at 12:30 AM. I was up all night with her and I worried the entire time. By morning I knew that she was having a lot of problems. I called my friend Dori and she came over and examined Greta. Then we called the Vet.
We rushed her in, and they examined her and hoped that she still might still deliver naturally, but after several hours things were not going in the right direction and so they did an emergency c-section.
They delivered 5 puppies and then they fixed her so that she cannot have any more. Each puppy was born asleep and we had to work hard to wake them up.
It was hard work and the last puppy born we nearly lost. He just couldn’t wake up.
But Dr. K. worked so hard and she was able to make him wake up and start to move around. I was so happy and thankful! He is now fine and nursing on Greta along with his brothers and sister.
Yes, Greta had 4 boys and 1 girl! They are all beautiful and healthy and I feel so thankful tonight to have them all home in the puppy room with their mother.
For more pictures go on over to my flickr account and see the additional pictures there!
Almost
Today it seemed that everything was right. The stars were aligned and baby puppies would be born. Alas, that is not the case. Greta is in the early stages of labor, but not actual labor. After 6 hours of worry, I took her to the Vet’s and they examined her. All is well, the puppies are all lined up and ready to go, but for now, we must wait!
The red arrows point to the 5 little beings living inside of Greta! The first one is all lined up for delivery, and the other 4 should turn around and be ready to head out very soon!
So tonight I will sleep with Greta in the puppy room and hopefully she will relax enough to pop those babies out.
Go Greta!!!
Hmmmmm!
Greta’s temperature dropped and she has no appetite. She lies, stretched out on the floor and she is panting. All signs that the time is near.
I have spoken to the Vet and we are monitoring this closely, as she may require a second c-section. All that matters right now is that she and the pups are healthy.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Quick Post
As it is late on Thursday night and I am pretty tired this will be a brief accounting of today’s events. Most all of it revolves around getting ready for Greta’s babies.
We had a quick Chinese lunch, and then set about shopping for dog food, people food and I bought some puppy formula.
We had the dogs out in the yard, Hubby picked Castleton Plums, which he sold to a farm stand, and somehow I still managed to get the mail.
We had dinner plans with friends of ours tonight. Wonderful steak tips and salad. Delicious! As the sun went down and the sky got dark, the temperatures dropped and I am sitting here, next to Greta, feeling the cold, and drinking some hot tea.
Greta just gets bigger, and is showing the first signs that she will multiply in the next few days. I can hardly wait!
My Big Fat Mama!
Poor Greta. It’s official now. Her belly is dragging on the ground. I took her outside this morning to go and visit our neighbor, and Greta was so happy, but as she waddled trotted through the grass up the hill to our friends house, I could see her belly hitting the ground!
Poor Greta. After our visit we waddled trotted back down the hill and she came inside and lay down next to the water bowl and drank and panted until she recovered.
Fortunately, the heat broke in the late afternoon when a cool front passed over us, and after that Greta was able to waddle trot around the back yard comfortably.
But look at this poor baby girl.
Can you believe how tremendously large she has gotten?
She has been resting a lot today. Her appetite is still good, but she just doesn’t have much room in her stomach anymore. Those puppies are taking up a lot of space! So she eats a little, rests, does her business outside and starts the whole thing over again.
Oh the days are winding down and I can hardly wait to see these little ones. They kick so hard that I can feel them as she lies next to me and this makes me laugh and smile. I almost feel like I know them already.
Soon!