Today puppies are one day old. They are doing really well, and have already put on some weight. Last night Emma was still a bit groggy after the surgery, but nevertheless she was taking a good care of the pups. She is on Clavamox (antibiotic) to prevent any post surgery infection. Her appetite is excellent, and she has a good supply of milk. The four puppies are:
- green male 10.6 oz at birth, now 11.6 oz
- blue male 11.4 oz at birth, now 12.4 oz
- pink female 10.8 oz, now 12.2 oz
- yellow female 9.2 oz, today 9.8 oz
This litter is Emma's third and last. In her first litter Emma carried nine pups. Two were malpositioned and lost during delivery, so we ended up with seven puppies born naturally. Emma had only two pups in her 2nd litter, and she had to have a C-section to get them out. The reason for C-section was not clear as pups were small and she had some contractions.
We had to resort to a C-section this time as well. Our vet thinks that the problem is partial uterine inertia – Emma had contractions but they were not strong enough to push out some pups. Since we believe strongly that only bitches who are good whelpers and mothers should be allowed to reproduce, we are going to retire her from breeding.
It is interesting that in the last 15 years of breeding we had only four litters delivered by C-section. Two were Emma's and the other two were out of FC Gela von Rauhenstein. In Gela's first litter, the first pup was unusually large, over 13 oz, and she was not physically able to pass it. We lost that pup, but 5 others were rescued. We bred Gela one more time thinking that a different male partner would produce different results. This time she did not have any contractions and six pups had to be delivered through C-section. Gela was retired from breeding after that litter.
4 comments:
Jolanta, thanks for sending the link. This is a wonderful puppy photo journal with EXCELLENT photos!!! I am glad Emma is doing and hope that her (and Joeri's!) four puppies continue to thrive. It will be a lot of fun to follow your O litter here as they grow!
Speaking of O litter, what are you thinking of for names? Have fun in the search! In 2004, I had to come up with seven O names, (Odin, Oslo, Otter, Owl, Ochre, Olive, and Ossie). Presently, a "Q" name has required even more thought, though I only need one.
Patt
Thank you Patt for such a nice feedback. I used to do a photo journal for puppies on my http://jola.smugmug.com website but blog offers a greater flexibility with text and comments. We will see how it goes.
I really like your "O" names and we will be stealing one "Olive". The pups have their names already and they are Olana, Olive, Oak and Olli. I agree that coming up with a "Q" name might be a challenge, but I know that you are certainly up to it. Keep us posted!
Hi! Yes, the text is absolutely an asset, and I think with photos, less is probably more. Less in quantity, that is, for the QUALITY of the photos you have posted here of Emma, the whelping, and her tiny puppies, is superb!
I will be coming back often to check for updates.
Patt (who, by the way, is half-stealing a name from you, too, I like the name Quill)
Patt,
I see that you are enjoying your new monitor :-)
Anyway, sometimes I am asked what camera I use. Nothing expensive, not even a DSLR (I don't own one). But I love my Panasonic Lumix FZ18 with 28-504 mm Leica lens. It was about $300.
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