Today is the day!

Paika's water broke at 8:50 AM and the first puppy arrived at 10:30. It is a pretty big boy, weighing 11 oz (315 gr). Her maternal instincts seem to be excellent, and the boy is doing well.

Update 2:00 PM.
So far we have three boys - 11.0, 10.4 and 10.2 ounces, and everything has been going really well.

Update 4:15 PM
Two more puppies - one boy 9.8 oz and one girl 10.6 oz. Paika has been eating and drinking in between pups and seems to be in a really good shape. All pups except for one came out feet first, at a somewhat awkward angle, but nobody was stuck. The pups are very vigorous and everybody has been nursing.

Third boy coming out feet first

Update 10:30 PM
I believe that there is one more puppy in Paika but she has taken a very long break. The five puppies have full bellies, their bottoms are clean and they are very active when not asleep. Paika's temperature is normal, she has been eating, drinking and taking care of the pups. We are just going to wait and see what happens. Sometimes the last puppy is whelped quite a few hours after all the others.