One week and two weeks...

Ginger's puppies one week old.

Sunny's puppies 2 weeks old

Sunny's pups 2 weeks, Ginger's pups one week old

Ginger's pups sleeping on their backs.

Sunny's pup

Ginger's puppies at one week old.

Can you believe the size difference?

Huck loves his kids...

Sunny's pups are just starting to open their eyes!

Mother Hen

Huck and His boy.. (Sunny's litter, 2 weeks, 3 days old)

Huck and I slept in bed this morning with this little pup. He cleaned the pups face over and over again. Huck is SOOO gentle with the puppies. He is still the most curious out of all the dogs and the mama's tolerate him being around the pups. When Huck was younger his nick name with "mother hen" because he was always so attentive to the small kids at school and with other young dogs. When we got Max and Tobey as young pups, Huck raised them just like a mother hen would. His feathers are growing back and he is becoming a "mother hen" once again to all his offspring.
Last night it was time to deworm Sunny's pups for the first time (2 weeks). It was easiest to place them all in a laundry basket and put them back one by one. Otherwise I would never have been able to keep them straight! Most puppies weighed 2 pounds, 5 oz. There were two puppies that weighed over 3 pounds! The runt of Sunny's litter still is just over 1 pound, 5.9 oz. The puppies did not like the taste of the dewormer! It is given in a liquid form with an oral syringe. I also took the time to cut their nails while I had them all singled out.

Ginger Pups (Day 6), Sunny Pups (1 week, 4 days)

Ginger's Pup

Sunny Smiling!

Sunny's Pup

Sunny's Pup

Sunny's Pup

Sunny and Ginger continue to be good mama's! Ginger has cooled off a bit and now lets the other dogs enter the door way. Huckleberry continues to be the most curious of all the dogs. The difference between the two litters is just amazing! They grow up so fast. Ginger's puppies continue to grow fast. They are all growing healthy with no apparent runt of the litter.

Sunny's puppies are now attempting to walk, bark and have their eyes open just slightly. Sunny's puppies nails need to be clipped today. Ginger and Sunny have been spending a lot more time away from their nests but anxiously run back to the nursery if there is the slightest squeak! Sunny's runt is continuing to grow. Today it weighed 1 pound, 2.8 oz. The other pups still far out weigh this runt puppy but it continues to add a few ounces each day.

It's a GIRL!

Kurt and I had our 18 week ultrasound today. We found out that our baby is going to be GIRL! We are really excited for this news! I am feeling the baby move on a regular basis now... quite an unusual feeling. We found out that our due date has been pushed up a few days and is now June 22nd. The baby currently weighs 7 oz. (hey, that is the same size as a new born puppy! lol). We have our next Dr. appointment next Monday where he'll interpret all the ultrasound pictures taken today.

Intruder Alert!

The other dogs are SOOO curious as to what is going on in our guest bedroom, aka the nursery! As you can see they wait anxiously by the door..waiting for the mama's to invite them in. A warm welcome has not yet been extended to them. Sunny has been more open to them coming in with less growling than Ginger. Kodiak and Huckleberry are the most curious. Max is the least curious, he could honestly care less about puppies :-)

More Week One (Day 7) Sunny Pictures

More Day One Ginger Pictures

Ginger Pups Day #1, Sunny Pups One Week Old

Day #1 - Ginger has been a really good mama. She is starting to eat more and drink a lot more. She really likes to snuggle with the puppies... almost looks like she is trying to hide them under her. She is very protective of her puppies. She won't even let the other dogs come to the doorway before she jumps out of the puppy bed and tells them off. She did however ask to go outside twice today which is much different from the first 24 hours with Sunny. On the way back to the puppy bed she grabbed a doggy toy to take into the bed with her. Very cute!

Little girl from Sunny's Litter...

Sunny Week One (7 days old) - They are just growing like weeds! They are rather chunky now with fat wrinkles down their legs and back. The runt continues to grow and is looking more and more healthy each and every day.

Picture of Sunny and Huck together

Sunny and Huckleberry Finn, basking in the sun this past Fall. (2009)

Ginger's Puppies have arrived!

Ginger's puppies have arrived. They came five days before her "due date" which was on Tuesday. Her puppies were born on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010. She started labor around 11:30am. She was out playing ball not even 30 minutes prior to this happening. We knew she was getting close. The previous night her temp dropped to 99 degrees, a known sign of a dog going into labor. Plus she starting digging in the dirt and nesting every where she went. She was really restless the night before her labor started. She just couldn't get comfortable. Her breathing was very shallow and she was panting almost the entire night. She did not accept any food or water for about 24 hours prior to starting labor. Ginger was in labor for a total of 6 hours. She whelped 11 puppies!!! We are so shocked she had so many puppies. She really didn't appear to be THAT big! Her puppies are all healthy. At first Ginger had no clue on what was going on but by the 2nd and 3rd puppy Ginger acted like a seasoned pro! She cleaned the puppies and kept them warm. She is really protective of them. She was ready to eat and drink shortly after finshing with whelping. She was exhausted!

11 puppies total, 7 girls & 4 boys! Whew what a litter!!

First time nursing.. still wet from being born!

Just Born

Sunny's Pups Day #5 - 7

Six days old

5 days old

Sunny's Puppies Day #5 - 7
Sunny has been an excellent mama through this entire first week. The runt continues to grow. It has gained approximately 1 oz. every day. After one week it now weights 14. 45 oz. The other pups continue to far out size the runt, but it is not struggling to nurse as much as it was in the beginning. The runt's breathing has also improved and no longer sounds as wheezy as it did the first few days. Sunny has been leaving the pups more during the day time. She likes to be out in the living room with Kurt or myself when the puppies are sleeping. She will go into the "puppy room", which is our guest bedroom, to check on them quite frequently.

Sunny's Puppies Have ARRIVED!

Sunny is currently staying with us here at Hummingbird Hill Farm. She is our close friends dog and we have been taking care of her off and on this year. She is a very nice docile female. She has long fur, with mixed colors. In the summer she sheds and sheds and sheds! She is a ball lovin' fool just like our other dogs, so she fits in very well with our pack. Our Huckleberry Finn and herself mated around November. Her due date for whelping was on January 9th, 2010. Sunny's actual date of delivery was on Thursday January 7th, 2010. Her whelping started around noon and ended approximately three and a half hours later. She delivered 10 puppies, 7 males and three females.

The first day -
On the first day Sunny stayed right by the puppies side. She was EXHAUSTED! We set up a whelping box a week prior to her due date. The whelping box consisted of a kiddy pool and two dog blankets. We placed her in our quite guest bedroom, which provided Sunny with privacy away from our other dogs. This room is also the most easily heated room in our house. Sunny was very hungry after her labor. She readily drank one entire bowl of water and ate three cans of dog food! All the puppies did during this first day was eat and sleep. They make all sorts of noises.

Day 2 - Sunny still stay's right by the puppies side. She has not yet gone outside to use the bathroom! I swear the puppies have grown one inch longer over night! Sunny will allow myself and Kurt to enter the room but not any of the other dogs. She is very protective of her puppies and will only allow Kurt and I to hold them for a short while before she gives us a very concerned look. She is eating very well today. She ate 6 cans of dog food over the entire day and drank two bowls of water. The puppies continue to eat and sleep their day away.
Day 3 - Sunny went outside for the first time today. This is the first time she has left her puppies since they were born. She had to use the bathroom badly! We were able to coax her outside two more times this day. The third time she went outside she was even interested in playing ball for about 5 minutes. I think it was really good for her to stretch her legs and get the blood flowing in her body. We have taken notice to the runt of our litter today. She is a really small, dark brown girl. She did not stand out as being small on day one or day two but is obviously smaller than the others today. Today I weighed her and she weighed 11. 35 oz. She seems to have a bit more trouble hooking up to nurse and struggles to stay on the teat while nursing. We will keep an eye on her, weigh her each day and place her on a teat every time we check on the pups to encourage her growth. Today Sunny ate 5 cans of dog food, rice/hamburger homemade dog food and some dry dog food. She drank two bowls of water.

Day 4 - Sunny readily asked to go outside a few times today. She still does not like to leave her puppies for any long periods of time (10-15 minutes max!). The runt is still struggling to nurse. We weighed her today and she is 11. 75 oz. So there has been growth, although minimal. Most of the other puppies weight 18.4 - 18.8 oz. Sunny continues to eat heartily. She ate 5 cans of dog food mixed with dry puppy kibble and drank 2 bowls of water. Today I noticed she has starting to have a dark brown discharge. I guess this is normal up to 3-4 weeks after the pups are born. The puppies have literally doubled in size since they were born. Most are starting to grown nails, have louder cries, some even growl, move in their sleep and have wrinkly skin.