Ahhh, Teeth!

How we have grown!

We're 3 Weeks Old!

I'm nineteen days old!

We play!

We are eighteen days old. Our eyes and ears are finally open and we are getting more steady on our legs. We are now learning how to play...yippee!

We're two weeks old!

By the time I finally get this page posted, it will already be out of date. Who knew puppies grew so darn fast? Their eyes and ears have now opened, and they are getting more steady on their feet. Their noses are almost completely black now and they are beginning to play together. They are even growling and barking at eachother, which is quite adorable coming from such tiny creatures. Thank goodness puppy momma is still cleaning up after them, cause when she quits....eeks!

We're Three Days Old!

The Whatchamacallits are three days old and already they have begun to develop their individual personalities. Gadget continues to surprise me with her mothering skills. I spent the day identifying each puppy so that I can create individual pages for them. In order to do that, I locked mommy out of the room for about 30 minutes. She was so mad at me, she actually started moving her puppies to a different room of the house. Of course it wasn't my intention to tick her off, so I aquessed and moved her to a cozier, quieter spot; the guest room. Now she thinks she's all that and a bag of chips because she can get up on the bed and stretch out and still keep an eye on her pups. Who's the smart one here?

The Wait is Over!

So much for being prepared. Gadget is roaming around the house at midnight last night. Drinking water like there's no tomorrow, I hear her enter the bathroom so she can drink yet more water from the toilet. Which is something I have always allowed, since St. Bernards drink gallons of water a day; at least mine do. So I got up to fill her water bowl for the umpteenth time, and decided while I was up I might as well check her temp. 99.5 degrees. Okay, safe for another day. NOT! Not only did she not show ANY signs of labor, she showed no signs of stress, pain, fear, nesting, restlessness, or any of the other things I read about. And not only did she not have her pup in her whelping box, she didn't even have them in the house. Which looking back now, THANK GOODNESS! Birthing anything is a messy proposition. But I digress.

She had been making her little nest outside all along; I just didn't notice it until this morning when I got up to feed my pregnant dog, only to look out the window and discover she was not only no longer pregnant, but had delivered all her pups! She did it all by herself, DUH, and she did a terrific job to boot! Everyone of them had already been cleaned and corded, and they were all nursing happily in their tiny home made nest Gadget had lovingly created for them.

On a sad note, Gadget delivered 10 puppies. 2 of them didn't survive, but I am convinced by the way she had both of them cleaned and groomed like the rest that even if I had been there to help they would not have survived. She did an awesome job all by herself. So much for human intervention. Dogs have been giving birth for at least 2000 years, I'm sure they know what they're doing. At least Gadget does.

So now we are off to the vet to make sure nothing got left behind.....as if...

We're Expecting!

This is our first experience with midwhelping. Needless to say I've read quite a bit on the subject of "What to expect when your dog is expecting" but I imagine, as with most things in life, experience is the best teacher. So with the long-distance help of my two daughters, I'm about as ready as I'll ever be.

Today happens to be day 63. Ground zero. Game time. The grand opening. Only someone forgot to tell Gadget. Her temperature is supposed to be dropping to a cool 97 degrees. She's supposed to be restless, licking, oozing and nesting. She supposed to be refusing food. But things never go according to plan when you live in my house. Luckily, I'm okay with that. I can go with the flow, bend with the wind, adapt to my surroundings....NOT! I'm OCD to the Nth degree! I'm anal, I like order! I like things to happen by the stinking book! Apparently, this book is written in a language only Gadget can understand and I must sit back, relax and wait patiently. After all, she's the one expecting.

Stay tuned. Pictures will be posted, and we are accepting deposits. If you are interested in owning one of the best breeds on the planet, just leave a comment with your email address and I will contact you!