Thursday, October 16, 2008: Evening temp was 98.3 and morning temp was 98.6. During the night, Kaya abandoned her normal sleepling place at the foot of the bed and instead nestled up between Cheri and me. She passed on breakfast this morning (very atypical for Kaya) and instead hopped into the whelping box and began "nesting". She is also doing a bit of panting and lots of licking so she is definitely in the early stages of labor. Hopefully this will be a civilized "daylight whelp" and not one of those overnight marathons.
Thursday, October 16, 2008 12:49 PM: Still waiting. Kaya has been showing moderate discomfort all morning. She alternatively scratches up the bedding in the whelping box and then settles back down in the dog bed beside my computer, where I have been working. She has made several trips to the back yard. It not uncommon when a bitch has a small contraction in the early stages that she mistakes it as a sign she needs to defecate and makes a hasty trip to the yard. [Of course, I always check to be sure she didn't leave a puppy out there.]
If she doesn't begin soon, this may indeed turn into one of those all-nighters.
3:12 PM We are in labor now. As is always the case with maiden bitches, Kaya doesn't have a clue what is going on. She will stay in the whelping box if I sit by her but when I get up to leave the room she follows and usually ends up wandering out to the yard.
5:05 PM It's going to be a long night. Just after this photo was taken, Kaya's water broke for the first time, so it will commence soon.
6:48 PM The first puppy was born at 6:35, an 18-ounce girl. She came back end first and because of her size, Kaya had a lot of trouble getting her out. Hopefully now the way is cleared.
7:12 PM The second puppy, a 24-ounce ridged male, came at 6:55. Also back end first but this one came very easily.
7:28 PM Puppy #3, a 19-ounce ridged male, came front end first at 7:20:
8:09 PM Puppy #4, a 17 1/2-ounce ridged male, came at 8 pm, front first and out of his sack. Kaya had a hard time getting him out but he was wiggling and squealing from the start.
9:21 PM Puppy #5, a 15 1/2-ounce male, came at 8:30. Kaya has been resting almost an hour.
9:35 PM Puppy #6, a 13 1/2-ounce male, came at 9:30. Kaya just stood up and this little guy just squirted out, head first. After all the early whoppers, this one was a piece of cake.
10:08 PM Well, we now know that Kaya is hetreozygous for ridge gene; puppy #7 is a 20 1/2-ounce ridgeless male; head first at 10:05.
10:41 PM We may be done. Dr. Cain actually only saw 7 on ultrasound but she said there might be a couple more that she missed. But Kaya seems fully relaxed and all seven puppies (six boys and a girl) are nursing. I am making a bed by the whelping box and will overnight there to do the necessary rescue work when someone gets lost.
11:11 PM I cleaned up, put the safety rods in, and made my bed out of two dog beds. Kaya is sleeping with all seven puppies huddled up against her belly.
Return to previous page.