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Click on the pictures below to see puppy pictures: Thursday, December 4, 2003 – Day 1 – 0 days old Jazzy had her first contraction around 1:00 am, just a few minutes after we had gone to bed. At 1:39 a.m., Jazzy delivered a dark purple/brown blob (like my technical jargon?) that we determined to be a placental sack from a reabsorbed puppy. Close examination found a small, solid mass that was the mummified fetus. Up to this point, we had remained in the bedroom. After the delivery of the reabsorbed fetus, we moved to the whelping room downstairs. Jazzy had a couple more contractions but then things slowed down for a while…a long while. Between 2:00 and 4:00 didn’t even have any noticeable contractions (though I wouldn’t know for sure, I went upstairs for some shuteye, not even knowing it was almost all I would get over a 64 hour period). She was agitated and panting heavily, but that was it. She had a contraction at 5:48 and another 10 minutes later, so we thought things were moving along, but then there was nothing for almost an hour. At 7:30, e called the vet and he said that as long as she wasn’t in hard labor, we shouldn’t worry. Sandee and Lloyd showed up around 9:00? And the wait continued. Finally, contractions resumed at 10:02, with the first strong contraction at 10:10. Those were followed by contractions at 10:17 and 10:25…right on track 8 minutes apart. By 11:00 they were coming much more frequently and we were all getting anxious. The room was full with Martha, Ali, Sandee, Lloyd and Jazzy. Neil would have been here but we don’t love him enough so we sent him of to school to get edumacted. Ali was worried she would have to leave for her Dr.’s appointment before the pups were born. The rest of us were worried that nothing had happened yet. She was really going through the wringer. By 20 after 11, she was having contractions as many as two per minute for quite a while. Finally, at 11:43, I called the vet to see what we should do. The assistant who answered the phone told me that he was in surgery, so I told her what was going on. She went to talk to Dr. Black and he told her to have me bring Jazzy in when he was going to be done with surgery…at 1:00. I questioned whether she would be ok in labor for that long and before the Vet Asst. could answer, I was shouting into the phone “never mind, we have a puppy!” Now things were happening fast. The first one out came at 11:48. Jazzy did everything right and licked at the puppy as she came out head first to break the amnionic sac. Sandee exclaimed, “Oh is it small” as she went to work to clean and dry the puppy and tie off the umbilical cord. Like I said, things were happening fast. Before Sandee could finish up, and before I could talk Martha into switching places with me, I was catching puppy number two. We hadn’t even had a chance to determine the sex of the first one and Sandee was still busy tying off the cord. Jazzy was already exhausted by this time. This one came out feet first and Jazzy didn’t even try to break the sac. That left it up to me, but I have to admit I needed help from Sandee. Once that task was complete, it was just a matter of waiting for the placenta to drop, which didn’t take long. I didn’t do a very good job of picking up the placenta, and I think Lloyd was terrified that I was going to drop the puppy (this one was definitely a girl, I got a look) as I swung it to clear her airway. I was pretty helpless…but we got it done. I handed the little girl off to Sandee who had finished up tying off #1 and stowed her in a laundry basket wrapped in towels and with a heating pad for warmth. Now we had a bit of a break and Sandee finished up with number two, who we decided was “Pink Girl” and went back and found that #1 was a female as well. We dubbed her “Purple Girl” and weighed her: an astoundingly small 7 ozs. Pink Girl was a bit better at 9 oz. Just as we were finishing, Jazzy had another contraction. This one was about 12:10, and the puppy was born at 12:26. This one came out feet first with the amnionic sac already broken and the umbilical severed. There was no sign of the placenta. Compared to the first two, this one was a giant, and since he came out feet first with no sac, I was able to identify it as a boy before his head was even out! He would be “Blue Boy” and weighed in at a respectable 14 oz. Again, a short break before contractions resumed at 1:01. There was one contraction…then there was Yellow girl. She just slid on out with no real effort after big blue…she also came out with the sac broken and the umbilical detached, but she dove into life headfirst, just like her oldest sister. Like her three siblings, Yellow girl is ridged, but she has a third crown. After that, it was a waiting game. We needed to be sure that Jazzy passed the two missing placentas, and we were expecting and hoping for another puppy since we thought there were six on the ultrasound. No such luck. Yellow is the youngest of the litter. Jazzy did deliver both placentas later in the day, but no more puppies. All four nursed pretty quickly, but Jazzy was completely disinterested and was still agitated. I had to hold her down while Sandee placed the puppies on her nipples. She was not happy with the situation, but she endured it. The puppies spent most of the afternoon in a laundry basket with a heating pad, since Jazzy was still so agitated. When we brought them out to nurse, we quickly saw that each puppy already had a personality developing. There was the very vocal Pink, who cried for mama anytime she wasn’t touching Jazzy (boy did this have Jazzy worked up, she wasn’t ready to have the puppies with her yet, but she HATED the squealing). Then there was Yellow girl, who seems content all the time, but offers fun and excitement for those watching while she eats…usually precariously balanced over Jazzy’s leg, lying on her back and simulating a back-stroke as she enjoys her meal. Big Blue wants to reach out and touch everyone. Even though he is the biggest, he is happiest lying on top of his little sisters. Purple is adorable in her daintiness. She is quite active for such a small critter and is much stronger than she looks. She is usually at the center of our small puppy pile. Sandee and Lloyd stuck around until about 8:00, then headed home. I went upstairs and got a couple hours of sleep while Martha and Ali puppy sat. I got up at 11:15 and set up camp next to the puppies for the night. Martha and I had planned for her to relieve me at 4:00 a.m. so I could get a couple hours of sleep before work, but somehow during the night the clock got advanced by an hour. When she came down, I thought it was 5:00 and that she had just come late, so I told her never mind…I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, and I didn’t think it was worth trying for an hour and a half. Of course, it would have been two and a half hours, but I was a bit confused. Anyway, Martha went back to bed until 6:15, when I got her up so I could go to work. Through the night, Jazzy was learning how to mother. She was most content when all four puppies were nursing, and anytime a puppy get beyond paws length, she would look at me and whine for me to return it (usually him) to her side. She was coming around quickly. Early on, we had thought that we would have to keep the puppies away from her except when she was feeding them, but as it turns out, she wanted them right there with her. She was very careful around them, moving them out of her way when she needed to change positions. She gets very concerned when they whine and looks for help, as if I understand what they are asking for. Friday, December 5, 2003 – Day 2 – 1 day old I wasn’t around most of the day. I went to work after staying up all night with the puppies. Martha was home with them and found that Jazzy was getting better and better at caring for them. It quickly progressed to the point where Martha was comfortable leaving Jazzy and the puppies for a few minutes at a time. At work, everyone was excited and really enthusiastic about the pictures on the web site. Dimitri told me, “They have your eyes.” Lot’s of humor and laughter about the litter. We’ll have plenty of volunteers for the socialization committee from my office! I got home about 7:30 p.m. and went directly to sleep, therefore missing almost all of day 2. Saturday, December 6, 2003- Day 3 – 2 days old This was a big day for the little guy and gals. I woke up at 4:15 a.m. and panicked: Martha was in bed and the baby monitor wasn’t in the room. Before Martha could respond to my exclamation, I threw on my sweat pants and was headed for the door. As I went on my way downstairs, she told me that Alison and Neil were staying up with the puppies. My heart still doing flip flops, I went downstairs to check on the new family. Neil was asleep on the couch, but Ali was on duty. I sent her to bed and went back to sleep in the puppy room. The sleeping bag and sleeping pad I set up on day 1 has become a permanent part of the room. We are still trying to get Jazzy eating right. So far, all she wants is “Bitch’s Milk,” a recipe Sandee gave us that contain eggs, milk and gelatin. She’ll eat a bit of kibble, as long as it comes with a generous serving of the milk or is drenched in chicken broth. She’s eating small portions many times throughout the day, and you can hear it splashing into her empty stomach each time she eats or drinks. At 10:40, we began our preparation to take the puppies to the vet: start the car, throw towels in the dryer to warm them, turn on the heating pad in the laundry basket. Of course, the weather had to be colder than it had been averaging. That’s just the way things work. As we were heading out, Nellie got her first scent of the puppies. Jazzy didn’t even look at her. That was good, we thought Jazzy might be overprotective with Nellie, but her presence in the room with the basket of puppies didn’t bother Jazzy at all. We got to the vet and there was a woman and her daughters there with Connor, an 8 week old Golden Retriever puppy. He was an adorable ball of fluff, but even his excited new family was thrilled at the idea that we had 2 day old puppies. They were a bit disappointed we couldn’t open the basket to show them, but they enjoyed listening to the sounds coming from inside. Meantime, Jazzy was furiously trying to see her puppies. Dr. Black examined her first and declared her fit. Then each puppy had his or her turn to have Dr. Black listen to their hearts and lungs, weigh them and check their mouths and palates. I expressed concern that Yellow girl never seemed to get enough milk, and could he make certain she didn’t have a cleft palate. I was relieved when he said “Perfect”. It turns out that the scale that we had used was not very accurate for the smaller puppies. It was right on at Blue’s 14 ozs., but Yellow and Pink both weighed in at 7.6 oz, and tiny Purple was only 5.4 ozs. Then it was off to the surgery room for removal of the dew claws. This is a very simple procedure, and Dr. Black even said that it wouldn’t be a big deal to do it at home ourselves, except that without surgical scissors and surgical glue there would likely be a lot more scarring. He started with Blue boy, who let out a startling large yelp for such a little guy. It was enough to make Jazzy freeze three rooms away. It was over quickly and each of them went back into the basket to go back to mom. Of course, Blue’s smaller sisters each went through their ordeal with far less fuss, I guess proving that real males have no pain tolerance… While we were out, Sandee and Lloyd stopped by to drop off a few things: some venison for Jazzy (a bit for me too), cart/stand for the whelping room to help us get rid of some of the clutter, and a couple of other odds and ends. Despite Sandee’s statement that they had to go, we spent an hour in the kitchen talking about – you guessed it – dogs. Jazzy is trying to make a nest in the whelping box, but there is no extra material to do it with. This has her very frustrated and she is pawing persistently at the sheet covering the floor of the box. She gets very anxious and seems to lose track of the puppies while she is doing this. We don’t know why she is doing it, but it looks to me like she is trying to cover the soiled area of the sheet, so I change the sheet again hoping that would help. It did not. Only by putting the puppies on her to nurse can I get her calmed down. I went out today and bought some carpet pad to put down under the linoleum floor Sandee and Lloyd brought as part of the whelping box. I figured it would provide some additional comfort and warmth by giving them some layers between them and the basement floor. I also bought a digital postal scale so that we could keep better track of the puppies’ weights. When I got back home and got the box reset with the padding underneath, I put each pup on the new scale to find that it was pretty much on with Dr. Black’s. They were each 1 to 2 tenths of an ounce heavier, which could have been weight gain. When I weighed them at the end of the day, each of them was up in weight. Purple actually reached 6 ozs! Sunday, December 07, 2003 – Day 4 – 3 days old We left the puppies alone most of the night, with the bay monitor on in our room. They did fine, except that around each feeding time, they would get agitated and Jazzy would have trouble getting them all close to her, so I would come down to help. Around 4:00 a.m., Jazzy began her nesting/digging again and the puppies sounded VERY agitated, so I came downstairs. Jazzy really wanted a nest, so I took an extra sheet and clipped it to the top of the whelping box so that she had a “cave.” She became very content and went to sleep for the longest straight time I have seen since the puppies were born. The puppies seemed to like the cave too and spread out underneath the canopy. Monday, December 08, 2003 – Day 5 – 4 days old Jazzy is really becoming self sufficient. She is less apprehensive about leaving the puppies to go outside, and is showing more excitement when her two legged family comes in the room. She is eating a lot and looks like she is producing a lot more milk than she has. We were a bit worried about Purple girl. She didn't seem to be gaining weight and didn't seem to nurse for very long. She seemed very weak at times and there were a few times when she was so still I had to stare at her to be sure she was still breathing. This evening she seems to have turned the corner. She is more animated and has gained over 1/2 ounce today. Relatively speaking, she is still very small (see the chart below), but she seems a lot stronger now. Blue boy has a habit already. Whenever he is not feeding, he crawls off to lay under the ledge of the whelping box, out of the heat lamp. He seems content to sleep there away from Jazzy and his sisters. Several people who have visited the site have asked me about the color designations instead of names. Simple: the puppies will receive their names from the human families they adopt. In the meantime, we have to use something so we know who we are talking about! Tuesday, December 09, 2003 – Day 6 – 5 days old All the puppies look a lot bigger today. They have more strength and are crawling around the entire whelping box. Jazzy has to be more careful when she lays down and it seems to bug her a bit, but she is doing ok with it. She was really excited to see me when I got home from work. For the first time since the puppies were born she was wagging from nose to tail and gave me her usual greeting. I was a bit worried she would step on a puppy in her excitement, but she was careful. Pink puppy was sleeping on her back between Jazzy's paws. It was the first time I have seen any of them lie on their back. All of them are continuing to gain weight at a good pace, and Jazzy is eating voraciously. Wednesday, December 10, 2003 – Day 7 – 6 days old More of the same today. Jazzy is eating a lot. The puppies are nursing a lot. The puppies seem to be intentionally moving out of the heat of the heat lamp and into the shade of the ledge that goes all the way around the whelping box. I'm getting more sleep
thanks to Jazzy settling down, though she does h Thursday, December 11, 2003 – Day 8 – 7 days old Today was a very sad
day in our house. Yellow girl, the last puppy born died this afternoon.
She had been gaining weight steadily, and appeared
to be in perfect health. No one was in the room when she died, but she
was examined by a vet and he determined that there was no sign of trauma,
so it doesn't appear that Jazzy stepped on her, accidentally smothered
her, I buried yellow in one of our flower gardens where a small statue of a Lion will watch over her grave. Friday, December 12, 2003 – Day 9 – 8 Days old Today was almost as hard as yesterday. Jazzy has been searching all over for yellow and here frantic behavior is endangering the other puppies. She keeps picking them up and moving them out of the whelping box so she can try to dig in the box to look for Yellow. We disinfected and deodorized everything in the room to try to eliminate Yellow's scent and that seems to be working, but Jazzy is still very anxious and looking for her. We have had to keep Jazzy away from the puppies any time we can't be in the room with them. Hopefully, she will calm down soon. Saturday, December 13, 2003 – Day 10 – 9 Days old Sandee recommended we move Jazzy up to our bedroom to see if this would calm her and this opinion was reaffirmed by several other breeders (you all know who you are, thank you!). I threw together a smaller whelping box and up came the space heater and heat lamp along with Jazzy and the pups. At least I get to not sleep in my bed instead of lying on the basement floor in a sleeping bag. We noticed an immediate difference. It took Jazzy about five minutes to figure out that we had moved her whole family, but she calmed down significantly and began cleaning and nursing the pups without any encouragement for the first time since Thursday morning. Sunday, December 14, 2003 – Day 11 – 10 Days old Oops! I left off a safety rail around the inside of the new whelping box–this could have been a disaster as the pups could have been smothered against the wall of the box. No problem though. A quick trip to Home Depot and the box had rails! Nothing else really new today except that Jazzy has taken to laying on our bed where she can look down into the litter box at her little ones. Smart girl! Monday, December 15, 2003 – Day 12 – 11 Days old Another Oops! I installed the rails with 3 inches clearance underneath. As quickly as the pups are growing, they already don't really fit under it. A quick reinstall before work with 5 inches clearance and Martha and I both feel better about their safety. Blue is definitely a Ridgeback — he loves food! He amazed us today by gaining 1/4 lb. in 12 hours! It's amazing there was any milk left for anyone else. Also, It's a darn good thing I move the rails this morning! He probably would have woken up from a nap and been stuck in there! Tuesday, December 16, 2003 – Day 13 – 12 Days old Big news! Ali and I were talking this morning while watching the puppies and I caught a glimpse of white in Pink's eye. Her eyes were starting to open. By the end of the day when Martha and I got home from work, all three puppies had partially open eyes. Purple is over 1 1/4 lbs. today. She had us a little nervous again because her weight gain seemed to have slowed, but she's gained 3.4 ozs. over the past two days! Jazzy seems to realize that Purple needs special attention. She seems to be intentionally nursing her alone at times, since Pink and Blue often chase her off the nipple she is on. What a smart mother! Wednesday, December 17, 2003 – Day 14 – 13 Days old All three puppies eyes are completely open today. Pink has taken her first steps, though she doesn't get far without falling. It's really exciting to see all of the changes happening so quickly! Thursday, December 18, 2003 – Day 15 – 14 Days old All three puppies' ears are opening and all three have started walking a little bit! Pink and blue even wrestled a little bit. They are definitely becoming more animated and curious, though they still spend the majority of their time eating and sleeping! Friday, December 19, 2003 – Day 16 – 15 Days old Nothing really new today, they are walking more and are a bit more playful. Purple seems to be happiest when she is sleeping on top of Blue. Of course, if he won't lie still for her, she will settle for being on top of Pink. Monday, December 22, 2003 – Day 19 – 18 Days old There haven't been a lot of significant changes over the past couple days. Nothing worth writing about anyway. All three are teething. Blue likes to whine all night long now...at least it seems that way. He has quite the howl for a little guy. Of course, at more than 5 pounds, he isn't so little compared to the other two. He really only whines for a few minutes at a time, but he clearly lets us know he wants something. Sandee has dubbed him "Gimmel," as in the letter in the game of Dreidel that means "take all." Tuesday, December 23, 2003 – Day 20 – 19 Days old We gave them their first toy today. It is a little stuffed chipmunk. Blue immediately played with it for a minute, but quickly lost interest and went to sleep. Pink jumped right in and sniffed at it and chewed on it. Purple couldn't have been less interested. They are all really moving around well now and are getting very playful with each other. Blue always wants to play and is constantly chewing on one body part or another of one of the other two...Purple and Pink usually have a look on their faces like, "Gee...you are such a boy..." Thursday, December 25, 2003 – Day 22 – 21 Days old Pink has been picking up the Chipmunk and carrying it around with her. She sets it down next to her when she is feeding...it is very cute. Jazzy is obviously very annoyed by the fact that all three puppies have sharp teeth and obviously aren't very careful while nursing. She is getting up and moving frequently while they are nursing. Friday, December 26, 2003 – Day 23 – 22 Days old Purple decided that Pink has to share the Chipmunk. She picked it up and moved it away from Pink, played with it for a few minutes and then went to sleep next to it. We gave them another toy...a fuzzy bone with a squeaker, but none of them can make it squeak and they aren't really interested in it. I think it is because it is too big for them yet. Saturday, December 27, 2003 – Day 24 – 23 Days old Jazzy has been nursing less, so we gave them their first meal of "Gruel" today. They all ate very enthusiastically for a few minutes, but they did not eat a whole lot. Less than 1/4 cup between the three of them. Blue has a new thing. When he wants something he stands up on the box and tries to climb out, whining at the same time of course. Purple is finally at the point where she will start playing...up until now, she never initiated it. She is getting aggressive with Blue and I think even though he is so much bigger, she is going to put him in his place soon! Sunday, December 28, 2003 – Day 25 – 24 Days old Pink broke the 5 pound mark today. Blue is almost 7 pounds, and little purple broke the 3 pound mark. All three puppies are wrestling together. Before they would wrestle one on one, but now they are all going at it at the same time. There is definitely some teamwork going on from the girls...they paired up against blue and really got the better of him. They got a couple more toys today, one of them a spiked rubber ring that Sandee and Lloyd brought over. They really seem to like that one almost as much as the Chipmunk. Tuesday, December 30, 2003 – Day 27 – 26 Days old They are all eating well and really like the "gruel" now. The three of them finished about 1/2 cup this afternoon. I am convinced that Purple is learning from watching her two younger but larger siblings. First, she followed Pink in picking up and carrying the chipmunk around. Now she is acting like blue trying to climb out of the box. I am afraid Blue is large enough that he will be able to do it soon. We are going to have to move them back into the basement in the next day or two where we still have the larger whelping box and we have more control over where the puppies go. January 2004 Wow! Time has passed so quickly. I sit here writing this on February 2nd, with only Pink Girl left in the house. We settled on a theme of Lord of the Rings related names for the puppies, so we are calling her Kissi's Rose of the Shire aka Rose or Rosie. Purple Girl was dubbed Kissi's Lady Arwyn and Blue boy hasn't received his registered name yet, but will have the call name Oberon. They have grown so much over the past month. Oberon was well over 20 lbs. when he left us and Arwyn was over 10. Rose is still right in between. Their antics are never ending and their personalities have continued to develop. We spent hours and hours watching them in fascination. For every bit of stress they caused, they relieved 10 times as much every time they fell asleep in our arms. Having the puppies in the house has been a great experience. We have hundreds of photographs, lots of memories and quite a few laughs to remember them by, not to mention more than 5 hours of video! Oh, I almost forgot...our honorary puppy, Connor, who not only spent time in the crate with them, but joined them for a meal! Check out the pictures of weeks 7-9 and you will see what I mean! I can't even begin to write about everything the puppies have done over the past month. I have fallen too far behind to ever catch up, so hopefully the pictures will tell the story. And so I will end this journal with a thought, borrowed from Oberon's new dad: Thank you Jazzy and Biko, for making such wonderful puppies!
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ave
to go out a lot more now because she is eating so much.
or dropped her. We decided not to do an autopsy, so we will never know
the cause. Yellow had the most unique coloring of the three puppies
and the most relaxed personality. We will miss her terribly.