The Inspiration

The theme for this litter was inspired by the large size of the litter and the rather lengthy delivery of all 11 puppies, over 13 hours. 

With a Texas sized litter we decided to name each puppy after a town or city in Texas, most of which were named after people.



Huxley - Girl

Born January 17, 2015 at 2:23 p.m.

• 10.6 oz.
• Black curly with white mitts front and back, white chin and white on her belly.
  

 Addison- Girl

Born January 17, 2015 at 6:40 p.m.

• 11.1 oz.
• Black curly with white mitt on front right paw(Michael Jackson inspired), white tip on front left paw, white on belly.
  



Vega - Girl

Born January 17, 2015 at 8:38 p.m.

• 10.8 oz.
• Black wave with white toes, white bib. 
  



 

Channing - Boy

Born January 17, 2015 at 10:35 p.m.

• 16.4 oz.
• Brown curly with slight white on toes and white on his belly.
  



 

Katy- Girl

Born January 17, 2015 at 10:45 p.m.

• 9.9 oz.
• Black curly wavy, white on tips of toes and belly .
  



 Frisco- Boy

Born January 17, 2015 at 11:15 p.m.

• 14.2 oz.
• Black wavy with white gloves on front, mitts on rear and large white bib.
  



 Briscoe - Boy

Born January 18, 2015 at 12:25 a.m.

• 11.1 oz.
• Black wavy with white mark on back of neck and white on belly.
  



 Payton - Girl

Born January 18, 2015 at 1:30 a.m.

• 10.5 oz.
• Black curly with white mitts on front and white on belly.
  



 Trinity - Girl

Born January 18, 2015 at 1:40 a.m.

• 13.0 oz.
• Black wavy with white toes and small white bib.
  



 Bebe - Girl

Born January 18, 2015 at 3:00 a.m.

• 9.2 oz.
• Black wavy, white on tips of toes with white bib.
  



 Sarita - Girl

Born January 18, 2015 at 3:55 a.m.

• 11.5 oz.
• Black wavy, white mitts, white on throat and belly.
  



The Experience

Zoe's due date was January 15th.  Her temperature dropped to 99.3(normal is 100.3-100.5) at 10:30 on the 16th indicating the onset of early labour.  She spent much of the next 24 hours resting, preferring to be under the desk in our den or in her/near her whelping box.  

Zoe was very relaxed, but quite large as you can see..  I like to shave her belly to make it easy for her puppies.

In preparation for labour we all tried to get plenty of rest and i was certainly happy that Mike would be home to assist me.

Saturday morning came and went with no more indications that the next phase of labour had begun.  By 1:00 Zoe was spending more time in the whelping box so I got in with her giving her nice massages to relax her.  At 1:50 she had a light green discharge, so I called my whelping coach extraordinaire Mary MacKay to ensure there was nothing to be concerned about.  We went out for a few washroom breaks and at 2:23 the first puppy was born! 

Relieved that all had gone well with puppy #1 we settled in to prepare for the arrival of the others.  By 6:00 I was back on the phone with Mary who suggested that we let gravity help things along by lifting Zoe's front end up and keep her moving around.  We were thrilled when this resulted in the arrival of puppy #2 at 6:40 p.m..  It was kind of funny as I had just taken her out to the bathroom and Mike had puppy #1 in the warming box.  When Zoe returned, she elected to climb into the  12"w x 24"d box to be with her puppy and sat down.  Moments later we heard the newborn cries of puppy #2. 

Zoe remained relaxed and not in a hurry to deliver her babies and continued to take her time for the remainder of the night and morning, clocking in with a Wheatley Waterdog record breaking time of for longest whelp of 13 1/2 hours.  I even managed to get a few naps in only to be awoken by Mike's strong voice yelling "puppy". 

All went extremely well with no drama or delivery issues.  There were quite a few retained placentas and with concern over Zoe's fever (104 degrees) at 3 a.m. Monday morning, I took her to the emergency clinic for a shot of Oxytocin.  I continued to work to break her fever applying alcohol to the pads of her feet and keeping her cool coat on her, I managed to get her fever down by the afternoon and all was fine.

Zoe's milk came in that afternoon and all puppies began to gain and continued to gain weight with ease.

Thanks so much to Mary and Mike for being there for me!!!