Eyes Wide Open!!!!

Well not exactly but early this morning when I was doing check overs of the pups while getting ready to change the bedding in the whelping box much to my surprise what did I see .... Hot Pink Pup (#9 birth order)(black female) had started to open her eyes today (Day 10).  Also found that Sparkle Pup (#8 Birth order)(liver female)(also the biggest pup till last night) had started the transition as well with the left eye opening. Guess they believe in the Last Out Into the World - First to Do!!!! I guess we'll see if this is a pattern for these two girls! Number nine has reminded me of her Mom since she was born. Why she had similar markings on her face and as she grows I detect some of the same personality. Yeah, I maybe a little silly about this but it's fun!

By the way I apologize for spelling/ grammar errors but if I put something in draft before I post it for some reason I can't get it edited - and I don't have enough time to spend trying to figure it out - Ugh!

Sunday we had some friends visit and they brought Nati a new toy.... to my amazement she actually wanted to play a little and then took it to the whelping box. Every time I try to remove it some how it ends up back in there so I'm not fighting it. Pups seem to enjoy crawling over it and once in a while I find them using it as a pillow... so cute!
Enjoy the pictures - Till Next time!

 



Getting some fresh air on Sunday -



  · · 6 hours ago

A beautiful day at Oakwood Farm!

It was a gorgeous day today, hard to imagine it was so nice hear but the East Coast was getting slammed by Hurricane Irene. Mother Nature sure can be nasty when she want to be!

It was another fun day watching the pups change. Spotting a coloration is coming out more and more. We definitely have both liver and black spots. Not totally sure about the girls but there are two liver and two black for the boys.... another day or two to be more sure on the girls. Don't want to committ and then be wrong.....! I had to expand the rick rack collars for all of them today to give them more room to grow. Preparing for eyes to begin opening over the next week; light will be more subdued in there whelping room to help protect their sensitive eyes as they open.

Happy Birthday - 1 Week Old Today!

Hard to imagine this time last week we were in the middle of Nati whelping the "Nine". The pups celebrated today by getting the ends nipped off of their nails. Second time this week we've done this task... the nails grow quick and can be sharp as little needles. All pups are growing well, trim is filling in on their noses and eyes. Nati  ventures away from the whelping box to visit us after pups have nursed and are sleeping but she doesn't stay away from them for long. Looking forward to the next few days as spots start appearing and coloring becomes more obvious.
More later....

Pictures from the week!

Nati & Pups showing off their rick rack collars!

Chow time!

First Trip to the Vet!

Four days old today Puppies visited our Vet, Dr. Tim Wolf today at Mason Animal Hospital to have their dew claws removed. Dew claws if removed should be done on Day 3 or 4. Our Vet decided today was the day. This procedure isn't a requirement but it is the best thing in the long run for the health of the dog... Dew claws can get caught on things  indoors or obstacles outdoors resulting in a nasty injury to the dog that could have been prevented.

Pups are now color coded with rick rack collars. It was possible to tell them apart up close but was becoming a challenge to keep track from a distance. When they were born we kept a record of their weight, time of birth, and distinguishing marks, This will make our daily check over and weigh ins go faster and smoother as well.

Till next time...

Nati's nine is doing fine!

It is Tuesday... where did Monday go?Picture above is from Sunday, Morning, August 21 at 5:20 am (Nati settled and exhausted with her newborns )
 I've included a link to a slideshow with pictures from Sunday early morning after they all arrived and we got things settled! :-) The slideshow also includes some from later Sunday, Monday, and early this morning....

http://www.kodakgallery.com/video/play.jsp?videoId=142744196408&key=1885572&sourceId=969909816903&cm_mmc=Share-_-Video-_-shareCopyLink-_-Sharee-_-View

I'll write more later about how the past couple days have gone...



Stay tuned... Same channel New Reality Show.....

Surprise...It's now "Nati plus Nine" Day 59, Saturday the puppies decided it was time to make their entrance... and what an entrance it was! Suttle signowed up on Friday. Nati stopped eating , unless it was something really special and then only a snall amount,  That night she got very restless, paced off and on during the night, tried to nest in her crate, visited her whelping box multiple times, etc.etc. Needless to say, Saturday morning came earlier than we wanted since all the restlessness caused Dave and I had to wake up more times than I can count. Saturday morning at about 7:20am Nati wanted to go out and during the walk decided the flower bed might be a good place to nest....:-). I got her in the house and she started nesting diligently in her whelping box, her temperature had dropped and the day starting taking a different course than the plans I had for Saturday... :-).
First pup, a boy, arrived at 410pm on Saturday, August 20, last pup, a girl, arrived at 3:35 am on Sunday August 21.  We have 9 beautiful puppies, 4 boys, 5 girls, no patches - can't tell as yet if any are liver for sure. Largest is 14 1/2 oz and smallest is 12 1/2 oz. Nati was a calm, collected matron through the whole whelp - no distress even during the 4 hour 17 minute wait between pup #3 and pup #4. I called our vet at the 3 hour mark and he arrive around  9:30 pm on Sat. evening.  Was surprised and pleased Nati was not distressed but new she had 7 more pups to whelp. He administered an oxytocin shot. #4 came but it was too early to be attributed to the shot. Then #5, 6, and then 7 came later. Under his instruction  I administered one more oxy shot to help the last two come since more than 2 hours had passed since pup 7.  Then 8 and 9came,  Nati was so tired but she was a trooper! :-). Sleep finally came for us at  6:00 am today after getting everything cleaned up... and having Nati plus Nine settled. I'll post some pictures later.. we have some great shots and Dave has some video clips!

Ignore the title of the last post - Getting ahead today is Day 58!!!!!

Friday, Day 59 - Just waiting!

During Nati's pregancy her normal routine has been pretty much maintained...
Nati spends at least a part of most every weekday with Kathy while Dave and I our at work. Kathy will pick her up at some point to go have all kinds of fun,  walks in a large park near where we live, spends times with Kathy and Mark's grandkids, spends time hanging out at Kathy and Marks house or maybe at one of Kathy's daughters houses, goes for rides when Kathy runs errands, etc.etc.  Kathy, her husband Mark and their family are longtime friends of our family; actually, they are more than friends they are extended family... :-) Kathy, and Mark consider Nati one of their Granddogs. When Nati first came to live with us, Kathy and three of her grandkids (I think there are 15 total now) came to visit us hours after we got her home, brought her her first "pink toy", gave her the moniker of "Princess" and the rest has been history... Truthfully, Nati may be one of the luckiest dogs around with the love and attention she gets from so many. She is spoiled but she still is treated like a dog...We are really are blessed. Now that Nati is expecting Kathy and Mark are anticipating being Great Grandparents to the grand pups... and a lucky bunch of puppies they will be...
Last night after taking care of our cows and doing some other chores I sat quietly with Nati as she stretched out on the couch; watching and feeling the puppies move around in her tummy. They were pretty active and Nati just chilled. I've added a picture  though not the best picture of some of our cows/ calves. We had a full calf crop of 8 this year.  It appears that both Cows and Dals are being highly productive at Oakwood Farm this year!

Waiting with Anticipation.....

.... the arrival of "9" puppies. Yes, we saw nine puppies very neatly packed inside Nati when we visited Dr. Tim Wolf our Vet yesterday afternoon. Initially the thought was eight with a possible nine but a second picture verified there were "9" He was very pleased with Nati's condition (coat, weight, etc.) at this point in the pregnancy. That was encouraging to hear, good girl Nati! Now we wait for the arrival of puppies, happy,healthy puppies! I'm including a picture of Nati from our walk around the yard when we returned home from her exam. She laid down and wanted to enjoy the scenery... and maybe a little tired of carrying around her well packed "load".

On another note wanted to let everyone know that this is my first attempt at trying to Blog so don't expect much. I hope to post dailey but might not be able to fulfill that so be patient.....:-). I've never been good about keeping a diary much to my Dad's dismay... His Mom wrote an entry in a diary dailey and when I was growing up he encouraged me to try, which I did unsucessfully. Let's see how it goes this time.

Stay tuned .............

Day 56 (Due Date 7 Days Away)

This afternoon we take Nati for an exam by Dr. Tim her Vet to get a handle on number of pups to expect at whelping time. Mort to follow....stay tuned!