WEEK ONE
Week 1 Week 2 Week3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
July 7th & 8th, 2010

As Teva approached being 2 days overdue, we took her to our vet clinic for a c-section. She was not showing many signs of going into labour and we did not think we should wait any longer. The procedure was quick and there must have been about 7 people on hand to help at the vet clinic, so it went very smoothly (so much better than a middle-of-the-night emergency c-section!). At first the vet found 7 puppies and we all thought it was quite amusing that we had 7 puppies born on the 7th of the 7th... then the vet found an 8th puppy that was not quite in the right place (he was in the uterus, but not in one of the horns!). He was the reason why Teva had not started contractions. He was alive and very vigorous and turned out to be the biggest puppy at 17oz.

Teva came through the surgery very well and was nursing the puppies on the clinic floor before we left to come home. She immediately fell into her role as a mother - licking the puppies and providing them with lots of milk.

So far all of the 8 puppies are doing very well and have maintained or gained weight in the first 24 hours. We'd like to introduce them:
Puppy Number Sex Marked Birth Weight (ounces)
1 Male Left Shoulder 15
2 Female Left Ribcage 15
3 Male Left Rump 17
4 Male Top Neck 14
5 Female Top Back 10
6 Female Top Base of Tail 12
7 Male Right Shoulder 14
8 Male Right Ribcage 14
Teva has been reluctant to leave her puppies - we pretty much have to drag her out of the whelping box to go out for short breaks and clean the box. She has recovered very quickly from the surgery and is her usual cheery and waggy self when she's not busy cleaning and feeding puppies. She is very careful not to step or roll over on the puppies, which we greatly appreciate. Just like her dam, Lupine, she is being a great mother! Speaking of Lupine, she'd like to be right in the whelping box herself, but we are letting Teva have her privacy for a while and are keeping the other dogs away from the whelping room.

Days 3 - 5

All of the puppies are steadily gaining weight, which is great. Puppy 2 and Puppy 8 have each put on a whopping 5oz already. The others have gained between 3 and 4 oz. They are also getting increasingly mobile and are quite competent at pulling themselves around by their front legs. Using their noses, they now notice as soon as Teva enters the whelping box and start moving around to find her. Teva is doing very well and is finally learning that she can actually fall asleep in the whelping box and doesn't have to be attending to the puppies every minute of the day and night. She managed a short walk on Saturday, including a little playing with Huxley and a frisbee. On Day 5 the never-ending task of nail trimming begins....
Days 6-7

Teva has been joining us and the other dogs on short walks and is feeling quite spunky! She has been enjoying getting out of the box and rolling around in the grass. The puppies are growing quickly and Teva continues to be a great mother.

They often divide themselves up into two groups of four!
Here is Teva enjoying a walk with "grandpa" Huxley.