Squeakers in one corner, grunters in the other and wee singers in the next.
Yes we now have all 25 pups on the safe and sound side, all healthy, thriving and growing in front of my eyes.
Leia brought 7 beautiful big babies into this world on Tues.
3 Girls & 4 Boys. Meet Leia's 'LUXURY' Litter
Gucci/Purple Louis Vuitton/Brown
Chanel/White Marc Jacobs/Dark Blue
Prada/Pink Armani/Black
Hermes/Light Blue
It was not a straight forward birth and took a lot of effort, time and zoned in focus to get these babes on the other side naturally, safely and alive. I pulled out all my fancy birthing tricks, stayed on top of things with every ounce of drive I had and eventually pulled this whole event out of the bag with great success. All 7 pups were born naturally and squealing with life with zero losses despite the challenging moments were it got questionable there for awhile. It was a sleepless night for Arai and I but I was over the moon thrilled to see these beautiful faces that my darling Leia had just blessed us with.
I always hope and pray that everything will go smoothly and easily but the fact of the matter is that sometimes mother nature throws a wrench in our plans. It's how we manage these hiccups though and how we recover and decide to forge forward. I am more than blessed and honored to be able to have this opportunity to raise these amazing little magical creatures.
Leia is recovering from her birth well.. with a lot of help, attention, food, extra supplements and a lot of snuggles and love. She has more than effort milk at the milk bar for these pups and has a bit of inflammation due to the abundance of it all. 2 of Isla's pups actually jumped the fence yesterday and put on their after burners to help her out to get that milk flowing a bit faster so to try to avoid mastitis and antibiotics. I'm crossing my fingers we will be able to avoid meds but will get it on board of course if need be.
All her pups are strong though and doing a great job at hooking up all on their own. Leia being a first time mama is a bit unsure of her job and is a bit unsettled when one of her pups goes out of sight. I have always said, I swear these mamas can count! and know exactly when one is missing even though the pup may be not making any sound at all. The side rails always safe the pups from being squished and soon after the count is not right, she finds the wee one and gets it back in amongst the line up. I love watching the instincts kick in over a few days times as these first time mamas do exactly what they were intended to do and settle in by the 3rd day. These pups are already creeping up on their 1st week mark so quick and have already lost this squishy squashy newborn look. The growth rate is incredible. All doing SO well!
Over in Isla's 'CLASSIC TOYS' box, the pups sing with delight and start to ooch and scootch around with great gusto and motivation. Pogo and Gumby are still on the smaller side but are doing fabulously and gaining at a steady rate for them. Pogo is darling as she is quite dark and has the face of an angel. Tonka Jr. and Play-Doh are also quite dark. Everyone else is hovering right in the honey colored range. Every single face screams 'Tonka' to me and I see him in them every day more and more. During their daily handling/ENS work they display Tonka's calm and laid back demeanor loud and clear. Meiko's pups do this as well. I will turn them on their backs and they are simply content with whatever I do to them. ENS work is supposed to place a small amount of stress upon them so they learn how to recover on their own. Not sure these pups are stressed whatsoever! I LOVE seeing how Tonka's demeanor is shining through so early.
Yo-yo is big, fat and wide just like his daddy, Barbie is not quite as petite and small as her name suggests! Lego is smaller but trying to pass his siblings quick and G. I. Joe is motoring right along as Gumby follows him with eagerness and drive.
All these pups are doing equally incredible and I love being part of their daily growth. Here is their 1 week old mugshot pictures. Adorbs!!
Jumping over to Meiko's 'PLANT' pups, they are almost 2 wks. old now (tomorrow). Where did that time go!?! Monstera, Pothos and Aloe along side their sisters Alocasia and Camilla all crossed the 2 lb. mark on Fri. Right on schedule. The others are not that far behind at all. Little Fern is still my little but she is also gaining well and thriving at her own pace. Look at the difference in these faces after only 1 wk! These mugshots were taken last Mon. Completely different looks from the squishy squashies to these plump beautiful filled in wee little pups now.
Going through my camera roll I am not sure I am going to be able to tell which pups are from what litter! especially when taking close up shots. Many of their collar colors are the same. They are all so close in age it's going to be one of my many challenges. Litter names go on the inside of the ribbons just to make sure pups don't get mixed up! Especially when pups are visiting other litters or eventually maybe get combined. Oh the fun ahead!!!
The 'Plant' pups went on a stroller ride earlier this week on one of our beautifully sunny days. Early exposure to motion helps down the chance of them getting future motion sickness. Whether it's in the car or in the stroller, this jostling helps immensely get them ready for the future.
These pups also got to meet their daddy this week as well. He did exactly what I thought he would. He laid down immediately, gave kisses gently and ever so softly. Was calm and collected in his movements and sweet as ever. He has conditioned all my litters since he was 4 mths old and has been a massive benefit to their development.
Neema also is requesting to meet the babies but the days have not been nice enough recently for me to bring them back outside for her to do so. I will not bring her into the nursery at this point as that is the mamas safe zone and everyone is still very new and on lock down. Her and Tonka play endlessly together outside while the mamas tend to their brood. SO glad they have each other as the rest of my pack stays inside most of the time right now. There have been a few days were the mamas will take more than their usual few minute breaks and flop down in the sunshine for a few extra minutes.
Later in the week Isla's TOYS got to go for a stroll... it wasn't pouring raining or pouring, so we darted out!
So much that happened this week, I am trying to recap the best I can!
Aloe came out to say Hi to the other dogs, Tonka said give him to me and Neema said put him back where he came from! Gave him the cold shoulder quick!!! I'll work on her.
Eyes opened for the Meiko pups, snuggles were had and siblings smothered. What else you could you possibly ask for?!
Until next week everyone!
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