Phoebe's Debut

Momma Tutti and Baby Phoebe
22 days old

photo courtesy of our friend Ed Goldstein

Family

Momma Tutti and Baby Phoebe are doing fine. I’ll continue blogging on dam and pup soon.

There’s been a tragedy in my family. My brother’s granddaughter – my grand-niece – was killed Saturday evening in a one car accident. Not quite sixteen years old. She was in the rear seat of a car traveling down a back country road in Texas at dusk. She was not wearing a seat belt. They believe the right wheel went off the pavement, the driver over-corrected and flipped the car. Ema was partially ejected. She died at the scene. Her girlfriend in the rear seat with her is in intensive care at an area hospital, held in an induced coma. The two boys in the front were not hurt seriously.

Emilia Leigh
Oct 19, 1992 - May 10, 2008

Day Three in the Life of a Puppy: the Trifecta

Blogging the birth of a puppy.

The critical first three days. The breeders trifecta: the dam nurses the whelps, the dam cleans the whelps, the dam moves carefully around the whelps; the whelps attach to the teat, the whelps eliminate easily, the whelps scream if hurt; the breeder keeps the whelps attached; the breeder keeps the whelps warm; the breeder keeps the whelps safe.

You make many decisions – large and small – in these first three days but all actions have to be balanced on the trifecta: the dam's responsibility, the whelps reaction, the breeders care. The breeder has to make it easy for the dam and the whelp to do the right thing and difficult to do the wrong thing. Coercion does not work. Weakness is dangerous. Inconstancy is deadly.

Smooth. Smoooooth. Smooth like a warm wind. It is easier for the dam and the whelp to move with the wind than against it.

Pater, Filio, Esprito Sancto. The creator, the begotten, the will to live.

When I decide to climb into the whelping box with Tutti I do so knowing that I could be overbalancing the trifecta. If she were a bitch with less self possession, she could just give up to me. You do this, she could say. Or, I’m a baby too, so take over for me. She needs to bond to the whelp and be the dam. She should take comfort in my guidance but not be too brightly aware of my every move.

When the whelp got in trouble that first night, I “took her away” from Tutti but I bottle fed the pup as close to Tutti as was reasonable. When I cleaned the pup, I made Tutti eat some of the defecation. I offered Tutti the cotton swab to smell the urine. I praised her quietly when she did the right thing.

When she wouldn’t settle last night, I let my body warm Tutti and be her protection. She could rest against me and know that my hand held the pup against her warm body. She was the puppy’s protection. She needed to settle. She needed to sleep. It seemed the right thing to do at the time. I tried to be just the warmth that she needed and for only the time she needed it.

Smooth. Persistent. Directional.

Two Dogs and a Monkey

10:00 pm – Tutti is on her side and breathing fairly normally, although a little shallow and quick for my peace of mind but she’s not panting.

I have the flashlight out so I can find the little nubbette in Tutti’s black fur without disturbing anyone. I’m always watching for the attachment. When you struggle to keep a pup on the teat you feel so powerless and ineffectual. That’s why you fall in love with the vigorous attachers.

2:00 am – Tutti pants lightly, then heavily, a big sigh and then repeats the pattern. Squeaks and grunts from the puppy get only Tutti’s half attention but if I rustle in bed she is brightly watchful of my every move. She is not settling down.

2:15 am – I took her out for a quick pee. She has not evacuated her bowels since the birth. I am now in the whelping box with her and puppy. The puppy is sleepy and doesn’t want to attach but seeks warmth under Tutti’s armpit.

Tutti is relaxing against me, spooning on my crooked leg. The muscles in her back are melting in a peaceful nap. She moves her head up occasionally to bump my arm. Her breathing is sleepy and normal. Together is the best place to be, she says.

2:45 am – She’s twitching in her sleep, having a dream.

3:00 am – Well, I’m pretty uncomfortable here in the whelping box. I’ve my pillow at the small of my back to ease the hard edge of the sideboard. My legs are straight out in from of me. It is a good position for flexing the Achilles tendon in prevention of planar fasciitis, which I don’t have thanks to the whelping box exercise regime here. The puppy likes me to cup her little body with my warm hand and Tutti likes my other hand lightly draped on her off shoulder. The two of them are peaceful and contented. I’m okay. I’m fine. I’m listening with ear bugs to Ian Punnett, Coast to Coast AM, late-late night radio. My butt hurts numbly. I think Harley Hogg bikers call this “monkey butt” when it’s numb but it still aches.

3:30 am – Tutti stretched luxuriously and repositioned a shoulder. It gave me the chance to leave the box. All my bones creak. I’m sitting on the little green side chair and recounting the last hour and a half. My butt still belongs to the monkeys. I’m looking forward to slipping over to the big bed for a nap when a little feeling returns to my sacral iliac region.

Nursing and Character

Phoebe is 8 3/8 ounces now. She seems so small and delicate but she is so vigorous. Opinionated too. Twenty-seven hours old and she has her preferences.

Tutti is attentive to Phoebe’s grunts, smacks, and squeaks and is cleaning the puppy regularly now. Phoebe protests. But it all just ends up with an even more thorough cleaning which makes the puppy protest all the louder. If you squeak, you must be cleaned. If you squeak a lot, you must be cleaned a lot. If you are too quiet, you must be cleaned. Phoebe cannot win this one so she finally stops squirming, furrows her microscopic brow, and produces the puppy poo as directed.

Tutti’s panting has not stopped altogether but it is not convulsing her body. Her eyes are soft and calm. Her temperature is 102 degrees. She drinks copious amounts of water. I feed her small handfuls of kibble at a time and nice squeezes of NutriCal. She belches like a sailor.

Watching this puppy reminds me of the other whelps. She seems so small but she is in the middle of the weight range.

Litter one
Puppy Weight 8/25/2003
Luna, female 5 1/4
Keltie, female 5 5/8
Bruiser, male 8 7/8

Litter two
Puppy Weight 3/8/2006
Cigar, male 8 3/8
Gryffindor, male 7
Andrew, male 10 3/8
Angel, female 7 1/2
Jazzy, female 9

I remember each and every one of them. They all come out with a little personality and although they mature and develop, still I see that continuity of character.

Puppy weight at birth does not always correspond to their development in the litter. The best indicator of that is attachment to the teat. Jazzy is the example. From the moment she was placed on her mother, she attached and hung on like a parasite. Even when she was not sipping the nectar of life, she hung on. Asleep? Attached! She actually popped when you pulled her off the teat. If you put her little mouth close to a teat, she snapped on like a magnet. I was actually concerned that she might develop a malformed mouth.

Jazzy’s littermate Cigar was the opposite. He was my lost puppy. He regularly got lost in the whelping box and then screamed and threw his head around like a blind horse. I had to put him close to a teat and warm him up in cupped hands to get him to settle and attach. Even then he would mumble complaints on the teat as he nursed. I did finally lose him after 10 days. He was a pretty boy, a brown brindle with gold tipped hairs.

The Pup Nurses: We Have Milk Let-Down!

Dr. Otero called to check on progress. We think the panting results from postsurgical discomfort. Tutti was given a short acting pain injection after surgery yesterday. It’s really tricky with a whelp so small to add pain medication to the dam’s system. Dr. O advices we give Tutti a short dose of oxytocin to facilitate milk let-down. The flat muscle uterine contractions will also facilitate a return to normal for Tutti. Tutti received a middling dose of oxytocin after surgery yesterday. But I think her discomfort last night effected milk production. It’s critical that the pup nurses these first two days so that she will be covered by the dam’s immunity. Brad is on his way to pick up the dose.

Intramuscular injection in hind leg. Brad assisted me and gave an involuntary twitch when I inserted the needle. I’m not very practiced but I did a good enough job. Tutti is resting on her side, the puppy has just finished nursing on the favorite teat which indeed has milk. I can see a creamy white ring rimming the pink sucker-tongue.

I’m sitting on the outside of the whelping box with my hand draped on Tutti’s side. She’s passing gas. Pew-eee! This is world class, run-you-out-of-the-room stinky. But this is good news because it shows that the intestinal track is working. She has not evacuated her bowels yet.

Pat called to check on the family. “Zero Odor,” she says, to eliminate the smell. At Bed Bath & Beyond. It doesn’t leave a sickly perfume covering scent. Yes, that product and a gas mask will make it possible to stay in the same room with the stench producing offender. .

Pup Needs Assistance: Climbing in the Whelping Box to Help

11:00 pm Tutti is increasingly restless and uncomfortable. The puppy is suckling, moving from teat to teat and crying. Tutti tries her best to hold still but the panting convulses her whole body. I’ve climbed into the whelping box to stroke her full body with both hands. She leans against me and allows the puppy to suckle but she is glassy-eyed. She holds herself stiffly in order to allow the puppy to nurse. I think her milk is not letting down or is slowing down because she is so uncomfortable.

Tutti’s temp is 102. Maybe a little elevated.

Puppy is dehydrated and is 7 ½ ounces – down from 8 1/8 ounces at birth. Pup is slightly lethargic. Her movements are uncoordinated.

11:10 pm – I’ve taken the pup away from Tutti and am bottle feeding her. Tutti is leaning against my back here in the whelping box. At first the pup resists the nipple but then she gets it in her mouth and – wow! This tastes like paradise. She sucks hungrily. Burping her. Cleaning her. Resting her. Feeding her. Tutti has settled behind me, still panting but easing up on the stiffness. Her panting has lessened

1:30 am – I’ve bottle fed her as much as she wants, stopping to let her burp and rest and warm up in my hands. She likes to be cupped in the navy blue warm blankey. She likes to suckle in an upright position with her neck gracefully curved to open up the throat. She likes to sleep and be warmed turned the other way around in cupped hands. Her belly is plump like an engorged tick. Her movements are smooth.

2:30 am – This has been very scary.

Brad says that he looked in on us at about 6:30 am. I was curled up in the whelping box with Tutti spooned in my tummy and the puppy cupped in two hands in front of me. I was snoring. I take issue with the snoring part.

He should have taken a picture because no one will believe that I slept in a 36” x 42” box.

Puppy's First Night: Something's Wrong Here

Something’s going wrong with the nursing. Is the puppy nursing well? She looks lean and wrinkled. Tutti is not comfortable. She pants heavily. She has not yet cleaned the puppy but sits carefully still to be nursed.

I need some sursing data.

Suckle, begin 8:10 pm, end 8:26 pm. nursing stopped when Tutti moved. She went to drink. Has discharge from vulva. Discharge smells fine (that is to say, it does not smell putrid). I put puppy in the warming basket. Tutti continues to pant. I cleaned the puppy. She eliminates well. Tutti showed interest when the pup squeaked but won’t clean her yet. Tutti cleans up after herself but only occasionally.

Suckle, begin 8:45 pm, end 9:15 pm. Tutti moved away for a rest. During nursing, pup has strong attach and suckle. She turns her head away when I put the teat to her cheek. Stubborn girl. To tempt her I open a can of Esbilac to place drops of milk on teat. By the time I return she had attached to her favorite teat. Tutti drank the jigger of milk instead. When drops of milk fell on Phoebe, Tutti licked her.

Suckle, begin 9:18 pm, end 9:51 pm. Pup is complaining even as she is suckling. Suckling vigorously. Eliminating when I clean. Tutti still panting heavily but holding still when pup nurses.

Suckle, begin 9:53 pm, end 10:15 pm. Found a new teat. Making loud sucking noises but complaining from time to time as she nurses.

Ed and Fran called at about 9:00. They’re traveling with Jazzy to visit family. Spending the night in Evanston, WY. Jazzy is charming all new acquaintances at the hotel. E & F like the name “Phoebe” – the name that Brad suggests. It means “shining”. I’m thinking of a registered name Wee Dram’s City on a Hill and Phoebe would fit fine. (Jazzy is Tutti's pup from last litter, 2 years old.)

Suckle, begin 10:22 pm. Something’s wrong here. Phoebe looks wrinkled. Tutti is still panting and won’t lay down. Tutti is glassy-eyed.

A Puppy Is Born: She's An "Only"

Blogging the Birth of a Puppy

She is an “only.” We thought the Day 54 x-rays showed two big puppies with the possible shadow of a third. Eight days later on Day 62 we saw only her. Her back was to us with head tucked. There floating off the film was a perfect anterior skull case brightly boxed on the breath of dark background, then a straight spine gracefully laced down to the shadow of hips. A gossamer ribcage arched around the thoracic, like folded wings.

This “only” puppy is a bit of a shock to me because Momma Tutti became so round in the last three weeks. I was sure she had at least three in there. She waddled when she walked and had to be coaxed to go more than just around the block. I began to feed her twice a day. Tutti ate all she was given. Healthy appetite. (Voracious appetite if truth be told.)

My husband Brad & I have been watchful as the pregnancy progressed to its terminus. Tutti just turned 8 years April 26 and this will be her last litter. Momma Tutti is healthy, happy, bright and active. But the sands of time -- les sables du temps -- slip through that tiny waist of the hourglass for us all and its passage cannot be denied. She may look young but whelping is hard on Scotties. This is her last litter. Her first two had been by Caesarian section so this had to be as well.

Scotties can have a difficult time whelping, especially these short-backed show bitches. (Read: Tutti) Scotties are big dogs – except for those legs. The whelps are big-headed and big-shouldered. They can get stuck in the birth canal.

Phoebe was born by C-section at 9:00am. She’s 8 1/8 ounces. When Dr. Otero brought her in on a big fluffy towel, she looked so tiny and lonely. She is vigorous and squeaks for Momma’s milk. The umbilical cord is fresh and supple. A brindle bitch.

Tutti wanted to be home.

So here we are. Tutti is panting from surgical discomfort but holding still for the nursing.

A brindle bitch. I can't be happier.