Puppies, puppies, puppies…
Well what a week it has been! We thought Bee was ready to give birth during last Monday evening as she had settled into her whelping box and her temperature had dropped a degree, which is a sign of going into labour. I spent Monday night getting up every time I heard a sound from her, so I got very little sleep. However, Bee’s gorgeous puppies started arriving from 16.50 on Tuesday 10th March. As I was busying myself in the kitchen, I noticed Bee contracting. I called to my husband, Frank, as I saw a tiny black bundle emerge. Our first little puppy had been born - a little black girl. Bee wasn’t sure of her role at this point, so we split open the sac and made sure the pup was breathing before we cut the umbilical cord. Bee was sniffing around her and slowly starting to lick her. It was utterly magical! As we were sat fascinated by this little creature, number two was born. A slightly larger and more robust golden boy came into the world. He looked two-tone from where his fur was rippled from being wet. Again, we assisted Bee getting him out of the sac and cutting his umbilical cord as she hesitated in dealing with this pup, but was licking him well once he was free of the placenta and sac.
Within the following two hours, we had two more gorgeous little golden girls! This time, it was as if instinct kicked in and Bee dealt with these two on her own (although I did break the sac near their heads just to get them out sooner). So far so good!
Sadly, it didn’t last, the fifth pup that came out was a golden boy who had sadly died in the sac in the womb. I got him out of the sac quickly, but he wasn’t breathing. Both Frank and I tried to resuscitate him but with no luck and unfortunately, we couldn’t save this one. After this pup, I wasn’t sure about any more coming out. We had never been 100% certain as to how many there were at the scan, it was so difficult to tell. However, to our delight, another little black boy made an appearance. We had five gorgeous puppies and Bee was looking very slender! She was tired but she was doing so incredibly well. At this point, Frank and I managed to get some pizza inside us – we were also feeling pretty exhausted!!
We really thought that Bee had had all her pups after number six, but almost two hours later, she seemed to be having contractions again. She gave birth to another little black boy, who arrived with no sac. Bee started to lick him as usual but, to our horror, this little one split open. I’ll spare you the details, but he didn’t survive. It was very sad. We knew, as soon as this one was out, that Bee had given birth to all her puppies. She couldn’t have held anymore inside her! We had five healthy, gorgeous labrador puppies, who were going to change our lives for the foreseeable future!
Photograph by Mike Beck
They are now a week-old and they have already grown so much – putting on a fair amount of weight each day! They are all strong pups and I’ve already had to trim their teeny tiny nails! They move quickly, suckle noisily and sleep peacefully – until they start annoying each other and then they squeal! They are just the most adorable little creatures and their characters are already beginning to show through.
Photograph by Mike Beck
Bee has been an incredible mum – she feeds and cleans them with no assistance from us. She’s very patient with them and doesn’t seem to mind being crawled over. We couldn’t have asked for a better mum. And she’s got her figure back!!!
Photograph by Mike Beck
So far, the experience of breeding puppies has been such an incredible and fascinating journey and totally wonderful. At least I’ll be kept busy if/when there’s a coronavirus lockdown!