Outside Fun

Today's been a big day for our little puppies! Not only did they get their first 'real' meal, but they also got to explore outside for a little bit.  And we are also very excited, because in this post, we're going to tell you the puppies' names!

We put all the puppies in order of their birth.  So without further ado, we introduce you to the first puppy of the litter, a little male named Oliver :)

Then for our very curly, little boy we have Carter!

And our black/white male is Atlas :)

And Atlas' twin brother who's all black, Ryder!

After each puppy got their picture taken, we put them out in the grass with Zoey and Dixie.

:)

Then next up and the first little girl, we have Daisy!

Dixie, keeping an eye on everyone.

Then our apricot female, Ginger :)

And our other apricot female, Willow!

And for the last girl, we have our sweet Lexi :)

And while he's the youngest in the litter, he's also the biggest, this is Blaze!

All of them had a great time doing a little exploring!

They're still young, so they didn't wander far at all.

But for those who did try, Dixie would wrangle them back!

And Zoey was very good, she came out and let them nurse.

She's so sweet :)

Dixie, still supervising!

And then, we have Annie's litter who have all been named!

Her first little boy, who's all black expect for a small spot on his chest and back toes. His name is Brody :)

And Annie's apricot colored male, named Sawyer!

Then lastly, Annie's white with apricot spots' named Scout :)  Scout is really neat, because he has the same spot on his mouth that his mom, Annie had. Expect his is on the opposite side.

It wasn't long until Zoey's puppies were all worn out and sleeping!

And well, that was when we brought them back inside to the warm of their nesting box :)

First Feeding

Today, we started Zoey's litter on some pureed puppy food to being the weaning process.

Since it's only 60 degrees outside, we fed the puppies indoors. 

To make it a little easier, we split them up into groups. 

We had one group of 6, and another group of 3!

Dixie loves her nieces and nephews! She watches them for Zoey, just like Zoey used to do for Annie's litter, when Dixie was little. 

And here's the second group...they had a harder time figuring out they could eat the food. 

But the first bunch knew immediately, and started to chow down!

Of course, they all got very messy! So we gave each one a bath, blow-dried them, and trimmed their toe nails.  As each one was cleaned, we wrapped them in blankets and held them.

These two sleepy boys :)

And this little cutie!

Then we put them back into the whelping box, underneath the heating lamp.

And while they're old enough to start eating food, Annie's litter is a week behind. So while they ate, Zoey nursed Annie's 3 boys.  They'll be old enough to start on food next week. But for now, they're very happy to nurse. And Zoey's glad for the break with her puppies, because their little teeth are starting to come in!

Annie's Litter

Sunday, August 13, Annie had her third litter.  Her water broke and within ten minutes, her first puppy arrived.  It was little boy, born at 4:28pm.  Our first purebred, Standard poodle puppy! He was all black expect for some white on his chest and back toes. 

At 5:31pm, Annie gave birth to her second puppy.  Another male, but this little guy was an apricot coloring.  Then at 6:28pm, she had a third male.  This boy was definitely the biggest! He was all white with an apricot spot on his lower back, and 2 spots around his ears and eyes. 

Earlier in Annie's pregnancy, we had taken her to be x-rayed so we would have an idea as to how many puppies she was carrying. 

The x-ray showed 4 puppies. 

After having her third male, all contractions stopped. 

You could see the fourth baby still inside her, but it didn't appear to be moving. 

Hours went by.  We tried doing anything and everything to help start contractions again to get the last baby out. 

Once the vet opened, we had Annie there. 

The puppy was definitely gone.  It had been the biggest of the four.  Sadly, due to complications of the last puppy, we lost our beloved Annie.  

To say we were and still are devastated, would be an understatement.  Annie was an amazing dog.  Always extremely intelligent and healthy, she was an incredible mother.  Words cannot express the affection and love felt for her.  Our thoughts immediately went to her puppies, worrying for their lives with their mother now gone. It reminds us of the fragility which is life and how very precious life is, the biggest gift. 

When one door closes, another door opens.  Truly, we have been very blessed that in the midst of this tragedy, we have Zoey.  Zoey was one of Annie's puppies, from her first litter.  Zoey, without hesitation, adopted Annie's puppies as her own. 

Since Annie's puppies are almost a week younger then Zoey's, we have to keep both litters separate, so that Annie's don't accidentally get squished. 

Above, Zoey's nursing her own puppies. And below is one of Zoey's little girls. 

All the puppies, in Zoey's whelping box.  You can see Annie's puppies in the back, left hand corner, while Zoey nurses her puppies. 

We still miss Annie terribly.  It's been a week since her passing, but she is thought of every single day. She lives on through her puppies. The week before we lost her, Annie helped Zoey take care of her puppies.  Annie would go in and help Zoey stimulate them all and keep them all clean.  Annie was a very special dog.  She touched our hearts and lives.  She will never be forgotten.