D Litter Jazz x Oz Jul 20, 2012
Posted by Delores Smith on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
The eagerly anticipated D litter is here! Our last litter was March, 2011 so we were going thru puppy withdrawal.
It's been a rollercoaster ride so far - 4 days old - feels like a week! Once the litter was born, Jazz showed some hostility to the puppies - growled at them as I put them on her for their first full feeding. I scolded her, made her lay down - stayed by her head while they nursed. I suppose the last thing the princess wanted was to take care of her puppies. We repeated this every few hours - made her lie down in the whelping box. Her maternal instincts did not kick in right aways. She showed no interest in cleaning them - licking them to stimulate the bodily functions so we did so with a warm wet cloth. My thoughts were - oh my, we are in for a long 4 weeks if this doesn't change. By evening, she willingingly lay down in the whelping box - another challenge was getting her to eat and drink - took a lot of coaxing - she can be quite stubborn. Saturday looked like she was doing fine - but by evening, when I handled the pups and weighed them I realized that they didn't feel as solid as they should have. Her food and water intake wasn't nearly enough - with a lot of coaxing she ate and drank and the next feeding went much better. On a sad note, at about 11 that evening, we discovered that the 4th born female was dead. Just an hour before everything was fine - to us she looked perfect. We can only conclude that either Jazz lay on her and suffocated her, or there was something wrong with her on the inside - either way, a very sad time for us. Sunday was a good day - Jazz fed the puppies and started cleaning them on her own. Glad to see she has figured it all out - concerned when they squeak - she is learning to be a good mom.
It's been a rollercoaster ride so far - 4 days old - feels like a week! Once the litter was born, Jazz showed some hostility to the puppies - growled at them as I put them on her for their first full feeding. I scolded her, made her lay down - stayed by her head while they nursed. I suppose the last thing the princess wanted was to take care of her puppies. We repeated this every few hours - made her lie down in the whelping box. Her maternal instincts did not kick in right aways. She showed no interest in cleaning them - licking them to stimulate the bodily functions so we did so with a warm wet cloth. My thoughts were - oh my, we are in for a long 4 weeks if this doesn't change. By evening, she willingingly lay down in the whelping box - another challenge was getting her to eat and drink - took a lot of coaxing - she can be quite stubborn. Saturday looked like she was doing fine - but by evening, when I handled the pups and weighed them I realized that they didn't feel as solid as they should have. Her food and water intake wasn't nearly enough - with a lot of coaxing she ate and drank and the next feeding went much better. On a sad note, at about 11 that evening, we discovered that the 4th born female was dead. Just an hour before everything was fine - to us she looked perfect. We can only conclude that either Jazz lay on her and suffocated her, or there was something wrong with her on the inside - either way, a very sad time for us. Sunday was a good day - Jazz fed the puppies and started cleaning them on her own. Glad to see she has figured it all out - concerned when they squeak - she is learning to be a good mom.
