Tuloon/McKenzie Pups Have Arrived!

White Girl - 1lb 3oz (BIG girl!)

Gray Mask Girl - 1lb

White Flash Boy - 14oz

Beige Girl - 1lb

Tan Mask Boy - 14oz

The journey began yesterday morning at 8AM. Tuloon's temperature read 98.5 degrees after having been at 100 degrees the night before. When the mother's temp drops below 99 degrees it is an indication that the puppies will be born soon. There are different ideas out there about what "soon" means. Some say 12 hours while other say between 24 and 48 hours. For Tuloon it meant the first pup would arrive at 2:51AM this morning and the last would arrive around 9AM. Not certain of the time as I was in a daze at this point after having no sleep. AND she did it all naturally after having a "C" section in 2007 which was the first time around! Yay for Tuloon! It wasn't easy but she did it.

We are happy to announce that we have FIVE healthy pups and sad to include that number six, a beautiful little gray female, was lost. Number five waited 3 1/2 hours after number four to arrive and the vet believes that number six just stayed in too long. She was lifeless upon birth and efforts to revive her proved unsuccessful. This is a sadness that comes with the joy of puppies. We've only lost one other pup and the losses aren't taken easily. At the same time, Tuloon gave us FIVE beautiful and healthy pups, three females and two males and our attention needs to be focused those gifts.

Let the cleaning begin! I've already done two loads of puppy laundry and again have disinfected the whelping area. A nap might be the next item on the list.