Pups grow and develop SO quickly

The speed with which pups grow and develop is unbelievable.  When I come home from work, they are noticeably more advanced than when I leave in the morning.

Their body weight has increased from 27% to 42% depending on the pup.  The smallest at birth was 283 grams.  She is now 385 grams.  The largest was 388 grams.  He is now 500 grams.

They no longer just slither on their bellies.  Some push themselves up (just a tiny amount) off the floor with their front paws - like a little push up!

It isn't really surprising when one considers that in two weeks they will be learning to walk.  In three weeks they will jump and run.  And by the time they go home in 8 weeks from now, they will be 5 to 7 lbs.  But even knowing that, I find it fascinating to see the changes happen so quickly.

The pups are developing quickly

All that pups body weight has increased by about 15%.  They are also able to spend time together, without their mother (see picture below). Even just yesterday, they always huddled up against Cassonade to take advantage of her body heat.  They are a quiet litter - not too much squeaking.  Cassonade spends all day and night with them.  She eats her meals in the bin.  The only time she leaves is to go outside to the bathroom.  She stands at the door and barks to let me know she wants out.  She races outside, does her business, races back inside and stands at the door and barks to let me know she wants back in.  This whole process rarely takes more than 1 or 2 minutes.

Cassonade is the proud Momma of 9 beautiful pups

Cassonade delivered her last pup about 9pm last night.  The Vet came at about 9:30 to check that everyone was doing well.  At this point the pups don't do anything but sleep and nurse.  They squeak a fair bit.  I haven't been able to figure out the purpose of the squeaking as I don't see a pattern.

So, we have:
Purple Blonde Boy .333 grams
Blue Blonde Boy .340 grams
Green Blonde Boy .388 grams
Pink Blonde Girl .317 grams
White Blonde Boy .295
Orange Black Girl .319
Pink (with paws) Black Boy .320
Red (with paws) Black Girl .350
Red (with paws) Blonde Girl .283

9 Beautiful Pups - just waiting to see if a 10th shows up.

Cassonade has delivered 9 beautiful and healthy pups.  The 9th arrived about 15 minutes ago.  There are 2 cream girls, 2 black girls, 4 cream boys, and 1 black boy.  Her belly was so crowded with pups, the x-ray was hard to read.  There was no question there were 9, but the 10th was a little uncertain.  The Vet is on his way over to check out the pups and to confirm whether there is still one left in there or not. 

I'll post again tomorrow with an update on the pups and whether or not a 10th one arrived!

10 Puppies

I now know why Cassonade's belly is so big.  She had her pre-whelping X-Ray on Wednesday and it looks like she has 10 puppies in there!  We expect her to deliver within the next few days so she is under 24 hour watch so we can quickly assume our role as 'Midwoof'.....

About one week to go!

Cassonade's belly is now quite big.  She can no longer jump up onto my bed.  But she is still in excellent health and keeps up with the rest of the pack when we go for our daily hike in the forest.  Thursday we have our x-ray that will allow us to count skulls and spines so we know how many pups to expect.  Our next posting will likely be with news of the pups arrival!

Only 3 Weeks To Go

Only 3 weeks until Cassonade's pups arrive.  We had the ultrasound a few weeks ago and were able to count 5 pups.  We will have an x-ray in 2 weeks to confirm the number.

Her belly recently popped - she has a BABY BELLY!