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Wednesday was a fun day. Planning for our lovely, petite, calm chocolate Labrador Teasle - the one who came 3rd in a working test whene she was 5 weeks pregnant - to whelp next Tuesday, the 19th October; we nipped over to see Gaynor to borrow the whelping box, I decided Teasle might like a trip out since she hasn't been going far recently. I joked about the bumpy road, thinking it wasn't the same as for humans. Gaynor did explain that a car joutney does sometime precipitate labour in dogs too. Well, we got the box back and cleanedit down then nipped off for some food, came home and looked at Teasle who appeared to be even more cuddly than usual. Later in the evening, she also seemed to be panting, not heavily, but panting and wanting company. Thinking back, yes, she was a bit restless but eventually settled down squashed in a bed with Molly. Naturally, Gaynor had been explaining what to look out for - panting and ripping paper. I phoned up and gave a heavy breathing demonstration for Gaynor and Ronnie who thought it sounded quite contained and maybe she wasn't ready. I decided I was just overexcited and tried to put Teasle to bed. She just came and cried at the door and I did give in a few times before I realisedshe might be fussing because I was giving in. Consequently, after making sure all the whelping equipment was to hand; I put out the lights and went to sleep in the bedroom above the utility room so that I could at least hear her if she cried or ripped paper and not wake Alistair if I got up to her. At 0430 I heard her crying and also quite a high pitched noise. I shot out of bed and ran downstairs clutching my clothes which I put on over my PJs when I got to the kitchen. I forgot my glasses and my phone!! There at the utility room door was a very worried looking Teasle who shot through and into her bed in the dining room before I could do anything. There was still noise in the utlilty room where a little dog pup (all cleaned and sorted despite Teasle's concern) lay yelling...and no ripped paper! I had to get a lead to persuade Teasle back into the whelping box and she tried to sit in my lap there - yes, I had to perch on the edge and give her lots of cuddles . A second puppy arrived soon afterwards and Teasle, again, dealt with it but still wouldn't lay down. It was around this time I decided that I just didn't have enough hands, couldn't see as well as I would like and called Alistair who brought my glasses and phone and put the kettle...Good Man!!! We then both tried unsuccessfully to persuade Teasle to lie down and I started to worry that pup 1 was cold. At 5am I gave in and called Gaynor who said we should make Teasle lie down (it took two!!)and she duly arrived half an hour later. Pups came quite fast and furious. She stood up for one and there wasn't even time for us to catch it!! Another, with a lovely white blaze on his chest, also came vertically at about 9.15 with his afterbirth high up and it ripped too close to his umbilicus. After half an hour of applying pressure Alistair and I did a mercy dash to the vet who tied a ligature and explained that we could do that with cotton if there was another problem. There wasn't and after a walk around the garden, the pup we could still feel, number 10, arrived at about 11.30.
The idea of logging each pup went right out of the window, and just looking at them it was easy to see that they were a good size so I didn't weigh them. It is lovely to see them feeding and Teasle turning into a really good mum. She isn't too keen to leave them - even for food, water or to relieve herself!! She watches carefully when we move her pups, especially for a bit of a cuddle, but is very calm and content. She isn't even concerned when Molly and Tosh, our other 2 labs, or Baggins, our rather huge cat, pass by!