9:36 p.m: Today puppies got their first taste of sorta solid food. I say sorta because it was mostly liquid with just a hint of baby rice cereal with pureed turkey and mac and cheese.  I didn't have the camera handy, so there are no photos of their first attempt at eating, but I think the term mud wrestling would pretty much give you a great visual on how the event turned out.

 

Naked Boy and Aqua Man were the first to try out the new eatery. Naked Boy was so pleased, he promptly waded into the middle of the muffin tin and tipped it over spilling the contents all over the floor of the whelping box. Thankfully, Green, Teal, Red, and Yellow were there to immediately start licking it up. Orange really took to the new style of dining and practically climbed into his tin. I worried he was going to drown as he stuck his entire muzzle into the tin, but there was no time to drown because he had his section cleaned out in no time!

 

All but Purple and Pink seemed to really take to lapping their meal instead of sucking it, but I'm sure they'll come around once their belly's tell them to EAT!

 

I also took the front pig rail down, but to my dismay I found Purple half way across the whelping room even after it was gone.  She seemed quite pleased with herself and scampered about trying to evade me as I scooped her up and put her back with her mates.  Silly girl! I'm going to have to put a barrier up across that entrance to keep them all in.

 

12:30 p.m:  This morning I woke up to find Purple Girl acting sluggish and not wanting to take the bottle. I fed everyone else then turned my attention back to Purple. She appeared to be struggling with a bowel movement, so I picked her up and tried to help her out a bit. Nothing. I gave her some Gatorade and a little Karo syrup. She liked the Karo and started licking my finger so I gave her the bottle again. She started nursing, but not with her usual vigor and then she started shivering so I called the vet and they said to bring her in. Her glucose was 150, her temperature was normal, her heartbeat is strong, and the vet was satisfied with her activity level, though her sucking reflex was a little weak he said. Good thing I got the really cute young vet -- he's worth paying the $60 just to look at him.  If only I was 20 years younger... anyway, the bottom line is that he could see nothing wrong with Purple and sent me home with her and told me if she hadn't nursed by noon then we would talk about bringing her in for some sub-q. Of course, as soon as I got her home I immediately put her on Bobbi and she started nursing right away -- that was at 10 a.m. I just put her on Bobbi again and she's still not nursing like she's supposed to, but she's making the attempt. I'll continue with the potty stimulation, Gatorade and Karo to see if I can pull her through this.

Bobbi, for her part, has become the ever so protective mom and absolutely would not settle down until all the puppies were back in the whelping box. She immediately gave Purple the once over, she obviously doesn't trust me to know what's best for her babies, then settled down and is nursing them all as I type.

And finally, it's official. We have a winner. Teal girl is the first to officially breach the whelping box and promptly got her head stuck between the box and my thigh, which naturally evoked a panicked scream from her and an even more panicked response from me as I fished her out of her dilemma and plopped her back into the box to await her turn for the bottle.

 

5:45 p.m:  Add puppy resuscitator extraordinaire to my resume.  Since these puppies were born Bobbi has been bound and determined to squish one or more of them, and she almost got her way yesterday.  I fished a limp and apparently lifeless Orange Boy out from under her last night and since he was still pretty pink, I thought there'd be a good chance of saving him. So, I thumped on him and rubbed him, got a gasp from him, thumped and rubbed more vigorously, and soon he was screaming his head off, but moving in a little circle. I was afraid there might be some brain or neurological damage, so off to yet another trip to emergency vet we went.  Fortunately, I'd only gone a few blocks when he appeared to be snapping out of it, so I pulled over, rubbed on him some more and pretty soon he was cuddling up to me and trying to suckle my finger.  Cancelled the vet, turned around and put him on Bobbi to nurse and soon he was his old feisty self. Thank doG I was right there and able to rescue him.

 

Aside from that little episode yesterday, we had some major weight gains and I expect I'll have a 2-pound puppy or two at tonight's weighing. Even the little guys, Red and Orange managed to put on the 2 ounces needed to join the 20 ounce club!  They're all pooping and peeing on their own now, though mom does still assist them from time to time, and they're all sitting up on their haunches and not so wobbly on their feet. In fact, Teal was moving pretty smoothly around that whelping box a few minutes ago.  Still no signs of ears opening, but I imagine that'll start happening this weekend.

 

10 p.m:  It's been a long long day but I got a lot of much needed chores around the house done, so it was a productive day.  Everyone continues to do well and all but two (Red and Orange) have hit the 20 oz milestone. Red and Orange aren't too far behind and they both posted 2 oz gains to hit the 18 oz mark. Yeah!!!

 

Purple and Orange are pretty smart puppies!  They've already figured out where I put the milk bottle between feeding and weighing and both tried very hard to get to it. I guess they were protesting their portion of the milk supply. At least three of them have tried to breach the opening of the whelping box now, so I can see their curiosity for the outside world growing and it won't be long now before they all end up in the play pen instead of the whelping box.

 

Their little personalities continue to emerge and I'll add new info to their bios tomorrow. I'd do it tonight, but I'm pretty exhausted and the big dogs are protesting they didn't get enough "mommy" time today, so I think I'm just going to leave things as they are tonight and go get some cuddle time with Rosie and Booker.  Check back tomorrow night for personality updates.

 

 

Today promised to be a beautiful Spring morning so I got up early, and with a friend's help we dug a hole in the side yard and burried Blue Boy, then planted his Hydrangea bush on top of him. I'm looking forward to enjoying the blue blooms in his honor all summer long. I just can't think of a more beautiful way to keep his memory close.

 

In other news, yesterday was the Potomac Basset Hound Club's Spring Specialty.  Though I couldn't make it this year, a puppy I co-own and will eventually show, was entered and did a fabulous job by winning her sweepstakes class and her regular class. Rumbridge-Bridi's Goody Goody is a 7-month old half-sister to my brood out of Smokey and I'm looking forward to taking her in the ring. I've posted a picture of her in the Friends & Family section.