The Final Count

Whew, it was a long night but we made it. We have a total of 10 puppies - 5 boys and 5 girls and I THINK 3 blacks and 2 livers in each sex - and most importantly a healthy mom with 10 thriving babies. She actually whelped 12 but two of them were, unfortunately, stillborn - a liver boy and girl. We thought she was done at ten but she had an ace (Alan said a Joker) up her proverbial sleeve. I looked down and saw a little nose making its way into the world. He was a bit of a slow starter but perked right up with some brisk toweling. I just love to make them mad and squealing like that - their version of slapping butts I guess. Anyway, again I thought she was done and had walked away. When I got back a few minutes later - there was #12. Unfortunately, she was one of the stillborn and, try as I might, there was no reviving her. I was hoping and praying Jenga was finally finished but she was still trembling and quivering. After some thought and discussion, Alan and I loaded her up for a trip to the emergency vet about 2:00 AM. He took an x-ray and, thankfully, showed no more babies. So we brought her home so she (and we) could get some much needed rest.

This afternoon, we introduced Daddy Brighton to one of his new sons and recorded it for posterity. He seemed quite fascinated by this squirming, squealing little bit of dog but seemed to sense he needed to be gentle with it and was a total and complete loving father ... no deadbeat dads here.

We have decided on a baseball theme for this litter because we think they're going to be an All-Star team. So please welcome the boys: Aaron, Koufax, Gehrig, Rizzuto and DiMaggio and our girls: Rose, Ruth, Maris, Mays and Clemente.

It seems I can only include 5 pictures per post so I will add individual posts for the babies and include their Day 1 Photo Op on their respective posts.

We'll try and keep things current and plan weekly photos of the kids. Stay tuned for more puppy posts and future updates.