Blue boy

This is blue boy. His eyes are not all the way open yet, but I suspect they will be tomorrow. Charlotte, Ranger's owner, wanted to see what the lone male in the bunch looked like. He's very handsome!

Here's lookin at you!

Today a couple of the baby dogs opened their eyes. The rest look like they are ready to open theirs very soon. This is yellow girl. I have all the puppies color coded so I can begin to track behavior and personality. Yellow girl is one of two lighter females. She is mild mannered and medium sized. I'll introduce you to other individual pups as time marches on.

Sooo tired!

SHHHHHHH.... Puppies sleeping! We can hardly hold our heads up when our bellies are full.

Everybody Loves Puppies!!!

Dave and buddies pose with the pups

Saturday brings visitors to the ranch

Andrew

(Natalie was sick and couldn't come)

Get well soon Nat!

Jessie and Liz

Dave

Friday night at the milk bar

Looks like this bunch has had one too many!

The puppies are one week old today. They continue to grow at a rapid clip. They are sleeping with full bellies for longer periods of time. Kit is able to enjoy a little down time.

Julie experiments with ways of identifying the pups

A friend at work had a dream that I was trying to keep track of the pups using sticky notes. Thought I'd give it a try.

Kit is wondering what Ranger is doing ......

Ranger and Piper frolic in the snow..... he's with that bleach blonde!!

I want to be alone!

Today Kit spent her first full day at home alone with the pups while I went to work. All was well when I got home, and the puppies looked larger than when I left this a.m. I just went back to the closet a few minutes ago and found Kit tucked in a small corner away from the pups. Even canine mommies need a little "me" time.

Ouch!!!

Today we went to the vet and had our dewclaws removed. The little bandages look so cute. Yes, we cried, but got over it real fast. The vet said we all look healthy and well fed. Mommy is always on duty.

The Great Escape

SHHH...... I'll hold her down while you guys make a break for it!

Sisters...Sisters...There were never such devoted sisters...

We started off our lazy Sunday with some advanced yoga stretches.

I predict this pup will be the first to wean.

Looks like a case of milk intoxication, or does the other pup just have the choke hold on me?

This pup had wandered and lost her way. She is following her nose back to the milk fest!

Today Kit really settled into her role as mother. The puppies are content more often and Kit trusts her people to pet and handle them a little. Dave is especially proud of the only male pup whom he helped Kit deliver. This is the male pup, who is a bit longer than any of the girls - Good work Ranger!

On Kit's first full day of motherhood she has proven herself more than up to the task! She only leaves the puppies for brief moments to go outside, then rushes right back to them. They are eating and sleeping machines at this point. You can litterally watch their bellies swell with milk. When Kit does have to leave for a moment they form this little 'dog pile'. It is too cute!

I have Kit cleaned up, and she is resting, feeding her babies. I think she's finished. She made the whole thing look pretty easy. Here are the latest pics.

The puppies are here! Six so far, and I'm not sure whether to expect more or not. Time will tell. The first 5 are girls, and the 6th is a boy! All are healthy looking and fighting for position. Here is a posting of the first girl on the scene. I will post a pic of the whole brood when we get Kit cleaned up.

You see here that Kit is beginning to tire of this pregnancy. There is lots of activity in that belly!

Kit and I visited the vet this morning to have a film taken to reveal the number of puppies to expect. Because her bowel was "full of stool", the count was not complete on the left side of the uterus. There are four pups on the right side, and at least two on the side where visibility was limited. The vet predicts 6-8! She says Kit is carrying the litter very well, and all things look normal to this point. Keep Kit and her developing brood in you prayers. This is a picture of Kit and Ranger (the proud pappa!)