A Memorable Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was almost 3 weeks ago, and so much has happened since then!  We were planning a quiet family Thanksgiving with Brian and Debi.  The week before, we had been planning for their arrival, and for the birth of Meg’s puppies.  But, to bring you up to date…

You will recall that, back in late September, Dutch and Meg “tied the knot” and we began to plan for a litter of pups.  Their expected arrival was between November 28 and December 2.  Thirty days after their breeding, we took Meg for an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy.  Our vet, Dr. Mabry of Coryell Veterinary Clinic, and I viewed the images, and Dr. Mabry thought he saw at least four pups.  Fast forward another 28 or so days.  Brian and Debi arrived on Wednesday afternoon, November 26, and Debi and I took Meg back to the vet for an X-ray to get a better idea of how many pups we might expect.  My eyes widened in surprise when Dr. Mabry said he saw “at least 7 pups!”  I was hoping for 4, but 7!  Wow!  That’s a lot of puppies.  He also performed a progesterone test and said he thought she might whelp in 24-72 hours.  The latter would be right on time based on her breeding date.

We went home and relaxed; after all, we probably had a couple of days to prepare.  While we were having happy hour, Meg seemed uncomfortable and a little antsy.  I took her out to the whelping pen, which we had set up in our RV, so she could relax.  We had a leisurely supper with Brian and Debi, then about 8:30 went out to check on her.  Much to our surprise, Meg met us at the door and there in the whelping box was a puppy!  Meg didn’t seem to know what to do, but when we put her back in the box with the pup (a pretty little female), instinct kicked in and she got back to cleaning the pup.  

Before long, she gave a little wiggle, and pup #2 arrived.  

I had been prepared for an hours-long labor, and was ready with calcium supplements to help Meg through the birthing, making sure she had enough energy to deliver her pups.  I shouldn’t have bothered, within 2 hours, all 7 pups had arrived.  In fact, they came so fast that Debi and I could hardly get them wiped off and birth times and descriptions recorded.  We managed to get just-born pics of several of them, but not all.  Everything just happened too fast.  Meg and the pups gave us a real reason...well, 7 of them, to be thankful!

Here are a few more pics from the happy occasion, followed by photos taken over the next several days.  (We call it Puppy Porn!)  There are two males and five females.

By now, the pups have their eyes open, are toddling around their whelping box, barking and mouthing each other and their mom.  They showed real interest in Meg's food bowl...

...so they now get their own kibble "gruel" and attach it with gusto.  

It has been a great couple of weeks!  Not only did we have a bumper crop of puppies, our tomato plants outdid themselves as well.

The puppies have had visits from a number of admirers, including the Joneses, McElhanys, Cash-Vanderbecks, and Cousin Kelly and Ian.  It was good to see everyone, and the pups and Meg took it all in stride.