On October 10 someone found an
abandoned pregnant dog north of Pie Town about 3 miles up SR 603 near
what locals call the Y. They brought her to FFAA. Laurie named her
Madonna. She is very friendly but looked ready to have the puppies.
On October 13, Laurie had planned to go
to Socorro Fest so she had Sharon on call to come help Brad and Clay
if Madonna went into labor. Sharon got the call about 4:45 and
headed right down. After Sharon arrived Clay told her the first
puppy was born about 4:30. Madonna was not nervous when Sharon
talked to her and petted her, and actually picked up the puppy.
Laurie and Clay had built a birthing area for Madonna in one of the
smaller pens and had put boards around the perimeter so the other
dogs couldn't bother her. Sharon got a pink and black polka dot
blanket to cover the dog house to help keep it warm. Later Clay
brought a heat lamp and set that up because we are getting below
freezing here at night. After birthing was over there was another
cover put over the dog house. It is getting below freezing at night
around here.
Madonna did a great job. After the
second puppy was born she kept popping them out. She was done by
6:45. As I write this, we think there were nine puppies including
one that was stillborn. Sharon tried hard to revive it. She
massaged it and pumped it up and down and gave mouth to mouth to no
avail. Sharon kept getting the message that it wasn't meant to be.
All the puppies are dark colored. At
birth they look like black and dark brown with varying white marks on
their bodies. Madonna allowed Sharon to take some of the puppies and
put them in a towel to check them. After the one stillborn puppy
Sharon checked any that weren't real active. Madonna took care of
all the chores. She cut the umbilical cord and cleaned them
constantly. Sharon could see when another one was about to be born
when Madonna started straining and licking herself.
This was Sharon's first experience with
whelping and truly enjoyed the adventure. She took notes about the
white markings and after a couple of days will try to match up the
puppies with their birth order.
All this was unexpected. Madonna will
be spayed as soon as it will be healthy for her.
It was quite cute how many of the dogs
came to see what was going on.
I visited the puppies and Madonna today for the first time. They are so beautiful! Brown with a darker mask and white paws was the first puppy I held. Madonna is such a good mommy. I hadn't been around puppies in years but Madonna was so sweet that it made it comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to visit again!