Puppies! You have no idea!

We all see puppies out there and think how cute they are. Indeed we’re right they are cute. Some of us take on one pup and those of us who have know it’s hard work at times. However, having a litter of pups is on another level and unless you’ve been there, you have no clue!

Nineteen weeks ago the journey of having a litter of pups began with Lady Bass having a mini break at Rodney’s! Once we knew pups were on the way the air was full of excitement. A scan six weeks in, showed that Lady Bass was full of pups! Shihtzu litters are normally between three and five, so we reckoned on five at most but possibly six. By the end poor Lady Bass could hardly walk and her tummy was centimetres from the floor!

Saturday 15th July 2017 will be a day none of us could forget. A day of excitement, happiness but saddness too. As the pups came thick and fast at first their was sheer joy. One, two, three, four! How easy was this we thought! Lady Bass was brilliant she knew what to do and just got on with it!

Pup five arrived, no bag, fetal distress and unresponsive. It was time for the humans to step in, vet on the mobile giving instructions to guide. A loud “Jonny Five is alive” the pup was breathing! Now to see if Mum would accept it. Sure enough Lady Bass was happy to have her baby. Jonny Five is her name, she was initially sexed as a boy but she’s a girl! Having a boy’s name somehow suits her!

Puppy six came and we instantly knew something was very wrong. The bag was so thick it couldn’t be broken, so again the humans stepped in. This time there was to be no surviving pup. Angel pup was never going to be! A severe birth deformity had taken our beautiful pup. We were gutted, Lady Bass looked at us, wishing the pup to wake up. Angel will always be with us because its buried in Dad’s garden.

After more hours pup seven arrived! We were shocked! Seven pups is a huge litter for such a small dog. We all thought that was it! There couldn’t possibly be any more pups! We waited and waited, no more pups arrived for many more hours. That’s it, we’re done! There we were sitting having a cuppa, talking about the day and then suddenly another pup arrived. This time we were faced with fetal distress and half a puppy delivered. The humans again had to step in, deliver the pup and revive it! Lucky Number Eight is our girl and to see her today you’d never know!

Over the last ten weeks we’ve watched them grow, given them love, prepared their food, cleaned up lots of poo ……….. well more than lots!! We’ve played with them and we’ve seen how much each of them is developing their own character. There’s been pup updates on Facebook, lots of phone calls and video chats and all about the pups.

After all the hard work (and it has been hard work), its time for them to leave. Its been much harder than we ever could have imagined! As each pup leaves, we feel sad and blessed because although they’re leaving us behind, each of them has a home where we know they will always be loved. They are lucky puppies each and every one.

Would we do it again? I’m not sure our nerves could stand it! But we’ll never forget this incredible experience and we’ll always love those seven little ones we once took care of at the start of their life journey.

The joy, the sadness, the journey and the roller-coaster.

Puppies! You have no idea!