Neverland-Retrievers

April’s weight is 31.3 oz this morning. I reluctantly went back to work today. It’s hard leaving the puppy, but I know Tink will take good care of her. With the webcam, I can keep an eye on the whelping box. Both mom and puppy spent most of the day sleeping, not unexpected. I also have another PC recording the webcam at regular intervals, so I can always go back and view the days activities in Fast Forward. Someday I will post a short clip for fun.

I’ve also been trying to stimulate April by using Carmen Battaglia’s technique called “Developing High Achievers”. Information on the technique can be found at www.breedingbetterdogs.com. Thanks to Linda C. for passing this information on to me.

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Here are a couple of current photos of April.

 

April is steadily increasing in weight and activity each day. This morning she weighed 29 oz (822 g) an increase of 4.5 oz from yesterday. She is becoming more active and definitely has a favorite corner of the whelping box, away from the heat lamp. I ran a small test to see how quickily she would crawl over to her corner while penned in by two towel rolls and her Snuggleme Puppy. See for yourself in the attached video below.

Pen Breakout

We had a visitor last night. Al stopped by on his way home from the airport and had a look at April. He says she look health, not much else one can make out at this point. This morning April set a new personal record for weight gain, 3.2 oz from yesterday. She now weighs 24.5 oz (694 g). I just monitor and help out occasionally since Tink is very attentive to her daughters needs.

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Now we are past the most critical stage, the first 72 hrs. April continues to do well. She’s gained another 2 oz and now weighs 21.3 oz (606 g). This morning I had a good look at her. She feels warm and soft in my hand. She seems to breath quietly and has a wet nose. Her coat is shiny and full, no bare areas except for her belly. She twitches while sleeping, like her mom. She is a strong crawler and make her way around the whelping box. While nursing, she seems to hang on strongly, even while being battered by Tink’s licks. She is quiet most of the time, except when she wants mom. Her eyes and eyes are closed, of course, it will be a couple of weeks before they open. All around, a very nice puppy, from good breeding stock.

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While mom was outside, I took this profile picture of April. Sorry for the ruler, it’s the engineer in me coming out.

Today was April’s first visit to the Vet.  Dr. Miller was out, so Dr. Owel of Mt. Vernon Animal Hosp. had the honor of checking her out and removing the dewclaws. April is fine, no pallete or other issues. The front two dewclaws were easily removed without much fussing. She’s gained almost 2 ozs and now weighs 19.1 oz (542 grms). Last night was quiet for me as Tink takes care of most of the puppy chores. One thing we both are finding out is not every time April crys does it mean she’s hungry. Most of the time she’s just looking for mom’s warm body to cuddy up with to sleep.

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With mom’s supervision, I was allowed to take these pictures of April, 24 hours old.

     
  

There certainly must be some hard wired genes in these dogs that makes them Super Moms. Tink has mostly taken over caring for April with little intervention by me. Last night, for instance, Tinks was laying on the floor next to me when she heard April start crying. She stood up, went into the whelping box, nudged April out of the corner and onto herself so she could nurse. That was my defining moment where I could stop worrying and go to sleep.

This morning, Tink has been trying to cuddly with her baby, but April keeps squirming around looking for a nipple to nurse on. They ended up doing a dance around the whelping box, one chasing the other.  My only worry now is Tink’s intense desire on cleaning April. Occasionly she has put her paw across April to hold her still. One time this happened, the paw was across April’s neck. I’ve corrected Tink and she seems to understand, because the last time she only used her paw as a barrier to keep April within reach. Maybe I’m just overly worried.

Tink is looking good from the surgery. Her temperature is almost normal and the bleeding has stopped.

Without the trama of natural birth and with solo access to mother, April has gained 1.2 oz from yesterday and now weighs 17.2 oz (487 grams).

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This morning at about 9:30am Tink’s puppy girl was born. For the time being we are calling her “April” since this is the “A” Litter and she was born on a beautiful April morning. April was born by C-Section at the Loudon Veterinary Services weighing 16 oz. Both mother and daughter are doing fine.