After a very long afternoon, evening and day I am happy to report that the puppies have made it safely into the world. Tess started labor yesterday around 3pm or so and started having puppies shortly after. There are 11 puppies total 6 boys and 5 girls. She was a trooper throughout and worked very hard to bring these beautiful babies into the world.
The puppies are a rainbow of color, some being very light in color and others very dark. It will be neat to see them change as they grow up. There are several very dark pups who look like their Dad complete with a little white spot on their head (which will likely disappear as they mature). Everyone seems sturdy and are nursing great.
Rush and Cameo acted as midwives and inspected each pup as it was born. After delivery and clean up I brought each one over for Cameo and Rush to see and they were very interested in sniffing out every inch of the newcomer. They love the babies and have been pacing the floor with all the squealing that's going on in the whelping box. Tess is a very laid back mom and doesn't mind a little peeking. Given the chance Cameo would dive right into the whelping box and take those babies over !
Tess' milk has already begun to come in and I have begun to increase the amount of food that I feed to Tess so that she can keep up with the puppies. Eleven is a big litter and sometimes it is very hard to keep weight on a bitch who is nursing that many pups. As they grow I will be feeding her up to 3 lbs of food per day broken up into 3 or 4 meals.
After a sleepless night I am looking forward to sleeping in my bed for a full night of rest. I'm getting too old to pull an all nighter !!
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