And then there were nine!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 6pm

We have decided that Maddie must have heard the weather report and decided that it would be safer for her little ones to stay warm and snuggly inside her until Hurricane Sandy passed us by! She waited until she saw that we still have electricity and that the garage still had it's roof and was nice and toasty before she would let the little ones come out!

We had watched Maddie closely over the weekend but she really seemed quite comfortable to just hang out in the garage and play with Miley. She still tried to chase after her balls and would try to run around outside.

Maddie and Miley in the garage
waiting for Sandy to be over

After watching the weather reports over the weekend, we made preparations in case Sandy caused the damage that was forecasted. We brought extra flashlights, candles and had a generator on stand-by in case we lost our power for a long period of time and needed to whelp and care for puppies without it. Fortunatly for us we didn't lose our power but we are prepared in case we get another bad storm some time this winter.

We stayed up for most of the night on Monday, as it became evident that Maddie was much more uncomfortable and wouldn't sit for more than five minutes. The rain and wind outside made it difficult to take her out for the bathroom or to get some exercise, so we put newspaper on the floor and walked laps around the car instead.

It was around 6:30am on Tuesday morning that Maddie started going into labor and by 7:30am we had our first little girl. It took almost ten hours but as of 4:30pm last night we have nine little puppies! Six girls and three boys.

They are big puppies, most of them weighed between 18 and 21 ounces! They are very strong healthy puppies so far. We do have one little girl, she about 3 ounces smaller than the rest, that we are keeping an eye on her and so far she is nursing really well. And the last puppy born is still having a bit of trouble nursing on her own so she is getting lots of attention and extra milk from a dropper but we are hopeful that she will gain strength today.

Maddie is also doing great! She is eating and drinking really well and has rested peacefully for most of the night. We have gone out a few times to stretch and get some fresh air but she is always excited to get back in the room with her babies.

Maddie would probably say her nose looks big in the picture,
but can you see all 9 little puppy bottoms?