# I get to sleep with little puppies again



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

We've had a good break, but are back to raising little puppies again. Ellie had her litter on Monday. 
I'm staying in the room with these. Birdy will have hers anytime now, and Pam will sleep in the room with them. They don't like to be close to the others with a new litter, so we separate them in different ends of the house.

I always worry that I won't wake up when one needs attention, but all the calls are still very familiar, and after the first night, the non-alert calls don't wake me up any more.

The non-alert calls:

"This one is drying up..." 
"Don't dare try to push me off."
"Can't find the heating pad while Mom is cooling out on the floor out of the box" I get up and offer help if this one lasts more than 30 seconds. They usually find the pile on the heating pad.

The alert calls are:

"I'm on the wrong side of Mom!" Mom won't always stop nursing the rest if one has gotten out of position.

A few other possiblilties, but the distress call is always the same.

After the first few days, there is little discussion, other than the first two listed complaints.

None of these are available, but I thought you'd enjoy a picture. The clear Red with the dark feathers is more mobile than any day old puppy I ever remember.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

What beautiful pictures!


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Beautiful mom and puppies!


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

Ellie looks quite pleased with herself and she should be! I still have a hard time imagining that that little Momma dog carried that herd of puppies. How different and beautiful they are!


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Your pictures make me emotional Tom. This is back to the basics of life.

Ricky's Popi


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## Janet (Feb 19, 2007)

Wow! Five gorgeous pups and five different colors. Who is the sire?

Janet


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## Dexter and Reia’s mom (Feb 20, 2020)

They are beautiful! Ellie looks like quite the proud mama!


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Oh precious ones! Beautiful mama too!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Adorable!!! <3 I love the black one with the line across the back end, though I know that marking is likely to all but disappear.

I am assuming Redman is daddy to this group?

How uplifting to see healthy new life right now!!!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Yes, Red is the Sire, and also the Sire of Birdy's upcoming litter. He's never thrown anything but drop dead gorgeous puppies. The two Reds are clear reds. Ellie can't produce Sable. The white one is already showing signs of red spots coming. The one that looks all Black has white on the chest.

They're all steadily gaining weight, and are very strong. They didn't wake me up at all, last night.


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## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Beautiful Mom and Babies!:smile2:


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## Milo's Mom (Aug 31, 2008)

They are so beautiful! Thanks for sharing, Tom!


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## RIstream (Aug 21, 2008)

Mama looks so proud of her babies!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

We're ready for more photos, Tom ...


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

Love the Story Telling. In light of the times it's wonderful to see new life and such adorable puppies and Mama.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Birdy is probably going to have hers tonight. I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow.

The puppies are all gaining weight steadily. They've let me sleep all night for several nights now. They're all very mobile, and co-ordinated, and have no trouble finding the right spot on their own.

Last night, Ellie woke me up. She was in about the same position as in the picture, but she had fallen asleep while nursing, and her head had relaxed down where her neck was in a sharp bend. She was making a sort of grunting sound with every breath. I took both front legs, and gently slid her front end around so that her head had more room. None of the puppies stopped nursing, or were bothered in any way by the movement. Ellie let out a loud, relaxing groan, and never opened her eyes. They were all quiet the rest of the night.

The Mothers always think that having puppies is the best thing in the world, so everyone that said that she looks proud is right. They are always Very proud of their puppies.......until they start getting teeth.


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## HavaCoco (Aug 31, 2018)

Tom, I love hearing stories about your new puppies! The first few weeks is such a special time that many of us have little insight into! Yes, please post pictures of Birdy’s new pups and ones of Ellie’s too! 

Hope you and Pam are doing well!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Birdy had 6 last night. Pam was up all night, and Birdy had a long night of it too. All went well, and all are strong. Pictures probably tomorrow.


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## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Congrats to Birdy and her babies! Can't wait for pictures. After everyone gets some much needed sleep of course.:smile2:


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Pictures being sent to the computer.

Birdy had her bath, and is back to jumping gates again, so she can come and go as she pleases, and the gates still keep the others away from her babies. She thinks she owns the World now!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I had a hard time getting a good picture. There's not a lot of light back in the room that Birdy's litter is in.

The "Black" ones are not looking so black. We're wondering if they're going to silver, or be Havana Brown.

Birdy only has 6 nipples for 6 puppies, so it's keeping us a little busy making sure nobody gets left out.


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

Tom King said:


> I had a hard time getting a good picture. There's not a lot of light back in the room that Birdy's litter is in.
> 
> The "Black" ones are not looking so black.  We're wondering if they're going to silver, or be Havana Brown.
> 
> Birdy only has 6 nipples for 6 puppies, so it's keeping us a little busy making sure nobody gets left out.


Here's a few ideas...If interested ...

Turn the Flash On. Do you have a Zoom? If you're using an iPhone you can Zoom In. Even old iPhones have a Zoom function.

It looks like you're pretty far back, not up close taking the picture, so the Flash won't bother those little ones.

Or, use another light source with an arm that lets you focus light on your subjects.

Since you are in the puppy breeding business, I would recommend a good camera and Google photo tips, so you can Show Off those pretty babies. A 50mm lens would be ideal..not a wide angle lens.

Photo processing software would be a Big! help...new iPhones have photo processing software that's easy to use.


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

All I did was Brighten this photo with a little bit of Contrast. The picture would be sharper with a better lens and camera. I assume you're using some sort of mobile phone for of these and I maybe wrong. Today, even cheap point and shoot cameras are pretty darn good. The new iPhone cameras resolutions are as good as Nikon's older cameras.

Mama looks worn out. :laugh2:


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

I rotated the picture to try to get a better view of the pups. I can only see five? Thanks for posting the photo, Tom! Mikki and I are happy to edit your photos - tee hee!


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## HavaCoco (Aug 31, 2018)

They look like strong, beautiful pups! Birdy is such a good mom. It would be neat if the black ones silvered like Birdy's mom Tibi! She had beautiful coloring. Tom, how many girls and how many boys? 

With all the uncertainty in the world right now, it's so uplifting to think about puppies.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

That picture was taken with my phone. We took some with the camera, and light.

Birdy's page is up now.

You can see in this picture that the ones that looked black to start with, aren't.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

So cute! Thank you!


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## Dexter and Reia’s mom (Feb 20, 2020)

Wow those are some beautiful puppies!❤ Going to keep mom busy!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Six nipples, and six puppies are keeping us busy too.


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## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Beautiful puppies!


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## Jeanniek (Mar 20, 2018)

Tom King said:


> I had a hard time getting a good picture. There's not a lot of light back in the room that Birdy's litter is in.
> 
> Birdy only has 6 nipples for 6 puppies, so it's keeping us a little busy making sure nobody gets left out.


Birdy had more puppies! Why did I think she was retired?! Probably good I had thought that, or I would have wanted to be on a list for one of her future puppies. And these next few months is just not a good time.

But Ellie's and Birdy's puppies are ALL gorgeous!! What fun times ahead (and lots of work!)


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Tom King said:


> Birdy only has 6 nipples


Only?? I guess I have assumed that all of the same species would all have the same number of nipples. You mean, some dogs have more than 6 or maybe even less? That's a surprise to me.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Yes, it varies.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> Only?? I guess I have assumed that all of the same species would all have the same number of nipples. You mean, some dogs have more than 6 or maybe even less? That's a surprise to me.


I was thinking the same thing! Never would have occurred to me. Always learning new things on the forum!


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