Puppies

I am so excited.  Dakota had her puppies.  Now she's Levi's dog.  He's a trainer at the barn I keep Sundance and Chevy at.  She had the babies over Thanksgiving and of course the day he was leaving for Ohio.  So I got to mom and baby sit.  Here are a few photos of the little rascals...

Here they are at 2 days old

Here they are at one week...

Dakota had 7 but a really hard birth early into it from what I was told.  Once the stuck puppy came out it was stillborn then he lost the other 3 more born right after within a couple hours.  I think they came too fast and she needed help.  Nobody was at the ranch at that time.  The next morning two more died so she ended up with 2.  I got them the next day.  The little black one wasn't doing too great either.  So I went in every 1/2 hour and rubbed her (both are girls).  The stimulation helped a lot. 

Mom was also having a lot of trouble and I wanted to take her to the vet.  But I couldn't get hold of the owner since he was traveling from Colorado to Ohio.  I gave her a lot of supportive care, good food, a pro biotic and assisted her the first two days around the clock.  So mom and the two remaining girls thrived.  She's a ranch dog and they don't get much pampering. 

This is her second litter.  3/4 heeler and 1/4 Australian Shephard.  Last litter the alpha female at the ranch didn't approve of a lower ranking female breeding with her male so she killed 4 of her 6 puppies.  There were only two suvivors from the last litter, also and both females.  So being worried this time around (and winter to boot) I offered to at least watch them while he was gone.  He assured me they would be inside now and he would make sure the other dog couldn't get these.

The look on her face is priceless!