We have puppies!

Galena's babes were born on Tuesday January 29 starting at 2:45pm. (Yes, I know, I am horribly late in announcing the bith - it's been so busy both at home and at work that to find a few spare moments to prepare a post and add a few pictures has seemed too much to accomplish). 

Galena came to us on Saturday, January 26 to prepare for the bith. We weren't really expecting it until about Friday, which was day 63, although it's definitely not rare for a dam to whelp any time after day 56 or so. Seeing as this is her first litter, we didn't have any real track record to go by, other than that her mama, Amore, usually whelped right around her due date and her half-sister, Garnet, usually was about 4 days early.

We started taking her temperature on Sunday evening, as a drop in body temperature is one of the harbingers of whelping. Sunday evening and Monday morning her temperature was normal, but on Monday evening it had dropped almost two degrees Fahrenheit. During the night she was a bit restless, waking everal times and engaging in some "nesting" behaviour.. Tuesday morning her temrperature had risen slightly but was still low, leading me to believe that the pups were likely to be born sometimes between late Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday noon or so. 

Not wanting to leave Galena alone but not thinking the birth was yet imminent, I arranged for my daughter to come home during her morning spare period and spend some time with Galena, and then a friend to come be with her from around 12:30 on until the kids would get home from school a bit after 2:30. That would mean Galena would be alone for only about an hour at a time in the early and late morning. 

My friend called me shortly after she arrived to say that Galena was acting a bit restive, circling, needing to go out to pee frequently, and so on - all signs of whelping coming within a few hours. I said to call me again if things changed. 

The next call came around 2:50. My friend said things started to happen just after the kids got home. She had been sitting in the chair near the front door reading, and Galena was lying in her box seeming to sleep, when the kids arrived. My daughter, of course, wanted to go check on Galena immediately and came back saying that a puppy was on its way! They could see the sac coming as Galena lay there. The puppy had just barely been born when my friend called me. 

I quickly finished off what I was doing at work and called a cab to get home quickly. I arrived home at 3:25 and the second puppy had just arrived. For the next two and half hours we watched and assisted as needed while the last of the six puppies arrived, with the last one showing up at 5:42. 

Galena did a great job - she was very quiet through the whole process, just lying down as she gave birth and letting the puppies who'd already arrived suckle as the new ones came on the scene. She didn't grunt, groan, squeal, or make any kind of noise at all, seeming to take the whole process in stride. 

We now have six beautiful babes who are growing by leaps and bounds, drinking and sleeping mostly. They are not yet very active, and their eyes and ears are still closed, but they are very cuddly and snuggly and don't mind being handled. 
We have:
1 - a chocolate male with a small white "tie" on his chest
2 - a chocolate male with a larger white spot on his chest and a white chin




3 - a chocolate parti female who has a mostly chocolate head with a white blaze down the forehead, and three chocolate spots on her back, hingquarters, and at the base of her tail
4 - a chocolate female with a small white spot on her chin
5 - a caramel parti female with a caramel band across her eyes and a small spot on her forehead and back, and 
6 - a caramel parti female who is almost entirely white but has a few small caramel spots here and there. 
 
Galena is a very relaxed mama, not minding when we handle her pups and very easy about strangers or newcomers approaching her pups as well.

We have one reservation so far and some interest in the others, but there are still five available so if you're interested just let us know!