Almost done...

Well, Phoenix took her sweet time getting those babies out! 

The first one didn't arrive until 11:22pm on the 21st - and she was a big girl of 370g, who came out feet first. We were almost getting concerned that it was taking too long, so between my son and me, we helped her along until she finally emerged and we made sure she was breating right away. She is a blond (gold-caramel?) colour with white chest, toes, tail-tip, chin and lips. 

Number 2 arrived a mere seven minutes later, at 11:29. This one is a chocolate phantom tri-colour, with white spots on chest, feet, tail, and paws. He weighed 311g. 

Number 3 arrived at 11:48, a blond (apricot-caramel?) boy with similar white markings as his sister. Did I say she was big? Well this guy is a whopping 399g - the biggest pup we've ever had!!

Phoenix took a bit of a break then, while the next pups got into position. Number 4 arrived at 12:22, exactly an hour after the first one. He was another blond (gold-apricot?) boy with the same type of white markings as the other blondies. He's smaller than his brother, at a mere 331g - which is still twice as big as lots of other pups have been. 

Number 5 arrived at 12:35, a beautiful black girl with lots of white spots as well. She was medium sized as well, around 347g.

Number 6 hasn't arrived yet. We're pretty sure there is a Number 6 - there appears to be another puppy-shaped lump inside - but it's reluctant to leave. I'll report later on Friday if/when it emerged from hiding.

Technically the last pups were born on a different day than the first three, but we'll give them all the 21st for their birthday. (It's a good number - my daughter's birthdate, albeit she was born in May.) 


Phoenix is a wonderful mama. She is very doting on her babies, takes excellent care of them and keeps them clean, fed, and snuggled. And boy she had to work hard for these ones - by the end she was quite rotund!! No wonder, with around 2kg of baby inside, not to mention all the placentas and fluid. She only weighs about 13kg herself. She likes to crawl under my bed and by the last few days we closed my bedroom door so she couldn't do so, as it was such a tight fit we were scared she'd get stuck!! She's a lot more comfy now, I'm sure. 

(Note that just because they're huge babes doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be huge dogs. We'll monitor their relative growth and be better able to estimate adult sizes when they're 4-6 weeks old.)

Watch for photos on our Facebook page later today (Friday). I'm not the best phtographer and I'm too tired to fiddle with posting photos. Tirstan will get some up on Facebook later.

Happy puppy dreams!!