Guess How Many Puppies: Topaz edition

Since we're having two litters this spring, we have another round of our Guess How Many Puppies contest - this one for Topaz's litter, due around May 9.

Here's a reminder of the rules: Your guess should indicate how many puppies you think Topaz will have, and what date and time you think the first puppy will arrive. The winner is the person who gets the number of puppiesright and is closest to the actual date and time.The prize is your choice of a $10 Timmy's or Chapters gift card. (Only one guess per person.) (If a member of my immediate family happens to have the closest guess, the next closest non-family member will also be declared winner and receive a prize.)

The following info will help you make an educated guess.

Number of pups

• Topaz was one of five puppies. Her mother, Amore, had small litters (3-5), but Amore'herself was one of 9 pups.
• This is Topaz's first litter. First litters are often smaller  than subsequent ones.
• Topaz is about 18-20 lbs, so a bit on the small side.

Date / time of first birth

• Topaz ovulated on March 8. Gestation is about 9 weeks so her due date is May 10, give or take 3-4 days (close to Mother's Day!). Most of our mamas have whelped either early or right on time. This is Topaz's first litter so we can't provide any past info. Best to stick with the +/-4 days average - between May 6 and May 13.. 
• Dogs can deliver any time of day or night. Our previous 9 litters have mostly arrived in the later afternoon or early evening, with just one in the wee hours of the morning and one around an early breakfast time.
• Another interesting observation - our litters have arrived on Jan 29, Mar 9, Mar 17, April 19, May 21, Aug 6, Sep 1, and Nov 25. Notice a pattern? All but one on odd-numbered days of the month. I'm sure there's some scientific basis for that (lol!)  

Deadline: April 8 (TBC) at 10pm

Topaz's ultrasound, giving us a rough puppy count, will take place around April 8, in the late afternoon or early evening. As it will take a bit of time to post the results, the deadline for guesses is a few hours later. (We'll update the deadline date once the ultrasound has been scheduled.)

Prize

Your choice of a $10 Timmy's or Chapters gift card.

Submit your guesses to me via e-mail (roma@dragonramdoodles.com) or as a comment to this post, or on our Facebook page (Dragon Ram Doodles). Once I've received a few I'll post them on the blog. (Limit of one guess per person!)

Happy puppy guesses!