Puppies!!!!

 On December 2nd, 2020, Rue gave birth to her first litter of puppies!!  She was due on Dec. 3rd, but I had been taking her temperature every day for the past few days so I knew when her temp dropped to around 98 degrees that she would give birth within 24 hours- which she did exactly! The day her temp dropped, we followed her outside every time she had to go potty, because someone we know had a mom dog go out to go potty and deliver a baby while out there. Teya and I also slept in the room with Rue that night. The next morning, she started asking to go outside and potty over and over again, and that's when I knew it was about to happen! We got her up in her whelping box and stayed with her until she finally started pushing! Teya was home from school that day so she was there for all of the births except the last two, and she helped video, update Instagram, and hand me supplies. A breeder who lives in our subdivision came over to help out and it was really nice to have her there- she is really good at suctioning and it was very helpful to have someone there to answer my questions. All but 1 puppy were born breech, but none of them had a hard time coming out. Two or three had their cord wrapped around the next puppy and it's placenta, so I had to cut the cord so that the puppy could be cleaned, suctioned, cared for by Rue, otherwise it was out but stuck by the birth canal. 

We gave the puppies Harry Potter themed names, Teya named them as they came out.

Rue in labor before pushing.

We hung a dark blanket over the whelping box because she really liked hiding under things while pregnant.

Us at the whelping box.

Rue didn't know what the first puppy was or why I was holding it up to her and didn't want anything to do with it at first. I think by the 2nd or 3rd puppy her instincts kicked in and she knew just what to do! 

From days 3-16, we did ENS every day. I also did startle recovery with them and played sounds to desensitize them to fireworks, thunder, rain, car horns, etc. 

Ginny was the first to open her eyes and first to walk! But her teeth came in last.

On a couple of warmer days, I took 4 puppies at a time to play in my neighbor's the Robbins' backyard in grass for the first time (it has been fenced in for years and they don't have any pets, so I felt like it would be safe and clean of viruses).

This dog trainer came over one day to give me some of his books and info (hoping I'd recommend his program to my families I'm sure) and gave me some training pointers.

Rue's surgical onesie to help wean the puppies.

Ivy, was Hedwig, went to Nevada!

Hermoine (pink collar) went to Texas. I actually flew her out myself and was able to surprise their little girl with a puppy!

Harry (blue collar) went to this cute family in Oakland, CA! Ron did as well, but I didn't get a pic of him with his new family.

Hagrid (orange collar)'s family drove all the way from Indiana to pick him up!!

Ginny's owner drove from AZ to pick her up!