On Friday I had to go pick up meat for the dogs from the co-op, then went to the beach with Breeze and I thought about calling Karen and seeing if they needed any help because I knew Gabby was in labor. Gabby is a daughter of Blew, who is also Breezes dad, so a half sister to my Breeze and of course is a Contact Point Border Collie dog. Gabby is a pretty blue merle with a lot of white on her. Anyway, so when I left for the meat pick up it looked like the birth was pretty close, so after I was out all day I figured the birth would be over and everyone would be tired and I did not want Karen to think I was going to stalk her on all her puppy deliveries so I went home and watched the going ons on the web cam. I was surprised when I got home that there were no puppies, I kept watching and thinking the birth had to be any minute so I ended up staying up all night waiting for the pups, LOL. I did snooze off for a little bit here and there but mostly I kept saying I would give it 15 more min. then another and before I knew it, it was 5 am.
Talk about being a lucky duck, at 5 am Karen asked if I would like to see a csection. WOULD I???? Of course I would, so she said to meet her at the vets office. I threw on some clothes and raced out the door. I used to work in labor and delivery for YEARS, and also attended several home births as a helper (I was not delivering the babies just helping), so I am really interested in labor and delivery, and since I have not worked doing that in the last few years I really enjoy being a part of such things.
When I got to the vets we were brought back once the surgery had started. OMG, they got the uterus out and it was sitting on little Gabby's tummy and I have seen pictures but I had no idea it was so big. You could see the little shapes inside and those were some BIG puppies. Gabby had two pups on the way to the vets, and was still expecting five more puppies. The vet made the incision into the uterus and sort of squeezed out the little pups, one at a time. The pups came out with the placenta still around them and the sac still intact- the staff would grab each pup and take them to a table to stimulate them. I really learned a lot watching the staff stimulating the pups, you could tell the staff there was a well oiled machine and were very used to such situations.
The little pups were placed in a warmer once they were all awake and doing well, and they sewed Gabby up. Hard to believe with that big incision that they do not have to worry abut them biting on it and they can nurse right away and even the pups kneading and jumping all over it does not seem to bother it.
Next they brought Gabby who was still obviously pretty drugged and very tired from the long labor and all the pushing, and coming out of the anesthesia and shivering and shaking a lot. As soon as Gabby was a little more awake they brought in the puppies and she still looked pretty out of it but it was obvious right away that Gabby was going to be a great mother. She looked very much in love with her little pups right from the start and the pups were very vigorous, big and healthy looking and seemed to be very good nursers. The little family bonded instantly and this picture is one Karen shot just a few minutes after the family was put together.
The pups are adorable, very cute and flashy. I thought there are some very pretty blue merles, and there is a tri black split face female----OOOH I LOVE split face dogs so much-that is going to be a very cute dog. I got assign names to this litter-Karen had the names but gave me the honor of putting them to the pups. ;-)
Gabby & Mike had 7 puppies by cesarean section on July 25, 2009. To learn more about the pups and their parents visit www.bordercollie.tv and dogsportphotos.com .
The theme for the names for this litter are terms/names associated with themoon landing anniversary.
Pup 1 Buzz - black tri male with black over both eyes .36 kg at birth
Pup 2 Moon - blue merle male black patch on rear and left leg .37 kg
Pup 3 Lunar - black tri female with white face & black dot on head .35 kg
Pup 4 Apollo - blue merle female with black dot on head .40 kg
Pup 5 Eagle - blue merle female with light and dark patches on left side .35 kg
Pup 6 Eclipse - black tri female split face left .39 kg
Pup 7 Orbit - blue merle female with black patch on right side .38 kg
So since the babes were born, poor Gabby does not seem to be making enough milk, so the pups are getting supplemented with goats milk from a goat that Karen got.
As I was leaving the ranch, Karen loaded me down with the bounty of the ranch. I had fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges Karen picked that morning, and she sent home a bunch of oranges, tomatoes, zucchini, egg plant, a ton of duck eggs and some goats milk home with me. Yesterday I made some yummy zucchini bread and am making some yogurt with the goats milk, and we have really been enjoying the tomatoes and corn, all that and getting to take part in the birth, how much better could that deal get?