Monday Memories-How it all began

Here at 24 Paws of Love, we'd like to take a trip down memory lane, so we've created Monday Memories.  So join us for a little stroll in our neck of the woods...

Brut the proud father.  When are those kids coming??

Here’s where it all began. Brut the soon-to-be father and Silver probably mentally cursing him for carrying his 10 children. Silver isn’t very big and I wished I’d gotten of picture of her standing up so you could see how wide she was. It was like she swallow a couple of footballs. When she would walk the whole “package” would sway from one side to the other with every step. I don’t know how she didn’t lose her balance with the weight shifting back and forth like that.

Silver ready to pop!  "Any day now, any day."

Pre-labor started with Silver waking me up at 7am Jan. 1, 2008, whining and panting and pacing, that last until the first birth. Fourteen and a half hours later at 2:30am, Jan. 2, 2008 her water broke. Then one after one, she began giving birth. She didn’t quit until Fiona was born at 9:15am that same morning.

Lunch!

10 puppies that were healthy and crying for their mommy. I was rather surprised by the sound of their cries. They sounded like human babies. I stayed up with Mom and the newborns for three days straight making sure Mommy didn’t lie on them. After that she learned to slither around them and not lie on any of them.



It was very surreal, having that many new puppies all at once. I have never witnessed a birth before and don’t have kids, so this was simply amazing to me. It was one thing to know they were in there when we had x-rays done and could see their skeletons and it was another to have them all out in the open all with fur, little noses and ears. I’d heard enough horror stories over the years about what can go wrong with dog births, it was just a miracle when they were all born safe and sound. Once we made through the first 24 hours and  the critical next 3 days, things were good.

All ten at one day old.

We knew these puppies were going to change our lives. We could not have imagined how many different ways that was going to happen and still does. We still visit the other 6 puppies and they still remember us. It has been an amazing experience watching them all grow and become healthy adults. To see such young lives grow up practically before your eyes is indescribable. We still find ourselves in awe at the miracle of life.