Puppy Update:
Taylor had pups on Thursday. The first was stillborn, then she popped out three more, about 30 minutes apart. Then, she stopped! She was still HUGELY pregnant, and we knew there were more puppies inside of her.
Taylor is a Treeing Walker Coon Hound, UKC Registered, as is the sire. So other than us loving Taylor dearly (I raised her in the 2017 litter of seven), she is Beau’s best Bear Dog and these pups will be pretty valuable once trained up.
Beau took her to the Vet late in the day on Thursday. She ended up having emergency surgery, C-Section, and four more pups were delivered. Turns out TWO of them were trying to come out at the same time, with two more behind - if was a Four Puppy Pile Up!
So, while Beau was with Taylor in surgery, I had the three little ones in the house with me, staying warm in a box with each other and lots of towels and a heating pad beneath for extra warmth. They required feeding every 1-2 hours, so we had an eye dropper and UniMilk, which we almost always have on hand, and Beau and I tag-teamed feeding them all night. Luckily, Taylor had already nursed them, so they got the most important Colostrum from Mama to get started right.
Beau was able to pick up Taylor the next morning, and Mother and Puppies were all reunited by Noon. She is being a very good Mama Dog, though one of the four that was taken by C-Section is not thriving; the Vet told us to expect that.
So, we’ll probably end up with six out of an initial litter of eight, which is absolutely normal when it comes to larger litters.
We got some sleep last night, and Puppies and Mama are still doing fine, as of a while ago. I will check on them throughout the morning. Beau and Bella Coola and Paiute (Plott Hounds) are off to a United Kennel Club Water Race, so Life Goes On! ‘Coola’ is our best swimmer, so I’m hoping for a big trophy for him today, though Paiute is a good contender, too! ;)