Jubilant couldn't wait the whole 63 days, and it all started on Saturday 24th September!
This was the first day she declined breakfast, and she spent the whole morning searching for suitable dens, and nest-building there.  The best spot was my summer house where I had been stacking hay as organic feed for winter!  She spent all afternoon there until the first fluid sack appeared at 6pm.  Since she liked the hay, I added this to her whelping box; a bit unorthodox?

It was 9pm before the first pup was born, with the second appearing at 10:30pm, then at intervals throughout the night.  The last puppy was born at 7:30 on Sunday morning, ending with 4 boys and 3 girls, all black and tan. 
For photos of this night try here.

All pups seemed healthy for the first couple of nights, with Jubilant being a brilliant mum. 
Then, she seemed to sense something was wrong with Red Boy who had been quite a character exploring the whelping box.  I guess this kept him too long from the infra-red lamp and milk-bar, since he had fallen below 500g by the third day. 
He wasn't responding to additional puppy milk, and died at three days old :-(

Red Boy was the first born, and Orange Girl was the second.  Jubilant has now singled her out, and on occasions has carried her out to the garden where I have had to rescue her from dens she was making on Saturday morning. 

Fortunately she is responding to bottle-feeding and has kept above 500g.  Jubilant appears to appreciate the human intervention.

Saturday 1st October; one week old:

Fortunately Orange Girl is growing again, though she is still the smallest at 550g

Her birth weight along with most of the others was 675g!

All lost weight in the first day or two, due to the change in diet and excercise ;-)

With the exception of Yellow Girl, all have regained their birth weight.

Now we will see if Yellow Girl responds to the same extra attention?

Sunday 9th October; two weeks old:

Well Yellow Girl did respond, before I had to go off to the ABB trials to fulfil previous commitments.

Meanwhile, I am grateful to Krist'l Bal for taking over, instead of going to the trials.

Krist'l decided Jubilant wasn't providing enough milk, so started bottle-feeding all puppies while I was away.

Hence, they are all over 1 kg at two weeks.

They have also all opened their eyes to varying degrees.

Krist'l has pick of the boys, and although she has decided to take one back to Belgium,

she isn't telling me which one until they are 6 weeks old.

It is likely that he will be accompanied by "Orange Girl" to a show home nearby,

so long as she progresses to look well at 6 weeks.

 

I picked my girl at 2 days old, and the second boy is ready to be picked to stay in England soon after Krist'l decides.

 

I am hoping that the best homes for the other boy and girl materialise in the coming weeks,

preferably to homes that will train the puppy to hunt the clean boot in the UK.

 

A link to my photos of Krist'l with each puppy, should be available to her friends on facebook,

along with her own taken between 1 and 2 weeks. [Mine start here :-) ]

This includes a link to photos of the boys at 12 days old, individually with their dad, Cezanne,

who was reluctant to be photographed [perhaps even embarassed by his progeny? ;-) ].

Sunday 16th October; three weeks old:

The two dogs previously named Pale Green and Dark Green Boys, are now referred to by their nail varnish marking;

"Green with Envy" and "Wandering Vine" respectively.

This was to save confusion, by the Vine turning into a pale faced saddle type,

whereas I expect Envy to remain dark with a blanket type. [HTMS]

Pups are now interacting, and continue to grow on puppy milk, with all

but two girls reaching 2 kg at 3 weeks old.

I introduced "baby rice" to their feed, then yesterday their were two takers for my first attempt at rice pudding.

However, the rest thought this was a sand-pit, and the ensuing mess put me off trying again today.

Jubilant seems to enjoy my cooking though ;-)

I've now started with "baby porridge" so will see how that works.

 

Sunday 23rd October; four weeks old:

Puppies have thrived on porridge, and on Friday I thought I would brighten up my rice pudding with some minced Lincolnshire pork I had intended for myself.

The puppies turned into a shoal of pyranhas, and 500g was devoured rapidly!

Hence, I can declare the pups are now carnivorous, without my intention of scrambled eggs as stepping stone.

 

Despite her being the smallest, on a few occasions I have picked up Yellow Girl thinking she was Navy Girl,

since she has now lost the white on her front toes.

Navy Girl has be superseded by Envy Boy as the heavy weight of the litter.

 

Krist'l has sent snap-shots taken in Skype sessions, so I have added a few to the feedback page,

since this is the best way of handling enquiries about individual pups.

I have caught up with the photos at 12 days, and have started galleries from individual pups linked from page 7.

Sunday 30th October: Five weeks old

All pups showed steady growth this week, with Envy boy reaching 4kg before

Orange girl had reached 3kg. However all are over 3kg now.

 

All six were playful, with their characters showing through.

On Saturday, Vine Boy lost his appetite, coinciding with their first worming treatment.

Over the previous days Vine Boy before he had gained 150, 200 and 95 g, then lost 210 g

within 24 hours of the worming powder. [ 1 g Panacur in 80ml puppy milk individually from the bottle.]

Later I noticed Vine Boy wasn't eating, and he kept Jubilant worried all night.

He had been accepting milk from the bottle, but died while I was trying to feed him milk from the bottle

this morning, and I couldn't resustitate him.

Sunday 6th November: Six weeks old

Vine Boy showed no signs of defect or infection post mortem, and there is no

explanation for his sudden loss of appetite.

His ashes now have a special place in my garden,

and I am on the look-out for a Wandering Vine to plant over him.

 

Although no-one grew in the 24 hours following the worming powder, all the other five recovered

weight gain, and are coming to the end of my scale range:

	click for growth chart

7 weeks

Well I went out and bought kitchen scales that went up to 10 kg, so now individual pups

have the own charts.  At main meals, the two due for Belgium were feed separately

to prepare them for the journey at 8 weeks. 

 

Unfortunately, despite Cezanne having an ATC number, the KC couldn't provide online registration,

because his pedigree is new to the UK.  Hence, snail mail is required, and the registration

documents aren't going to be ready when the first pups leave for their new homes.

8 weeks

All pups had their second worming, first innoculations and microchipping on Friday,

with details entered in individual UK Pet Passports, so the names are now fixed:

Colours  thus become:	Envy   Boy	Gold   Boy	Navy   Girl	Orange     Girl	Yellow     Girl
Sanft	Charger	Chimer	Dawn	Daya &	Daylight

Unfortunately the booking for Daya, [aka Orange Girl] was cancelled

so I still have three bitches, two of which require the best new homes.

Sunday 27th November: 9 weeks old

The KC documents arrived with all the chosen names, but the five generation pedigree

was a waste of money since the KC didn't include all the gt-gt-gt-grandparents shown here,

since they are new to the UK.

The boys have settled well in their new homes, with Charger reaching 11.3 kg,

and Chimer is reported to have reached 11.8 kg!

Meanwhile the girls are still waiting for a new owner, and all have reached 10 kg.

Here is a shot earlier in the week of Jubilant taking them for a stroll in the garden:

 

Ref: NS110925D90nc977

Location: Mill View

Photographer: NS D90