Here is a photo of her taking a nap on a leather ottoman a few days before she gave birth. Look how round that tummy is! Looks like a nice litter in there!
Coco's pregnancy went very well, in that although she did take a lot of naps....she seemed be be very much herself otherwise.
I could tell that early labor had begun when Coco started to pant heavily at periodic intervals.
Coco's early labor started at 9 pm on Thursday evening. It was 3 days past her due date, so I started to get myself prepared to be up with her all night.
When Coco went into labor I put her in the baby pool with newspapers since that is where I have whelped her litters in the past. She continued regular intervals of panting, and resting and general restlessness throughout the night. But there was no pushing so it was not eventful.
The next morning I sent my kids off to school and sat down next to Coco to wait.
At 9:45 am she started pushing. A bag of water started to show, which is totally normal. She only pushed a few times then went back to quietly resting. She decided to move to an open crate I had in the room. It had a cushion under a whelping pad, so it was more comfortable than the baby pool.
Labor for Coco consisted of a regular cycle with few minutes of panting, a few minutes of digging about, and then some quiet resting time when she sleeps a little.
It seems to work out very nicely for her.
At 10:50 the first puppy was born! Yah! A light cream colored little boy!
This was the first glimpse I had of the puppy after Coco pulled it out of the water sac. She continues to lick him up while the puppy begins to take his first breathes. He doesn't look much like a puppy yet, does he!? Don't worry, he will clean up nicely and get better color very quickly:)
After another hour of restful labor, Coco started to push again. Very quickly the next little puppy was born. An apricot little boy...
Above are the first two puppies. (See how nice that light cream boy looks after an hour after birth!) I put them in a soft box with a heating pad while their mama was pushing out the next puppy. The second boy is still a little bit damp. But they look healthy and are doing great!
After that pups continued to come at 1 hour intervals. The last 2 puppies were born just 10 minutes apart. An hour between puppies may seem like a lot, but Coco seemed very calm and relaxed while she rested, so it seemed like perfect timing to me.
And here is the first photo I got of all the puppies nursing with Coco. The puppy on the far left (the darkest color) is a girl. The other 4 puppies are boys. The puppy in the middle is our first born.
Keep in mind that the coats of the puppies will change as the fur comes in. A light puppy may even turn red as an adult. (remember Toby?) All the puppies look like they will be nice apricot colors. I cannot wait to see how they grow up!
It was a very exciting day for all of us. Coco did so great! She rested with her puppies through the evening and night. The next day she was chipper and excited. It was a very good delivery!
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