Our Story
On Friday 17th February 2006 Sunnie made my dreams come true by safely delivering five strong, healthy puppies. It was one of the most overwhelming and enjoyable experiences of my life and I can never do enough to repay her. It was my first time as an impending birth assistant but we worked together to add five fantastic furballs to the world's population. This is our story which we would like to share with you and we hope you enjoy reading about our puppies and how they were born.
Sunnie was not due to have her puppies until Monday 20th February which was great for me as I was starring in a local Amateur Pantomime until the Saturday. On the morning of Friday 17th, I came downstairs and noticed Sunnie was panting, looking a little concerned and she began to shadow me. I gave her lots of reassuring hugs and sat with her trying to keep her relaxed and happy.
By teatime she was panting a lot and she had the occasional strain through her stomach muscles, accompanied by whining. I was all prepared and had a little tool kit ready, a box of medical gloves, scissors, thread, heaps of newspaper, clean towels and baby wipes. Sunnie went into the whelping box (already prepared, but she hadn't been near it up til then!) and settled down on the newspaper.
When nothing had happened two hours later and her contractions had become stronger I began to feel a little worried. I telephoned my Veterinary Practice which had an answerphone on and a telephone number for the emergency - KeyVet!
The Vet on the end of the phone told me to give her another half an hour and if she hadn't produced a puppy by then, I should telephone again to arrange to bring her in. Prior to this she asked me if she was straining or contracting????? I was rather confused by this because her explanation sounded like straining or contracting were the same thing to me!
I returned to Sunnie with a definite plan of action in my head and stroked her comfortingly, settling down on the uncomfortable floor outside the whelping box. Noticing something out of the corner of my eye, I sat amazed as a little guinea pig like blob wriggled up the corner. I went into instant panic as the membrane was still encased around it and I didn't know exactly how long it had been there!
"Do something will you!" I cried at Sunnie who laid there totally unconcerned and staring blankly at me. Armed with my medical gloves (I don't mind gunk but I sure don't want to touch it!) I decided it was down to me and got the scissors and snipped the membrane, tearing it open. The puppy took a great gulp of air sounding a bit like a lion roar and then........ nothing. I rolled the pup upside down and rubbed its belly. Sunnie then decided to take an interest in it and began to lick the membrane off and started to chew off the umbilical cord. At this point I began to panic as I'd heard horror stories of bitches not knowing when to stop chewing. I watched on in the hope that Sunnie would not be one of them. It was wierd how she suddenly sprung into action and seemed to know what to do. Of course she stopped chewing and my attempts to aid her from then on were met with hard stares and her chin being placed protectively over the pup. I patted her lovingly and told her she was a good girl.
Hayley and Sally-Anne arrived back from performing the Pantomime which I was supposed to be in. All excited, they quietly peaked at Sunnie and her pup while I did my best to clear up a bit. Sunnie seemed to be beaming and happily allowed them to pat her head. Cookie aka 'Jake' would not feed at the start but I was glad he was breathing properly so left him. The Girls began to get noisey so I sent them upstairs to get ready for bed and give Sunnie some peace. Sunnie got up from the whelping box and waited at the back door to be let out to relieve herself - I thought! Having read up on bitch's labour I knew that you had to be careful about letting them out for a wee as pups had been known to be born on the lawn. At 1 degree outside I didn't think this was a good idea and luckily spotted something hanging out of her as she wagged her tail as I approached her.
"GIRLS", I screamed, collecting the little mite in my latex gloves. What a sight we must have been, Sunnie kept turning in circles with me following her trying to keep her still and support the cord and membrane at the same time. The Girls were great and ran to my aid, fetching the scissors I managed to pinch the umbilical cord and snip it, releasing the pup into my hand and freeing Sunnie from the torment of being stalked. Making sure the pup could breathe, I guided her back to the whelping box and let her sort him out. 'Blue' fed straight away which made my concern for Jake grow a little as he'd still not got the hang of it.
Sunnie took pride in cleaning and grooming her growing family and seemed content and comfortable. After a while she had a gush of waters breaking to tell us another pup was on the way and she continued to groom her pups. A while later I thought I'd better have a look at what was going on as nothing seemed to be happening. Lifting her leg - most undignified - a pup met my eyes - half in - half out! Wriggling desperately it looked most peculiar, there was no membrane over its face, it was just there! I took Jake and Blue away from Sunnie so she would concentrate on getting 'Skye' out which happened so quickly.
Then came Monty, followed a while later by Chloe. That felt like she was shelling peas, then just as everyone had told me, they fed a while (including Jake), and settled down to sleep all snuggled together. I was too excited to sleep and watched the happy family for some time before giving in and settling on the sofa to be woken at a the slightest whimper. I had 2 hours sleep that morning but I didn't care - they were worth it.