10 Puppies
Born July 1, 2010
Shown above in no certain order at 1 Day old. Notice the tails are long and have not been docked yet. The smallest whitest puppy is shown on bottom right with white blaze ... all the rest have solid liver heads. Other than the whitest male, the rest of this litter has a lot of larger multiple patches. The puppies with dark pads should tick in like mom on the whiter areas, and the pink padded puppies will grow up to look like miniature painted ponies with various shades of freckles on the whiter areas - just beautiful! What a gorgeous batch of puppies!
MEET HEIDE AND IBBI'S PUPPIES
Born July 1, 2010
5 Males
5 Females
# 1 - 3:45 AM - Female - 13 oz - Solid Head - Lighter Brown - Heart Patch - Dark Pads
# 2 - 4:45 AM - Male - 16 oz - Solid Head - Slight White on Nose and White Chin - Pink Pads
# 3 - 5:10 AM - Male - 16 oz - Solid Head - Largest Saddle Patches-Darkest Puppy - Dark Pads
# 4 - 6:05 AM - Female - 16 oz Solid Head - Center Scallop - Large Dots with Pink Pads
# 5 - 6:45 AM - Male - 12 oz - White Blaze on Face - Smallest and Whitest Puppy - Pink Pads
# 6 - 7:30 AM - Female - 14 oz - Solid Head- Unique "8" Patch on side - Pink Pads
# 7 - 8:30 AM - Male - 14 oz - Solid Head - "Voice Bubble" Patch - Pink Pads
# 8 - 10:30 AM - Male - 1 lb 1 oz - Solid Head - Unique Scallop - Largest Puppy - Pink Pads
# 9 - 11:00 AM - Female - 15 oz - - Solid Head - Large Dot Patches with Dark Pads
# 10 - 2:45 PM - Female - 15 oz - Solid Head - Irregular Patches All Over - Dark Pads
BEFORE THE BIRTH: Our females always receive a nice warm, sudsy pre-birth massaging and relaxing bath. They also have their nails cut as short as possible for the puppies sake. They really enjoy all of the added attention and their wagging tails show it. They will lose their large appetite before the birth ... which is normal. We have females that will not eat or drink for 1-2 days before whelping and that is completely normal. Her temperature will drop below 100 degrees before the birth (also known as whelping) of the litter. This is usually the final sign of early labor (within 24 hours of the birth) so that all of the puppies do NOT go through such a SHOCK when arriving outside of a dog's normal body temperature of a whopping 102 degrees. Next they will usually become very restless, pacing and panting all over the house. Many females will start occasionally digging in their crate, which is called NESTING to help keep their mind off of the mild contractions. These early labor contractions can actually last for a few days, so we are not real concerned until the temperature actually drops ... and then we stay close to home.
THE BIRTHING PROCESS: Once the mother's temperature drops and the water breaks, the puppies will start their long journey. They will detach from inside her uterus and slowly take turns coming down the birth canal with mom helping push via stronger contractions. They travel inside their fluid filled sac attached to their oxygen filled placenta that acts like an oxygen tank. Once born we tear open the fluid sac, clear the fluids from the lungs and noses and help them to get their first breath, just like a newborn baby is assisted by the doctor. We then cut the umbilical cords and many times she eats the placenta and cord for iron ... YUK!! This also helps to bring on more contractions to keep the next puppy coming. In the wild she would lick and eat up all the fluids, blood and placentas so that predators do not smell the den. I usually let the mother eat what she wants because sometime she has not eaten for 2 days or more due to loss of appetite during early labor. After we get them breathing well on their own, we weigh them and sketch their unique markings in order to tell them apart. All this plus their sex and their birth time are carefully noted on a Puppy Whelping Chart. We will keep this for future reference as we will need to weigh them every day to make sure they are gaining weight. Unfortunately, if a puppy loses weigh it could mean death in a matter of a days. We usually let the puppies nurse in between each puppy (this also helps to bring on more contractions and is very good start for the puppies, too) . When the next puppy starts to arrive, we quickly move them in a warming box (with heating pad), so as to concentrate on the next NEW LIFE and mom cannot accidentally step on them during the coming contractions, either. We repeat this process over and over and it takes approximately 12 hours. I usually will stay up all night but her side just in case a puppy needs help with revival - which happens quite often. In the wild many puppies will die at birth - but I am there to assist, if needed, to prevent any problems, if at all possible. In the case of problems, we have our vet who is on call for an emergency, 24-7, if needed.
BLIND AND DEAF: All puppies are born deaf and blind and do not open their eyes or start to walk until they are approximately 2 weeks old! They crawl on their bellies, helpless, deaf and blind, using only their sense of smell to find their nearby mom and the nipples. If they start crawling the wrong way they will get cold and will chill easily. They must stay warm to survive. One of the most common causes of puppy death in the first week, is form chilling. When they are lost and cold or hungry, they will start to cry and mom will lean over and lick them to show them the correct direction to crawl back to her ... too cool!
DISTINCT MARKINGS: Notice the common liver heads and variations in their markings at birth. GSP puppies are born white and with patches of liver, but soon the white areas will fill in with various shades of "ticking" (a pretty speckled design). Some ticking will be lighter (like freckles) and some darker as they mature. The darkest shade is called ROAN, with really no areas of white at all, but almost a gray shade. Each week they will become more and more like they will look when fully grown. By the time they are 5-6 weeks they will be a miniature version of their adult self. Experience has shown us that from birth, the PINK PADS will not tick in but may instead remain freckled like the whiter version of the GSP. When they have the DARKER PADS, they usually will tick in and become darker when older. There are many shades of ticking, from very light to very dark. No two puppies are exactly the same.Many prefer one version over the other, but they are all very precious, indeed.
We hope you enjoyed learning about the birthing process of the German Shorthaired Pointer.
Blessings,
Vicki and Bill Murdock
Colonial Farms, LLC
Gamebird Preserve
Field Dog Training
German Shorthaired Pointers
"Come to where the fun times, good birds, and great dogs are waiting for YOU!"
www.ColonialFarmsLLC.com
