The result of her summer visits with Kodiak was a litter of nine pups, including two black males, two black females, two Landseer males, and three Landseer females.  Mother and pups seem to have recovered from the evening of the 23rd and the morning of the 24th better than the two midwives, who are still feeling a little rocky after pulling an  all-nighter.

Here's mom the morning after the birth.  She's just gone outside for a necessary trip. 

She's on a chain so that she won't wander and possibly drop an unexpected pup.

Newf pups are very small when they're born.  Jane is holding this doll, a black female, 24 hours old.

Sugar Bear's a cuddler.  Note how she has two Landseers tucked under here chin as a black burrows in

under her front leg.

Because this was a large litter, we split it into two groups, leaving some pups with mom

and bringing the others into the house, where they are fed a supplement

while they're away.

We use a laundry basket with a blanket as a transporter.  Here are five pups

snuggled together for their 2-3 hour in-house shift.

Here is the same group of five on a blanket in the whelping shed, awaiting mom's return from a

trip outside.

08-09-26:

The pups are currently being rotated on a three-hour pattern.  We'll increase the length of the shifts as time passes.  Once their eyes are open, or once the basket gets too heavy to carry, we'll leave all nine with mom.  Until then, it's shift work.

This page was updated on

 Thursday, December 11, 2008