Thursday, April 1, 2010

Meet the Puppies

My husband's Walker hound Princess gave birth on February 18 to eight puppies, 4 males and 4 females. She has been a great Momma, very good considering it was her first time. We didn't have a good place to keep her and the pups warm, so a friend offered his workshop/garage as a  "birthing room" since he could keep a fire going if need be  during the first crucial days.
We brought the little ones(and Mama!) home today, at 6 weeks old. We've been visiting them every day, it's good to have them here where we can see them anytime we want.
This is Thumbtack, he's the male Richard decided he wanted to keep when they were 1 week old. He's grown into the largest of the litter, We'll have to by a saddle for him when he's full grown!






This is Gracie. I don't have a really good picture of her, but she is a special baby.
All of the pups  were born about the same size, which is unusual. There didn't seem to be a runt in the bunch.  Then when they were two weeks old, somehow Gracie got out of the whelping box. It had been really warm that day, so  it was decided that the fire wouldn't be needed. None of us know why she got out of the box, or why mama didn't' come after her when she heard her crying, but for whatever reason she laid on a cold concrete floor all night.
When our friend found her the next morning, he thought she was dead. She was cold and still. He picked her up and laid her outside the pen while he cleaned it out. His mom was with him and she told him she thought the pup was breathing. He checked her and felt the inside of her mouth, which was cold. He really thought she was beyond help, until he heard her whine. so he brought her to our house. I was at work, Richard called me in a panic wanting to know where the heating pad was, what the milk recipe was, etc.He put her in a box with a covered heating pad,fed her,"wooled" her, and watched her like a hawk all day.  I came home on my lunch break to check on her, and she seemed fine.
That evening we decided to take her back to mama, and I noticed her left back paw was blistered and swelled. Long story short (too late) she had frozen back feet and the end of her tail was frozen, from laying on the cold floor. Since then I doctored her feet and spoiled her, and convinced Richard she need to stay with us. It didn't take a lot of convincing.
In this picture she is resting against my leg. All tuckered out from playing.
I'll try to get a good picture of her soon to post.
Oh, and her name. I wanted something to mean "miracle"  One day the friend's mom who had found her almost frozen that morning said "it was a saving grace we found her when we did"
Grace!!! God's grace works for his creatures as well as us, so I have a reminder. My Gracie.

10 comments:

  1. Awe! How great! I <3 Gracie!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a sweet story. They are beautiful pups... I suppose Grace is with you to stay!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Grace has a home here for life! She is a very sweet little pup, very loving.She seems to understand she's special.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations on the pups. My cat just had her first litter of kittens. It is a very exciting time isn't it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh they are the cutest!! My youngest son, Alex would love to see them.

    Rebecca♥

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gracie is doing great, she has become the smartest and most alert of the pups, and the most loved!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a sweet story! I'm so happy that Gracie is doing well. They are woderfully beautiful.
    Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a phenomenal story of a life-long friend!!! And a beautiful name...I have two puppies now and volunteer at a shelter so I know eventually I WILL have a third (or fourth ;-) I've already chosen "Grace" as the name of my next pup....hope she's a girl ;-)

    Grace is a very lucky girl, and I'm sure you feel as lucky as she is...God Bless you all!!

    ReplyDelete