Speedy Delivery

Juliette has a reputation for fast, easy whelps with little warning.  She is the only dam who has managed to whelp a pup before I knew to be in attendance.  Sunday 12/22 was her due date, but the only sign of an impending whelp was her loss of appetite.  I stayed up late thinking that sundown may stimulate her to go into labor, but finally went to bed.  I didn't trust Juliette and kept a light on so I could easily check on her.  Fortunately, I am a very light sleeper.  Just before 2 am, Juliette asked to go outside, but otherwise looked normal.  I followed her out with a flashlight and sure enough after toileting, she started dripping fluids - her outer membranes had ruptured.  She went back into the plastic crate/den and started nesting, digging around furiously in the sheets I had added as bedding, behavior compatible with Stage I labor.  I observed her very carefully for any contractions and at 2:15 am, noticed the first convincing contraction.  Most dogs have 8-12 hours of Stage I before progressing into contractions, but not our Juli.  Juliette willingly followed me out into the living room where I had the whelping pool set up and hopped in.  The move interrupted her labor, but she finally got going again around 3:15 am.  She easily whelped a stillborn pup who had some pronounced deformities, a sad start to the whelp.  However, I had felt lots of puppy movement and heard puppy heartbeats, so I was still optimistic she had plenty of live pups in there.  I called my whelper helper extraordinaire Nancy at 4 am and together we waiting for things to start up again.  Juliette rested until around 5:30 am and then kicked into speed whelp mode, easily delivering 9 big vigorous puppies in under 3 1/2 hours. 

Collar	Time	Sex/color	Birthweight
Pink	5:30 am	F/Y	17.4 oz
Light Blue	5:35 am	M/Y	17 oz
Purple	5:55 am	F/Y	15.5 oz
Yellow	6:30 am	F/B	14.9 oz
Black	6:50 am	M/B	16.8 oz
Orange	7:00 am	M/B	11.9 oz
Green	8:15 am	M/Y	15.5 oz
Dark Blue	8:35 am	M/Y	18.1 oz
Red	8:50 am	M/B	16.6 oz