Poppy’s first litter

Tuesday 7 February, 2017

The babies have arrived! After a restless night, and several cooling swims during the morning and just when we were about to take her for a vet check, puppy number one arrived! Poppy seemed quite anxious as we don’t think she knew what was happening but insisted on remaining in her old bed rather than the prepared whelping box! First was a breech boy (tail first) and we had a few anxious moments getting him breathing after his head was born.Poppy seemed to know exactly what to do and cleaned him well. We were able to move her to the box once we had put her little chocolate boy in there.

All puppies have had velcro ID bands attached so that we can monitor their progress properly. Once cleaned and given the chance to suckle each puppy was weighed. Their weights will be recorded at 5pm each day (being the mid point of the second stage of labour, which lasted from 12.30 to 10.45pm).

Poppy is now the proud mother of two chocolate boys, two chocolate girls, two black boys, three black girls and two yellow girls.

Purple ID Chocolate boy
Grey ID Chocolate girl
Orange ID Black girl
Blue ID Chocolate boy
Red ID Black boy
Green ID Black boy
Pink ID Chocolate girl
Yellow ID Black girl
Black ID Yellow girl
Brown ID Yellow girl
Light Blue ID Black girl

Most puppies have now been spoken for, but we are still taking applications which will be carefully considered in the strictest confidence.

Saturday 11 February

The puppies are all gaining weight, and Poppy is proving to be an attentive mum. She is certainly getting hungry and managed to get two breakfasts this morning! Both my daughter and I fed her, not realising that she had already been fed. Poppy had no trouble finishing it all!

Poppy is still very keen to dig and return to the whelping nest under the house she dug herself in the final weeks of her pregnancy, so we are keeping it fenced off in case she introduces soil into the whelping box. The ‘puppy cam’ is working well and we can monitor the pups at all times. We are taking turns sleeping in the room with them at night.

More photos to follow, but meanwhile you can visit our Instagram page for regular updates.

Wednesday 15 February

All puppies are now spoken for. Thank you for your many enquiries!

Friday 17 February

The puppies are 10 days old and now doubled in birth weight. Here are some pictures of our babies, grouped by sex and colour.

Sunday 19 February

Puppies are all gaining weight nicely, and Poppy keeping them clean. However I did notice little Pandora (yellow with black collar) standing to toilet in the corner of the box, so have put a toileting pad there to encourage the others to use that corner.

We have given the pups their pedigree names, but after their new owners visit and tell us their chosen names we can start using those. They are named after moons of Saturn, as we have keen astronomers in the family. Their pedigree names (in birth order) are:

Purple collar – chocolate boy: Papoulab Titan
Grey collar – chocolate girl: Papoulab Rhea
Orange collar – black girl: Papoulab Dione
Dark blue collar – chocolate boy: Papoulab Pan
Red collar – black boy: Papoulab Atlas
Green collar – black boy: Papoulab Prometheus
Pink collar – chocolate girl: Papoulab Calypso
Yellow collar – black girl: Papoulab Helene
Black collar – yellow girl: Papoulab Phoebe
Brown collar – yellow girl: Papoulab Pandora
Light blue collar – black girl: Papoulab Tethys

Here are some pictures of their Sunday sleep-in. Notice how you can see the yellow girls’ eyes almost open. Pan may be the smallest boy, but he has a big personality.

Tuesday 21 February

The puppies are now two weeks old and seem to have grown overnight. In fact at our weigh-in we now have two pups over a kilo. The range from lightest to heaviest is less than 200g and different pups have growth spurts on different days.

Today’s challenge was administering worming liquid to all the puppies with the aid of a dropper. This was mostly successful with only a little ending up on their fur and bedding! Although much of their time is still spent sleeping, there is a frantic scramble when Poppy enters the box. Many of the pups’ eyes are peeping and they are able to get up on their little legs briefly.

They are all very content after a feed. Here are some pictures taken this morning.

23 February

5 March – nearly 4 weeks old

8 March – 4 weeks old

10 March

14 March – 5 weeks old

15 March

16 March

First taste of chicken necks

6 weeks old

At the vet for vaccinations and microchipping and lunch in the garden.

Abby (Pandora) and Ollie (Prometheus) at new owners’ visits

7 weeks old

Waiting to be released after an early morning breakfast

8 weeks old

8 weeks old and waiting for their new owners

8 week puppy portraits

Goodbye to our puppies who have left for their new homes. We will keep in touch. Below are their new names:

Purple collar – chocolate boy: Papoulab Titan is now called Charlie
Grey collar – chocolate girl: Papoulab Rhea is now called Pepsi
Orange collar – black girl: Papoulab Dione is now called Lottie
Dark blue collar – chocolate boy: Papoulab Pan is now called Mocha
Red collar – black boy: Papoulab Atlas is now called Dalí
Green collar – black boy: Papoulab Prometheus is now called Ollie
Pink collar – chocolate girl: Papoulab Calypso is now called Astrid
Yellow collar – black girl: Papoulab Helene is now called Kirby
Black collar – yellow girl: Papoulab Phoebe is now called Pixar
Brown collar – yellow girl: Papoulab Pandora is now called Abby
Light blue collar – black girl: Papoulab Tethys is now called Luna