This has been a challenging litter from conception on. Riley had a date with Brule in Colorado and we flew out on 9/11 and arrived during the Colorado floods. I was fortunate that the roads were open so that we could make our planned date with Brule. Based on progesterone testing, I calculated that Riley had ovulated on Friday the 13th - not a very good omen. Although no morning sickness and I couldn't confirm pregnancy by palpation, Riley started expanding nicely at around 6 weeks and was having an easy pregnancy. However by 7-8 weeks, she wasn't looking very big and we prepared for a small litter. It is possible that she lost some pups midpregnancy. Riley's due date was 11/15 (63 days after ovulation), but she showed no signs of whelping until 11/17. Finally on Sunday evening after the monster storm blew through Indiana, Riley went into labor, despite eagerly eating a light supper a couple of hours earlier. Dogs typically go off food 12-24 hrs prior to whelping.
After much work on all our parts, two big puppies finally entered the world. These pups looked 2 days old at birth since they already had black noses and gray skin pigment on their muzzles. Term puppies are typically born without pigment and have pink noses, muzzles and pads. The male was quite vigorous at birth, but the big girl required some resuscitation since she had been stuck in the birth canal for some time. Riley continued to have contractions and we were hopeful there may be a third pup, but after much waiting around and palpating, finally concluded it was unlikely.
Riley was phenomenal during the rough whelp - trusting and cooperative. Once again, she is proving to be an excellent, calm dam. The pups are vigorous as would be expected for such big precocious pups. There should be no shortage of milk for these two.
Male pup - 14.9 oz
Female pup - 18.6 oz
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