Puppies!!!

The morning of October 21st, Heidi was acting a little lethargic. We figured puppies must be coming early. They did not come that day. So I figured she is due Thursday, so I better get a webcam setup as I had a seminar I couldn’t miss. So I downloaded icam. It is an app for smartphones that allows you to check in on your webcam and lets you stream it or have it motion activated and allows up to four cameras to run at the same time. So we set up 1 camera looking over Heidi and I went to my seminar. Crushing Circuit Operation and Maintenance. Yeah, I know you are jealous…

Anyway, shortly after 8:00 on October 22nd, Heidi had already bailed out of her whelping box. Camera showed nothing. But no sound was being picked up so I figured she just wanted a more comfortable spot to rest for the day. When I made the whelping box, I assumed 24″ tall sides would be enough to discourage her from hopping over the sides while about ready to pop. I was incorrect. Well, about 10:45 I started hearing something on the camera. Still no sign of Heidi. I sent a text to Cara to let her know Hedi was AWOL and that I was hearing noises. So she left work and came home to find 2 little puppies being washed off by Heidi on the loveseat. Gross! Oh well, luckily they are fake leather and clean easily.

4 hours old.

This is Han Solo. He is skinnier than the other puppy, and such a looker. He will definitely be a lady killer. That brindle doesn’t show up well in photos as it is sort of dark inside and they move too much for slow shutter speed so I had to play with flash compensation to even get it this good. But in person, the brindle is more grey than it looks in pictures. And seems to get more grey toward his rear.

Puppy #2 at 4 hours old

And here is Boba Fett. He is more adventurous, always heading out on his own, but then he gets all whiney and starts crying for mommy. He’s already more of an eater than Han Solo. And his coloring is crazy cool. Big Grey patches. So cute.

So after the 4 hours was up, Cara called the vet to see what they thought/recommended. They said it is unheard of for a Great Dane to have just 2 puppies. But they were closing soon so they couldn’t look at her and gave us the number for the 24 hour vet. Well, Heidi was acting fine, other than not wanting to eat or drink, but she seemed happy to have babies to take care of and would get up and go outside fine, provided we stole her babies. So we figured we would wait until morning to see if anymore came out and decide what to do with her.

Sleeping on mommy’s paw

In the morning, Heidi was acting even better, so we just setup the webcam so I could monitor her from afar. Silly girl was supposed to wait until this 3 day seminar was over. Well, everything on camera was fine all day. When Cara came home she took Heidi and the puppies to the vet to get checked on and dew claws removed. Everything checked out. No more puppies. So yes, we have a Great Dane that had just 2 puppies. We were totally expecting 6-8, but no. And yes, I know we could have had an x-ray, but the cost and risk didn’t seem worth it. She was going to have what she had and an x-ray wasn’t going to change that.

Only having 2 puppies definitely throws out the plan for new flooring for the house. And we will barely break-even. So don’t care. They are adorable and Heidi is an amazing mom. It’s crazy how much that mothering instinct is programmed into animals. As soon as they were born, she was cleaning them off, directing them toward food, keeping them warm, and protecting them from us. Such a good mommy.

Mommy and babies sleeping

In the pictures from today, the puppies have little blood spots where their dewclaws were. And here are some more gratuitous puppy shots. Because PUPPIES!!!!

Han Solo laying on top of Boba Fett

Han and Boba cheek to cheek

Using mommy’s paw for a pillow again. Such tiny puppies.

Mommy checking on her babies

Boba Fett sleeping like his daddy

Trying to push mommy away. She’s a bit bigger though.

Heidi and Bob Fett cheek to cheek

And of course, it goes without saying, click pics for bigger versions. I can’t wait to get outside pics with them. This indoor lighting is just horrible.