Day four
So,
Has anyone ever mentioned that GRDs (Briards) can be too tough for their own good?
So, there is always some risk in a first litter anything after maybe 4 in dogs. Teeha not only was the stealth puppy carrier, but she poured so much of her body resources into puppy building that the c-section etc threw her into stress hepatitis.
Despite her opinion of the matter, she is now seperated from her puppies to get some forced rest. Although she didn't have anymilk anyway, she was actively participating in the puppy care up to now, actually cleaning puppies on recommendation (I can't really call it command, the whole thing was way too cooperative as batwrangler can attest to from having witnessed/participated in the process.
Since her return from her 4 am vet visit she has twice tried to get me to take her in the house through the garage door, which leads to the part of the house the puppies are in and which she is currently gated off from. It is both amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. And anyone who dares to call it coincidence I am more than happy to take out to the wood pile.
K. and I are both exhausted. Puppies were on about a 2 hour feeding schedule trying to catch up from the very limited diet they were on when still nursing. Now they are in a slightly more manageable 3-4 hour feeding cycle, and a couple are on "diets" (cut off the first time they fall off the bottle) because they were eating about 30% more formula than recommended for puppies of their size.
K. sent out a general distress call because, yes, this was a planned litter and yes, I took the next 1.3 weeks off in order to help with the rearing but this has turned out more interesting in the Chinese curse sense than expected. Borderline liver failure was not on the list of risks we were expecting for Teeha.
Good news is that not only is she too tough for words, but resillent. Despite her contrary opinion over being removed from the puppies, she is bouncing back already with a return to her lower protein maintenance food, some sleep, and some meds. I am cautiously optimistic but cautiously only until her blood work 2 weeks from now.
All that said, if anyone in the greater CT/MA area suddenly finds themselves without work or school obligations in the next week, give us a call. Even "sitting" work with Teeha is helpful because she is tolerating seperation from the pups better when she has company -- if everyone in the house is on the right side of the gate but her, it is much harder than if she has company.
Has anyone ever mentioned that GRDs (Briards) can be too tough for their own good?
So, there is always some risk in a first litter anything after maybe 4 in dogs. Teeha not only was the stealth puppy carrier, but she poured so much of her body resources into puppy building that the c-section etc threw her into stress hepatitis.
Despite her opinion of the matter, she is now seperated from her puppies to get some forced rest. Although she didn't have anymilk anyway, she was actively participating in the puppy care up to now, actually cleaning puppies on recommendation (I can't really call it command, the whole thing was way too cooperative as batwrangler can attest to from having witnessed/participated in the process.
Since her return from her 4 am vet visit she has twice tried to get me to take her in the house through the garage door, which leads to the part of the house the puppies are in and which she is currently gated off from. It is both amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. And anyone who dares to call it coincidence I am more than happy to take out to the wood pile.
K. and I are both exhausted. Puppies were on about a 2 hour feeding schedule trying to catch up from the very limited diet they were on when still nursing. Now they are in a slightly more manageable 3-4 hour feeding cycle, and a couple are on "diets" (cut off the first time they fall off the bottle) because they were eating about 30% more formula than recommended for puppies of their size.
K. sent out a general distress call because, yes, this was a planned litter and yes, I took the next 1.3 weeks off in order to help with the rearing but this has turned out more interesting in the Chinese curse sense than expected. Borderline liver failure was not on the list of risks we were expecting for Teeha.
Good news is that not only is she too tough for words, but resillent. Despite her contrary opinion over being removed from the puppies, she is bouncing back already with a return to her lower protein maintenance food, some sleep, and some meds. I am cautiously optimistic but cautiously only until her blood work 2 weeks from now.
All that said, if anyone in the greater CT/MA area suddenly finds themselves without work or school obligations in the next week, give us a call. Even "sitting" work with Teeha is helpful because she is tolerating seperation from the pups better when she has company -- if everyone in the house is on the right side of the gate but her, it is much harder than if she has company.