Maggie came to us after being dropped off at a pound on a dark, snowy evening.  Three days later she gave birth to five little pups.  Thanks to Paws & Prayers, Maggie has a warm foster home for her and her pups.  Thanks for reading her story.

 Yesterday four of the puppies' eyes began to open. It is like watching seeds grow! LOL. I suspect that today two of them will be wide open and by the end of the week the other two will be open AND, hopefully, the other three will have their eyes open as well!  C.J. is learning to give herself some mommy time and space from the little ones. I think we have made it past the critical period. Things are still looking lovely. We have also, finally, given the puppies names and they seem to be fitting. If you go to facebook you can see each one tagged with a name. :)

 The puppies seem to have doubled in size since their birth a week ago. I will be trying to get each one photo documented and posted this week. They are eating and sleeping and pooping plenty! Some of them growl and bark in their sleep; it is really adorable. A couple of them have wiggled away and "explored" a little. C.J. did not seem to know how to pick them up so I had to put them back. They get very noisy if they can't find the correct source of food and they can be very loud. Overall, they are doing well. 

 We lost Nubbins on Wednesday. I took him into the vet and he said that he was clearly in pain and that even if he did heal, the lasting pain would be unknown.  I said good bye to Nubbins around 2:00 p.m.  

 It is Tuesday night and Nubbins is still hanging on. He has a vet check tomorrow to see how his feet are going to do. I think C.J. is starting to get worn down feeding eight voracious pups. They are growing like weeds, four of them in particular! Tonight I started to supplement Nubbins because I think the others are just too strong for him to keep his place. He seemed to like it. Freddie has slowly been allowed to get closer and participate as well. Tonight he helped in the ceremonious butt licking. He also managed to give a few of them an all over licking. I think C.J.'s tongue is getting tired. She does come out of her den in the evenings to come and hang with the fam. Sometimes I check on her and find she has found a racquet ball and stashed it among the pups. She continues to eat well (she could probably stand to eat more) and go outside with the other dogs. She would like it if I would go out with them and play a little, otherwise she wants to come right back in. 

 Yesterday we found out that there was an older dog who had, surprisingly, delivered a single pup. This pup was breech and the mother was confused. In trying to help the delivery along, she inadvertently injured the pups hind feet. After the delivery she wanted nothing to do with the puppy, as I sad previously, she was confused. Paws and Prayers was contacted to help. The timing could not have been better and boy, were we in the right place at the right time!  We introduced C.J. to the new puppy and she sniffed and licked, and then she let the puppy nurse! She accepted him right from the beginning, without hesitation. It is now the day after and NUBBINS made it through the night. He has a lot of catching up to do, but hopefully he will make a great recovery and those toeless feet of his won't be too much bother. I think C.J. has her paws full but she has been the best trooper! She now has an even eight pups, 4 girls and 4 boys! 

 C.J. finally stopped delivering pups at 8:50 a.m. The last one was a little boy. The other two brothers are the biggest. There was a runt but not a very small runt. This morning it seems the runt has evened out with the other five. C.J. finally conked out good last night about 9:00, I followed shortly after. lol. She went out a couple of times yesterday but was very nervous to leave her pups. Today I went out with the other dogs and she played a little with us and walked by me as I kicked the ball. She does not like my cat sniffing around but does let us hold the puppies. We stay by the crate so she can relax a little and try to keep it quiet and calm for her. Her appetite has been good, as well as the puppies and she gets up to drink. When people come over she gets up to check them out and then goes back to her babies. Today she also came running when I was talking to the other dogs so she could shove her nose between us. This is usual. She is a bit of an attention hog. :)  Overall, she is doing her job well....

C.J. is having her puppies! She just had a third! I missed the first two but her babies woke me from my sleep. I knew something was going on but figured I would have a little time. I left her at midnight and by 3 a.m. there were 2. All the animals in my home were acting weird, particularly my boy cat Cosmo and FREDDIE! Freddie came to my bedroom door and was pacing! I do not lie and then I crated him and he kept whining. I was ready to ring his neck  but at the same time I was thinking...really? Does he really know something I don't? Guess so! I had a clue, though. I put C.J. out 5 times in an hour before I went to bed. Ok. with that said, you are going to have to go back to google groups to see pics cause I can't get them up!!!!!!! TONY!!!!!!! So sorry guys. TONY-please help me! LOL

 These puppies are looking good and C.J. acts like a pro! She has kept this event organized and clean as far as birthing puppies is concerned! We are up to 5, 3 girls and 2 boys. The girls were born first. I think we may have one or two more....i hear licking, well, here's one more! to see immediate pictures, please become a fan on facebook and check them out. I still can't figure out how to post them here. 

 

 Apparently, Freddie is not only keeping an eye on C.J., but has also considered himself "Baby Daddy" or loving boyfriend.  These two seem to be two resting peas in a pod. He even waits for her when they all go outside!  And speaking of outside, C.J. loves to fetch the ball and run with the pack and bark at the neighbor's dog with everyone else. One would think she was not pregnant, however, the awesomest thing happened the other night! I was lying on the couch and put my hand down to rub her belly and I felt the puppies rolling around! I have since been having my floor time with C.J. watching and rubbing her belly. It is a pretty neat time I get to share with her. So, as of now, it may be a little bit but that is good. She continues to eat well and everyday another rib gets hidden or another backbone bump disappears



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