That week went by so fast! The first few days are a total blur. Because of the c-section, Dr. Hess said not to trust Cheeky with the babies for the first 24-48 hours. Think about it — dog goes under then wakes up and has what looks like baby squirrels feeding on them. It has to be so weird. Luckily, Cheeky was super cooperative, if confused. I’d get her laid down and then start pulling the puppies out of their warming box and attaching them to her to nurse. Then I’d set a timer for 45 minutes, and then pop them back in their box, set a timer for 2 hours, and so on. It’s so exhausting not getting more than 2 hours of sleep at a time, but I’m happy to say we made it!
On Sunday morning, Marc came over to do the dewclaws and tails. Never a fun morning, but I’m thankful he could come do it and take the stress off transporting Cheeky (still recovering from major surgery) and the puppies to the vet.
He brought Halo with him, and she was SO excited to see her grand babies! She got straight into the box and started cleaning puppy butts. Cheeky, who up until now hadn’t been super excited about the puppies, jumped in and started licking the puppies (on their faces, but she’s trying!!). It’s like once she saw her Mom do it, it started clicking.
Once being a Mom clicked, it really clicked! Cheeky absolutely LOVES her babies. It makes me so happy. For the first time in her life, she hasn’t been sleeping with me and instead stays with her babies except to eat or potty (and then she RUNS back to them.)
We also started both Early Neurological Stimulation and Early Introduction to Scent. ENS is a big part of Puppy Culture and the Scent intro is a protocol by Avid Dog. Hopefully, we get all these neurons firing and get these puppies off to a very well-adjusted life!
She’s done an amazing job and her Spiderlings are thriving. Here are their one week weights:
Venom – 2 lb, 1 oz
Fang – 2 lb, .5 oz
Itsy Bitsy – 2 lb
Charlotte – 29 oz
