they're here

As expected, Tuuli delivered her puppies throughout the wee small hours of the morning.  In the end, it was all over so quickly!  Usually the Stage 1 of labour, which involves much digging, ripping up of paper and deep, deep panting, can go on for 24 hours or more.  Or less.  In the past I have had at least a day (or night) of Stage 1 to prepare myself for the big event but Tuuli had other ideas. 

She has been sleeping upstairs in the whelping room for a week now but refused to settle without a crate so we set up a small crate in there for her.  Last night, for the first time I left the door open and the crate uncovered and when she was restless after going to bed, I put it down to her being unhappy with the open door. 

After a couple of hours she called for me, so I went and discovered she had vomited in the whelping box.  Now, that really should have been the clue that things were going to start happening.  After all, each litter of puppies I have had has been preceded by the unfortunate return of the bitch's dinner, whatever it may have been. 

Somehow, without the telltale hours of digging, I missed the hint.  I just cleaned up the mess and went back to bed.  I'm not sure if my eyes had even closed when Tuuli called me again.  This time she needed to go out, so out we went and she had a very hasty poo.  Another clue - every litter of puppies I've had has also been preceded by a hurried poo.  Basically, bitches tend to have a big old clearout - first stomach contents and, er, related things, and then the puppies.

This time I thought I had better stay with Tuuli, as she was obviously unsettled.  So I moved my air mattress, duvet and pillow in and settled down next to her.  I wasn't actually going to get to enjoy much in the way of comfort and relaxation, though, because within 2 hours the first puppy had arrived. 

In her nest of ripped up paper

All of my experiences of bitches giving birth have involved some amount of noise.  There are grunts, little yips during the strongest contractions, even a little howl from Keksi.  None of that prepared me for Tuuli.  During the births of the first two puppies she screeched.  Throughout the 2 or 3 contractions it took to squeeze the puppy out, she emitted a series of loud, panicked shrieks of pain and distress.  It was just awful.  Awful. 

But I couldn't do what I wanted to do (which was, frankly, to cover my ears and run away).  After all, I got her into this mess, so it was my job to see her safely out of it too.  My job during contractions is the same as any birthing partner - encouragement and cheerleading.  So as she squawked and cried, staring at me in confusion and fear, I soothed her and assured her that everything was going to be ok.

I could see that everything was ok - the puppy's head was at her vulva waiting to come out.  All normal.  Her distress was just pain and shock at what was unexpectedly happening to her.  And when I weighed the puppies I wasn't surprised she was in pain because they are all so big and strong.

After the first two were born, everything actually was ok and she grew calm and just knuckled down to the business of giving birth.

Similar to Neka's birthing style, Tuuli popped one out every 20 minutes, so it was all done and dusted very quickly indeed once they started coming.  And I was over the moon when she produced the hoped-for 5 puppies instead of the promised 4. 

So, we have 5 black, tan and white puppies, 2 bitches & 3 dogs.  One of each sex seems to have markings like their mother and one of the dogs has markings like his dad.  The other bitch resembles my Maija with white legs and tan face, and the other dog is a bit more of a mix of his parents with his dad's white socks and tan legs and his mum's tan face.

Individual puppy photos later.  In the meantime, everyone is doing well and I could never have guessed what a good mum Tuuli would turn out to be.