green stuff & black stuff

Contented mum & growing babies













Remember when the 2 cream puppies of the last litter turned green?  I don't think I ever got around to blogging about why that happened.  Amazing, really, considering the gory detail I usually savour on this topic.  The green thing seems to happen to every litter, but it only becomes apparent on light coloured puppies.

For a couple of days after the puppies are born, bitches have a dark greeny-black discharge.  It's related to the placenta juice, to be blunt about it.  Eeuw is what I have to say to that.  I've had a couple of new experiences with this litter, one of which was my very first glimpse of a placenta.  Keksi was nursing her brood and dozing after delivering the 7th when I saw a slimy black mass under her tail.  I managed to scoop it up and get rid of it before she gobbled it up. 

And so, all that's left as evidence of the placentas is a couple of days of the sticky green stuff that stains everything it touches.  Most of it stays in Keksi's very furry tail and when the puppies burrow under her tail, they get greened with it.  I'm pleased to say that Hopea doesn't appear to be a tail-burrower as she has managed to stay more or less white - apart from the initial newspaper inking, that is. 

Tomorrow I'll give Keksi's back end a quick and gentle bath to get rid of the dried in muck.  It's not a nice thought to have the puppies nestling in there and it must be very uncomfortable for Keksi.  That will help to keep the bedding clean too.  At this stage it gets changed twice a day and gets grubby pretty quickly.

As for the black stuff, well I was pretty impressed with the way Keksi handled the black tarry placenta poos last time. This time?  I'm even more impressed.  Not only did she manage to expel the entire lot in one go, but Jay was the one who took her out to do so.  Result!

Having said that, there was still the - four? five? more? - trips outside during the night last night with squits.  Keksi's, not mine, you understand.  

And because I'm a bit tired from interrupted nights, I can't write much, but lucky you are getting this instead.  Check out the sleepy little brown contortionist as Keksi cleans his bottom.  And then there's the one who cries because she's stuck away from the milk bar but then takes off again after being rescued.  And the paws waving in the air.  Oh, and then there's the little wagging tails as they nurse.  I'm warning you now, it's all just too cute.




And in today's news: the puppies are really motoring around the box now.  I'm amazed by how strong this bunch are.  They're not usually so mobile quite so quickly, are they?  Oh, their lucky, lucky new owners!  But first, my several weeks with their active little legs.

the 'riemu' puppies

The pollsters got it right, more or less.  I admit I was expecting 8, although Keksi's belly was lopsided, suggesting more puppies on one side than the other.  She did have 7 puppies - 7 good sized ones too - so well done you majority poll voters.  Especially Mark who even called the right number of dogs v bitches - very impressive!  Ok, or lucky...

Number 7 appeared more than 5 hours after number 6 - and that's a very long time, even for Keksi.  But unfortunately he was unable to eat, even when I tried to feed him myself.  He wouldn't stick on to Keksi, and when I tried to feed him drops of puppy milk from a tiny syringe, he didn't swallow it, just let it drain from his mouth.  Keksi knew he wasn't going to make it and two or three times she actually pushed him away from the rest with her nose.  I kept him inside my top to keep him warm, but bit by bit he faded away and died 3 hours after birth. 

As someone said to me, it is certainly much better to lose him now than later.  But it's still sad.  I realise that until now I've been so lucky - 4 litters before this one and I've never lost a puppy before.  It's hard, even if you try to steel yourself against it and even if you know it's the right thing and that nature is just doing her job.  Keksi knew and just accepted it.  I aspire to a little of her dignity and grace.  RIP little black Lappy.

But the remaining 6 are strong & noisy.  Fingers crossed they all continue to do well over this first crucial week.

You can find an explanation of the name 'Riemu' here.

Brown Wolf - Puppy 1

Colour:  brown wolf sable
Sex:  female
Birth Time:  21.32
Birth Weight:  362g

Named for her cousin from Taika's litter, Grey Wolf.

Hopea - Puppy 2

Colour:  cream
Sex:  female
Birth Time:  22:00
Birth Weight:  344g

"Hopea" is Finnish for silver - and this girl is definitely silvery-white, just like her half-sister Marja, who was the Marilyn of Keksi's last litter.  She looks like she has a very nice wolf sable-y cast to her fur here, don't you think?  Yeah, but that's actually just newsprint!  Hopefully she'll be a bit cleaner for her next portrait. 

Toes - Puppy 3

Colour:  black, tan & white
Sex:  female
Birth Time:  22:58
Birth Weight:  393g

Named for her 2 white toes - her only really distinguishing feature.  But I couldn't call her 2 Toes, because that name was already taken by one of her cousins too.

 

Ilo-ette - Puppy 4

Colour:  wolf sable
Sex:  female
Birth Time:  23:08
Birth Weight:  332g

Named for her dad because she is the wolf sable one with the flashy bright markings, just like him.

Claw - Puppy 5

Colour:  black, tan & white
Sex:  male
Birth Time:  1:10
Birth Weight:  343g

Named because his only distinguishing feature were his white claws on dark tan paws.  It was going to be White Claw, but just Claw is a more butch version.  I'm sure he'll appreciate the gesture when he grows up.

Brownie - Puppy 6

Colour:  brown, tan & white
Sex:  male
Birth Time:  2:16
Birth Weight:  382g

Named because he is the brown one, obviously.  Also, my grandfather's dog was named Brownie, the first dog I ever knew.

Puppy 7

Colour:  Black, tan & white
Sex:  male
Birth Time:  7:30
Died:  10:30
Birth Weight:  339g

RIP little Lappy - Anniebear will take care of you at Rainbow Bridge.  I will always wonder how you would have turned out.








So, there they are: 6 puppies - 4 bitches, 2 dogs - 1 brown, 1 wolf sable, 1 both, 1 cream, 2 black.  And now things are going to start getting really busy around here.

welcome

I'm sitting enjoying the first coffee I've had in... actually I don't know how many months it's been since I've had a coffee.  But a fairly long time.  The occasion?  We are celebrating the arrival of Keksi's puppies last night.  I say "celebrating" but, in truth, there might be the tiniest bit of self-preservation in there too as the first puppy arrived at 9:30 last night and we've been going all night.  This is the 2nd night of no sleep for Keksi & me, and even after all her hard work, she's definitely doing better than I!

At the time of writing (9 am on Sunday), I'm still not 100% certain she's finished, as number 7 arrived only an hour & a half ago, more than 5 hours after number 6.  Number 7 is a bit slow to get going, as you might expect, but he's moving & making noise so I'm hoping he will make it.

So, without further ado, welcome to the Riemu litter!

Mum & babies















For these puppies I've chosen the litter name "Riemu" (pronounced ree-moo, approximately) as a way of carrying on the family name tradition on their sire's (Glenchess Ilolas) side of the family.  Riemu is a Finnish word meaning "joy" or "elation".  Ilolas's pet name is Ilo (pronounced ee-lo), another Finnish word meaning "joy".  His kennel name, Ilolas, is the Saami form of that word.  His father, Lapinlumon Elämänilo, is also called Ilolas, and Elämänilo's father is called Ilo.  So, as you can see, there's plenty of joy in the family.

I've chosen another word with the same meaning, as I feel there are quite enough Ilos and Ilolases in the family tree already - not to mention a little lady, Neka's half-sister, who lives here in the UK on the south coast and is also called Ilo (although it's pronounced it differently with a long I-sound as eye-lo). 

As with all things related to the Kennel Club, though, the name Riemu is subject to their approval, so I hope I don't run into any problems there.

We have a little bit of a rainbow, colour-wise.  There is a black tricolour girl and 2 black tricolour boys, a brown boy and a brown wolf sable girl and what I think is a wolf sable girl - but at this stage it's difficult to tell, frankly.  She might be black tricolour too.  And, of course, a cream girl who is looking just like her half-sister Marja (Marilyn) from the last litter.

Individual photos up tomorrow.