What a surprise it was to hear on Sunday that Daisy had started giving birth to her pups almost a week early!

How clever is Daisy - she delivered her first pup all by herself on Sunday morning (some time between 5.30 and 7am)!  Natasha got the shock of her life when she came downstairs to find mother and pup together.  Then came Puppy no. 2, another boy, at 8.15. Daisy set about cleaning the puppy and breaking (and eating) the sac and making sure that the puppy was fine. Natasha said it was amazing to watch a pup being born.

Then came Puppy no. 3 soon after after at 8.20, a third boy,  Daisy was delivering them fast - according to puppy guide, "Book of the Bitch" it can take around 2 hours between each puppy!

Puppy no. 4 was born at 10 - a girl at last!  Puppy no. 5 came along at 11.20, another girl, but much smaller than the others, and Daisy broke the sac and quickly cleaned the pup but was less interested in this one as with the others, which was a little concerning.  They say that a mother can reject a puppy that they don't think will survive so they can save their strength on the others. This puppy had a small wound on her stomach where the umbilical cord was.

Puppy no. 6 was born at 11.37, a boy.  Puppy no. 7 was born at 12.07, another boy.

And to make things even more interesting, Puppy no 8 was born at 1.32 in the garden when Daisy went for a wee!  She was quickly brought inside whilst still in the sac and Daisy went about the normal routine back in her whelping box.
Puppy no. 9 was born at 1.32 - another girl.

Daisy then rested peacefully until 3.20 when Puppy no. 10 was born, another girl.  Her litter was complete with 5 girls and 5 boys.

All puppies were weighed and tagged so they could be identified easily as spots don't appear for a few weeks yet.

It was first thing on Monday morning when Natasha took Puppy no 5 to the Vet.  He examined her and advised that she had not really taken any milk and he said the kindest thing would be to put her to sleep, as the wound had grown to nearly 10mm and would probably indicate some internal damage. It was a sad decision but had to be the right thing for the puppy who was clearly suffering. So this left 9 pups.

Natasha had an appointment on Tuesday afternoon to have the puppies front dew claws removed.  On Tuesday evening she weighed and recorded the weights of the puppies, and noticed that Puppy no. 6 had lost weight, and was not feeding properly - she wouldn't latch on to the teet. Natasha bottle fed her through the night, every 2 hours, but her mouth wasn't opening the same as the  others so she feared the worst.

The Vet examined her, and said that she has a cleft palate and her mouth wasn't formed correctly. In some circumstances they can operate once the puppies are older, but as she wasn't taking even minimal milk, she  was unlikely to survive.  So, sadly, Puppy no. 6 was put to sleep as well.  The Vet advised Natasha afterwards that he found upon further examination that the hole in her mouth was too severe and surgery wouldn't have been successful, so the right decision was made.

Last report is that 4 of each sex are doing well!  Don't you just love this photo?!!

Daisy snuggles with her brand new baby pups!