Zenith’s C-Section at Bishop Ranch was on schedule and had happy results. At 2:02 this afternoon a girl was born, followed about a minute later by a smaller, darker boy. Dr. Janice Cain and her team were reassuring, warm, professional, and kept us all healthy and sane.
Bringing the Puppy to her first Towelling
It’s now 10:15 at night and we are all home and settled down a bit.
Zenith and the girls are in with Geoffrey in the television room. The heat is on to a cozy 75 degrees. Zenith is in the whelping box, and most of the time the puppies are in with her.
The girl is definitely eating, sleeping on a teat so a snack is quickly available. We are somewhat worried about the boy’s milk consumption, but we think he’s feeding. He just seems to wander more than zeroing in on a food supply as his sister does. Zenith herself is only interested in boiled chicken since the surgery, but she is getting increasing alert and seems fine.
Geoffrey will be staying in the TV room overnight, making sure that food is offered every couple hours.
A Rose by Any Other Name…
We have been asked several times what the puppies names are. Here’s the deal:
Puppies are given litter names while they are with their birth family (that’s us). So, what we call them may be their name for only a couple months. And, right now, we haven’t firmly decided what we want to call them when they’re with us. We’re leaning to MUNI for the girl and Metro for the boy. What do you think?
Once they go to their permanent home, they are given a “call name”. The permanent family selects the call name. Our dog’s call names are Paris, SeQuel, Apex, and Zenith. This is what they answer to when we call them. Or should answer to…
But, the official AKC name is a completely different name! That’s the name the judges see in the program. So, for example, Apex’s formal name is Ch. Ozdachs Royal Succession of Oz, and Zenith is Ozdachs Warrior Princess of Oz. Any puppies our girls have will have a formal name that starts with our kennel name, Ozdachs.
Make sense.
Baby Pictures
Finally, I have started a collection of puppy pictures, starting with today’s C-Section. Check out Zenith’s Puppies’ Pictures online.
The puppies about 30 minutes after birth.
Congrats on another set of puppies! Babies births are always filled with worry and anxiety, and I hope that passes soon for you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and observations. As always, they are insightful.