Puppeesh!

The babies arrived 6 days early and gave us a big surprise.  All did well, and in a week since, they seem to have doubled in size!  Goldendoodles sure grow a lot faster and bigger than Yorkies do…

We thought we were ahead of the game, had the whelping box built, set up, had the puppy pads and birthing towels ready to go.

I had big plans all week for birthday celebrations and get togethers for myself, and figured the timing was perfect for the pups to arrive on their due date, 2 days after my birthday.  But they had other plans.  

On Tuesday, I'd been working in the studio till late and realized Honey was still out after dark.  I called, and called, she didn't come!

Ryan and I went out to hunt for her, and she came running up, all wet and muddy.  We put her in her kennel to keep the mud contained and she went berserk!

That made me realize she might have babies outside in the dark and cold, so we grabbed some flashlights and followed her out, of course, she went right to the big hole that she'd dug out under a shrub, in a fence corner.  I reached in, after shining my flashlight down into the mud pit and seeing many little shapes and hearing squeaks.

Only to find a limp, wet, cold, dead thing.

ooooooh noooooo!

But then, realized, it was not a puppy, it was a stuffed toy. Honey had gathered every stuffed toy she owned, and filled the hole with them.  Plus, had a couple pups too.  

They, also were wet and cold.

But wriggling and alive.

We brought the two, icy babies in and warmed them up, getting them settled into the box with their mom, who seemed to be happy to be inside but still worried. She quickly had another one, but wouldn't calm down.  

So I sent Ryan out with a flashlight to see if we'd missed any.  Nope, no pups outside.

But she still fretted.  

So, I went back out and gathered up the muddy, sodden, soaked toys.

Yep, that was what she wanted.  

Once she counted and kissed all the toys, and tucked them underneath her, she went back to the job of having a few more pups.  

3 girls, 3 boys total.

Honey has been a devoted mama, and I'm loving having a boxful of babies in the house. They will move out to the breezeway once they get big enough to climb in and out of that box, though!

I'm not enjoying the excess dog hair that is floating around my house at the moment.  Apparently the stress of birth combined with warmer spring weather has sent Honey's fluffy fur into a full on, shedding attack.  Oh my god, I'm sweeping every hour.  

She reminds me of those cartoons of Pigpen and the dust that follows him like a cloud.  Add on the fact that she has gone from part time to full time house dog and the amount of hair that she is producing is just outrageous.

Even with the mountains of hair that are covering the floor, it has been a wonderful time with the newborns.  All of the grandfairies are smitten, so we get extra visits from them, which is a nice bonus.

They would all like to keep one, and Sugarwings is doing everything she can to prove that she can be a good puppy caretaker to get the option of having one stay with us.  But even though these guys won't shed like their mom does, 5 dogs might be too much for me.  

For now, I'm staying strong.  Of course, none of them have opened their eyes yet. Those big, brown puppy eyes can be hard to resist when they stare into your soul!