Echo had her puppies on the 17th. Everything went well. I was rather surprised to welcome only four puppies into the world. I was a bit worried too so we went to vet’s to have a x-ray done. Everything checked out fine to my great relief.

11:30am, a black/tan male weighing 14.1 ozs, he was a lively fellow
11:55am, a solid black male weighing 15.3 ozs, no comments
12:30pm, a black/tan male weighing 15.2 ozs, no comments
3:00pm, a solid black female weighing 16.0 ozs, she was a bit slow getting to Echo to nurse

The black male is a quiet, docile little fellow. You can hold him anyway you want and he just goes to sleep. The black/tan boys are just average joes. They wiggle and make a little fuss when you handle the them but settle down quickly. The big black girl on the other hand… My goodness! I don’t remember any of my other puppies being so feisty. She wiggles and squirms and makes pitiful wailings and yippings. It takes her a long time to settle down. Even when she does stop wiggling she still sings, I’m not quite sure how to describe it. I’ll just have to record it and let you hear for yourself. It is the funniest thing!

We docked the puppies’ tails last night. Everyone was fine till we got to the black girl. As expected, I have never yet had a puppy make such a fuss! Usually they go to sleep while we press their tails to stop the bleeding but not this girl.  We found the right homeopathic remedy for her and she soon settled down. They are all doing well.

Soon, very soon the puppies will arrive. Echo doesn’t walk anymore she waddles. She is starting to make milk. She has been very restless today and vocal. I added the final touches to her whelping box today. She wasn’t very interested. She never is, she’d much rather have her puppies under the horses’ manger or under the tack room or other such dark, uncomfortable and inaccessible places. I can’t let her out of the house without a leash on when she gets close to her time or she heads straight to such places and takes a great deal of getting out. Once the puppies have arrived she is quite content to have them in her snug box. I know she’ll be happy when they arrive, poor dear, she is very uncomfortable. Right now I am going to give her a bath and clip.

God bless!