Puppies

We woke up this morning to some excitement in the backyard! Tybee, our inside dog woke me up around 7am to go out. Ben had already left for work. I noticed when I opened the door to let her out only one of our outside dogs, Matilda, was on the porch. This being somewhat unusual, our two outside dogs are usually "joined at the hip", I investigated further to find our other outside dog, Madeline, underneath the girls playhouse. Knowing she is "expecting" I immediately come to the conclusion she must be giving birth! I go grab some clothes to put on then make my way out to the playhouse to see if I can see anything. As I reach the playhouse I hear the tiny cries of puppies. It's hard to see under the playhouse, there is not much room at all for Madeline to maneuver so I start contemplating what to do.

I run back to the house to grab a flashlight then go back out to see if I can see anything. Every time I would come in and go back out Madeline would come out. She would have to kick like crazy on her side to get out from underneath the playhouse. In the process of her kicking to get out from under the playhouse she was kicking dirt all over those little, still wet, puppies. I know she's going to have to come out to eat and drink while nursing and it's going to be a terrible struggle for her each time. It was really making me anxious. I get on the phone and call my mother-in-law. She convinces me, I must move the puppies.

Let me tell you, I have NO EXPERIENCE when it comes to dogs giving birth. Actually, I have NO EXPERIENCE to anything giving birth. But my wonderfully calm mother-in-law tells me exactly what to do.

We decide I'm going to move them to the doghouse. I make a really nice comfortable bed with some fresh pine straw and an old beach towel. However, every time I reach underneath I get a good growl from mama Madeline. I know though, she can't bite me she can't move enough under there to even be close. I get up enough courage to grab one. I grabbed it, then grabbed another one and moved those two to the doghouse. Madeline quickly kicks her way out from underneath and I show her where I've moved them. There are three left to retrieve. While Madeline is cleaning up the muddy two I grabbed two more and brought them to her. Bless her heart, I honestly think she was so thankful. There is one last one to get but it's on the other side and I can't reach it. I tried to get a stick to see if I could gently pull it to me but it's too far under.

This is the amazing part....

Madeline crawls back under the playhouse, gently picks it up in her mouth. She's on her side having to kick to even move around under there, but she manages to bring the last puppy to the opening close enough for me to gently take it out of her mouth. It was as if she knew I was trying to help her. I can describe it as nothing other than an incredible moment.

Here is Madeline and five puppies right after I moved them from underneath the playhouse.

Well, I quickly realize, she's not finished. I go back inside for a couple of minutes then come back and there are two more. She births one right outside the doghouse. She picks it up and carries it inside to join the others...

After 11 puppies, she finally finished. A few hours later we discover one had died. After Ben got home from work (he missed all this!) we buried it and had a little memorial service. I think he and I both thought Chloe would take the death hard. Surprisingly, her only comment was..."At least we have a whole bunch of em!"

Proud mother of ten!

Webster's describes Instinct as~a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason, it also says, behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level.

A mother's instinct is just a plain and simple miracle to me, whether it's human, canine, or any other motherly instinct for that matter.

God never fails to astonish me!

"In whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?" Job 12:10