The puppies are here at last!

Saturday morning Tioga's temp was lower but not the significant DROP that all the books I had read in preparation had told me to expect. Maria Sommer was "on call" and after a long day of waiting for some tell-tale sign, we decided she should just come up because no doubt the puppies would be born at some crazy hour of the night. Saturday night came and went! Sunday morning Tioga's temp was a full degree lower than the day before. Ah ha! This was the REAL temp drop that we were looking for. Sometime in the next 24 hours we were sure we would be delivering puppies. Sunday night came and went! By Monday morning we were all a little on edge. Had we missed some sign of trouble? Do we continue to wait it out? Were the puppies still ok? As the morning progessed Tioga's behavior was encouraging. She was pacing and panting and digging more and more with each passing hour. We were on our way! By 10:30 am it was clear that Tioga was in hard labor. She was a wonderful dog throughout the whole experience. She was pushing so hard with each contraction and quite clearly very uncomfortable but she remained her sweet self, looking to us for belly rubs and encouragement. Finally, at 11:00 am the first puppy, a girl, was born. She began nursing before she was all the way delivered. A strong, vigorous pup. We named her Squirrel (See our website for info on how we chose the puppy names: www.daybreakchinooks.com) We all were overjoyed and breathed a collective sigh of relief! Tioga began mothering right away, licking and cleaning and greeting her new baby. About an hour later, at 12:10 pm the second puppy, a boy, was born with a fraction of the effort it took to whelp the first. Again, a squirming, wriggling, NOISY pup! We named him Mudge. Oh joy! We did it! They were healthy and strong and nursing and being loved by their momma. It was so amazing and beautiful and raw and natural. The mothering instinct for Tioga and the survival instinct for the pups was incredible to see. Immediate and endearing. What a great mom Tioga is!