Puppies born

Well puppies started arriving around 10:30 pm on Thursday night and after a few suprises we were done around 3 am. It is not uncommon for bitches to whelp in the wee hours of the night when things are more quiet. We ended up with 6 males and 2 females. They are an array of colors 2 white buffs, 2 brown sables, and 4 black combinations ( some black with white chest/toes and some with black/brown). The first week of a puppies life they are completly dependent on their mother for warmth and food. She will spend most of her time in th box getting up only to eliminate and eat. She is very attentive to their needs constantly cleaning them to stimulate them to eliminate waste as they cannot do this themselves yet. Puppies can not see or hear at this stage but they can smell there way to their mama when they are hungry. Often Shawnee will grunt when a puppy has strayed and is loooking for her and that is my que to go get puppy for her. My role at this stage is make sure mama is happy and content so that she can tend to her job.