Puppies Galore

192. When my dog, Bella, got impregnated by the black dog that went inside our gate my initial reaction was that of shock. My first dog, our baby practically, was going to be a mother. She was only two years old although in human years that meant she was already between 14-21 years old. We already had two dogs, Bella who was a black spitz-like mixed breed and Kloe, who was a daschund-dalmatian cutie. I couldn't imagine having even more dogs since they were already a handful. Through the next few months I monitored her pregnancy, perhaps like I would a real human being. I listened for heartbeats using a stethoscope though I couldn't be certain exactly as to how many sets there were. I read about dog pregnancy in the internet and even started preparing a space for her at the house. Too bad the puppies took me by surprise anyway so I wasn't able to witness nor assist in their delivery no matter how much it would have fascinated me. It was around 10pm that I lay down on my bed to sleep. As I was starting to doze, I heard small whimpers coming from underneath. My eyes immediately flew open and I turned on the lights and looked under my bed. Bella was there, with four adorable black, wrinkly puppies. I shrieked and called my mother to come look. It was a bloody mess under my bed, my dog had used a part of my comforter as her birthing area. My father warned that Bella may be aggressive if we attempt to touch the puppies so we first lured her out of the room using food and water. We then examined the the tiny puppies one by one and discovered that one was a still born. I attempted chest compression but it was useless. Poor little puppy. We covered him up and buried him the next day. We didn't show my dog her dead puppy because we thought it would only upset her. We placed the rest of the healthy puppies, two boys and a girl, into the box that I prepared for them which was lined with towels. We then let Bella rejoin them. I then phoned you and practically shouted in your ear about what happened. You said you couldn't wait to see them, it was like we were grandparents we joked. Over the next weeks, she searched for the dead puppy that we had buried. It was heartbreaking to see her whimper and scratch around the spot she had given birth in and kept on searching my room. Maybe we should have let her spent more time with her dead little one so she would understand that he was gone. At least she had her other healthy puppies to care for. It was amazing to see her breastfeed for the first time, lick them clean and equally revolting to see her eat her puppies' yellowish poo. So instinctive. Life is amazing. My family first thought of giving away the puppies but attachment grew so we were unable to. And now our house is full of dogs. Their maintenance is expensive but we love them all. Well, at least we would never have problems with neighborhood thieves.