Sad Day...

We lost one of the little fawn boys tonight. He was one of the last born and the hardest to get going. He wasn't a "do-er" from the start, poor thing.

So Lily's down to seven lovely babies that are all doing well, getting fat and enjoying life. Well, most of the time, anyway. We did tails and dewclaws today and we weren't very popular there for a while...with Lily OR the babies!

But it's all done now and they'll never miss the missing bits!

Puppies' first night...

Everyone came through the night all fat and sassy! It's been cold here so I was glad that I had purchased a seedling mat (germination mat) to put under their blankets. When I woke up this morning everyone, including Lily were sprawled on top of the heat mat, content as can be.

I'm off to work this morning (thank you, Mom, for looking after the babies!) but I'll post some photos to the blog this afternoon when I get home.

The puppies are here! Finally!!

Well, after a marathon delivery, Lily and I are happy to announce that we were blessed with eight beautiful baby boxer puppies!

The first puppy was delivered at 4:40pm on Saturday, May 29th and the final puppy was delivered this morning, Sunday, May 30th at 4:10am. To say it's been a long two days is an understatement.

On the upside, Lily was amazing...she never quit, never hesitated and although her pace was slower than molasses in January, she delivered her last puppy with more strength and energy as she did her first. Watching Lily whelp these puppies was a rare privilege...she never gave up - not once.

These are the treasures we were awarded for our hard work...

Four girls/four boys...four fawn/four brindle

How sweet is that??

1. A plain fawn girl - 15.3oz
2. A flashy brindle girl - 10.5oz
3. A plain fawn boy (flashy mask/plain body) - 15.3oz
4. A plain brindle girl - 14.8oz
5. A plain fawn male - 15.3oz
6. A plain fawn male - 12.5oz
7. Plain brindle girl - 14oz
8. Plain brindle male - 13.1oz

Now that Lily's delivery job is done, she's been napping and snacking since this morning. :) She's a good momma - all the babies have fat bellies and happy tails.

As for me, I went for a nap at 9am and got up at noon. It's time for another nap for me! Photos to follow when I get a minute or two...It's clean up time!

Latest Count...

We now have:

A plain fawn girl - 15.3oz
A flashy brindle girl - 10.5oz
A plain fawn boy - 15.3oz
A plain brindle girl - 14.8oz

Everyone is doing just fine, all nursing like champs. Lily's taking a bit of a nap before she starts the next round. By the look of her tummy she has at least another three to four in there, possibly more.

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update as the night goes on (my literacy skills decline as my exhaustion level increases!), but I'll give a full report tomorrow morning.

For now, all's well...keep thinking good thoughts in our direction!

For my friend, Katie...

Dearest Katie...

I received your email just a few minutes ago. I was so sad to hear of your present blogger obsession that I decided I needed to give you a quick update to alleviate your symptoms of withdrawal...

The puppies are coming! The puppies are coming!

So far we have...

A plain fawn girl - 15.3oz
A flashy brindle girl - 10.5oz

More updates as things progress.

Thank you for your kind email, Katie. I hope this helps.

Love always,

the still pregnant Lily

Lily's first baby...

...is a squeaky toy!

I'd put a couple of toys in the box to keep her occupied during the day when I was at work. Tonight as she was getting very serious about digging herself a good bed to have puppies in, she stepped on the squeaky toy, and it did what all good squeaky toys do...it cried.

Well!! Lily stopped digging immediately and proceeded to lick and cuddle this squeaky toy. She's made very sure that the squeaky toy's bum is good and clean. LOL

She's going to be an awesome mom!! :)

Temperature drop!

Lily's temperature has dropped, which indicates the cessation of progesterone production - i.e. the onset of labour. Yeah!!

If all goes well, we should have puppies on the ground in 24 hours or so.

Fingers crossed for an easy delivery! Please think good thoughts in our direction!

No babies yet...

The time is drawing near, though. Lily's belly is huge and she's getting ready to have her babies - licking, cleaning, digging. In general doing everything she's supposed to be doing.

I, of course, am impatient and just wish she'd start already. LOL

Will update once labour starts! :)

It's like the movie, Alien...

...you can see the babies rippling Lily's whole belly.

Creepy but cool all at the same time...my kind of fun!

Just a few more days...

...and Lily can't wait! She's uncomfortable (she DOES have a bunch of little wigglers kicking the crap out of her rib cage and abdomen!) and sucky, but she IS a happy girl. Even though she can barely waddle, she's still trying to play and be silly in her usual Lily fashion.

I snapped some photos of her today...that's quite a belly! Any guesses as to how many she's having? :) What kills me is how much smaller she looks in photos than she does in person...in person it looks like she's carrying around a basketball in that tum-tum of hers!





So, Lily's all ready for babies now...she's bathed and groomed and good to go. The whelping area is all set up and she took great pleasure in digging to China for about 20 minutes yesterday.

According to Lily, all is well in the world! :)

The babies are kicking!

Well, I finally got to feel the puppies move a few days ago and boy, are they moving!! Lily is NOT happy with this new phase in her pregnancy and is more than happy to lie still and have me rub her belly!

The little wigglers are VERY strong...and I can feel heads and feet pushing through Lily's skin when they roll around. It's pretty awesome. This is my favorite time! :)

Just five days or so until puppies come...My plan for this weekend is to get my living room rearranged and all set up for the whelping area. I just have a few things to pick up in Edmonton tomorrow and I'll be all set!

I'm SO excited!

Well there's no hiding that belly...

...but Lily's still wanting to keep her babies to herself. She IS liking belly rubs these days, but..., "Please don't put your hand on my belly and expect me to make the babies roll over for you," she says.

I'll try and get some photos of Lily and her baby belly this week. Her activity level is still good and she happily trots around the field marking all the places the local coyotes have peed on! Lily's a happy dog.

Pictures of the pregnant momma...

Well, we have sixteen more days to wait until puppies come. Though Lily's not sharing the movment of the babies (my favorite part!!), her babies are starting to make their presence known. Lily's belly is getting bigger and her ribs are continuing to spring/expand.

I can't imagine how large her belly's going to be by the end of it...the puppies do most of their growing in the last seven days! :)

Enjoy the pictures...I took them this afternoon.

Lily watching the action across the yard...

Lily enjoying a green snack...see that belly?

There's a cat?! Where??

Getting ready to roll in the grass with Macey looking on

Wide Load!

Lily doesn't have much of an actually belly yet, but her rib cage just keeps getting rounder and rounder! That and her waist is disappearing pretty quickly...she's looking vaguely sausage-like.

I'll take a picture when she gets a bit fatter. LOL

Carrying a belly full of babies doesn't seem to be slowing her down any, though...she's still running the yard with the other girls at full tilt. :)

Some silly pictures of Lily

Here are some photos of Lily when she was young and crazy - you can see her with another girl I bred, Shu.

Lily with her favorite hamburger toy!

Lily playing in the swimming pool in the hot weather.

Lily and Shu playing in the back yard.

Lily's still growing...

Well, she's as wide as a house now, though her belly hasn't dropped. Bit too early for that anyway.

I keep trying to feel the babies move but Lily would really just like to keep them to herself for now. She just lifts her head and gives me the "eye" when I put my hand on her belly. She looks at me as if to say, "Back off woman! They're my babies right now!". Silly girl - she's right, though.

Lily's nipples have also softened and enlarged and they're quite pink...it's a good sign that all the mammary glands are getting ready to produce copious amounts of milk for the babies.

Well, I'm off to spend some time with the dogs outside. Enjoy the weekend!