Sadie-Blaze Litter

Out of all the experiences that I went through with the birth of Sadie’s pups the one thing that stands out in my mind more than 11 beautiful pups, more than the amazing job Sadie did taking care of the pups, and more than anything else, what impressed me most was Storm. To most people this may sound strange since he had virtually nothing to do with this litter.

Storm is 8 years old now and my constant companion. If I get up and move from one room to another he is there, if I go out side to work he is there, if I go to bed he is next to me, if I go to the bathroom he waits by the door and yet if I have to leave him alone he waits patiently for me to return. He seldom barks unless there is a stranger around or maybe a squirrel jumping from tree to tree or if some other varmint ventures into the yard, he has a very high pray drive. Yet all I have to say is enough and he will immediately settle down. He is everything you could want in a dog and yet yesterday he showed me a totally new side.

From the moment Sadie had her first pup he was right there. Not to grab the little varmint but to show concern and protect Sadie and the pup. After Sadie had the first one she kind of went into a panic not knowing what to do next. Should I take it out side and hide it? Should I keep cleaning it? What should I do next? I was nervous as well. The only calm one in the whole house was Storm. He licked Sadie trying to calm her and licked the pup as well. The dog that is always at my side now had a more pressing job to do. It was strange to walk into a room, turn around and he was not there. Fortunately I did not have to look far because he could always be found lying next to the whelping box with his head resting on the edge watching. If the pups were making a noise he would stand up and give them a kiss.If Sadie got up to go out he would run back and forth between her and the pups keeping an eye on both. If I picked up a pup he was right there checking on it and giving it kisses.  If there was a noise out side he would race to make sure it was not a threat and then race back to her side. Considering the fact that these were not his pups he is the step-father that I could only hope to be.

I have been ask;  Arn’t you afraid he will hurt the pups? I pride myself as being able to read dogs but if I had the least doubt, no one could read them better than Sadie and she welcomed his attention to both her and the pups. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful friend in Storm. Thank you Tina for this breed.

These dogs amaze me. It all started at 5:40am est when I was sitting in my office checking my email before starting my day. Sadie was in the office crate resting after breakfast. The door was open but she likes to rest in there to get away from the commotion. I know how she feels because that is why I spend so much time in my office. She was probably as tired as I was because she had gotten me up 3 or 4 times during the night only to go outside and look for a nesting place and each time I brought her back in and tried to go back to sleep. Then about 2 hours later she is at it again. Finally I gave up and at 3:30 I got up, gave Scout his breakfast and than Sadie, she did not want to eat so I let her lay down in the crate and rest while I got some work done.

The next thing I knew I heard a tiny little voice yelling and turned around to see a pup half way out screaming for help. I ran to the crate helped to pull the pup out and let Sadie finish cleaning it up. She was a little over excited so I had to ask her to take it easy a couple of times but other than that she was the perfect mom. I then took the pup with Sadie and Storm in tow and went out to the whelping box. Even though Storm is just a step father he never moved from his position of guardian of the whelping box. He and I sat there for the next 12 hours.

The first pup was a 10oz boy my wife named him Max.  Storm and I waited 2 hours and still nothing. I remembered that I had some syringes of Oxycontin from Sadie’s last breeding in the refrigerator but just to be sure I called the vet to see if they would be good after a year, he agreed and I gave her a shot. She had the next pup almost immediately, A 11oz. female named Molly. Again Storm and I waited. Two hours later and again nothing. Another shot and another hour and she finally started again, another female 13oz. named Maggie.  Now they started coming quicker. 10:50 Muffin 12oz female, 11:08 14oz male named Micky, 11:59 14oz male Monty, 12:10 12oz male Mojo, and then within a couple of minutes another male only this time he was DOA. He passed some time before he was born because he was totally limp and the pigment had already gone from his skin. At this point I thought we were done but what a sad way to end a long day. Then over an hour later at 1:30 11oz Mandy was born and we were off again. 2:30 1lb Mamie, the largest pup and a female and finally 3:20 another female 12oz Meagan. That was 12 pups 6 boys and 6 girls, we lost one of the boys so that left us with 11 pups. I waited until 5:30, gave her another shot just in case and it is now after 6 and no more pups. I think we are finally done. Now I have to get back to making sure they all get something to eat and I will be posting individual pictures as soon as possible.

In a couple of days it will have beem a year since Sadie was in this whelping box having her first litter and as soon as I set it up she acted like it was home. She is still a couple of weeks away but I did not have the heart to tell her. I think she is more ready for this than I am but ready or not mother nature will proceed on her own terms.

Sam, now Yoshi, and Shadow are now in their new homes and doing well while Scout is still here and tied to his mothers apron strings. He is now 27 inches tall and a little over 100lbs but still acts more like a pup than a young adult.

Sadie likes to sleep under my bed even though she is really too big to do this comfortablly. I guess it is my fault because when she first came to me as a pup I house trained her by putting down a tarp half under the bed and tethered her to the bed at night. By doing this I could hear her walking around on the tarp when she got up and could take her outside before she had an accident. As a side effect of this technique she became very comfortable sleeping under the bed and learned that walking on strange objects was not a problem. This also came in handy when she took her temperament test and was required to walk across a tarp and wire xpen, she got 100% on her temperament test.

The tarp has long since been removed but she still likes to sleep under the bed. Last night she woke me up, I guess I am still programmed to hear her because I am normally a sound sleeper, scratching on the carpet.  She continued to do this for about 15 min until I finally told her to go back to sleep.  I realized that she is starting to build her nest.  It’s time to bring in the whelping box in from the work shop and see if she remembers what to do.