Lucky

"He's the last one picked, doesn't seem very Lucky".

Why Lucky?

This litter we had 8 live births, 5 survived.  Lucky was the only one of four black and whites to survive.  So, we started saying he was the lucky black and white.

He is a fun puppy.  Has quite the personality.  He is very playful.  He makes this funny noise (sounds like a yawn) to greet us sometimes.

Time for Play

A little tug of war

Can not resist chasing his mom

Every puppy needs a toy

He loves attention from people

Time for Training

Porter is working with Lucky

We are starting with the basics.  Here Porter is working on Focus training.

Our last crew

 Beast - Male

Because our pups were bottle fed we were weighing them every day.  Beast got his name because he started out so much bigger than the others.  He had a healthy appetite from the beginning.  Today he is no bigger than his siblings, but the name just stuck.

 Charly - Female

Charly was one of the first of the litter.  When she came out it looked like she had a stripe around her belly that reminded me of Charlie Brown.  So, I just started calling her Charly.

Lucky - Male

Lucky has become a family favorite.  He is a little fluff ball.  He is always interested in what we are doing and comes to greet us.  He is the only surviving black and white, so we just started calling him Lucky.

 Miley - Female

Miley has been Billy's favorite from day 1.  We didn't know if Brooke was going to make it out of surgery.  We considered keeping a puppy from the litter if she didn't survive, Miley would have been the one.

Abby - Female

When Billy and I went to pick Brooke up from the hospital, the vet tech kept calling Brooke, Abby.  So, in honor of the vet tech that helped our Brooke recover we named this pup, Abby.

A Scary Start

I finally got a Saturday off work.  For months because of the holidays, and being short staffed, etc. I have been working 6 days a week.  I finally got a Saturday off and I was going to relax, sleep in, lounge in my pjs.  And then at noon Billy came in and said Brooke just had a puppy.  Hmmm, I thought it was a few days early.  My Saturday off turned into a semi-relaxing day.  Checking in with Brooke, keeping her bedding changed and cleaned.  She is a good mama, so really she does all the work.  By 11:00 that night, Brooke had given birth to 8 BEAUTIFUL and HEALTHY pups.  So, I went to bed (I had to work the next day).
Sunday, I get home from work around 10:30.  First thing, check on Brooke and puppies.  Something is wrong.  Brooke is still contracting, and panting, obviously uncomfortable.  I decide to stay home from church and keep an eye on her.  Around 2 I was petting her belly and it is HOT!  I take her temp, it is high.  So, Billy and I rush her and the pups to the Emergency Hospital.  After hours of waiting, Vet told us she has a puppy stuck and wants to do an emergency c-section.  Agreed.  We said our tearful good bye and left Brooke there for surgery and took our 8 new born pups home.  Bottle feeding commenced.  Every 2-3 hours, around the clock. (Kids were still on Christmas Break, thank goodness, I had to work).  Tuesday, we got the good news, Brooke can come home.  YEA!  Mom and puppies were reunited.

Brooke went back to mothering.  Puppies were suckling.  All was well, or so we thought.  Thursday morning Billy woke me to tell me we had lost 3 puppies in the night.  UGH!  I was so sick and upset.  We took Brooke back in to the Vet to get checked, she still was panting and uncomfortable, she didn't have much appetite, and looked dehydrated.  Vet said to go back to bottle feeding, to just let Brooke recover.  Brooke was given some fluids and some more meds (anti-nausea) and sent back home.  The next few weeks have been a blur.  Late night bottle feedings and worrying about puppy survival and Brooke's recovery.  But now here we are at 7 weeks and all is well.  We have 5 beautiful healthy pups getting ready for their forever homes.  It has been a rewarding and scary experience.