The pups are doing great! They are eating their milk and meat out of a bowl now. in these photos they had just eaten and were starting to play with each other. Esparanza the sable girl curled up to take a nap.

I took some single head shots and they didn't come out…. So I will take some this weekend and update the blog on Mon.

They are really starting to get personalities now. NOW the fun begins:)

I normally only post puppy photos once a week. But each day is a blessing with these little pups. I had taken them off of Giddeon and they started to really do well, but I had changed a few things at the same time so I wasn't really sure if Giddeon's milk was bad.

I would let Giddeon go in and clean them which she was doing a great job. As they are growing quickly and starting to walk around I knew it would be no time before they were able to reach her while she was standing. I decided to let her be with them all the time. I felt bad for them not having their mother. They were able to cuddle and nurse if they chose to.

I noticed that they were not reacting to Giddeon but would go crazy wild when I stuck my hands in there. They think I am mommy:)

They started having runny stool after 2 days with Giddeon. I decided that this is not working so I pulled Giddeon 100%.

They are eating and growing. Starting to growl and play. All 4 puppies now have their eyes open.

Thank you to everyone for sending your thoughts & prayers, well wishes and white light!!!

The pups are doing great!!! I have switched them to a bottle and they seem much happier. That nursing instict is STRONG and they are enjoying feeding time now 🙂

I picked out names for the pups when we started going through this ordeal. I have been hesitant to post photos with names but now I think they have turned the corner and are thriving.

We just got back from a cruise and one of the ports was Cozumel…. so the pups have a spanish flair to their names.

Juaquin ~ Sable Merle Male

Milagro ~ Sable Merle Female

Esperanza ~ Sable Female

Cidro ~ Sable Merle Male

All the pups are fat and sassy 🙂

I have posted individual photos of all 4 pups too. For even more photos you can go to Daneen's blog.

Thank you Sarah from Just Shoot Me Photography for these fabulous shots of our puppies!

Here are our two keepers from this litter. Daneen got exactly what she wanted and I got exactly what I wanted:) I love it when that happens.

                                                                               Just Shoot Me Photography

                                                                               Just Shoot Me Photography

                                                                                              Just Shoot Me Photography

                                                      Just Shoot Me Photography

I don't even know what day it is.

After Giddeon's C-section I brought her and the pups home and got them settled in. All seemed well. They were nursing and looked content. Sun night it all started going downhill and fast. I lost 2 puppies. The blue and the split faced pup. What is happening??? Guess I should not have posted that the 2 day old collie pups were boring:)

In all the litters I have had I have only lost one pup, and that was because the bitch layed on it.I have been beyond lucky with the litters I have had and always count my blessings.

Back to the ordeal.

So I started the pups on antibiotics after I lost the 2 pups and noticed the remaining 4 were just not acting normal. I was putting the pups to nurse every 2 hours. They were nursing but not well. So I began bottle feeding to supplement the pups. They still seemed to not be thriving.I have lost track of days so not sure what was done when.

The pups were crying especially the sable merle girl… first thought was gas. So I gave them infant gas drops.

The little sable merle girl was going downhill. I have never tube fed and to be honest was afraid to do it.

It was the middle of the night and I had nothing to lose as the litter was not looking good. I remembered that we had bought Myra savant-Harris' book PUPPY INTENSIVE CARE. So I pulled it out and read about sick puppies and tube feeding.

Our kitchen has been turned into a puppy neonatal ward.

I bit the bullet and started tube feeding the pups and still kept them on Giddeon so they wouldn't lose the suckling reflex. They still were not as vigourous as they should be. They would nurse for a few seconds and stop. They were not acting like normal puppies.

Now the little sable merle girl was layed stretched out flat a gasping. What a horrible feeling. What a sad thing to watch. Now I am exhausted from no sleep and heartbroken with the thought of losing this entire litter of beautiful precious puppies.

The internet is amazing. I had been researching stuff as it would come up. Now I was searching for more info on tube feeding. I came across the Leerburg site. What an amazing site. What a wealth of down to earth easy to understand information. Thank God for people taking the time to write on their sites and blogs so that people all over the world can learn and gain more experience. Here is the link to the Leerburg site  Treating a sick newborn puppy

I decided that what I was doing was not enough and certainly not working….helping, yes, but not working.

I tweaked the homemade formula I was using, took the pups away from Giddeon 100%, put them in a smaller box and upped the amount I was feeding according to the feeding chart posted on the Leerburg site. The pups are still on antibiotics and Nature's Farmacy Fading Puppy Formula which contains probiotics.

I read on another site to make sure and burp the pups after tubing.

I was thinking that Giddeon's milk must be bad.

Well as of tonight the pups are all looking great… fat and sassy. They are all gaining weight and pooping and peeing. I am super happy that the sable merle girl is getting stonger and no longer gasping or laying flat out.

I am not really sure when I will feel we are out of the woods but I do know that I feel much better after tonight's  9:00 p.m. feeding. Sable merle girls was trying to nurse off my hand.

I have learned more about puppies with this litter than all my other litters put together. It's been hard but lessons are good.

I usually name the pups by now and I do have names for them. I have just been too crazed trying to help them survive and I really didn't was to post …. we have 6, now we have 4, now we have ????

Thank you to everyone that has said prayers, white light and keeping us all in your thoughts.