Daybreak Puppies 2011: Morning Blend "Brew Crew" is One Week Old!

Coffee and Donuts!

I can hardly believe that a week has already passed. Last Friday morning we were sipping coffee waiting for the last of the Morning Blend Litter to be born! Our "Whelper Helper"crew arrived Thursday afternoon in hopes that Tioga would cooperate with a daylight birthing experience, but Mother Nature had other plans. So it was as 1:30 in the morning Friday (9/30) these sweet miracles entered the world. I can't say whether Tioga and I just got better at things the second time around or what. Worry and anxiety were replaced by a calm sense of knowing. We all worked like a well-oiled machine - birthing, clamping, cutting, drying, weighing, id collaring, getting pups to nurse and cuddling. Granted, Tioga had to do most of the work, but the rest of the jobs were handled with ease. I was in the whelping box with Tioga delivering the pups, Maria took over with hemostats and together we clamped umbilical cords and tied them off with dental floss. Levent was part time photographer and part time puppy drier - though Maria was really the expert at getting them to squeak! Lori was in charge of weighing and record keeping. As each subsequent puppy arrived, Morgan, Daniel and Sophie kept the older littermates cuddled, cozy and warm. It was truly a serene entrance into the world. And though I would like to report that it was a foreshadowing clue to their serene first week of life, it didn't turn out so. This Brew Crew must be hopped up on caffeine because they are the fastest, noisiest, hungriest pups I've ever seen. Tioga is an expert at managing their meal and bath times, but they kick up a racket for every discomfort and every happiness. The milk bar is a constant symphony of squeals, grunts, cries and mews. This is followed almost immediately by a milk drunk silence which washes over the whelping box until one coffee bean decides someone else is in a spot they want to occupy. They are champion puppy pile makers (and I mean the good kind of puppy pile - not the backyard kind) At any given time, two or more puppies are curled together in a bundle of "cute" that you cannot help but sigh and "awww" at. Whatever the noise level, it is all making them grow like weeds and gain much strength. They easily manuever around the whelping box with great speed. They can climb over, around and on top of eachother to gain access to the best teet. They love to cuddle and we love cuddling them. Already this week, they have had many visitors and their cute factor hasn't disappointed! We are starting to see little personality traits emerge. Kona is our loner, he likes to sleep laid out on his belly. Peaberry the so-called "runt" of the litter is a feisty one and it shows at the milk bar: smallest at birth, she is now the 3rd heaviest pup! Vienna and Kenya both are love bugs. They love to be held and cuddled. Joe is our lazy boy. He falls a sleep quite quickly as soon as he begins nursing and thus hasn't gain weight as fast as the others. We have to wake him up and give him some extra alone time with Tioga. He has such a sweet personality. Maxwell is a big boy. He is sweet and quiet but always the center of the puppy pile. And India is our princess. She is the noisiest when she isn't getting her way. Though she is a diva, she is so very pretty.

So here are their one week stats:

VIENNA

female, id: purple, weight at birth: 15.4 oz, weight at week one: 25.7oz