Havanese Puppies - Born Sept. 16, 2006

WHELPING

The photos on this page were taken during the actual delivery of a litter of Havanese puppies. If you are squeamish about such things, you will probably want to skip this page altogether.

This is a photographic record of the birth of four Havanese puppies born to Indian Springs Just a Siesta, "Siea", on September 16, 2006. Diva's January Maximum Mojo, "Max", is the sire.

Whelping Begins - This is the first appearance of a puppy.

Puppy #1 makes her very first appearance. I was relieved to see that she was making a textbook presentation.

The first puppy's nose and mouth are visible here.

In this picture, it is possible to see her tongue and nose.

Puppy #1 with her head out and the rest of her body yet unborn.

Here's her head as she was making her way out into the world. The rest of her body was still undelivered. I could already tell that she was going to have tri-color markings, though I didn't yet know the sex. She was born at 3:00 a.m. My youngest daughter was serving as our time-keeper.

 

Once she was out, Siea and I began working to clean her up and get her breathing. Once she was cleaned and I had checked her over, my husband helped me to weigh her. 4 ounces. I then placed her with her mother to begin nursing.

Puppy #2's malpresentation presented a challenge. She was delivering "back first" and was quite stuck in the birth canal.

Here is a photo of the second puppy. She was presenting in a breech position, with her legs tucked back into Siea's body so that her back was trying to deliver first. She was quite stuck in the birth canal. I had to resort to using K-Y Jelly, a perineal massage and actually manipulating (and pulling) the puppy out using a towel. Talk about a scary delivery! She was born at 3:20 a.m.

 

  When she finally made it out, I was dealing with a grey, limp, non-responsive puppy and feared the worst. The placenta had detached and there was meconium in the sac. The fluid was dark green and black, and smelled rancid. However, I had read to perform rescue efforts for up to fifteen minutes. After five or ten minutes, my resuscitation attempts began to pay off as she began to come around. Soon I had a wiggly 5 oz. female in my hands.

After I got #2 revived and warmed up, she and her sister settled in to nurse.

There was a bit of a break between the difficult delivery of Puppy #2 and the next arrival. I spent the whole time getting the two puppies warmed up and cleaning the area to prepare for the following puppies.

Three nursing Havanese puppies - all female.

Puppy #3 was also a breech presentation, but her back legs were outstretched in front of her body, making for a swift and easy delivery. She arrived at 4:17 a.m. She was 5 ounces too.

Siea is feeling pretty worn out at this point, but there is still another puppy on the way.

Siea still has one more puppy to deliver, but she is obviously pretty exhausted at this point.

Here is a photo of the only male puppy in the litter making his debut.

Puppy #4 arrived so quickly that I almost didn't get this picture. He was the only male, and also the only golden/sable colored pup. He arrived at 4:32, just slightly more than an hour and a half after the first puppy was born. He weighed 5 ounces.

Proud Mama with her first litter of puppies.

Siea relaxes after all of her efforts, while the puppies enjoy a good, warm meal.