Ruby's Pup's

During the first 4 weeks of Ruby’s pregnancy I wasn’t totally convinced that she was actually pregnant. She showed no signs of being pregnant at all. She still ran around like there was no tomorrow. It was a couple of days over the four week mark that her teats started to show signs of getting bigger and her tummy also started to grow larger. Within a week she was looking fatter. At five weeks she was looking like she was definitely going to be having pups.

Here she is at five weeks gone.

Over the next three weeks her tummy was growing at an alarming rate and I was convince she was too big and thought that there might be something wrong. I rang Mark Clifford to ask if this is how she should look and was told that they look like they are going to pop and not to worry too much, but to look for signs of illness. He said to take her to the vet if we thought she was ill. Well I had already taken her to our local vet for a check up when she was at the five week stage and was told that all seemed to be okay.

Looking very fat now at seven and a half weeks

While at the vet I got some worming fluid to mix with her meals after day forty and to continue giving her it until two days after the pups are born. She wasn’t to keen on this fluid at first, but then I mixed a raw egg into her food with the worming fluid and this convinced her to eat it all every time she was fed.

During her weeks six and seven I have been busy building a whelping box for her to have her pups in. I have been reading in a book all about Springer’s that it should be around four feet square. The one I built is 38 inches x 60 inches because it needed to be that size to go in the slot I allocated for it in my conservatory. I’ve incorporated a ramp for the pups to get in and out and also built in some one inch diameter poles set about three inches off the floor of the box and three inches from the sides. This is so the pups can escape under the poles if Ruby lays on them. They won’t get squashed to the sides of the box and suffocate. I have also brought a heat light to hang above the pups to keep the temperature around twenty fives degrees Celsius.

Building the welping box outside and under the cover on the decking.

As always, Ruby has been by me and watched me build the box for her from start to finish. When it was finished I put in her blanket and bed sheet that is normally in the back of my car and she went straight into her new box without any hesitation. I shall be removing the sheet and blanket and replacing it with some old news papers for when she starts to give birth to her pups.

Here is Ruby's first pup ever.

Little boy born at 21:50hrs on the friday night of the 09/05/08

So there we were relaxing on the sofa and I have Ruby by my side puffing and panting away, as she had done so for the last two days. I was getting worried because she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything in two days. Earlier in the day, I made a phone call to the local vet and spoke with the lady on reception . . . . .. “She hasn’t eaten nothing for the last two days”, I tell her. She asks me a lot of questions, as to when she was mated and when is she due to have her pups. “This is all very normal”, she tells me, “And don’t worry too much if she hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for a couple of days”. I’m thinking, surely she should at least have a drink now and again. But the vet tells me that this is her way of getting ready to have her pups. I ask for Ruby to be checked out, anyway, and booked an appointment for 16:20hrs. Now I’ve got 20 minutes to get to the vet to meet the appointment time.

Paula had a bit of a job on her hands in getting the sofa cleaned up, a.s.a.p.

So after getting back from the vet with the all clear and having been told that she could have them in the next twenty-four hours, we all have something to eat and settle down on the sofa and watch a bit of television. This is when it all started. I’m real comfy on the sofa with Ruby by my side, rubbing her tummy with one hand and a beer in the other. We are watching ‘My Family’ on BBC 1 and I feel Ruby stop panting and start to push. This took me aback a bit at first and then it hit me that she’s trying to get a pup out. I said to Paula, “I think she going to start having her pups. I felt her push. I think they’re on their way.” And with that, she pushed again and out popped the head of a pup. I’ve now got hold of the head of the pup and I’m waiting for her to push again. I had to get hold of the pup in case she pushed again and then the pup would fall on the floor from the sofa. She pushed again and I held her pup up to her face for her to lick it clean. I let the pup lie on the sofa for a bit and let Ruby do what she needed to do. When she seemed to finish and sat panting away again. I thought it was best to get her into her whelping box in the hallway. I picked up the pup and held it near to Ruby and called her to me to follow. This she did and she went straight into the whelping box following her pup. She sat there looking at me and then looking down at the pup, as if she needed me to explain to her what was going on. She had a real confused look about her.

Here's Ruby in her "Whelping Box" with her first pup. A sad shame that this one was to die while Ruby was having number eleven pup. We think she may have laid on it or done something to kill it, as I have video clips of it feeding and moving around the whelping box, seemingly in good health. I made it a Smart Cross and buried it in our garden in a spot that won't be forgotten. We simply called it "First Born" and had a small brass badge ingraved with "Sleep Tight First Born" written on it.

This soon stopped when she was about to have another pup.  She lifted herself up and pushed real hard and out it popped like a bullet. I see her pushing and went to catch the pup as it popped out into my hands. I couldn’t believe how quick the second pup came out, compared to the first one. I did the same thing as with the first and gave it straight to Ruby to clean up and get its little heart going. They look so fragile and helpless and Ruby treats them to what looks to be ruff and roofless, but is so gentle when she picks then up with her mouth and moves them. Even when you pick them up, she’s straight there at you to put them down and she will take them straight out of your hand. She looked from the start that she was going to be a good mother. There was no nastiness, just straight to the point, ever so gently.

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Click "Next" to see Ruby's second Pup. 

 

 

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