Sunday morning surprise!

So we had a wonderful surprise on Sunday morning - Beans gave birth to six healthy happy little puppies, three days early!! Four females (all four dark brindle with some white chest markings) & two males, one also dark brindle and the other a stand-out fawn colouring.

Saturday night just before midnight, we noticed Beans starting to actively pant & nesting more then usual, but we went to bed wondering if it was really starting since she was supposed to be due Wednesday! (we were one day off with our original count, the gestation period was to go to Jan 21) Woke up Sunday morning around 7:30am with Beans nesting aggressively and ripping apart a large terry towel in the whelping box at the foot of our bed, rubbing her nose raw, poor thing. Ashley was certain it was just 'pregnancy' stuff and that she would calm down, since Clover had been pretty much spot on her due dates.

We kept an eye on her over the course of the morning, lying at the foot of the bed, reading, having a coffee and petting Beans from time to time. One minute it was just Beans and the next there was a little wet puppy beside her!!

Everything went smoothly with no real distress or problems occurring for any pup, our only concern was not knowing how many puppies to expect, since our ultrasound appt was only scheduled for Monday afternoon! We decided that as things seemed to have gone perfectly normal & natural, as well as we'd seen the placenta from each pup come out, just to keep an eye on her for any signs that something was still in her and needed medical attention. All puppies started feeding normally and didn't require any additional care or attention from us. We are happy Beans & all puppies got a clean bill of health from the vet yesterday! YAY!

They are big pups, ranging from 8.4oz to 10.8oz at birth, and all gaining nicely so far. We love them!!

Here are a few photos to tide you over for the time being, we won't be able to have visitors for a few weeks, until after their first shots & Beans shows us signs that she is OK with other people starting to handle her babes (she is used to our household members, so we are able to handle them gently & be respectful with minimal stress to Beans). They are too cute & so exciting for us to have around, we will definitely be posting lots of pics! :)