Puppy Gal Welcomes You To.....
English Bulldog Puppy
Nursery Notes!!
Daily updates on the most current litters of Puppies.
Tuesday - 6/28/2005 - 3:30 p.m. CDT - Nursery News, By Bob...
Carlotta's puppies are growing fast! Fat little SCAMPS! and very spoiled.
Sweet Tater Pie was center stage last Saturday. She decided to give birth two days early!
AND SHE DID! The unexpected and unscheduled C-section brought forth seven BEAUTIFUL puppies!
And she has turned into the best little mother that you could ever wish for!
She sleeps in the same room (our living room) as the two tubs of puppies (p.c. tubs -- 3 females in one;
4 males in the other). When she hears them stir, she sounds the alarm to call one of us. Then she
settles down ready to have the puppies... She usually goes to sleep for the half hour or longer.
Then she trots back to her bed. No fuss! No muss!
Naming these darlings is always a problem because we are guessing on personalities and adult size, etc.
This time, we named the little fuzz balls after their mother - Sweet Tater Pie.
The boys are Shoofly Pie; Pecan Pie; Coconut Pie (mostly white); and Dutch Apple Pie (the best!).
The girls are Dixie Pie (Her daddy is from Dixieland Kennels); Cherry Pie and Angel Pie (lots of white).
Here is the litter at four days old... Eyes have not opened yet and they can barely walk...
The beautiful girls: Angel Pie; Cherry Pie; and Dixie Pie!
The handsome boys: Pecan Pie; Shoofly Pie; Coconut Pie; and Dutch Apple Pie!
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Litter Page -- Click here!
Wednesday - 6/22/2005 - 3:30 p.m. CDT - Nursery News, By Bob...
Carlotta's puppies have been weaned and moved to the large kiddie swimming pool in the kitchen.
Carlotta stays in her crate next to them and watches their crazy antics!
If they get hungry, she let's out a bark that tells me to "Feed my babies! -- Now!"
Unfortunately, this occurs about 3 o'clock in the morning...
Here's a picture of Carlotta's puppy... Lou
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Tuesday - 6/21/2005 - 7:30 a.m. CDT - Nursery News, By Bob...
Here's a picture of Miss B's puppy... Bessie Smith
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Monday - 6/20/2005 - 7:30 a.m. CDT - Nursery News, By Bob...
Here's a picture of Miss B's puppy... Barbara Lea
Judy has taken over the nursery duties... Both litters are now weaned and full of mischief!
I've been busy with contractors fixing the roof (the chimneys leak) and weed control...
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A couple of pictures of Miss B's puppies...
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All pups doing well! Here's a picture of one of Carlotta's at one week old...
Sunday - 5/29/2005 - 3:00 p.m. CDT - Nursery News, By Bob...
Carlotta whelped 5 beautiful puppies on the twenty third...
They are demanding to be fed every two hours! Their eyes have not opened but they sure can find 'mama'!
Carlotta is not the best mother-- She is extremely protective and growls at any bulldog that gets near her babies.
She even growled at Miss B's puppies! And at her own reflection!
But, she's feels perfectly safe when she curls up in my lap to nurse her own puppies -- she even falls asleep...
The first three are females and the last two are males.
Wednesday - 5/25/2005 - 4:30 p.m. CDT - Nursery News, By Bob... Friday the puppies will get their first 'puppy shots' -- Last week, we wormed them.
Barbara Lea was acting spoiled this afternoon. She whined until I picked her up and played with her.
I've been neglecting my 'spoiling' time since I've got the other litter of Carlotta's five.
Barbara Lea and I played and I took her picture...
Almost 6 weeks old! The three darlings have been playing with their mother, Miss 'B' - one awesome English bulldog female,
and with each other. Weaning is almost complete... The puppies nurse twice a day instead of every four hours.
They seem to like the "mush" -- Purina puppy chow soaked in hot water plus a scoop of yogurt or milk replacer --
and they have been nibbling on Diamond Puppy Food.
Almost 4 weeks old and starting to play with their mother, Miss 'B' - one awesome English bulldog female, and with each other. Their favorite game is to try to bite on the other puppy's lower jaw without getting bit themselves. So funny to watch. Last night, the two little girl puppies squared off and Bill "the Count" Basie wanted to play too so he sat back and BARKED! Everyone stopped and looked at the little male puppy wondering where the big bark came from...
This picture is from a couple of minutes ago... Barbara Lea is catching up to her siblings in weight.
I haven't started them on solid food yet (actually it's not solid, it's mush.)
Miss B's little puppies are three weeks old today! This week is the start of weaning... I'll start by soaking Purina Puppy Chow until it's mush and add a little powdered milk for taste. Then, with a tablespoon of mush cupped in my hand, I'll let each of the puppies taste it. They soon learn that it's easier and faster to eat mush than nurse. The puppies have to be watched carefully so they don't put thier nose in the mush or climb into the bowl...
This picture is from last night-- when I uncovered their sleeping basket, little Barbara Lea was on her back
and Bessie Smith was using her as a pillow...
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Puppies are fat and sassy! Feedings are on a demand schedule more or less. Up until now, I have been scheduling their meals and waking them to be fed. They are old enough and big enough to be moved to the whelping pool to play and sleep... and eat! This is the fun times for me. Watching them learning puppy games.
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All the puppies have their eyes open and all are walking around the whelping box (actually a kiddy pool from Wal*Mart). Miss 'B' is being motherly by keeping her puppies clean and is now 'playing' with Count Basie, the male. The way English bulldog mothers play is to open their mouth really wide and pretend to bite the puppy's head. The puppy responds by doing a puppy bite on the mother's lower jaw or jowl. These are mock bites and do not hurt.
When the puppies get a little bigger and mobile, they will chase each other and bite with sharp little baby teeth!
The three English bulldog puppies are walking--not just crawling along on their tummies... Count Basie, the little boy, has the best tail although the other two girls have great tails also. Their tails are short and curl just right. Count Basie is going to resemble his daddy, The Jazzman, in stature. Feedings are still three to four hours apart but are getting easier since they can find their way to the 'breakfast table' by themselves...
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Bessie Smith, (English bulldog puppy of Miss 'B' and the Jazzman) has her eyes open! I am so excited! She has such a sweet and bewildered look. Meanwhile, the other two, Count Basie and Barbara Lea are 'left in the dark'...
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Sunday - 4/24/2005 - 5:30 p.m. CDT - Nursery News, By Bob...
The largest female puppy, Bessie Smith, is peeking at me... Her eyes are just beginning to open! All three are healthy and staying FAT! Mama bulldog, Miss 'B', is very easy to keep still while her puppies nurse. We do have a possessive Reba who thinks that the puppies should be hers. (She's barely pregnant.) So every three hours, I bring the puppies to Miss 'B' but Reba wants a turn and gets rather 'mouthy' about it. I told her that she had to wait...
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The three puppies are doing very well. They should be opening their eyes soon... The feeding schedule has stretched out -- every three hours instead of two. You remember that the parents are Miss 'B' and The Jazzman. So, I thought that it would be appropriate that the puppies' names should be 'jazz' people that start with 'B'. Logical? The names are (starting from the front) Barbara Lea (jazz singer), Bessie Smith (jazz and blues singer), and Bill 'Count' Basie!
Wednesday - 4/20/2005 - 5:00 P.M. CDT
Grunt, grunt, grunt go the puppies when they are eating. So funny and so cute. Both Mama Bully and babies are doing well.
Going on Day 5! Miss 'B' is a good mother -- Since she is a real
English bulldog puppy mother
she is a VERY GOOD one!. She is aware of her brood (three puppies) and makes sure that she doesn't step on one. She lets them nurse as long as they want which can be up to 45 minutes and longer... When she washes them, she is gentle (for an English bulldog). Yesterday, I took her to the vet for a check up. She had not been eating and during the previous night, she vomited what she had drunk. The vet decided that her bladder was too full (which he emptied) and put her on electrolytes. That did the trick... She's back to her old self. This picture of Miss 'B' in the kiddy pool is how she looks as she waits for her puppies... Isn't she the prettiest English bulldog mother that you have ever seen?
Tuesday - 4/19/2005 - 4:00 A.M. CDT
Awake and can't go back to sleep. Our vet said Miss B might have a bruised bladder as a result of the c-section. He expressed her bladder which were full, gave her an antibiotic shot and a electrolyte drink mix. She ate late yesterday afternoon and last night so we feel much more comfortable about her condition.
Sunday - 4/17/2005 - 8:30 p.m. CDT - Nursery News, By Bob...
Going on Day 3! All three puppies -- English Bulldog Puppies! -- are gaining weight and are crawling around looking for a warm meal... The routine is: Half an hour of nursing followed by a two hour nap. If I'm late, Miss 'B' whimpers, grumbles, and then barks! She's usually about 5 minutes early but you know how mothers are... All three have bulldog underbites! Can you see it in the picture? Barbara Lea, the white headed one, has the cutest little lower jaw sticking out!
Sunday - 4/17/2005 - 4:30 A.M. CDT
The puppies are so funny. It takes them for forever to get full and all the while they are just grunting away, reminding me of the pleasure sounds I make when Bob rubs my back after a long day of hard physical labor. Just feels good!!
Miss B is an excellent mother, but even so all it takes is a few seconds for her to accidently mash one this young. Whenever the pups are nursing one of us has to be alert and within reach. Bob is so good about taking care of the puppies since I have an old neck injury which is aggravated by holding it in a downward position for long.
- Judy
The three puppies are nursing quite well. This session lasted almost an hour. The feeding is being done in a Wal-Mart kiddy pool ($6.99) lined with white sheets. Miss B's nipples are rather large (this is not her first litter...) but the puppies don't mind. Once they latch on, they don't let go. I do have to monitor Miss B continuously. She has a tendency to start cleaning the puppies up before they have finished nursing. This causes the pups to 'lose their place' but not for long.
The darkest pup is the male, the other two are females.
Saturday - 4/16/2005 - 9:00 A.M. CDT
English Bulldog Puppies doing fine. Miss B and the three 'babies' are doing just fine. Of course Judy & Bob didn't get much sleep last night. About 4 this morning, I told Bob I had a horrible headache and pushed him out of bed to go feed the puppies. The first half of the night we had them in the bedroom with us and when they got hungry they would start to cry and that would wake us up. The problem was that every sound they made woke us up. The second part of the night Bob left them downstairs so we relied on an alarm clock. The clock wasn't necessary Miss B heard them crying and barked until she woke me up and I pushed Bob out of the bed. At this age they are having to be fed about every 2 hours.
Bob took the pictures the least I can do is post them. I didn't get my nap
Friday - 4/15/2005 - 1:12 P.M. CDT
Long about Noon, Miss B had 3 "babies" delivered via c-section. We're holding our breath because the first 3 days are critical. Mother is doing fine and Jazzman slept through everything.
Bob woke me up early saying he thought Miss B was ready to go into labor, so I hurriedly dressed and went downstairs. Sure enough she was acting whiny and talking to me... Bob thought she was trying to tell us she was about to have "babies" but I thought she wanted turkey since she was licking her lips. When I offered her turkey she gobbled it down. At this point, Bob and I both thought he was wrong so we took the rest of 'our gang" out to potty. Normally a female about to go into labor will not eat. I noticed Miss B was looking for a place to potty so out we went for a long walk. She sniffed the ground and I pulled up weeds. When we finally came back in the house I told Bob that Miss B was panting a little but so was I, we had wandered around a pretty good bit. I kept an eye on her as I worked in the kitchen, I stopped panting but she didn't ... time to take her temperature. It was 99 degrees, normal for a dog is 103, and when it starts to drop that is a sign that it is "show time". I called the vet's office and caught Dr Frank just as he was about to leave the office to go tend to a herd of cattle. He agreed to wait and we rushed getting her there. Just barely in time because one of the pups was already in the birth canal. If they are trapped there too long they will die, but she is just fine.
Whew!! Enough excitement for one day. I've already sent emails to two of the people who are next in line to get puppies and will be sending to the third just as soon as I can think of who they are. If any of these three do not want to get a pup at this time, then I will open selection up on a first come basis to the people who have already been approved to be a Puppy Parent.
I'm exhausted, time for a nap. - Judy