Power of Ten 7th Birthday

 We called our puppy litter the "Power of Ten."  A litter created by Silver and Brut that had been planned for several years before taking action.  And now 7 years later it is their birthday and I still can't believe the gifts they have given me of memories, teachings, life lessons and all about unconditional love.

A Little Background:
Ten puppies were born on January 2, 2008 in the wee hours of the morning and lasted until 9am that same morning.  We kept two, the first born, Zappa and the last born Fiona.  We found homes for all of the rest.  At 7 months old Blaze was returned after being kicked and shot at by pellet guns.  She was a wounded soul, but strong willed.  Four months later Chance was also returned to us with his ribs almost showing.  It worked out as Blaze and Chance owners were related and were the best of friends.  Which was good because Brut, Silver, Zappa and Fiona (Back Pack) wouldn't accept Blaze and Chance (Front Pack) into their pack and it was how the two packs were created.

Some people might think that we didn't deserve to breed, but having Zappa and Fiona showed me what life was like being loved from the beginning of their life.  Something I hold close to my heart, teaching me I could love.

Some people might also think about the consequences we bred when Chance and Blaze both came from abused homes.  Never a question to take them back they have taught me about undying gratitude and a resilence that is unmatch.  Not to mention what love can do.

Some people might say that breeding Silver and Brut was all wrong when you find out that two of

 "Power of Ten" pups are dead.  Angel was hit by a car and Grumpy's owner put him down both at five years old.  I believe there is a reason for everything, even that which is sad and scary and horrible.  Angel and Grumpy taught me those lesson and I love them dearly for it.

Some people again might say that this litter didn't deserve to be here, after all were are not professional breeders, when I tell you we haven't seen two of the pups, Red and Rocket, since they were 6 months to a year old.  The owners signed a contract for us to see the puppies grow and they defaulted on their end.  Over and over we tried to no avail.  I don't even know if they have the pups anymore, but we haven't given up hope.  Red and Rocket have taught me that.

The two last remaininig pups are still with their original owners and doing well.  Jack and V-girl are the last two dogs we have remained in contact with.  V-girl recently moved out of state, but Jack is still here not knowing how much it really means to us to be able to see and touch him and know he is OK.  V-girl and Jack taught me there are people who just love their puppies and they are part of their owners life.  Maybe all owners are jerks after all.  They teach me to keep the faith.

And some people might not be judging me or my puppies, or our circumstances.  Or maybe they are.  I don't know.  Maybe it is me who is ridding my own judgements on myself.  Or maybe it is just a way to realize the impact any animal can make on your life when you realize the gift of unconditional love is real and exist.  That no matter the distance or years or death, you can never be seperated from such true, pure love.

That is the "Power of Ten"

Happy 7th Birthday kids.  We love you!  

  pee.s.  Luigi's memorial was postpone for the birthday pups.

Happy 5th Birthday with live birth video!!

Happy Birthday to the Power of Ten!  The name we gave Silver and Brut's litter.  They are turning FIVE years old today and we have a special treat for all of our readers, a video of two of the births of those 10 puppies.  

It starts with the first three newborns who landed in our hands as new mom Silver gave birth standing up.  We had to open them out of their sacs, dry them off until they cried and cut and tie the chord.

The first birth on the video is when Silver finally laid down to have Chance, the fourth puppy.  Chance broke through his sac and placenta on the way out of the canal.  So Silver only needed to dry him off then let him feed.

The second birth is a little more gory as this little guy we called T-bone was born still in sac with the placenta in tact.  This was one birth that Silver did the the whole job herself, with a little help from me opening up the sac around the head and shifting things so it would be easier for her.  Time is everything in those first few moments of life.  Enjoy here or on YouTube   

We knew our lives were going to change with these 10 little miracles,

but we never knew how much.

(in their birth order)

Zappa

Red

Angel

                Jan.2, 2008-Oct. 9, 2012

Chance

T-bone

Grumpy

      Jan. 2, 2008-2012

Rocket

V-girl

Blaze

and Fiona

Happy 5th Birthday to our little ones who are all grown up now. 

We love you.

Grandma and Grandpa

Monday Memories-Taking It All In

Monday Memories-Our weekly trip down memory lane...

The other day I was keeping Brut company while he had breakfast and I was looking at our homemade crates that were in the corner for Fiona and  Zappa.  They are in the same corner that the whelping bed was in, but half of the size.  The whelping bed took up the whole corner of our bedroom.  We had two chairs in front of it and it was a tight fit.  As I waited for Brut to finish I thought of the I countless hours I spent sitting in this same chair, in complete awe of those newborns that were born almost four years ago.

 One day old puppies and Mommy Silver

My husband is the photo hound out of the two of us.  He was constantly snapping pictures and running the video when he was around.  I couldn't understand it at the time.  I was in shock and awe of these miracles of life, I just sat absorbing every living, breathing moment as it happened.  For those first three days, I never left Silver and those ten gifts of life, only dozing for a moment or two when they slept.  Besides needing to make sure Silver didn't lay on any of her little ones, I was in entranced with those new lives that were before me and the care of a new mom.  As I would guess from anyone who has witness the miracle of birth, I found myself in a stunned silence as I drank in the wonder and beauty of this event that had happened before my eyes and had touched with my own hands.  Their cries were like angels singing as we welcomed each one in the world and was a constant sign of life within.  And I just couldn't pull myself away to stop the moment for a quick snap.  I couldn't even conceive that a particular moment should be caught in time.  I mean, how do you capture a living miracle?  Already changing and growing before your eyes?  How do you stop time forever as it evolves in your hands?  I couldn't.  I was mesmerize.

Do you think you could find that perfect moment in time?

 Our little miracles of life.

Just over 24 hours old.

I etched every moment I could to memory but as the puppies grew that time period became a puppy blur.  It wasn't until some time later that I began to appreciate all the photos and hours of video that my husband took.  But those first few days are still deeply imprinted and can still flood my thoughts even while accompany Brut, about the miracle of life that happened right there in that little spot in the corner of our bedroom.

Monday Memories-One Line

OK, so I have an inch think folder of info about dog pregnancies and births.  Silver's been in pre-labor for 19 hours and I've been up with her since 7:00am the previous morning.  Knowing things could happen any minute.  There was one line that I remember in that stack of papers that stuck in my mind:  Follow your dog outside, for how many times does a soon-to-be mother dog think she has to go potty and starts giving birth.  I remember laughing at the statement, it just cracked me up the possibility.  So I ran after Silver every time she had to go out with my flashlight in the midst of a bitter winter night, watching every move she made.

Next thing I know, Silver is squatting and next thing I know there is a bubble coming out of her.  I freak out.  In those few seconds I don't know what it was, but somehow something register to me that it wasn't a puppy.  I rush Silver back in the house and sure enough her contractions begin.  I wake up my husband and Silver drops Zappa in my husband's hands. (Monday Memories-Surprise!) Soon enough nine puppies follow and there is a total of ten.

Now the vet had told us that there were ten puppies for certain, but there was always a possibility of one or two that couldn't be seen on the x-ray.

Silver jumps up after the last puppy Fiona was born and is ready to go outside.  Her skin has snapped back into shape except for a bulge about the size of a puppy on her right side.  Is this where Fiona was?  Or is this the hidden puppy that couldn't be seen? (Monday Memories-Black Beauty Momma) Dog moms are known for having so many puppies, getting up and walking around and then give birth to more.  There can be an hour or more between puppies and we just weren't totally sure about this bulge and what it meant.

Then I remember the gray bubble Silver had expelled.  I run out into the yard looking for signs of it where she had squatted.  I check a few other places she had been.  Nothing is there.  I am baffled.  I know what I saw.  I am starting to panic.  Silver is showing all signs of being done giving birth, but after being up for over 24 hours now, I can't stop worrying about the possibility of this "lost" puppy and gray sac.  It has to mean something.

The vet says to wait.  If there are more puppies they will come.  If not, he informs us to take her to the vet and have her x-rayed.  I end up checking the yard a few more times.  I am scared and I can't seem to make any sense of that gray sac I know I saw.

Are all you mothers and breeders laughing at me yet?  It wasn't until almost six months later I was typing out my whole dog breeding and birth experience for my records,  when ONE line in my thick stack of notes finally caught my eye:  the gray bubble was her water sac.  Talk about a sigh of relief!  Finally the mystery was solved.  Out of all the information I had compiled it was only mentioned ONCE, just as the line about following your dog outside in case they think they have to potty.  If it hadn't have been for latter statement, I probably wouldn't have thought to go outside trailing after Silver, and would have missed seeing the mysterious water sac to know that the birthing process was about to begin.   How one line made all the difference in knowing what to do and while the other slipped from my mind and posed fear and panic that I would never get an answer to until many months later.  Funny how things work out.

Silver didn't have anymore pups.  We did end up taking her to the vet for x-rays just to be sure.  Another Monday Memories in the works....             

Monday Memories-Surprise!!

Silver and with her first four pups

Before and during Silver's pregnancy I read as much info as I could about the births.  I found everything I could and had piles of information.  I was also in contact with a breeder online to help get that hands on knowledge that can be lacking in written material.  Regardless of how much information you find, it is nothing like the real experience... 

When Silver was ready to give birth to the first puppy to be born we were both in shock when she gave birth standing up and Daddy caught the Zappa in his hands.  We removed the sac that is wrapped around the pups, rubbed him to dry him off and stimulate breathing until he cried and then cut and tied the cord.  I had read plenty about caring for a  newborn after birth, but what I was not prepared for was Silver was more interested in cleaning herself than her newborn pup.  We were told over and over by other breeders that Silver would know what to do.  After Zappa was born I was a nervous wreck, we had nine more puppies to go and it looked as if Silver was not going to nurse or take any interest.

I made a frantic run to the kitchen to throw together formula and a bottle.  Mistake number one, I bought powdered formula.  I was so nervous I struggled with trying to just read the package for the measurement.  Somehow I managed to pull it together and ran with a bottle back to the whelping room.  Only in time for the second puppy to drop in Daddy's hands.  We took care of this puppy as well while Silver took to cleaning herself again. 

We couldn't get the bottle to work.  So Daddy ran to the kitchen to pierce the nipple better, while Silver started to contract again.  As I was calling for Daddy, I caught puppy number three in my hands and had to do the entire newborn procedure by myself.  We were becoming real pros, real fast.  Daddy came running back with the bottle and it wasn't long after that puppy number four was getting ready to enter the world.

A miracle happened before puppy number four was born, Silver climbed in the whelping box and laid down to give birth to Chance.  She took care of Chance and when she was ready, we moved all the puppies in close to her and she let them nurse while she cleaned them.  Silver began to relax for a few minutes and we took a much needed breather.  We cried and laugh in relief as Silver finally took over her responsibilities while we watched in wonder and fear at the miracles that were before us.  Squirming around, crying and suckling on their mother and we still had six more to go...

The rest of the births went smoothly and were spaced further apart so that we were able to breathe a little and prepare as they happened.  The first four births were about 20 minutes apart, which may seem like a lot of time, it wasn't.  By the time we had the new one cleaned up and worrying about how to feed them, Silver would start contracting and we were doing the whole process all over again.

My research and reading paid off in many areas, but there were a few things we weren't prepared for.  Luckily everything worked out, the puppies were all healthy and Silver was being a good mom.  It is interesting some the things we didn't find in the books and internet, like Silver standing up.  I may have read that somewhere, but it was a completely different story when it was happening in front of your eyes.  We were both assured Silver would automatically take care of the pups, so it never occurred to us that she wouldn't and we were only semi-prepared to handle feeding 10 puppies if Silver decided she wasn't going to.  Thank goodness she came back to her senses or instinct kicked in.  As with everything in life, books only teach you the basic, it becomes a completely different ballgame when you actually experience it.  And what an experience it was!

Monday Memories- Black Beauty Momma

Silver:  Any time NOW!!

I was up for over 24 hours by the time Silver finished having all her pups.  Prelabor started at 7am Jan. 1, 2008 with Silver pacing, whining and panting.  At 2:45am, Jan. 2, 2008 she gave birth to Zappa and the rest of the gang, ending with Fiona at 9:15 that same morning.

Silver had been laying down after puppy #4, and never moved until after she had Fiona.  When she popped up to go outside, we noticed the most amazing thing.  She had snapped back into the shape.  Her stretched skin was fit against her.  Amazing.  (Every new mom's dream...)  Just like that.  All of her skin snug against her sleek body except for a small bulge on the right side near the ribs, where we figured Fiona must have been.  She looked better than she did at two years old.  Her black fur was soft and silky and glistened when she moved.  She was so spunky and full of life, excited to get outside and run a bit.

The bulge where Fiona had been.

We were both so stunned at this miracle of the births and then to witness Silver beaming with happiness and this instant new body, well we were breathless.  With everything I've read about the birth of puppies, this beautiful detail was left out.  The sparkle that was in her eyes, the bounce in her step, the tender care and the beauty of being a mother, I never once read about it.  I read about the medical advice, the process, what to look for, what to do, but it never said anything about my Silver becoming this black beauty of motherhood.

We made it through 10 successful births, a blessing in itself, but what we discovered with Silver was the a jewel we could only discover for ourselves.

Look at the shine and sleekness!

And the cute newborns, of course!

  

Happy 3rd Birthday to the Kids

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY TO THE "POWER OF TEN"

Three years ago today Silver delivered the first of ten puppies starting with Zappa at 2:50am until Fiona was born at 9:15am on January 2, 2008. 

The Power of Ten less than a day old.

The Power of Ten together for one last time at almost 9 weeks old.

Zappa, the first born.

Fiona, the last born and the runt.

Happy Birthday Zappa and  Fiona!

Chance, puppy #4

Blaze, puppy #9

Happy Birthday Blaze and Chance!

We were so blessed to be part of the birth of ten healthy puppies.  It was one of the most amazing events we have ever witnessed in our entire life.  

Happy Birthday to all our Puppies!

Love, Grandpa and Grandma 

Monday Memories-How it all began

Here at 24 Paws of Love, we'd like to take a trip down memory lane, so we've created Monday Memories.  So join us for a little stroll in our neck of the woods...

Brut the proud father.  When are those kids coming??

Here’s where it all began. Brut the soon-to-be father and Silver probably mentally cursing him for carrying his 10 children. Silver isn’t very big and I wished I’d gotten of picture of her standing up so you could see how wide she was. It was like she swallow a couple of footballs. When she would walk the whole “package” would sway from one side to the other with every step. I don’t know how she didn’t lose her balance with the weight shifting back and forth like that.

Silver ready to pop!  "Any day now, any day."

Pre-labor started with Silver waking me up at 7am Jan. 1, 2008, whining and panting and pacing, that last until the first birth. Fourteen and a half hours later at 2:30am, Jan. 2, 2008 her water broke. Then one after one, she began giving birth. She didn’t quit until Fiona was born at 9:15am that same morning.

Lunch!

10 puppies that were healthy and crying for their mommy. I was rather surprised by the sound of their cries. They sounded like human babies. I stayed up with Mom and the newborns for three days straight making sure Mommy didn’t lie on them. After that she learned to slither around them and not lie on any of them.



It was very surreal, having that many new puppies all at once. I have never witnessed a birth before and don’t have kids, so this was simply amazing to me. It was one thing to know they were in there when we had x-rays done and could see their skeletons and it was another to have them all out in the open all with fur, little noses and ears. I’d heard enough horror stories over the years about what can go wrong with dog births, it was just a miracle when they were all born safe and sound. Once we made through the first 24 hours and  the critical next 3 days, things were good.

All ten at one day old.

We knew these puppies were going to change our lives. We could not have imagined how many different ways that was going to happen and still does. We still visit the other 6 puppies and they still remember us. It has been an amazing experience watching them all grow and become healthy adults. To see such young lives grow up practically before your eyes is indescribable. We still find ourselves in awe at the miracle of life.