Bear would be so proud…

…or maybe not. She wasn’t much of a mom herself, since she waited until she was a senior before having her first litter. She was ten years old when she gave birth to three (live) hellions; Diesel and ‘Nilla are still around, while the other died from an infection when he was somewhere around a year old.

For those of you who don’t know, or don’t remember – Bear was a dog that my ex and I had (originally she was mine, but she chose him – we shared a poor taste in men, she and I) that he ultimately abandoned at the home we once shared, when he moved on. Fought tooth and nail for the dog, and then left her to starve to death. Thankfully, close neighbors let me know she was at their house, having wandered a mile down the road. Two months later, she had puppies.

I don’t know what the genetic heritage of the other two puppies were, but Diesel is a definite coy-dog. Except for her color, she looks like a coyote. It’s not unknown around here, and Bear has to have been running with the coyote pack to have survived as long as she did on her own. *shrug* Diesel has Bear’s personality, including having her man – this generation, the man happens to be my brother. See this post for her adventures with the skankassedtw*t in October.

That little adventure put Diesel into a stress-induced cycle out of season, and she got up the duff. Dogs gestation periods are generally 7-8 weeks, while a coyote is 9-10. We figure Diesel’s been gestating for 8 weeks. Since Dob/Jare has been working days this week, Care has been stopping in at his place to check on Diesel after school. Today, she ran home in a panic because Diesel had a) made a mess in the kitchen; b) wouldn’t stop for much of a pee on the short trip around the house; c) had a wet butt and d) snapped at Care. Usually Care doesn’t care if Diesel snaps, because she’s like Bear – it was a play thing that came along down the lines from the Border Collie. This time though, Diesel meant it.

Having been rudely awoken from a strange drifty nap (still a bit virusy, me), I was not in the mood to debate birthing styles with her. Dogs will push, bite, eat and clean. If the puppy is born dead, you can skip the clean part. By the way, before I forget, I’d forgotten how awful the birthing stench is…. Anyway, Care thought Diesel would need help. Ok, so the kid wasn’t far from wrong, but it wasn’t much of a help.

By the time we got there, Diesel had her first puppy – nice size, browny-brindley with a black muzzle and feet. She was panicking now, since she’d decided the sectional would be a great place to give birth – only, thing is, puppies tend to slide down between the sections. *cough* I rescued it, moved a blanket and towel into a corner, and took the puppy over. Diesel followed, hunching up and straining as she was making her way across the floor. Why she hadn’t used the space made for her already, I dunno. At least she didn’t use Jare’s bed..hehehe. The second puppy came along, then a third – which Care watched. She heaved a bit, watching the whole cleaning/eating process… *snicker*

Over the space of three hours, Diesel had five puppies. The last one was a bit longer coming out, and seemed to get stuck, or she tired out. I crouched down and talked to her, and she just let the little thing lay there, almost all out but on the cold floor beyond the blankets. She made no attempt to break the sac and clean the pup, and it was… not moving. I picked it up before I realized it wasn’t all the way out (btw, ewwww) and immediately set it down again – BUT – that did get Diesel interested in the goings on. She started cleaning the pup, and that started it moving and breathing, and then… nothing. Still no complete exit. It stopped moving.

I picked Diesel up by her front end, dragged her back onto the blankets and as I did so, out flopped puppy, cord and… (ugh, the rest). I’m happy to say Diesel did not stress out over that, but jumped right in and did the mom thing. Made Rhia heave, that did. *snicker again*

A few months from now, Diesel will make her trip to the vet’s office. Bear’s line has gone on.

And yes, that made the three of us cry.