Briar with the “V” Litter as newborns

All pups are spoken for, feel free to email bluestemkennels@gmail.com about future litters.

I felt comfortable enough with my veterinary support team in Bellevue, Nebraska to take Briar back with us to visit our adult children. The Christmas visit had been planned for a long time, but Charles left Duke and Briar together in the dog box in North Dakota in October, we confirmed a pregnancy right after Thanksgiving, so we nearly cancelled. I’ve whelped far more litters in Bellevue and have made sure to breed a line that whelps naturally without complications.

I’d had her set up sleeping next to me on a blanket in the AirBnB, but the night of the 26th she was restless and digging at the carpet under the nightstand. There was a mudroom adjacent to the outside door and it was open to the living room so that I could just set up an ex-pen to keep her from running the house tearing stuff up while she was whelping. I took up residence on the living room couch and heard the first pup arrive around 11:30 PM Central/12:30 PM Eastern (that is why their birthday is on the 27th, since that is when most of them were born, and even the first two were after midnight Eastern).

Even though the sandbox was there, she had dragged a blanket out on to the floor and was whelping on the blanket on the floor. After the second pup was born, I lifted Briar off of the floor and into the plastic sandbox with a different blanket to keep the mess contained. I didn’t have to take any sacs off of the puppies, she did it all herself and had the five pups by 1:30 AM Central/2:30 PM Eastern. Four boys and one girl, all healthy and nice with no stillborns.

We drove straight from Bellevue to home in Clover, South Carolina in one 18 hour shot. The sandbox fit perfectly in the back of my Toyota Sequoia and we kept the heat cranked up. The trip home was uneventful, we just had to make sure that Briar was walked away from the dog polluted gas stations and truck stops for fear of tracking disease in to the nest. We got the kennel set up in the basement the next day.

They are growing like weeds and all seem healthy at one week old yesterday. I have matched the puppies with their owners and the one immediate alternate knows who they are. If you are farther down the list, I’ll be in touch soon and let you know what it looks like for Sally and Obi’s litter later in the spring/summer (or if anyone drops out of this litter).

Here are their one week photos:

V Litter One Week Old

I don’t take individual photos, take videos or assign them names until they are two weeks old. This is because of potential mortality during early life, which is totally normal for breeders. These all appear healthy and strong. I will be back next Saturday to let you all know how they are doing!

For those who have emailed me in the past week, I will be sure to get back with you tomorrow, I’ve been busy matching up owners for these little ones and with the holidays. I hope that it was merry and bright for you all!