Just a few hours after posting that Enna was pregnant, she gave birth to two puppies. I was expecting the puppies that evening by how she was acting. Through her whole pregnancy I felt very in-tuned with her, laugh at that all you want.
John was at my parents helping cut down some bushes and I was really worried that I would have to help deliver puppies on my own, I tried hard not to bug him, but I did send some texts asking how things were going (meaning, are you almost done), that I thought we'd be having puppies soon (meaning, get home now!) and telling him that paper towels would work so that he wouldn't have to go find newspaper (meaning, the longer you're away the more likely it is that I'll be doing this by myself).
She wanted to be in our bedroom in her crate, if I opened the bedroom door she'd run in there and wouldn't leave so finally I just had to confine her to where she'd be having her puppies, in our office next to the bedroom. John took off the closet doors and we took the top off a traveling crate, lined it with her blankets and newspapers hoping that she'd smell her blankets and want to be in there. Luckily it worked at she laid in it most of the time.
I tried to occupy myself by watching Phineas & Pherb on Netflix, but every time Enna would get antsy so would I.She'd crawl out of her bed and pace the room, I'd pause my show to watch her. She'd scratch at the door so I'd take her outside where she'd pee about 6 times, then we'd go back inside to repeat the whole process in about 15 minutes.
Makoa was still at home at this time, I wanted him to go to my inlaws the moment Enna was showing signs, but they had gone to a movie with John's half sister and then planned on visiting afterwards. I let Makoa stay with Enna and I since he wasn't causing Enna stress unless he stepped towards her bed. I did have to scold him a few times since he thought Enna's weird behaviors was signifying that she wanted to play and would get a little rough with her.
I was so relieved when John got home and my anxiety dropped greatly, we finished getting Enna's whelping room ready by bringing up the TV and some camp chairs so we could stay with her and the puppies for the first few weeks. It said in the books that females that spend a lot of time with their people may feel abandoned if they're stuck in the room with the puppies and their people are away from them. It might cause them to ignore the puppies while they try to figure out where their people went.
It surprised me greatly when I went to pick Enna up to take her temperature again and I felt a puppy coming out. I was expecting her to makes noises and wiggle around, but she was laying quietly on her hip. I yelled for John, who was in the same room as me, and gave words of encouragement to Enna. John ushered Makoa outside, I don't think he understood all the commotion.
Once the puppy dropped I waited for Enna to rip open the amniotic sac, but she was too interested in eating the placenta (totally normal and expected) so I ripped the sac open for her. I was terrified to do so, the sac is right next to the puppy and not as easy to rip as you might think, I was worried that I'd grab the puppies skin. I ripped towards the back feet since I could see space back there and peeled the puppy out. I let Enna lick the puppy's face to clear the mucus and started rubbing the body so it would breath and make noise. That's when I noticed something wasn't right. John was standing over me and we gave each other a worried look. I think we knew the answer but he asked if that was the umbilical cord or guts, with a worried face I said that I thought they were guts and told him to call the emergency vet and my co-worker since she use to be a vet tech.
The puppy opened it's mouth and made quiet sounds while I rubbed it and Enna licked it's face, I could hear John on the phone with the vet, but I don't remember what was said. The I heard him call Mindy and explain what we were seeing. He hung and said that Mindy was on her way over.
We didn't have much time to think since Enna had already started delivering the next puppy. Once that puppy was dropped John ripped the sac and let Enna lick it's face. She tried to rip the umbilical cord too close to the puppy so John had to push her away and tear it himself.
Mindy had showed up so I rushed to answer the door with the first puppy still in my hands. Mindy and I came back to the room where I opened the small towel to show her the puppy and with the saddest look I have ever seen she confirmed our fears, those were intestines on the out side of the pup. She helped John dry off the second puppy and get him to cry. I think Mindy could sense that I was loosing it so she took puppy from me and instructed that I help John, what I helped him with I couldn't tell you.
She then called the vet we had just called since that's where she use to work to explain more to the vet, she was in another room so I didn't hear the call. Mindy instructed us before she left to make the call that we needed to get the boy puppy to drink and it may be hard since Enna has never done it before. That was an understatement. I had two hands holding Enna down since all she wanted to do was lick the puppy and not lay on her side and John was trying to help the puppy latch on. We finally managed to get the puppy on, but I had to still hold Enna down so she'd actually let him stay there.
When Mindy came back she told us that we needed to rush the puppy, who was a girl - I remember Mindy telling us the sex of both puppies but I can't remember when that happened, to the vet and the puppy might be able to be saved, but not to get our hopes up. John said he would go since he knew that it was something I couldn't handle, I wasn't an emotional mess though. Having Mindy there to take charge of the situation really helped and I had another puppy that needed my attention.
Mindy stayed with me while John was at the vet and talking helped me take my mind off of John. John called saying that the vet said that the puppy probably wouldn't make it even if we tried. Her intestines were in saving condition, but her spleen was also outside of her little body and the organs were just not getting enough blood flow, the vet advised that we put the puppy down. Because Mindy had told me that she probably couldn't be saved I was ready for the news and took it well. I focused on the sweet pup that we still had. Mindy stayed couple more hours just chatting and loving on Enna.
The first two nights John indulged my craziness and let me blow up the air mattress to sleep next to Enna, then yesterday I told myself that I couldn't do this for 8 weeks and put away the mattress. Sleeping in the other room didn't seem to bother Enna expect she did move blankets around which makes me nervous, I don't want her to cover up the pup and then squish him by accident.
I've made sure not to spend every minute of time with her because I soon will have to go back to work and she'll be on her own. So I've done some household chores, done laundry, put it away, cleaned the bedroom and kitchen. Yesterday evening we even went to the grocery store and tonight we're suppose to go to John's parents for my birthday...I haven't decided how comfortable I feel about that yet.
I told my boss that I may or may not come back to work tomorrow, I'm really planning on coming in and I know that Enna will do fine on her own, but my anxiety kicks in the more I think about it.
Enna has been such a good mama. She doesn't want to leave her little boy for anything and I have to attach a leash to her so she'll go outside to potty. She'll run around the yard, peeing a few times then its right back to the door crying to tell me how slow I'm being. She runs right back to the room and into the bed where she inspects her little bundle from head to toe, then curls up next to him.
Yesterday we went to the vet for Enna's check-up and to get the pups declaws removed and Enna wasn't pleased. I was in the bathroom while John got the ready and I heard Enna starting to cry. When I came out John was in our bedroom holding the puppy in a small towel and Enna was on her leash jumping on his legs crying.
In the truck I held the puppy and Enna sat next to me crying and nosing the puppy every few seconds, she didn't like that he was out of his safe bed.
When the vet tech took the puppy back you would have thought we were killing Enna. She cried very loudly for a few minutes, but then curled up on John lap and kept sighing loudly. She was very pleased when the pup was safely back in my hands and wouldn't stop licking his head.
Once back home she ran right to her bed and waited for us to deliver her baby to her.
Little pup is getting fatter and fatter every day, not having to share milk is doing his little body good. I pray that he keeps doing well and we soon have an adventurous 8 week pup waddling around our yard.
We won't be keeping him, 4 dogs is way too many and way too costly, but Barbara informed us that she wants us to sell him to recoup some of our costs.
John and I are still discussing if we want to breed Enna again. We weren't before because we thought she wasn't pregnant. I know some don't agree and that's fine, just know that we're doing what we think is best for Enna, us and Barbara.
I have been checking back here almost obsessively for a post on this:) I'm sorry you had to go through losing a pup, nature can be so cruel. But that little boy is SO cute!! And little Enna looks like such a good mommy! I told kevin that tekoa needs puppy friend with a matching white patch on the shoulder.....he wasn't buying it, lol.
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