Both Mary and I had a sense that there were eight puppies. In a way it was fortunate that our dog Tipper was slow in delivering number 7, so slow that we took her to the emergency veterinarian clinic for an x-ray to see if anything was amiss.

The extra movement of walking her to the car and into the clinic was just enough to stimulate uterine contractions and she had the seven puppy on the floor in the waiting room, as I was filling out the paperwork.

The x-ray was done anyway, only to discover another puppy tucked away out of sight of the ultrasound we had done earlier. Our intuitions were correct. The concern now was whether this was a living, viable puppy and if it would be delivered normally.

The Vet informed us of the worst case scenario, which was a nonviable puppy delivered by c-section, with an emergency spaying because of intrauterine bleeding. The estimated cost was staggering, but there was really little choice.

The least intrusive intervention was to inject Tipper with a drug that stimulated uterine activity to encourage the birth of the last puppy.

We were prepared for the worst, but in this case, we got the best, a healthy puppy born naturally and now thriving, with Tipper’s intrauterine bleeding subsiding. The cost was very little in comparison to what we had expected. It was still plenty but it is all relative.

There was another minor emergency, with a puppy suffering what appears to be puppy colic, keeping us awake and anxious from 4 AM to mid-morning a couple of days ago. After phone calls to our veterinarian hospital and the emergency clinic, we finally took him in for an examination. After a few doses of medication, he has quieted and is his former self, much to our relief.

It has been fascinating to watch Tipper develop quickly into a very responsible mother, and the puppies grow quickly and develop now to the point of starting to stand and lurch a step or two on unwieldy little legs. They seem to have little control of the direction, so often will head off away from Tipper, even though they are intending to nurse.

Our guiding principle for puppy care is that if they are quiet, all is well. If they are noisy, we better see if there is a problem. Often, there will be a puppy who has lost itself in the farthest regions of the whelping box. Without vision or hearing at the moment, they do not know where they are. Sometimes we lose sight of a puppy who has managed to crawl under the blanket and it takes a moment or two to find the right lump.

We are waiting for the next big developmental step which will require much more of our active time. They will soon open their eyes to see, will be able to hear, start walking and ready to begin the socialization process. We will have to accommodate to their advancing developmental skills by converting our dining room into a puppy pen and be ready to spend hours on the adjoining kitchen floor during their awake time, which for them, is a demand for attention. It will continue to be an interesting experience for another six weeks.