This past week and a half has been very hard. The Sunday before last, the day after Fatima had given birth, she was really not doing well--she had been panting very hard and looked so weak (I thought it was just the laboring process, but Keith knew she was really in trouble.) Before church Keith saw that she was not in her house with her pups, but just laying outside under the house, too weak to get back in. He stayed home and brought her to the vet. I met him at the clinic and what I found out was such a huge shock to both of us--due to about five correlating medical problems I will not go into, Fatima had to be put down. It was so hard to say goodbye. If you know me well, you know that I am not a "dog person" in the traditional sense, but I loved Fatima so much. She was very special--so brave, sweet, and beautiful. We had brought her all the way from Iceland and enjoyed her wonderful presence for the few months she was ours. Keith had known this particular dog for years and among the hundreds of dogs he had worked with on his sled dog teams, she is one of his very favorites, if not his favorite. The problems, the vet said, had been going on for a long time, but hadn't really shown until the extra stress of having pups at her age--and it was just too much to fix. Many tears were shed that day and the next few, for her, and the new-born pups now that didn't have her, and the weight now upon our shoulders of doing the nearly impossible task of keeping them alive--for her sake as much as ours. We owe it to her.
Man and Beast
Rest peacefully you beautiful, sweet girl.
It was a miracle really that she had carried them to term in her condition--they were born exactly the day Keith said they should be--she did such a good job, doing her best to take care of them even when she was suffering so. Her dedication was very inspiring, and heartbreaking. We quickly learned how much a mom really means for the puppies. She does everything for them. Finding everything he could online, Keith read the statement of a dog breeder that raising puppies "by hand" (without the mother) is something he would not wish upon anyone. We now understand that statement.
I now have to say, that it is because of Keith's super-human determination and endurance that four of these puppies are still alive (we did loose one on about the fifth day and it was again heartbreaking and added much to the stress as we tried not to loose heart). He has sat with them continuously since Fatima was gone, only leaving a total of maybe five times for quick errands or showering while I sit with them. It may sound excessive, but due to some unforeseen problems with the as orphans, they literally take constant care. If we don't stop them, they suck on each other which leads to infections, but they need to be kept together most of the time for the closeness and development. They also need to be "peed" and "pooped" a certain way, cleaned, and bottle-fed often--with five on what started out as different schedules, it had been exhausting. Keith has slept only a few scattered hours each night for the last week and a half.
One solution to the sucking was to separate the sucker in a time-out box when there were multiple offenders so the others could be fed until we got to that one. We have experimented with so many things, and there really is not much help out there. Even the vet admitted to not knowing almost anything about raising new-born pups without the mom. We have gotten lots of advise from a dog breeder in town and that has been wonderful--she let us know what is normal and what is not, what to expect, because we had no idea!-- but even she had never raised pups without a mom and raising Greenlandic Sled Dogs is a little different, we have found, than other breeds, and the literature on that does not yet exist. I was telling Keith we should make up a pamphlet with all of our new knowledge.
Overwhelmed and stressed, but releived to have made it this far. Still trying not to get too attached to any one of them, knowing their existence in the future is still in question.
Oh, but they are SO cute.
This is the only female of the litter. The neat thing is she has just the exact same coloring as her mother and is very sweet, so we are calling her Fatima, to honor her mom.
Look at that. Just look at it.
They have graduated to a wading pool. They seem much happier out of the box--with plenty of room to drag themselves around and get strong. They are also happy to be able to get away from each other. One thing we have learned is that they do not need to be kept quite as warm as other puppies as they already have beautiful thick fur--made to withstand cold temperatures (with mom's help) from a very young age. That's enough about the puppies for now--it is taking up almost our whole life right now so there is much that could be said on the matter.
I guess I'll post some more pictures of their development later,
but just know this blog is not all about dogs. I'll try to post more things about our life too : )
