A few weeks prior to all of this, Dayton commented on how he thought Zoe was getting fat. I defended her and blamed in on her long hair. It had been a while since she had been groomed- we keep her long in the winter when she is outside so much in the cold. I claimed she was fluffy and not fat. Then, a few weeks later, I was playing with Zoe outside and she rolled over for me to scratch her belly. I looked and saw huge nipples! I then felt her belly and sure enough it was not fluff. She was so pregnant.
Our vet is a member of our bishopric so I called him right away. I explained my complete terror to find out she was pregnant. Zoe was only 13 months! How could she be pregnant. Was this safe? Should we abort? What do we do? Zoe is pretty small for a standard poodle and I was worried about her health and didn't know if she could give birth to puppies so young. Usually females are bred no earlier than 18 months- and we were going to breed her at 2 years. He exclaimed that abortion was more harmful to the mother and she was better off having the babies, but she could possibly need a c-section if the puppies were too big. He explained he had several surgeries the next day, but if I brought her in he would fit her in between. He was going out of town the next week and he is the only vet at their clinic that can do an ultra sound and look at the puppies and determine how far along Zoe was.
Well I pretty much felt like the worse dog owner ever! I had never seen Zoe go into heat, never saw any bleeding, and never even saw Otie "mount" her. I was in shock and totally embarrassed. All this time I thought Zoe wasn't going to be able to have puppies because she hadn't started her cycle yet. Little did I know. . .
Well I took her in the following day. He did the ultra sound and wrote down different measurements and performed several calculations. He said after several calculations, she is measuring 62-65 days. give and take a few days. Are you ready to have puppies this weekend? WHAT?!? How in the heck? Dogs are pregnant 63 days so we could have these puppies any day now. Last night Dayton had tried to reassure me that while Zoe was fat, she wasn't THAT fat. Not I'm having babies any day fat. He guessed we still have a few weeks. Now I learned we had a few days at most. He suggested doing an x ray so we could see how many puppies there were and how big they all were. She had 7 puppies and their measurements compared to her birth canal looked great. Zoe could have the puppies at home. He then talked me through several scenarios and things to watch for during her labor.
I got home and called my mother in law- she bred golden retrievers. She advised me to use a plastic swimming pool as he birthing center and make it comfortable with blankets, towels, pillows. I got Zoe's space all ready for her and tried to get her used to it. She started "nesting." She fluffed the blankets around and was pacing back and forth. She had to keep going outside for party breaks every few minutes. I realized Zoe was in labor! I called Dayton and told him I thought the puppies were coming today. I was worried. Zoe needed to be groomed and my grooming appointment wasn't for several weeks. I called around and nobody could get me in. Dayton told me he would leave work and get some clippers so we could trim her up to be more sanitary. Poor thing was just a giant fur ball.
I kept watching Zoe and she was trying to get back to her kennel- I'm sure that is where she had nested and planned on having her puppies. She kept going outside to the bathroom and I later realized she kept having to go through contractions. One time she went out and when she started to act like going to the bathroom, I noticed a puppy coming out! I rushed her inside and tried to calm her down to have the puppy inside. She relented, and the first puppy came. I called Dayton and told him he was too late. Puppy #1 was born.
After the first puppy, Zoe was okay to have the puppies inside. She stayed in her "pool" and birthed the next 6 puppies over 3 hours. She was a champ! She cut the cords, broke the placenta, ate the placentas, cleaned the puppies, and started nursing them. I was amazing at her natural instinct and how she automatically knew what to do, even being so young. She immediately bonded with the puppies and I had a hard time getting her to leave. She wouldn't even get up to go to the bathroom. I literally had to shove her out the next day so she could have a little break. She never left their side for the first few weeks and was a very attentive mom. I was so proud!
The boys got to watch a lot of the birth and it was a great way for them to learn and ask questions. When Zoe gave birth to puppy #2, he said, "mom, I think she is having another one. It looks like an egg coming out!" I then explained that was a puppy in a placenta. They were fascinated.
Cooper loves Zoe and would go and check on her and her babies.
The next day I cleaned her up and gave her a little trim.
Hunter adored the puppies and was such a big help. He liked learning about them and learning how to train them.
Hunter singing to the puppies.
The puppies were a great distraction for Carter and his broken leg. We couldn't leave the puppies for long and since we were already pretty homebound it worked out well.
The puppies all snuggled together while I cleaned their bedding.
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