Thursday, April 22, 2010

And Then There Were Seven

The day started just like any other, with a bowl of kibble.  Clouds covered the sky like a blanket.  The rain was on it's way.  Lucy darted around the yard like a . . . well, like what she was; an in-bred rescue dog.  It wasn't her fault that the first thing her human did was get her fixed.  Anyone else would do the same.  Smart in her own way but, well you know.

Dixie was from Texas.  Beautiful and smart as a whip. Her humans knew she was smart and had wanted to pass that along to her kin.  She loved Lucy like a best-friend and sister, but she wanted nothing to do with her at this time.  She groaned silently as she attempted to relieve herself in the grass.  She just wished Lucy would realize that she just did not feel like playing right now.

For two days now she knew her time was coming.  Oh, she might have been a newbie at this pregnancy stuff, but a girl knows these things.  She had already started making plans for her babies.  Her human had conveniently left some blankets and such on the floor near the big bed.  It didn't take much to drag them into the bathroom where she wanted them.

She supposed the hard part would come, but it never seemed to.  The pain was intense at times, but the soft and gentle stroking on her belly and head from her human relieved her tension.  And just when she thought she couldn't bear it any more her human figured out that she needed a little extra help.

The doc checked her out. Although he did nothing to preserve Dixie's dignity, she figured that that was the least of her problems.  The babies seemed fine, but they needed the extra little push that only the medicine of modern man can give.  Ten minutes later, Dixie had a son.

And what a fine strapping lad he was!  Big, giant head just like his daddy!  And that might have been the cause of her fear.  Something that hurt like that, surely couldn't be a good thing?  But then there came her daughter.  What a sweet little thing she was.  How could Dixie not love her and her son?  The mewling coming from her puppies pulled on her heart strings as her human bustled her back into the truck.

It was confusing for Dixie.  Her instincts were taking over, but unfortunately she had more than one.  Should she take care of her babies, or stick her head out the window and enjoy the ride?  Oh damn, now what?  The third instinct took over and she produced another beautiful daughter.  She hoped she wouldn't get in trouble for making a mess in the truck.

All Dixie wanted was to sit and enjoy the ride.  Except, she seemed to be unaware that she was sitting on her new daughter and her humans were a wee bit stressed.  And all of a sudden the ride came to an end and the humans bustled her into the bathroom and turned to retrieve her three babies.


It seemed like forever to Dixie, but her humans could not have been gone for more than a minute.  They returned to find another little girl waiting for them on the floor.  Soon the pretty girl joined her brother and sisters lined up to mamma's tit. And ten minutes later there was another sister for them to play with.  And a half hour after that, Dixie had another pretty little girl.  Whew?

After about an hour, with Dixie dozing lightly, content with the feeling of her babies suckling at her breast, her humans decided that she needed to clean up and maybe stretch her legs a bit.  Dixie gingerly stepped outside, Lucy sniffing at her curiously, relieved herself and wanted immediately to go back to her babies.

Dixie was content when she saw her son, and her five little daughters waiting not so patiently for her to return, all nestled on warm and dry blankets.  She lay down and waited for the pups to figure out their pecking order for the milk she would give them.  But as she shifted positions, stretched out one leg and gave a big sigh, son number two slipped casually into this world.  And then there were seven. Seven, beautiful, black Labradors Retrievers 








 

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Dixie pups 2

Puppies???

After being up all night with Dixie(my family's black lab) in labor, I have decided that I am the smartest woman on Earth.
Why?
Because after ONE child I decided that would be enough.