Aren't They Cute

Everyone who sees the puppies says, "Aren't they cute." Well in all honesty, I think they kind of look like rodents right now. The good news is, they are going to be beautiful soon. Because they were a little early they have very pink faces and pads on their feet. Already I can see this changing and they are starting to darken up a bit. The puppies are marked with nail polish so we can tell who is who. The boys are BLH (blue left hip) and BRH (blue right hip) and the girls are PRS (pink right shoulder) PLS (pink left shoulder) and PT (pink tail).

The whole gang.

The boys.

The girls.

BLH

PRS

Check out the little puppy between Tiga's legs.

Tiga finally recovered from the anesthesia around 3:00 yesterday afternoon and has taken on parenting with a vengeance. She is a diligent mother and this time around rather protective. If I had to characterize each of her three experiences with motherhood with one word it would be as follows:

Litter 1 - Abandonment
Litter 2 - Enjoyment
Litter 3 - Protective

Tiga was young when she had her first litter and she was just not that interested in being a mom. She really came into her own with the second litter and seemed to enjoy motherhood. Now with the third litter she has taken on a new attitude - protectiveness. These three different attitudes become very obvious when you look at her interactions with our Black Lab, Tori. Tori was the one who stepped in for Tiga with the first litter. She couldn't feed them but she went to them when they cried and cleaned them. Tiga was more than happy to have her in the whelping box with the puppies. Tori was a little more stand offish with the second litter. She must have sensed that Tiga had things under control. She stayed out of the whelping box but supervised from the couch a few feet away. Now poor Tori is not even allowed on the couch, or in the same room for that matter. Tiga just does not want Tori nearby and makes it very well known. I am as confused by this as poor Tori. Hopefully this attitude will ease up a bit as the puppies get older and Tori will be allowed to resume her puppy watching activities from the couch.