I spent the day cleaning out the Whelping room.. Wow had it gotten filled with clutter in the past year! Nickel spent most of the time laying directly in my way. She seems to know that this room is for her. Not too much of a surprise since she was born in this room! and her sister delivered her litter in it last year... same whelping box. Of course last year Nickel spent a great deal of time watching her sister, Ico's litter growing in the very same spot. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some residule smell on the box.
Nickel practically battled for her position while I rebuilt the whelping box. LOL... she really wanted center stage this time round ;) I repainted the lavendar walls; this time we have pink and blue (it's left over paint from the Pink Poodle Parlor and exterior house paint). At least we know that these pups will be frugal :)
Here's Nickel hanging out in the Whelping box last year... She certainly was ready to be a mom. As you can see.... she spent a lot of time outside the box as well...
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Nickel in Ico's Whelping box (last year) ... ah....just trying it out :)
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| Nickel outside whelping box.. watching Ico's puppies |
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| Ico (the REAL mom) on the left and Nickel (the WANNA be Mom) on the right |
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Nickel (top) and TinTin (bottom) out side Ico's Whelping box... It Takes A Village...
In the following pictures I'm in the process of painting the Whelping Room from Lavendar to Pink and Blue... Nickel didn't seem to think that having the room painted should stop her from settling into Mother-Hood! As I constructed the Whelping Box Today, Nickel tried to take central control ;) Before I even had the sides up she circled around the 'Whelping Nest' and settled into position. The 'Whelping Nest' is the black circle. It's a heated pad that will maintain a steady temperature of 95 degrees for the puppies. For the first ten days the puppies wont be able to maintain their body temperature and this heating 'dish' will keep them safe. If they get too hot they can crawl off the dish. |
