Maya’s 3rd Litter
All Ready for the Big Day!
It’s Time!
Feb 28th, 2026
Maya’s due date was March 1st. We ended up scheduling a C-section due to X-rays showing 2 puppies. Rule of thumb: Two or less, and/or 8 or more = C-section. Too few - and the puppies can grow too big and not trigger the labor reaction. Too many - and fatigue can cause the last few pups from being born - causing emergency intervention and possible loss of pups. So - we scheduled a C-section for Maya on Saturday, Feb 28th. Everything went like textbook - and we came home with two beautiful healthy girl pups.
Day 1
Maya is happy to be home with her two little girls. And now - the fun begins. First line of business, get rid of the red and orange nail polish mark on the puppies heads. Note to self - Nail polish looks like a wound or poo on the top of their heads, not appealing whatsoever. Next time have the vets put the ID mark on the butts or just put on the collars. Never again on the head. Now we keep the room at 85 degrees, and keep everyone (Maya and I especially) well hydrated.
Day 3
Their umbilical cord’s both fell off. Started the ENS. Learned I need to drink water or suffer with an all day headache.
Day 5
Using a Sweater with Maya, to help protect the incision site. She had been licking it, and unraveled some of the outer stitches.
Day 7
Day 7: Everyone is starting to settle down into a nice schedule. Nursing every 2-3 hours, Maya goes in as needed. The pups are getting real good at nursing. Starting to have that “pop corn” mvmts when sleeping. Pups are comando crawling with ease - looking very strong.
Day 15
Day 20
Puppies are growing - eyes and ears are open, bellies are off the ground, and they are no longer wobbling like drunk soldiers. Pups are just starting to mouth each other. They can sit properly, and walk over obstacles such as the green round inflatable seat cushion. I’ve been playing them classical music when not watching March Madness, and giving them new toys to explore and crawl over. They are just starting to do more than eat and sleep. They like to be held and petted, and are always hungry - AWS - through and through.
Day 24
Day 24
Puppies have Teeth - or at least the start of them. The girls are also starting to lap up liquid. Gave them two servings of goat milk now. Will be slowly increasing their extra meals.
Day 26
Day 28
Hello, World!
Day 30
Time to weigh the little girls for their second dose of de-worm medication. Had to get creative in finding a way to contain them.
Pink: 4 lb 1 oz
Green: 4 lb 3 oz
Day 32
Two little peas in a pod. They are about equal size - so that is real nice. Very strong - and becoming more skilled in thier movements. Both are walking over to the poo area and doing their jobs there - which is wonderful. Mistakes occur for sure, but they will seek out the correct spot 8/10 times, They are sleeping through the night, both Maya and I are back in the big house after their last 10:00 pm meal. Mush is going real well. No longer using goat milk, just ground up puppy food and water, consistency of oatmeal. They are pretty clean eaters. Neither one is stepping into the bowl - which is nice. They like being held, but are ok with playing in the playpen with me outside sitting the room. They have no fear of the coffee grinder as I make their food - probably love classical music, are loving their new individail take home blankets, and are starting to sit and look at me to get my attention. Very sweet little girls.
Day 36
Pups poo has been watery for past two days. Most likely due to too much rich mamma milk and gruel is too watery. Need to make consistency from oatmeal to mashed potatoes. And to delay the nursing by at least ½ hour so there is time for food to stay solid as it passes through. Mom is now nursing only in am and late at night. Slowly trying to decrease the need and demand so Maya can start slowing down her production. I always have her come in after they have eaten, so they are less hungry. Mom nursing is like the dessert one can never say no too.
Just cut their nails yesterday. They don’t like being on their backs much at first, but they get used to it. Always feeling their paws, and tails, and mouths so they don’t fight it so much as adults. They are just fine with the coffee grinder noise - which is very loud. They are pretty fine with a little cap gun in the distance - very little startle. They spent some time in the big house - and got to see Tia our other dog - from a distance. Can’t wait to get them outside. They both get into/out of the cat kennel, and seem to like it. They are both doing an excellent job of hitting the bathroom area for poo. They come close to the right area for pee most times.
They like to sleep in their bed, and are making their blankets smell real nice. My son is noticing that green is very strong, and has the upper hand in any play fighting with pink, even if we give pink the advantage she gets out pretty easily, and pink is learning to use her bite to get out of loosing positions with green, taking advantage of what she has.
Day 39
Beautiful day - pups got outside, played in the grass, sand, and touched the water. Pups also went on a 15 min car ride to visit my parents, with them being in the dog kennel in back. They made winning noises, but nothing very loud. It was about ½ the volume of them just wanting you to pick them up when you enter the whelping room. No car sickness. They did great. The pups did very well in the new hands as well, not biting or squirming, just curious. Both seemed very interested in my mom’s earrings - and were crawling up to her neck to investigate, causing laughs and a bit of excitement. On the way back home, they got to sit in my son’s lap - and the noise level from them was about the same. When the car stopped, they stopped, which was interesting. They new a change was about to happen. They got to be outside twice today - for it was warm enough. Very windy, but overall in the low 70’s. They slept hard after that. Many new things were experienced today: Car ride, sand, mud, lake edge, trees, and older people’s hand and home. Very good day. Oh - and they are fast! Hard to get away from them and then get down quick enough to get a picture of them before they are literarily IN your camera. :)
Day 44
More fun - learning how to chase things and let loose, testing out the legs. Plus - pups have received their 6 wk De-worming medication. They are 7 lbs now.
Day 46
Another fun day outdoors. The pups got their first experience with a fresh bird - - - turkey no less. Both were very interested and took turns attacking the neck, trying to drag it off. Very cute. When we dragged it around, they both seemed to be sniffing the ground and felt rewarded when they came about it again.
Day 52
Finally - another warm day! Pups got out several times, and got to enjoy playing in/out of the pier, sand, grass and mud. They also got to view Maya and her adult dog speed. They both either crouched down or took for our legs - - - too much speed for them to handle. But the playing of Mom and pups is starting to happen. Little green tried to follow mom out into the water - got about up to her chest and then turned back. It’s fun to see similarities between mom and pups: the way they hold their tail for example. Very cute.
Day 55
First day Mom really played hard with the pups. She showed them her speed, and they were quite impressed. Was fun to watch.
Day 56
Outside time with some one on one. Worked on sniffing the grass for fun treats. Both did real nice with using their nose to find the food. Green however - was able to find the jackpot stash. For Green I used bananas, and I put the unused ones on the chair - while with Pink I had the unused food (hamburger) in my pocket. Green must have caught a whiff in the air, for she found the food and got it from on top of the chair - little stinker. But both did a great job of sniffing the ground looking for the food. Will keep developing this with making trails for them to follow. Right now just smelling the ground is I’m sure very full of interesting things. It was also good to have them outside without having to ambush or tackle each other. They had more time to investigate and they both tended to stay closer to me. Green will stray off for further distances when she sees something interesting. We finished with both the pups outside together to let them play.
Day 57
Pups are learning how to dig holes and play fight (mouths open - no bite) from mom.
