Our Groodle puppies first week.

Nova had been showing signs of labour for days so we were so happy that the day had finally come. Her first puppy was born just before 9am Monday the 11th of July and by 4pm she had delivered 12 healthy babies without too many hiccups. She did incredible! And although it took her a little to work out what was happening, she stepped into the role amazingly once she did.

We couldn’t believe the size of the litter and the size of the puppies! As she was closely monitored during her pregnancy by our local vet, Xrays done a few weeks earlier had shown possibly 12 puppies but we didn’t really believe it until we seen it.

Unfortunately the first night was rough, first we worried that she had another puppy left as she seemed to be having contractions on and off still. A little worried and with a slight temp we didn’t risk it and rushed her to the vet. Thankfully she was given the all clear, no more puppies thankfully and we just had to watch her for infection and milk fever having so many mouths to feed.

We were all exhausted so headed home to try and rest but unfortunately we lost a little girl. We were all devastated. As a family we have decided to keep one little girl and she was named Teddy after my Grandfather who recently passed. She seemed to be healthy and had been cleared by the vet earlier in the evening, but being a first time exhausted Mum. She had laid on her and although she was only left for 10 minutes, we couldn’t bring her back. RIP Teddy.

Each day since they have been monitored 24 hours a day to make sure it didn’t happen again. It is proving hard logistically and we have a very tired family but want to make sure Mum has all the support she needs.

Below - 24 Hours Old

Although we had to do a few supplement feeds in the first days as Mum’s milk supply increased to meet the demand of 11 hungry mouths. The past few days she has done it all on her own. Every day, Mum has become more and more confident and is much happier after moving her whelping box around a little. She is much more content and really adapting well to the new role.

What we learnt in week 1 - breeding larger dogs with larger litters is exhausting and a real family effort for first time Mum’s.

Below - Day 2 Photos