Doubledaire

I've just got my new kennel name. Seems all these little pups are going to be a new line of Doubledaire airedales.

It wasn't my first choice, but it does have a nice, edgy sound to it. Dare ya, dare ya, doubledare ya... Probably quite appropriate for terriers.

There's even a new Doubledaire website all about your's truly and a photo gallery of me and the pups as they grow.

And boy are they growing fast! They are twelve days old and hopefully their eyes will open this week. That should be cute.

one week old

The puppies are one week old today! I can't believe it has only been a week
- seems like much, much longer!

They have suckling down to a fine art now.

I jump in the box and they attack.
In less than ten minutes I'm empty and they are very, very full.

They sleep the rest of the time, snuffling and squeaking.

But they are very cute.

new puppies

I see that Kay has shared the news of the long awaited arrival of the puppies.

Did she mention that it was a hell of a lot of hard work? It took from midnight till dawn to get them all out. I was exhausted.

And you know, they look a lot like little black rats... so I've been a wee bit confused about what you're supposed to do with them.

They were pretty clear what they wanted though... seems that I am now the local milk bar.

I've had a bit of a rest now and something to eat and I'm starting to warm to the little tackers. They snuffle around a lot and are actually quite endearing.

I've been off my food since the big event and Kay has been working overtime to find something that I will eat.

She finally had a brainwave and rushed off to Macca's for a couple of cheeseburgers, hold the pickles. They were scrumptious and I ate them in a flash!

I also polished off a block of cheese and several arrowroot biscuits. So all in all, not doing too badly here.

breaking news...

Ruby has finally had her puppies! We've been up all night, with puppies coming about every 45 minutes. Seven so far and that might be about all. Ruby is exhausted by the effort and a bit bemused by all the snuffling pups. We'll wait and see if anymore arrive, but she is looking rather empty now.

Stay tuned for photos soon!

waiting game

Well, here I am at home on maternity leave, while Neil goes off to work without me.

This would normally be unbearable, but I'm so big and heavy that I don't really care as much AND my big sister Marieke has come home from China to babysit me!

She's lots of fun. I like to wake her up at 6:00 am every morning... just to say hi with a big wet kiss. She makes such funny noises when I do that!
I've been a bit off my food a bit the last few days, so she tempts me with tasty morsels and hand feeds me chicken necks, which is very nice of her.

But all in all, I think I've had enough of this pregnancy game - must be time to bring on the puppies very soon.

Kay says it might even be tonight... and if not, then surely tomorrow.

maternity leave

Here's a picture of me at work. I'm guarding things. This is at a very small house with no front yard, so I'm on the footpath.

I do get to do a lot socialising with all the folks that walk down the street. They pet me and say I'm gorgeous, etc, which is nice.

I also have to supervise to make sure the guys keep working and do things right. No slip shod work allowed around here.
This is a good part of the day... smoko. I'd already eaten mine while the humans were still unpacking theirs. That's Morgan and Anthony (in the red shirt).

I started working with Anthony from my very first day and it's been three years now - we're great mates. Hi Anthony!

I'll have to negotiate some maternity leave soon - this might be my last week at work for a while. I need to do some nesting and get a spot ready for these pups. I think under the house is my preference, but Neil has made a special box for the big event. I'm not so sure... we'll just have to see.