Luna – Cocker Spaniel

Briefly

A second-time mother, Luna knew exactly what to do. When the first puppy arrived, she burst the amniotic sac, cut the umbilical cord with her teeth, and started licking the newborn.  All seven puppies arrived strong, healthy, and on the move.  Yes, on the move.  They immediately started army crawling towards her teats to find her milk.  These seven wonders continued to amaze us by meeting all developmental milestones many days before expected.

Luna’s puppies were born in the winter, a time to dream of travel and other places.  The theme for the litter became cartography, the science of maps. Creating and reading maps seems to be a vanishing art. We have become so dependent on GPS systems and navigation apps that the maps that used to sit in the side pocket of the front door of our cars have made it to the back seat, the trunk, or a shelf at home. Yet I have so many good memories of reading maps from when I was a kid. Sometimes I just enjoyed browsing the atlas and dreaming of visiting other countries and continents. Welcome to the world of maps.

MERCATOR – Male

LEGEND – Male

MERIDIAN – Female

TOPO – Male

HEMI – Female

Stella – Cocker Spaniel

In short

Stella, our lovely cocker spaniel, chose Thanksgiving Day as the day to give birth to her first litter of puppies.  We are thankful to her for waiting until after the big meal of turkey, trimmings, and pie.  She went into labor shortly before midnight and proceeded to deliver six gorgeous puppies, all of them good-size and healthy.  Stella needed a little help in freeing the puppies from their amniotic sacs and severing their umbilical cords, but then instinct kicked in.  She had become a mother, in every sense of the word.  Stella is a very caring, gentle, and responsible mother.

Luna – American Cocker Spaniel

In short

Luna gave birth to her first litter of Cockapoo puppies a few days before her projected due date.  Young and strong, she persisted through 14 hours of labor and a puppy stuck in the birth canal in breech position.  At the end of the night, Luna had delivered eight beautiful puppies.  The change in her was palpable.  She went from being a carefree youngster to being a very responsible mother: caring for her newborns by gently nudging them and encouraging them to nurse.

Luna’s due date was the Fourth of July. We had anticipated being busy in the whelping room. Instead we got to celebrate the day with the newborn puppies.

As we looked at the array of colors and compared it to the night sky, it was obvious that there could only be one theme: fireworks. Fireworks are mesmerizing, as is a litter of newborn puppies. They seem almost magical as they fill the sky with stars, comets, candles, flowers, and waterfalls of light. Like the impending birth of a puppy, fireworks leave us in suspense. We know they are coming, yet we are on the edge of our seats before each burst of light. The same was true with Luna’s litter. Each puppy burst out of the amniotic sac, with some help from mom, and emerged, dripping wet, in a beautiful color to become part of Luna’s Fireworks. 

BLAZE – Female

COMET – Female

STAR – Female

BOOM – Male

FLARE – Male

SPARKLE – Female