Can you spell PUPPIES?!?!

Yep. It's confirmed. Kuna is going to have puppies!!!! The puppies started to drop visibly this weekend. She went from having the skinniest waist to expanding quit alot. She is also more protective of her space and of me. She doesn't want me to leave her sight AT ALL! She is normally resigned to me going to work, but she is now trying to follow me out the door. She wants to sleep ALL day and her belly hair is shedding off so much that I am constantly shaking clothes and blankets off! We ARE SOOOO EXCITED!!!!

So from here on out Kuna will eat three to four smaller meals a day. She is constantly hungry these days, and I encourage her to eat all she wants as she is so naturally thin I fear the pups will deprive HER of nutrition. Like I said, she is very protective, but that also means she is very insecure right now. She is definitely in momma mode now. This is the time to watch for water and food intake to make sure she is getting enough of what she needs. We are also watching for any abnormal smells, lethargy and any other indicators that something is wrong.

Loving Kuna so much, I become a huge worrybug. Despite that, I KNOW that Kuna would tell me somehow that something was wrong, so I can't worry too much (or at least I try not to).

When Kuna had her first litter, my seven year old niece missed their birth because she moved down to Tucson to live with her mom. This time she gets to be here when the pups are born. She is especially excited and is happy that we get to keep at least ONE of the puppies (I know she would rather keep them all, lol). She is a natural with animals and I have no doubt that the birth of a litter of puppies will be very educational and intriguing to her. She will be an added help during the hard times of puppy raising. I think the hardest part she will face is having to let pups go as they find their new homes, but even that will instigate a chance to talk about how people come and go in our lives. Still, I am very glad that we get to keep one.

The Waiting

Well it's been awhile since I last posted. The day after I posted the last blog, Kuna began having doggie morning sickness. It's not much different than a pregnant woman as she can't eat in the morning and she throws up, sometimes dry-heaving. With Kuna, if you knew her, she is so sensitive about everything. She is very in-tune to the whole family, with her body and with her surroundings. She is very good at knowing when someone in the family is sad or upset or sick. She is also the biggest baby you have ever met. So when she doesn't feel good she lets us ALL know it. Lol, she has these eyes that just say, "Please make this all go away!" She is very needy and she needs constant petting and loves. I am probably the only one who doesn't mind, lol.

Many boxer females do not show when they are pregnant until late in the pregnancy. It's my opinion it's because that have such huge and flexible rib cages. Kuna is not showing at all. there are only small indicators and only a few significant indicators: her teats are swollen and she has the morning sickness. If I had to guess she IS pregnant, but you always second guess yourself when you can't SEE the proof.

So it's a waiting game. If you've ever had a litter of puppies, you know how darn cute they are. A boxer litter of puppies are even more so. During her first litter, Kuna turned out to be an amazing mother. She's a natural and she also created healthy babies. I have high hopes that it will be the same with this litter. I wouldn't mind if she didn't have the huge litter like she had before: 8 very large puppies. That's a lot of puppies for such a little momma!!! Despite their cuteness they take over your life for 6-8 weeks. It will be worth it when I get a great puppy to follow in Max's footsteps.

So that's it for now. I hope to see some physical proof in the next few days. Maybe the pups will drop and all doubt will be removed.