Because it was the first time for our dog Piala to give birth to puppies and we didn’t want to take any chances on something going wrong, we stayed right beside her all night and our daughter Melissa definitely was a big help...
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We’ve got a lot of stairs inside and outside and Piala couldn’t be stopped from dashing up and down, so of course the puppies came out upside-down, with their feet first, but Melissa was watching closely and made sure they were ok... bless her heart...
Piala is fascinated by what’s happening. Melissa has to make sure the little one is able to breathe.
Melissa releases the pup from its enclosure and Piala welcomes her baby with a kiss...
Actually, Piala would know just what to do, but being our loving dog, she’s letting us share this miracle with her.
She instinctively cuts the umbilical cord with her teeth.
The first little dalmatian pup is born: it’s a female and her name will be “Asila Sombra”. It’s amazing how well the tiny little claws are developed...they get so sharp that they will have to be shortened in about two days so they don’t hurt Mommy’s teat.
“Let’s take a quick sip before the others get here...”
You can tell by the ears that she’s going to have black spots - just like her dad. By the way, all eight of them were black-spotted.
It’s amazing how wide those tiny pups can open their mouths...
And while No.1 is asleep in the basket nearby,
No.2 is on it’s way out - and it’s another breech birth.
Melissa is protecting the tiny legs while Piala is frantically cutting
the cord. You know: you never know...
And now there’s two of them sucking happily.
The first of the five males is born.
Piala is watching carefully where we put her pups - but she trusts us and seems to know that they’ll be ok under the red heat lamp.
And here comes the next one:
This one has quite a lot of mucas in it’s mouth and Melissa has to remove it, so it’s throat doesn’t get clogged.
Now he’s fine and gets to have his welcome drink...
This is what a newborn pup with a patch looks like - black as can be... And just look at those sharp little claws...
