The "A" litter has arrived!

Tikka's temperature started to drop Monday night.  By Tuesday morning, it was firmly in the 98.5 range signifying impending birth.  Aside from the panting, there seemed to be no other behavioral change exhibited (i.e. she was still chasing the squirrels).  The vet asked that we call them Tuesday, which I did, and bring her in Wednesday morning if she hadn't whelped.  

Wednesday morning, after 24+ hours of stage 1 labor, she still hadn't delivered.  We brought her to the vet for a progesterone test and it came back at 0.8 which means she ought to have delivered.  They said that if she hadn't given birth by 3 PM to bring her back in for a c-section.  I called and spoke with the vet some more, and around 1:30 PM I decided to bring her in.

Around 3 PM, June 27, 9 healthy pups were delivered via c-section.  5 males, 4 females.  It is a good thing that we brought her in as the vet found a small tear in her uterine wall, likely caused by overexertion.  Tikka is such a stoic dog that she never let on that she was having issues contracting.  The vet fixed her up and sent her and the pups home.  Here are some pics!

Here is a video of Tikka meeting her pups for the first time after waking up from surgery.  They introduced them a few at a time.

We will post more pics of the pups soon with the names given.