I mentioned in a past post that Lucky wasn’t stay with us because we had a long term foster dog. It’s time for you to meet her.
This is Dulcie.
Dulcie the shar pei cross staffordshire bull terrier, upon arrival in South Australia
Dulcie was admitted to Queanbeyan Pound (New South Wales), and when her kill-date came around on the 6th of January she didn’t have any local options. Adelaide All Breed Dog Rescue organised and financed her save, having her flown to South Australia, where she was then placed into my care.
Dulcie the shar pei x staffordshire bull terrier
She showed herself to be a very sweet loving girl, very people orientated. She knows ‘sit’ and uses it to demand attention (adorably!). She adopted my fiancee, and spent most of the time hanging out with him. She was a bit of a grump with the other dogs, but that’s okay – that’s what I have dog yards for.
But there was a big problem…
Dulcie, 8 weeks pregnant
Yes, we took on Dulcie knowing that she was pregnant. It’s just we didn’t know when. She was here for a week, and I took her temperature a bunch of times to try to predict her whelping – but her temperature was all over the place. I gave up.
And then, Saturday night, she didn’t eat her dinner. She peed inside (something she hadn’t done in the week prior). She stopped liking me, went into her whelping box, and wouldn’t evacuate. She, of course, came out for my fiancee, but only briefly. Things were happening.
My bitch, Clover, is very vocal when in labour. She pants, and yodels, and makes a bit of a to-do. Though I could see Dulcie was in labour, I was thinking it was the beginning stages… I was wrong…
Potter, 12 hour old "staffy crossbreed" puppy
I found this little guy in her whelping box, crawling around and being busy. A very guilty moment for me! I missed that she was actually at THIS stage of labour. Dulcie was giving me devilish eyes, wrapped around her baby… I had only known her for a week and wasn’t game to test her mothering instincts. I looked at the puppy from a distance and tried to sketch his markings, so that I would be able to identify who was who at a later date. He had an attractive white collar, that kind of looked like a lightning strike, so we called him “Potter” (after Harry Potter, who had a lighting strike scar, for those who aren’t up with this kind of thing). (Naming him Potter was mostly for my own benefit – I was waiting for an onslaught of white collared puppies that I’d struggle to identify.)
Potter was born at (what I approximate to be) about 7pm. So then I was watching for puppy number two.
Klunk, 12 hour old "staffy crossbreed" puppy
Out fell “Klunk”. Dulcie was enjoying eating all the mess that comes with a puppy, and I was growing concerned about Klunk inhaling his own fluids – particularly as he had been born on his back, and he was staying on his back with all the muck falling in. I decided I needed to intervene, and reached in and grabbed the puppy…
And Dulcie was too interested in eating guck to notice.
Klunk actually took a bit of effort to get going. I did all manner of tricks and rubbing, but it wasn’t until I used the giant eye dropper to suck fluid out of his mouth that I got his first breath. Klunk was born at 7:40pm, and I had about an hour until I had to worry about the next puppy.
Unfortunately, puppy number 3 and number 4 were born with a deformed jaw, among other deformities. These puppies perished soon after birth.
Dulcie calmed down. I took her for a little walk to see if I could encourage anything else out (if there was anything). I changed her soaked bed and put clean towels down in the whelping box. She was still contracting, and I guessed she had some guck or placenta to pass.
But instead, out popped this (10:50pm, 95 minutes after puppy number 4):
"Sniper", 'staffy crossbreed' puppy at 12 hours old
This guy was good to go. I gave him a quick rub to dry him off, and then he went back to mum. We called him “Sniper”, as he snuck up on us.
Dulcie was clearly finished, and settled down. She has proven herself to be a good mum.
So, Dulcie is my long term foster I alluded to. She will be here for at least 4 weeks, raising her puppies, and the puppies will probably be here until 10 weeks – phew!
Right now, I’m enjoying this quiet time before they open their eyes, start walking, start pooing and peeing around, and generally being annoying.
(Dulcie and the puppies will not be available for a while, but any enquiries should be directed to Adelaide All Breed Dog Rescue. They have a bunch of dogs available right now! Just not these guys.)
The puppies are so adorable! Always heartbreaking to lose any, but glad you were able to save Klunk and that Mama has 3 wonderful babes.
Thanks.
Puppies are pretty cute. Very happy to have a nice, manageable litter of 3. 
Great Save on Klunk there!
The Potter name’s origin is a nice choice, so as the Sniper’s.
I was about to say that Dulcie looked a little overweight… until I read about the new litter. They look precious. And she really sneaked up on you.
12 hours of labor… Wow. I remember my last bitch’s labor was between 2-3 hours. Is that normal to labor for 12 hours?
Anyway, Peanuts is doing WAY BETTER now that those evil worms are out of her system- no more butt dragging. I hope you weren’t too grossed out by the pictures.
Huggies and Cheese,
Haopee
I normally find bitches start to act unusually about 12+ hours before actually properly coming into labour. Some of them spit the puppies out quickly, some come more slowly. It’s only of concern if they actually seem to be in hard labour and nothing is coming, over a period of 2 hours or more. That’s when things are serious and it’s time for the vet.
Good morning! I checked with the author of the hide and seek post, and she is happy to lend you the article. Just please include her name as author and Hound Crazy as source. Thanks!
Yay! Certainly will do as you asked. Thanks so much – we look forward to our members having a read.
Wow! Thank goodness Dulce was saved! What adorable puppies!
I know! They’re rather cute, eh?
So much work ahead for you, but I can smell that sweet puppy breath on my monitor.
So much work! Hello, 5:30am daily!
Adorable! Here is hoping that everyone finds a wonderful forever home!
Finding homes won’t be a problem. Dulcie is lovely, and everyone wants puppies!
Nice to meet you! It is wonderful of you to have taken care of those puppies and their momma in such a time of need. I hope they find some good homes!
Thanks for your comment, Helen. Dulcie is lovely, and I’m glad we could give her a chance.
What an experience! I’ve never gone through the whelping process with a dog, but you sure know what you’re doing and sounds like you took good care of everyone. I’m sorry about the pups who didn’t make it. Very glad Dulcie is a good mom. You are going to be pretty busy for a while!
This was kind of fun, because we didn’t know what would come out! Having no idea who dad was, it could’ve been little puppies, we could’ve had white puppies, we didn’t know… The most conceivable husband was some kind of staffy or mastiff (considering the dogs out there that are kept entire, and in her region) – and that seems to be what we got.
First, Thank you for helping a pup in need. Your Awesome!! Thanks for sharing this great story!! We look forward to following along!
Glad you enjoyed the story, Tim.
Dulcie is beautiful, as are her puppies! Thank goodness you were able to take her in!
Yes – I think it was worth saving Dulcie! Let alone her babies. Dulcie is a lovely girl.
Wow! That’s such an incredibly story. Sad to hear about the two wee ones, but very happy that Potter, Sniper and Klunk are okay. Looking forward to reading more posts about Dulcie and her babies!
Thanks for stopping by, Chelsea. Glad you enjoyed the story.
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Hi there, just wanted to say thank you as I adopted Dulcie from Adelaide Pet Rescue 5 months ago and she is doing great, we couldn’t love her more. Heather at Pet Rescue did an amazing job!
Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me know that Dulcie is still doing well.
I’m glad she has finally found her place.