Eyes closed and one paw tied behind her back

Smudge two days after having her c-section, delivering 9 pups

Smudge's pups are now two days old and all are doing well. Smudge after having her c-section is also well and today back with a full appetite. She as usual is producing plenty of milk for her nine rapidly growing charges. It really helps if a bitch is a good grubber when they have pups, because they will recover from the birth quicker and most often are exceptional milk producers.
The slideshow below is of Smudge and her pups today at two days old and a couple show our two youngest children in the whelping box with the pups, whilst Smudge sleeps unconcerned just outside the whelping box. These photos are a testament to Smudge's wonderful temperament, as not many bitches would be happy to lie away from their pups at this age, let alone allow children near them happily when so young. 
Smudge just like her mother Millie, takes a very relaxed attitude to mothering, which seems to work. From day one, she will tend her pups and when all settled and sleeping will leave to eat, drink or go toilet and on returning if all peaceful, will sleep just outside the whelping box and before the pups start to wake, she will after a time get up and then go back in the whelping box and start licking and waking her pups to suckle them. She then just lies back and allows them easy access to all her teats. Often the first few days for most bitches, you can see causes them some degree of stress tending the pups, but not with Smudge. I'm pretty sure Smudge could rear her pups happily with her eyes closed and one paw tied behind her back.

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