The mighty nine arrive

First born puppy, the little black female, still wet from being born

Newborn puppies in the warming basket

Contractions started at 7:40 am on Saturday Dec 3 and I put in a call to my whelper helpers extraordinaire Nancy and Terri. By the time they arrived, Bridget was still working on delivering puppy #1, a black female who made her appearance at 9:10 am and weighed in at a respectable 15 oz. Pups #2 and 3 arrived at 1 hour intervals weighing in at 17 and 14 oz, a yellow male and female. Then with more pups nursing and more oxytocin flowing, Bridget finally starting picking up the pace. Five more yellow pups were delivered in the next 2 hours, and after a one hour break pup #8 arrived.  The last pup, a black male arrived at 2:18 pm and weighed in at a record 19.5 oz.  Poor Bridget!  Once again, Bridget was partial to yellow pups. Her first litter had 6 yellow girls, 1 yellow boy, and 2 black boys. Her second litter had 5 yellow girls, 4 yellow boys, and 1 black girl. And now her third litter has 4 yellow girls, 3 yellow boys, 1 black girl, and 1 black boy. Based on Mendelian genetics, this cross should result in a 50/50 ratio of black to yellow puppies. So much for probability and statastics.

• Black female 9:10 am 15.2 oz
• Yellow male blue collar 10:19 am 17 oz
• Yellow female purple collar 11:10 am 14 oz
• Yellow female orange collar 11:31 am 15.8 oz
• Yellow female green collar 11:47 am 13.4 oz
• Yellow male black collar 12:02 pm 18.4 oz
• Yellow male red collar 1:02 pm 16 oz
• Yellow female pink collar 1:45 pm 16 oz
• Black male 2:18 pm 19.5 oz