I wouldn't be keeping it real if I always write giddy, good things about my dog(s) without actually telling you my struggles as a dog mum and most recently, as a grandpawrent. My dog recently gave birth to the cutest puppies and while they're a ray of sunshine, I have broken down several times taking care of them and wondered if I made the best decision.
I wish I knew some of these things before getting Panda pregnant (I mean her one-night stand getting her pregnant). The pregnancy was the easiest part, post-partum has been something else.
The entire pregnancy had my dog so slow and stressed, I felt really bad. I began thinking maybe buying Panda a puppy would have been a better alternative to getting her pregnant. The goal was to get her companions, not stress her. Even after giving birth, she's not back to her old self and sleeps for most of the time.
She is not as energetic as before and always looks like she's calculating the school fees for her five children.
If your dog is not ordinarily aggressive, pregnancy will make you see that part of them. Panda became more territorial when the pregnancy hit and after giving birth, it hasn't lessened.
This is one part I really underestimated. Ofcourse, it is expected that food intake will increase but it was shocking to witness, Panda was eating x3 what she would normally eat. Little did I know that was nothing compared to what post-partum feeding would look like.
Panda now eats for six and she's currently doing five times and even more of her normal food portions. The canned food that would normally last for almost a month is gone in about 3 days.
I shed a tear for this one, I think it got to me the most. I never read anywhere the tremendous amount of weight that would be lost after giving birth. My dog is a shadow of herself even as we speak and it was scary at first. If you're not ready to see your dog look like they're almost going, you shouldn't let them get pregnant.
Even with the quantity of food she eats, she lost major body weight and it's been hard getting her to add up. I thought she was sick but the vet assured me it is the breastfeeding draining her and nothing else.
My precious puppies warm my heart but their actions almost make me cry out in frustration. They pee and poo every few minutes making a mess of the room. The whole place stinks for the most part and time spent cleaning all the mess interferes with my other activities.
You will also have to clean their buttholes because poo dries and gets stuck there. All these involve a lot of toilet paper which adds to your spending also. That's actually nothing compared to the stench of their poo that's now stuck in my nostrils. Sometimes I wake up at night and I can smell it, even when I'm not in the house, I smell it.
There's no saying that your dog will not have 5, 6, or even 10 puppies. Their noise making is cute until it turns to prolonged crying while you have to work or sleep. They cry when they're hot, want to get out of their cage, or suck the life out of Panda.
I unknowingly signed up for mummy duties when I thought I was simply going to do omugwo(assisting a new mum with caring for her baby). I definitely was tripping when I thought Panda was going to lick them clean forever, it is all on me now. I don't lick their butts...ewww.
I wish I could keep them all but this is too much work for one house, I am looking forward to them being completely weaned off and finding them new loving homes, safe one or two.
So, I'd say if you want playmates for your dog, simply get a new puppy rather than crossing your dog no matter how much of a good mother you think your female dog will be.
Lastly, I'd say despite all of the above, you will have a lot of fun having these precious babies, there are a lot of cute moments with them that you will always cherish.
