On Tuesday, we made a to-do list for every day leading up to Ivy’s due date, which was supposed to be Sunday. Wednesday was for finishing the whelping box, Thursday for preparing some mother's pudding, and Friday was all about setting up enrichment activities to keep Storm busy. We had it all mapped out perfectly. But, of course, things rarely go as planned.
Wednesday night and Thursday morning, a whole four days earlier than expected, Ivy decided it was time. She gave us nine english setter puppies. Yes, you read that right—nine! Six girls and three boys.
It all started Wednesday morning when Ivy’s temperature dropped below 99 degrees. She began digging and panting, classic signs that labor was imminent. By 8:30 that evening, the first puppy arrived—a girl! We were both shocked and thrilled. Ivy’s last litter was almost all boys, so we thought we were in for more of the same. But then came puppies two, three, and four—all girls! We could hardly believe it.
Ivy handled things like a champ, but after puppy number five, she started to slow down. We weren’t exactly sure what was happening, so we tried to keep her moving with short walks and gentle stretches. At 6 a.m. the next day, with two puppies still to go, we decided to call the vet. They told us to bring her in immediately, which was a little scary. So, we packed up the crew—puppies in an incubator and Ivy on a mat in the back of the car.
As we pulled into the vet’s parking lot, Ivy surprised us again—puppy number seven arrived right there! Talk about a relief, and let’s be honest, it was pretty funny.
The vet wanted to make sure we weren’t missing any more, so they took Ivy for an x-ray. And wouldn’t you know it, she gave birth to her last puppy right on the x-ray table!
Thankfully, everything turned out fine. Ivy was anxious to get back to her babies, so once we were home, we set her up with all her little ones, and she immediately snuggled in. She’s such an amazing mama.
By the way, we still have a couple of spots open for this litter, so if you’re interested in adding one of these beautiful english setter puppies to your family, click the button below to apply! And stay tuned for puppy portraits!
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