The Adventures of Pirate
by Ellen Friedman



This adventure actually began on Monday February 7th when Blossom went in for her x-ray so we could determine how many puppies she was carrying. To our surprise our vet informed us that she was only carrying one very large puppy!  We discussed our options and all agreed to let her try and have the puppy naturally since she is young and in great condition (often with singletons c-sections are necessary because of a lack of hormones in the mother).

She went into first stage labor on Sunday evening, February 13th, and we knew that we would be having a Valentine's Day puppy. I slept with her Sunday night and she nested and was pacing but nothing. In the morning she progressed into more active labor and at noon she had been pushing unsuccessfully for about a half hour. My husband, Chuck, and I decided that Blossom needed the help of Dr. Ficke. We were very glad that our vet's office was only 10 minutes away. Dr. Ficke tried to maneuver the puppy manually but couldn't and so we watched Blossom have a c-section and a beautiful male black-tri puppy was born at 1:00pm on February 14th and weighed in at 15 ounces.
I promptly named him Cupid to my husband's chagrin!



Back at home poor Blossom was in pain from her surgery and woke up to see this little alien nursing and equated the pain with Cupid. We needed to remove the puppy to give her a chance to recuperate. I needed to hand feed this puppy and then Blossom's milk dried up so I now knew that I would be his source of nourishment. Grandma Rhapsody decided that she needed to be the official bath giver and Blossom became the cuddler and playmate. So, in effect Cupid has had three Mothers - one human and two canine!



The last five weeks, after getting over sleep deprivation, have been a joy! From 8 feedings a day we worked our way down to three and now he's really enjoying his wet and dry puppy food. My husband and I never thought we would be doing 3am feedings at our age but this puppy wormed his way into our hearts especially when he would decide our bed was his



playground in the middle of the night. We both feel that every breeder should have the experience of raising a singleton puppy. You become so aware of every single minute change both physically and behaviorally. This puppy is going to be very, very hard to send off to his forever family.
And we are blessed again in that he is going to live with a wonderful family who will cherish him as much as we do!  As you probably realize his name has now been changed to Pirate and it suits his personality. He is spunky, adventuresome, handsome, athletic and charming! The little boy who will be his constant companion has picked his new name. He visited with us and the two became loved at first sight!
  That is really the reward for raising puppies.