Back to Back Bernedoodle Litters Ready for Christmas

What a week!

Minka and Nala began last week with big bellies full of puppies and we were anxiously waiting to meet the newest batch of Joley Aire Family Dogs. We had enjoyed a lovely 2 month break from puppies but were more than ready to get back into the swing of things. Breaks are nice, but having puppies around has become our norm and we wouldn’t give it up for anything.

Minka, a few days before going into labor on her favorite spot on our back deck.

Minka’s Labor & Delivery

Minka was the first to go into labor. She never gives us any warning and this time was no different! Normally dog’s nesting instincts will kick in as they approach labor. They’ll become restless and try to find a cozy, dark space to make into a den. Digging on the floor is usually a tell-tale sign that labor is starting soon. Another sign is that their temperature will drop. Now, Minka’s had dropped, but that could mean it would still be 24 hours or more until puppies arrive. Our kids had a soccer game on the evening of the 7th, but since Minka was peacefully sleeping, we had cameras on her, and we would only be 7 minutes away, we felt ok about leaving her. Well, when we came home we were surprised to find that she’d birthed a puppy! It was healthy, clean, and well taken care of by this expert mom. Minutes later, she had another puppy.

I love when a mom starts labor early in the evening. We can put the kids to bed and the house is nice and quiet. Minka’s labor was quick and about as perfect as a delivery can be. None of the puppies needed help breathing or any kind of intervention and Minka was a trooper all the way through. She had a total of 9 puppies - 6 females and 3 males. The colors on these puppies didn’t disappoint as there were 6 merles, two tri-colors, and one stunningly marked phantom.

Nala’s Labor & Delivery

We always monitor our new litters around the clock for the first 72 hours or so. While we were keeping a close eye on Minka, Nala was in the other room and starting to show signs of early labor. Nala gave us much more warning and was digging and squeezing herself into the corner between the wall and treadmill every time we turned around. As Minka’s puppies seemed to be doing well, we shifted our focus on Nala as the morning went on and it was obvious she would be welcoming puppies soon. At 11:45 in the morning, she had a nice strong puppy and another about 30 minutes later.

Then, Nala’s labor stalled. I took the kids over to their Grandma’s house to give Nala some peace and quiet while Brian stayed back to watch and help her. I kept texting him to see if there were more puppies. I was starting to worry that one was stuck or something was amiss. A break of several hours isn’t uncommon, but it’s not normal this early in a delivery. Another factor was that as evening approached, vet clinics would be closing which meant that a c-section would have to be done at the expensive emergency animal hospital if it came to that.

At 3:10 in the afternoon, she finally birthed another healthy puppy. We all breathed a sigh of relief. The birth continued on, but at a much slower pace than Minka’s. Her last puppy was born at 4:00 am the next morning. There were 10 puppies total in the litter, but two were stillborn - something that always makes us sad, but is impossible to prevent. The remaining 8 puppies were doing fantastically well and Nala was a fabulous, though exhausted mom.

The sock is filled with rice for keeping puppies warm.

Milky Way’s Scare

During Nala’s labor in the middle of the night, Brian went over to check on Minka and her litter. There was one small puppy off by itself - never a good sign. She was cold and weak. He jumped into action, knowing that a cold puppy will fade very quickly if it isn’t warmed and revived. He got her in a warm spot and gave her a drop of corn syrup to boost her blood sugar as hypoglycemia is a risk when puppies don’t nurse frequently. He also prepared some formula and gave her some through a syringe. When she revived a little, he woke me up to help with the puppy while he tended to Nala.

I couldn’t help but feel motherly toward the tiny merle female puppy that fit in the palm of my hand. I held her against my chest so she could warm by my body temperature while I prepared fresh formula. Surprisingly, I was able to get her to suck from a bottle - which meant she wasn’t too far gone. That also meant feedings would go smoother. We ended up bringing her into Nala’s room because it was a little warmer and then we could watch both. As she gained strength, we stuck her in with Nala’s puppies and she latched on to nurse! This was very good news!

All’s Well That Ends Well

Over the next few days we continued to monitor all the puppies and bottle fed the small puppy every 3 hours. Now, a week later, we are weaning her off of the bottle and she is gaining weight steadily from nursing. We couldn’t help but reminisce on how much we’ve grown in our ability to save puppies that are struggling. We’ve learned to monitor new litters more closely and the warning signs of a puppy failing to thrive. We keep the right supplies on hand and have learned different feeding techniques and tricks. It’s satisfying in a case like this one to know that we might not have saved her in the past, but because of the years of experience, we were able to and it looks like she’s going to live a full and happy life.

Now that the puppies are a week old, we are starting to sleep a little more and get back to some semblance of normal life. We are beginning the process of exposing them to new sensations and smells and handling them daily so they are used to humans. It’s hard to believe that in three weeks they’ll start using a litter box, in four weeks they’ll be introduced to a crate, in 6 weeks they’ll get to go outside, and in 8 weeks they’ll leave us to join their forever families.

Speaking of families - we will have puppies available from these litters! We have a short waiting list of people who will make their picks over the next few weeks and then we’ll know which puppies are available for the rest of the world. With such beautiful colors and wonderful parents, there really aren’t any that are less desirable than others. The timing of these litters is perfect - just in time for Christmas (Dec. 2 & 3)!

If you’re interested in a puppy from these litters, place a deposit to secure your spot in line. You can start that process by clicking here.

We decided to name Minka’s litter after Chocolate Bars 🍫 and, to be healthy, Nala’s after Vegetables 🥕🥦. My favorite puppy is Radish. We rarely get such stunning heavily marked Merles and he’s a tri-color to boot! Our three-year old picked all the phantoms as his favorite, and, of course, our girls favor the little girls (especially Milky Way). Here are the puppies: