I didn’t expect to play delivery nurse to my Labrador right in my living room! It was a first.
In 2012, my first Labrador gave birth to 7 pups but because I didn’t want a mess in my house (and I had no idea what to do!), I brought her to the vet and all the whelping, postnatal procedures were in professional hands. It cost me a fortune but I’d rather spend than deliver the puppies myself.
And I was prepared to do this the second time around. This time it was the “daughter” of my old Labrador. But I was caught off guard. At 4 a.m. of Nov. 17, Mozzy started walking around and urinating here and there. And then blood trickled out and I panicked!
To make a long story short, from 4:30 to 8:30 a.m., I had to deliver 7 puppies (one was dead when it came out). The 8th one came out in the vet’s clinic. But it died, too. Horrific but exhilarating to remember. After the initial jitters and panic, I discovered it wasn’t really all that bad. I can offer my whelping services at anytime now (lol).
Now five days old, the pups are showing diverse characters. I haven’t given them names so let’s just call them by numbers according to their sequence of birth.
I enjoy watching all six in the box that serves as their “house.” I am amused by the dynamics happening. Pups like to pile on top of each other and sleep soundly. At this stage, they still like to be as close to one another as when they were still inside their mom’s womb.
But not #4. She is the slider and the shrieker. She slides her way here and there, shrieking all the time. The rest are asleep but she would just push her way in and getting them to move. Soon enough, no one would come near her. She would end up sleeping alone in one corner.
#3 sometimes chimes in with #4. When she hears #4 shrieking, she would imitate her but only for a while. The difference is that she shrieks in place while #4 moves around.
The sleepers are #’s 1, 2 and 6. Nothing can disturb them. Even if the rest are crying out in hunger, the three would just sleep right through the ruckus even when I’d pick them up and bring them to Mozzy.
I can’t help but think of people while pup-watching. Some of us are constantly noisy, trying to stir up a disturbance. Others would veer away from the noisy #4’s. Sadly, they end up alone but they don’t really get affected. To get attention, they would go around trying to get people to notice them until it gets really annoying.
I reflect. I don’t think I’m like #4 but there are situations when I do behave like her especially when I try to stress a point to my children and no one seems to be listening. So I say the same things over and over again. Are you a nagging spouse? Careful, you may end up alone.
Some people like to join the #4’s because they want to be noticed by people, too. But they hide it. Instead of going with the noisy group wherever they are, the #3’s would complain, babble and talk loud but in their own comfort zone. If asked to go out and speak out, they say ‘no thank you.’ They are content to stay where they are.
With the national elections coming up, we see #3’s trying to attach themselves to the popular candidates but at no time did you see them taking action before. It’s okay to be noisy but let’s make sure we also act. We should not just complain but do something to contribute to an issue’s resolution.
The passive people are #’s 1, 2 and 6. They don’t care at all about what’s going on as long as they’re undisturbed. Sad, but we sometimes behave like that, too. At times when we should be concerned about what’s going on around us, we choose not to get involved and stay in our comfort zones.
Like my 3 pups who just silently wait for me to pick them up and feed them, there are also those who don’t know how to handle the challenges of life. They’d rather wait and depend on the help of other people.
I smile at the thought that just by puppy-watching every day I can compare reality to what these pups are. It can be a reflective moment.
Two months from now, I’ll be saying goodbye to them. They will be brought home by other dog-lovers and I’d be left with my two old Labradors.
Well it’s going to be a painful separation because the maternal side of me would have wanted to keep them after going through sleepless nights nurturing them.
Well, that’s life. You love, you care, you nurture. Good if they reciprocate your love and stay by your side. But sometimes, they don’t and there’s sadness , even regret.
But think of the pups or any other pet for that matter. They are there for a purpose. They make us happy but they’re not going to be there forever. Just be comforted by the thought that in one phase of your life, you were able to take care and love.
That’s what life is all about— to be imitators of Christ who loved unconditionally , never counting the cost.
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