Taco, a female Chihuahua who looked like a football in Chihuahua clothing, was very pregnant with a litter that had been sired by Bo. We did not know her exact due date, but we did know that it was very close. The Thursday night before the puppies were born, Taco was very unsettled and could not relax except in Bo’s pet carrier. Finally, I decided to put Taco’s own pet carrier inside the big crate that was to be the whelping crate. At first hesitant, Taco finally decided it was good enough, and promptly fell asleep. On August 23, 2002, at 2 o’clock in the morning, Mom woke up with a start and immediately her thoughts were about Taco. Finding everything peaceful & quiet, Mom rested for half an hour, and then decided to check on her again. This time however, as she entered the kitchen, she heard a loud licking-sucking sound. Concerned that Taco might be eating her puppies, she rushed over to her crate, only to find Taco lovingly licking her first little puppy, Boquet. Over the next two hours, a total of five, healthy, Chihuahua puppies were born. I joined my parents in witnessing this wonderful experience and the miracle of birth at 3 o’clock. Taco proudly displayed each pup to us after it was born, then turned around for her privacy when there was another contraction. I tried to go back to sleep, but of course my adrenalin was flowing too fast.

The puppies had arrived, all healthy & alive!

For the rest of the day, I watched in awe as Taco cared for the just-hours old puppies. Taco was an excellent mother and never complained about them feeding from her until they were 7-8 wks. old.

We called Taco the "World's Best Milkshake-maker"

The Pups take on their food:

Where did you get this stuff? It was sure worth the sixty-three day wait? I sure hope the next shipment is as good! This stuff is far better than those McDonald's milkshakes!

LOOK!

at the great enthusiasm for eating their newfound discovery:

Purina Puppy Chow, mush and goop style!

"Buckets of Success"

Once not long ago, five little Chihuahua puppies were constantly wetting the fresh newspapers that lined their rearing crate. Then one day, while on a vacation to Troy, New York, they were all let loose into a semi-enclosed yard. They loved romping through the forests of grass and weeds. Once they returned home, a new schedule of a "bucket-lift to the outside bathroom" was established. One day Taco notified me that a hawk was soaring overhead, while the pups were playing outside. These are the pictures of the "Bucket Family"

By the time the puppies were seven weeks old, they were getting to be loud and more active. They still attempted to nurse from Taco, but their sharp teeth and claws irritated Taco's belly. Our kitchen was filled with the sounds of puppies barking, playing, & attacking each other. All of the puppies had gotten into the routine of "getting busy" outside and all were eating dog food now. Taco got so tired of the puppies, that if we left the top of the crate open, she would climb out & finally be free!

Then on October 21, 2002, two of the puppies, Butterball & Biscuit, were taken for a interview with a family that had lost a Daushound and wanted a puppy to replace him. Butterball immediately went over to his prospective owner and quickly began to make himself at home. Meanwhile, Biscuit, as always, was very curious about his surroundings and didn't even know that he was to be on his best behavior. The family loved Butterball and decided to keep him. We later found out that his name was changed to Gilligan!

The next day, October 22nd, we met two sisters who were interested in a puppy. They fell in love with Bowzer and Biscuit! It was so cute, but sad to watch two sisters buy two brothers! The last puppy to go was Brindle. After all the puppies were sold, Taco became nervous when she couldn't find her puppies, but refused to let Boquet in the same crate with her. Because Taco had "told" Bo not to go near the puppies, Boquet couldn't go in his crate either. Poor Boquet, her littermates had all left her and her parents didn't want her!

Taco was a borrowed dog. Her owner was older and had said that she could have puppies, if we would take care of them. However, a few weeks before the pups went to their new homes, he fell and broke his hip. Therefore, we now had Taco in addition to Bo & Boquet. People were still calling for puppies, even though they were already sold. We thought that the best thing we could do would to give her to someone who was looking for a puppy. So, by the end of October we had found Taco a wonderful home! Here is our last walk together before Taco found her new home. Notice how small Boquet was back then!

Here are some journal entries before the pups were born.

Monday, Aug. 19, 2002:

After Dad left for work, we called the owner of Taco to ask him if he had a “birthing center”, thinking that he wanted Taco to have the puppies at his apartment. Once they were born, then we would pick them up. Well, he said, “ She looks like a football that is about ready to explode!” He also told us that he wanted the puppies born at our place. After talking it over with Dad and Joel, we decided to pick Taco up that night. We stopped over to a friend’s house to get a big metal crate that she had. After having a wonderful talk with Taco’s owner, he headed toward home. I remember that Taco was very warm to the touch and was huge. Once we got home, Bo & Taco started whining at each other, and it didn’t stop until they had fallen asleep.

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002:

Bo had big plans for Taco, but she kept on telling him off. It took almost all day until Bo finally got the message to stop. She acted quite normal, except for not eating her dog food. She didn’t eat it because she was used to eating the left-overs off of her owner’s plate. Another problem we had to keep on top of was that she wasn’t fully house-trained. She also refused to go inside of her crate. We took them to Countryside Care Center to visit people. While Bo walked, Taco had the pleasure of riding in a doll stroller.

Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002:

We visited the folks at Mountainside Residential Care Center after we went to Dr. Cole. Taco rode in Basset Birthing Center Bag. She was very good for being very pregnant and being due to have the puppies any day. When we got home, both dogs went right to sleep, whereas, on previous days Taco wanted to run around. Today, however, the only running around she did was from Bo’s pet taxi to her crate. The Lord gave me the idea to put her pet taxi in the huge whelping crate, so that she wouldn’t continually steal Bo’s pet taxi. She acted very strange tonight.

Thursday, Aug. 23, 2002:

The big day finally arrived! At 2:00 a.m., the Lord woke Mom up! She thought, "Oh, I better check on Taco!" But, the kitchen was all quiet. About 2:30 a.m., she went back out, and there was all this loud licking sound coming from Taco's crate. Lo and behold, she was having puppies. By 3:00 a.m., I had joined in on this marvelous wonder! At 4:00 a.m., all 5 puppies were safely delivered. Taco was an excellent mother, due to answered prayers! At first, she didn't want to leave the pups for one minute. She did eat a lot, unless she had room service. The puppies weighed 5.5 oz & were 5.5 inches long!

We had made an appointment with the vet for Friday. We wanted to make sure that Taco was going to have the pups OK. However, the pups were born before our Friday appointment. It's amazing how "all things work together for good."

Thanks for Sniffing my Website!