Meet the Bates Family

Tim and Angie Bates and family 

                               (no, this isn't our home....just the last family picture taken this Spring)   ;-)

The Whelping Room and Nursery

This is the entrance to the
 "Nursery" from our Family Room

This is our Whelping Room and "Nursery."   In our barn, which is attached to our house, we have a newly built family room with a separate mudroom.  This was the perfect private spot for the "Nursery" because it is nearby and yet can be private as need be.  Tim made a custom whelping box to fit the space.  The whelping box is roomy and has a pig rail to prevent any puppies from getting getting stuck or squished behind Daisy when she lays down.  It also has washable liners that we change regularly.  An electric heating pad is available in the box in case the puppies wander away from Daisy or if she needs to go outside for a bathroom break and breath of fresh air.  We also keep an electric heater in the room to monitor the temperature so that it is always an optimal 75-80 degrees for the puppies.

Whelping box with pig rail

plenty of room for all....before we know it,
they will fill up the space!

an electric heater to keep puppies to keep the room at 75-80 degrees

our family members take turns
spending A LOT of time in here :-)

The big barn door slides open into the
Whelping Room/Nursery - an outside entrance for visitors
(currently a not-quite-finished mudroom off our Family Room)

The Puppies Arrive!

Male Puppy #1 arrives
and gets right to nursing

Monday morning, June 25th Daisy Mae started to have contractions and woke us up at 2:30 AM by licking Tim's hand and whining a little.  Tim settled Daisy comfortably in her whelping box, woke Angie up and the first little puppy arrived at 4:50 AM!  He was a beauty at 13.8 oz., don't you think?  One right after another they came and by 11:59 AM she had given birth to 10 puppies!  Four females and six males.  The smallest puppy (female) was 10 oz. and the largest (male) was nearly 18 oz!  Puppies and Daisy went to the veterinarian's office that afternoon for their first check up and the doctor declared them all beautiful and healthy!

We're up to three puppies!  Two boys and one girl 

...and now we have EIGHT!

Do you want to see newborn puppies in action?  

Click on the arrow below to play a short video clip.

                                10 beautiful Golden puppies

10 contented pups and a very happy Daisy
 (and one of her many favorite toys, "Chipmunk")

a close up of three snuggled up on the heating pad
we keep a heating pad in the whelping box in case they
 wander too far from Mama and need a warm place to lay