Can I See Your Baby

When we first moved to California we had to do the obvious things such as the address changes and getting our California license, Dixie (our Long Haired Daschund) had to get hers also, so down to the vet we go to get all of her shots and to inquire about getting her spayed, we made the decision to go ahead with the procedure even though Dixie was asking why we were getting her fixed even though she wasn't broken, this confusion was just the beginning.

Dixie was a little over two years old and had never been bred, we actually were not planning on going into the puppy business and being in heat was something that always scared her to death, she would actually hide under the back of my desk and act so embarrassed if she made a mess anywhere, this continued until she came out of heat every time.

Dixie went through the surgery just fine and was up and running like nothing had happened next day, she had never used a "doggie bed" except for a place to store her toys. Cindy's Dad has a poodle "Buttons" who is very protective of this bed which didn't bother Dixie any at all before the surgery, well a couple days after we are sitting watching TV when Dixie goes to Buttons bed and is sniffing it over, she crawls in and scratches around a bit and lays down, we thought this strange for her but figured it was because she may be sore from the surgery, next day she does this again gets herself settled in then makes a beeline for the bedroom and comes back with her favorite toy "squeaky mouse" which she places in the bed and off to the bedroom she goes again returning with another squeaky toy, this goes on until there were six toys in the bed and she is laying on top of them, we thought this was kind of funny and had a good laugh.

Next morning she is still in the bed and the squeaky toys are laying in front of her, she wouldn't go outside to play and just wanted to stay in the bed, we decided then it was time to take her for a ride which is something she likes to do more than most anything, all you have to say is "you want to go bye bye" and she is almost getting your car keys for you, so the "b" word was spoken and off to town we go, she is sitting on my knee looking out the passenger window when I notice my knee is wet, OK I move her over to investigate and while I am looking I see a stream of milk running down the door and this is when we realized that Dixie was now a Mom, the vet said she was in heat when they spayed her to which I explained she had just come out of heat about a week before we brought her in so this couldn't be true, the conclusion to this was she was in a false pregnancy and the surgery told her little hormones that she had given birth, which brought on the nesting and the gathering of the six toys which she is now nursing, we were told after about a week she would give up and go back to normal.

Well about six weeks later she started weaning these pups, this whole thing was quite an experience and she was such a good Momma, she nursed and cleaned each one and when she received more attention than she wanted one by one she moved the babies underneath our bed, a small blanket was dragged under also and we like to have never gotten she or them out, when I did get them all out and back into the bed was only temporary because one by one back under our bed they went, Cindy's brother thought it was humourous and said he could get her out only to end up running all the way to the front door with a Long Haired Daschund on his heels, so we let her be. It was kind of cute to come in and see her laying in the living room with the toys in a semi circle around her head, she would just lay and watch for a bit then take them one by one back to either the bed or underneath ours, funny thing is you know that sweet smell you get from a litter of pups was evident in the doggie bed she was nursing her babies in.

She eventually weaned them and stopped gathering them all up daily to either nurse or watch them play, one by one the squeaky toys returned to the toy stash, she still brings squeaky mouse out to play, only to turn and take her back to the safety of the bedroom when Cindy's Dad says "Hey Dixie can I see your baby"