Born: Tuesday, July12, 2011
Died: Sunday, July 17, 2011
We were really pulling for Chester Patrick, the runt of the litter. As soon as he was born, I went straight to the pet store to get dog formula and the tiniest working bottle I’ve ever seen, because I assumed that I would need to supplement food for this little guy, so much smaller than his brothers and sisters.
But he surprised us by being a fierce nurser. The way he would climb over his much larger siblings to get food was something to watch. They can’t even walk yet, for goodness sake! Scott and I said it looked like he was crowd surfing over a mosh pit. See, below, Chester P. getting ready to climb over his chubby sister.
That’s why we were so surprised to find him, dead, when we changed the bedding tonight for Iva and her pups.
I read that the first week is precarious for pups, and I was so diligent in the beginning: checking them so often I was probably annoying; making sure, as best I could, that everyone got as much nursing time as they seemed to need; making sure that there weren’t any pups tangled in the bedding or behind/under Chester Iva.
But, today’s day 6! I was finally beginning to relax. Now, I wish I had gone more “Mad Eye Moody” on them: CONSTANT VIGILANCE. *sigh*
As I told my friend Kerri: We’ve lost the largest (Chester V.) and the smallest (Chester P.). With Chester V., I’m convinced it was fading puppy syndrome. I just don’t know what happened to little Patrick, which makes me feel so responsible somehow. — like I should have noticed something I missed. So sorry, P.
Rest in peace, sweet boy. Here’s one more photo, of Scott holding Chester P. just yesterday.
Fostering Chester 
July 18, 2011 at 12:44 pm |
Oh, no…sooooo sad.