Time to lose

It appears that I spoke too soon. Gidget is not ready to feed herself yet. This morning, I put her breakfast down and she just stared at me. I told her that it was time that she fed herself and left it there. For 20 minutes. She just kept staring at me. One of the puppies, Gael, went over and ate some (he's the only one that has shown any interest in eating solid food) but Gidget just lay in the whelping box with the puppies and stared at me. I finally gave in and fed her. She ate everything and then licked the plate but she won't eat anything unless I pick it up and hold it in my hand:-). Maybe dinner.

I bathed her yesterday. It's the 1st time since the puppies came. I had wanted to before but was afraid of having her wet when the puppies were younger. She stays away from them for longer periods to time now so I thought it would work. I haven't ever used a dryer on her and didn't think trying to do something like that right now was a good idea. Don't want to stress her too much.

I knew she was pretty fat but really didn't realize how fat until I started washing her. Granted some of that is breasts filled with milk but still, I don't think her spine should be an indentation in her back. Also, her neck looks a tad thick. The good news is that it's time to cut back on what she is eating so that her milk production begins to decrease. And she really doesn't seem to be as hungry as she was. I bet she weighs 15 pounds, though. I think she may weigh more than she did before the puppies came.

Notice the black spot on her side. That's from the mastitis. Not sure if it is going to be permanent or not. She's shedding a lot and her coat is very thin. Maybe when her coat comes back in, it'll be less pronounced. Just her battle scars. She's sure earned them. She is such a strong girl.