She’d no more than hung up the gorgeous dress in the coat closet when Kurt called from the top of the stairway. “Hey, Kels, come on up. It looks like she’s starting to push.”
Kelsey jogged up the stairs and hurried down the hallway. He wasn’t kidding. Pepper was sprawled out in a corner of the whelping box, half panting, half moaning. “Oh, sweet little mama, you’re going to be just fine.” Pepper lifted her head and licked her lips at the sound of Kelsey’s voice. She was on her side, her top back leg lifted off the ground at an awkward angle. “Can you think of anything else we should have on hand? I’ve read lots of blogs, and most say the same thing.”
“I checked through your supplies. I think you thought of everything. How many times have you done this before?” Kurt asked.
“Only twice.” The number sounded very small to her ears. “One of the live births that I saw was a seven-year-old Chihuahua. It was touch and go with her. One of our volunteers is a retired vet. She had to assist in the delivery of all three puppies, or I don’t think the mom would’ve made it. The other birth was a Lab, and she was a pro like I’m hoping Pepper will be. How about you?”
“Zero. I helped deliver a baby to an Afghan woman though. ‘Woman’ is not the right word for it. She was fifteen tops. It was a nightmare.”
Tess, who’d just come into the room, shuddered. “Were she and the baby okay?”
“Thankfully.”
Not for the first time, Kelsey wondered how much Kurt was holding in from all those years of service. He’d lost dogs in his charge and friends who’d been working alongside him… She knew that much. Once in a while, he’d say something specific like this, but he’d never go into any real detail. He seemed to prefer to lock things away and keep too busy to dwell on them. She wasn’t sold on the idea that this approach was healthy long-term. It would be better if he could find release. But that, she suspected, would be something he’d have to decide to do on his own.
From her corner of the floor, Pepper let out a determined groan. The dog’s muscles tensed as she strained.
“She’s contracting,” Kelsey whispered. Sabrina Raven’s house was about to be filled with new life.
Kurt motioned toward the whelping box. “I don’t think she’d mind your company, Kels. Tess and I can hang back so as not to crowd her.”
Kelsey wasn’t about to argue. She stepped over the makeshift plywood playpen, its floor covered with old towels and blankets, and crouched next to Pepper. She stroked the dog’s head and whispered a string of encouraging words. Pepper’s nubbin of a tail wagged a few times before she had a few whole-body contractions. The metallic smell of blood mixed with pungent dog filled the air.
After a few minutes of crouching in place and petting Pepper, Kelsey started developing pangs in her knees. She was thinking about repositioning when Pepper curled around and started to lick underneath her tail.
“I see its face emerging,” Tess whispered. “Oh wow, it’s still in the sac. This is so cool.”
Pepper began to lick vigorously as the first puppy slid the rest of the way out. Tears stung Kelsey’s eyes.
Kurt stood at the edge of the whelping box, a towel and baby nasal aspirator in hand. “So far, so good. It’s better to let her stimulate her pups to breathe than for us to do it.”
With Pepper busy with her baby, Kelsey joined Kurt and Tess at the edge of the box. “I don’t think there’s anything cuter than Rottweiler puppies.”
Kurt met her gaze and winked. “It looks like an encased link of sausage to me.”
Tess laughed. “I hate to say it, but he’s right.”
After several minutes of vigorous licking, the puppy was cleaned of its sac, wiggling about, and whimpering.
“Well done, Pepper,” Kurt said. “Look. It’s already making its way over to nurse.”
Even though it couldn’t support its own weight, the short-legged puppy was clearly making a beeline wiggle toward Pepper’s nearest teat. And still sleek and wet as the little thing was, the brown markings on its face and feet stood apart from the black body, and its squished face was the cutest ever. Kelsey snapped a few pictures to post on the shelter’s Facebook page.
“I was wondering if the father was a Rott too. From the looks of it, he was,” Kurt said.
“They can’t see or hear, but they can sure smell and sense their mother’s warmth, can’t they?” The look on Tess’s face made it clear she was as amazed by all this as Kelsey was.
After one dramatic attempt to shove forward, the little puppy rolled sideways, exposing its smooth belly. Pepper gave it a gentle nudge upright. “It’s a boy,” Kelsey said. She locked her hands together in front of her mouth. “It’s all I can do not to scoop him up.”
“Let him nurse a bit, then you can get him in the basket while she goes to work on number two. I’ve got the heating pad warming up.”
Once the puppy was latched on, Kelsey shot a bit of video. The soft suckling sound of such a tiny, helpless creature was almost too precious.
Pepper rested as her first puppy nursed. Less than ten minutes later, she was panting again. When it was obvious she was close to delivering another puppy, the first puppy was moved out of her way and wrapped in a soft hand towel. Kelsey, who took the first turn holding him, stayed at the edge of the whelping box so Pepper would feel at ease that her puppy was being cared for. After a few minutes, she passed the tiny guy to Tess, who cooed over him as he cuddled deeper into the towel and started dozing
