09-03-2007 - Day 1

She's finally here! Last night at 03:03 a.m., she was born by natural way, being the last one of 3 puppies. Her weight was 232gr (8,18 ounces) & she was the only one coming into the world "head over heels". Garbo gave birth to a really amazing little girl. I'm very proud of her for doing it all on her own & of Vivi for being this patient. That was really great, girls & I'm very, very happy!!!

That's her a few hours after her birth:

Perhaps, some tiny details would have been slightly different if we had made us a puppy like a cake & painted it ourselves, but the way Garbo & nature created it, it's simply perfect. We've already completely fallen in love with "our little girl".

In fact, she's still without a name. During the past time, I've had several possible names in mind & now, that she's undeniably born, it's time to make a decision.

09-10-2007 - Day 7

Our little Miss has grown quite a lot. At the age of exactly 7 days, she already weighs 554gr (19,54 ounces). And she's a really good baby: sleeping, drinking, sleeping, drinking & not causing any trouble. Regarding her name, I still couldn't make a decision, but I should do so quickly because her siblings both have names by now.

This picture was taken Friday, when she was 4 days old:

09-12-2007 - Day 9

Today, I visited her for the first time & since yesterday, I finally know how we want to call her: Alison! Maybe later, we'll add something that describes her character. But she has to get a little older for this since it should match her.

And right today, the young lady decided to open one eye a little bit - that's not too bad for a 9-days-old puppy, I guess! She hasn't really seen me for sure, but we have felt each other & Alison liked it & was doing fine in my hands as you can see:

09-19-2007 - Day 16

I've had to visit her again today, the sweet Ali-Baby. She's such a cute thing! And afterwards, it was quite hard for me to leave her again. It's really impressive how fast they grow, the 3 pups of Garbo! For 2 days now, they get beef tartar in addition to the milk & it seems to be delicious & good for them.

Alison today at the age of 16 days:

Isn't she overwhelmingly lovely???

09-20-2007 - Day 17

The puppies have almost lost their mother today: Eating an extremely toxic mushroom cost Garbo's life within a hair's breadth!!! 30 minutes later, she was more dead than alive, but Garbo is a fighter & after being on a drip for more than 5 hours, she's out of the woods for the moment.

At least for a couple of days, her puppies will have to be satisfied with a substitute milk out off a bottle. But they're not content at all & that's why they're a little bit whining for the first time in their life. Just a few days ago, I've read that puppies of that age normally haven't developed their sense of taste yet & that you could even feed them bitter tea, without any of them noticing that. But the little Vivid Gems seem to be an exception!

09-23-2007 - Day 20

Fortunately, Garbo has recovered very well, so the family is happily united again & even could dare a first excursion into the garden:

09-29-2007 - Day 26

Today, at the age of 26 days, she finally got it: Alison stands on her own feet & starts to walk! That's taken a load off our minds that really everthing's okay with the little girl. Her siblings are already happy on their feet for quite a while, while Little Miss - completely content with herself & her small world - still crawled around. But that's forgotten by now & I'm sure she'll quickly catch up to brother & sister again.