The Puppies

Vitra unbelievably gave birth to nine puppies! Boy, it has been an amazing six weeks. It is our first time to have a pet give birth and we relish every single day from the time she conceived until now that we're weaning the pups away. Vitra displayed a side of her that we never knew: she became a totally different animal in the first couple of days after giving birth. Frequently we were baffled, at times a bit flustered. She herself looked frustrated a lot too. There were too many new things going on that we had to develop a totally new language to communicate with her. It was through this experience that I feel our relationship as my pet and her master has come full circle.

We chose that she gives birth in Manila so we would be on hand, a vet would be nearby, and a pick-up is always available. But now after six weeks, the pups are beginning to be restless and it is time we bring them to the farm. Space is a problem in the city and moreover, Vitra is also experiencing tremendous discomfort breastfeeding her large litter by now. A lot of times, I remind the staff that it is paramount we take care of Vitra too as she gets sidelined more often than not by the adorable pups.

And I can't blame them if they occasionally get distracted from our dear pet, myself included! Her nine-strong litter are all beginning to display distinctions from each other, not just physically but also in terms of traits, their habits and the different sounds they make.

Half of them display Vitra's physical marks: some have tan-colored "socks" while some have streaks of white fur on their chests. This one above looks like her at the time when we got her two years ago!


And they have the most gorgeous blue eyes! The

vet says this will still change; meantime we are enjoying this and photographing it for posterity. Actually we will have to start parting with some of them in the next weeks, and all the more we should relish every remaining moment we have with each of them.