We’re back with great news!  Cora delivered all 3 of her puppies last night, naturally!
(Anyone who donated towards her C-section, THANK YOU!!  The money will benefit Cora’s rescue group and will help us with potty pads, puppy food, toys, shots, fecals, s/n that Cora and the pups will eventually need!)

She was a PRO at delivering (likely not her 1st litter) and has proven to be a PERFECT Mommy!

Cora with her babies...a few hours after delivery!

The whole thing went incredibly well.  ALL pups were delivered inside of 3 hours.  She and the pups were quiet as mice throughout the delivery…so quiet in fact that I missed the first puppy being born!  She was pushing and I knew it was coming but I had no idea it would be so fast…I was letting everyone in the rescue group know, on Facebook, that labor had started and when I looked over to check on Cora, there was a little black puppy lying next to her!  It was very exciting.

I did get the birth of the second pup on video…if you’d like to see a puppy being born, click on the photo below!

Miss Cupie says "Click my picture to watch me being born!"

Cora with her 1st two pups (girls)...waiting for the arrival of the 3rd!

Overnight was uneventful…although I was a nervous foster Mom!  I finally dozed off at about 4am after checking on everyone for the hundredth time–I was finally convinced everyone was warm enough and Cora would not accidentally smother anyone–and that just because a pup was squealing, it apparently didn’t mean it was dying after all, lol!

This morning my good friend and fellow ICARE volunteer drove to pick up me and the new family so we could see Dr. Rossi for a post whelp & puppy exam.  Everyone checked out in good health and we were given a schedule for follow-up care.

Go to the next page to meet each individual pup!

Cora has been doing SO well this past week!  I can’t believe how much she is eating now.  This week something kicked in and she will now eat every last bit of whatever is put in front of her!
She’s been getting 4 small meals a day.  Puppy dry and canned food for breakfast and dinner, and then a mixture of cottage cheese & scrambled eggs with Nutrical added for midday and bedtime snacks.  It will be interesting to see how much she’s gained at her next check up on 12/2    =)

She's been packing on the pounds this week!

Personality-wise, she is a very different dog than the scared little pup that was rescued just 2 weeks ago.  She isn’t sleeping quite as much.  She wags her tail a LOT now and even gets silly with her bestie, Toodles, from time to time.
Cora also has learned to brave the scary stairs and goes up and down them without any trouble…however, since we found out she was expecting, we carry her up and down now.
She is still a bit timid when she’s outside and most of the time walks right behind my legs.  Each day she gets a little bolder though.   Overall, I am very impressed with how quickly she’s learning to trust us and how to have a little fun!

ANNNNNND…Cora is giving kisses now!  Most of the time it’s kisses on my arm or hand, but I have gotten exactly 3 tiny little kisses on my nose too  ♥  She is just the sweetest little doggy!

Cora with her bestie, Toodles ♥

My Chi, Toodles and Cora have really bonded.  They are always side by side…and if Cora finds herself standing alone, you can see her looking around for her buddy.  I wonder what he will think when the puppies come?
There isn’t a whole lot to do just yet in preparation for the arrival of Cora’s puppies, aside from putting some weight on the expecting Mama and keeping her stress level as low as possible.  As you can see from her pictures, she is totally excelling at keeping her stress level down…this is her usual sleeping position.  It always makes me laugh.  It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the bed is raised up from the sofa about 6 inches.  She likes to lie on the back edge of the bed with her head hanging off the side.  To me, it looks terribly uncomfortable…but Cora seems to enjoy it immensely!

Her foster dad does have the assignment of constructing a cozy and safe whelping box and he’s been given a deadline of 12/15!  We’ve been told it’s not likely she’ll deliver naturally…but I’m still hopeful!  That’s one of the really amazing things about dog rescue, you get to see miracles happen all the time! ♥

And finally, Cora and I would like to ask our readers a BIG favor!
Cora’s rescue group, I.C.A.R.E. Dog Rescue, has a chance to win $5, 000 smackaroos to help lots more dogs like Cora–but we need everyone’s help!  Please go to The Animal Rescue Site, enter ‘Rancho Santa Margarita’ in the city search box to pull up ICARE…then click ‘VOTE’!  It doesn’t cost anything and it only takes a few seconds!  Best of all, you can vote EVERYDAY! ♥   Thank you in advance for helping this incredible rescue group! ♥

Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  We’ll be back soon with another Cora update…