day 4 home alone

it's been 4 days now since i was left alone at home with chelsea, the first time mom. i'm having an amusing time with her.  i'm really not feeling in any way left out. she and her pups are family too. of course, the father, whoopie, is also family. but chelsea and whoopie are not seeing eye to eye. i tried hard to be a bridge between them but i'm not making any progress.  could it be love lost? could it be because whoopie never tried to be with her when she was delivering the puppies? i was informed she delivered 6 puppies actually but 2 were stillborn, and 1 died a few hours later and which head she chewed. the way i observe whoopie now, how he approaches chelsea, i think he really wants to make amends. it's just that chelsea continually snarls at him.

hmmmm, if only i can understand dogspeak --

grrrr! bow wow bow wow wow wow?  grrrrlllll ..... nope, that's not dogspeak. i saw both whoopie and chelsea looking at me with incredulous eyes -- what on earth is this madman saying?

i was very worried about chelsea the first 2 days. i religiously brought food and water to her but she hardly touched them. well, she is nursing some little ones and she needs to be nourished as well. she just takes a few licks of water and that's it. i tried to experiment with her food. gave her the dog food my brother bought for them. just the plain serving. she didn't eat it. i spotted some milk in the fridge which my daughter bought and served it to chelsea. she  never bothered to look at it. i thought hard. well, she is a lady, a mother now. maybe she wants her food served in a food tray that's spic and span. i grabbed her food dish and water bowl and scrubbed them both till they are without any blemish. i served food again. chelsea just yawned, took a few licks of water and lied down  beside her puppies to nurse them. i gave the food to whoopie who danced around my  legs in utter delight.

the neighbor suggested that since chelsea is nursing, she needs good food to be able to continually produce good milk. she said i should try giving some soup or broth. after work, i dropped by the mall's fastfood center and bought a big serving of milkfish belly with lots of broth. at home, i cooked some rice. i mixed the rice with the broth and mashed the milkfish belly. then i placed a trial serving on chelsea's dish and offered it to her. she loved it. she ate heartily. i gave her another serving. i saved the rest for 2 more servings: before i leave for work at night and when i arrive home the next morning. i've solved the problem about getting her to eat. the next time, i'll cook some corned beef for her and whoopie and i'll make sure to do it with lots of broth.

day 3. morning. i knew i counted correctly when i transferred the puppies to the storeroom area i set aside for them. i cradled 3 fragile puppies in my arms. like the 3 blind mice. but now, as i was serving  chelsea' s food i noticed there were only 2 little ones sucking milk from her. when she rose up to eat, i immediately snuck behind her and approached the little ones. by now, chelsea had grown accustomed to me getting near them. it's just whoopie she snarls at. i frantically looked for the other puppy. i lifted the old towel i used to make a bedding for them. it's not under it. i ran to the house and grabbed my flashlight. i searched hard. could not find it. i sniffed  the air around for some foul smell of decomposing body. nothing. i looked at chelsea and asked aloud, "where is your other pup? " she just whined and nudged the 2 little ones aside and curled beside them. the little ones immediately snuggled to their mom to suck. i asked chelsea again, "where did you take your other pup?" she just whined again and licked the dirt from behind one of her puppies. i noticed both have a thin coat of fur now. the small one is white like chelsea, the big one is slightly brown like whoopie. if only i could understand dogspeak. could a rat have spirited away the third one? did i really transfer 3, i might have counted wrong? could chelsea have eaten this one? later, when i chatted with my wife, she suggested i go look for it again especially in the places chelsea used to frequent. i did not find it.

day 3. night. before i left for work, i delivered chelsea's food and water. i pointed my flashlight at her belly and counted. one, two. white, brown. one, two. brown white. i reminded chelsea, "never leave your pups." whoopie accompanied me up to the gate. i implored him, "be on guard, help chelsea protect the little ones."

 day 4. morning. my work shift had ended. when i reached home, i proceeded to the storeroom. chelsea wasn't there. only the brown pup is lying asleep on the towel bedding. chelsea's food dish is empty.the water bowl is empty. i whistled for chelsea. she came around, whoopie had also awakened , and both are dancing by my feet. both are hungry. "where's  the white one?" i asked them. they're begging me for food. i went inside with their food dish and prepared food for them. soon, both were busily eating. i just changed clothes and went back to the storeroom. one. only the brown pup remains. o Infinite! did i lose another one? chelsea had finished eating and went back inside the storeroom. she circled several times over the bedding i made for them. she sniffed at her brown pup. then, sniffed at the bedding. she's looking for her other pup too. i noticed several bits of plastic bags strewn over the place. it's evident some rat had nibbled at it. that's it! i won't permit the rat to get this last puppy. i decided  to transfer it to the garage. i prepared a place for chelsea and the pup to lie down to. i picked up the brown pup and gently transferred it. now this is a more open space and whoopie will be around to run after unwanted intruders.

i felt terrible while eating. i decided i'll go to the storeroom and search again. when i arrived there i found chelsea frantically pawing the cement floor as if trying to dig something out of the floor. my heart skipped a beat. could it be?  i took off my shirt and proceeded to bring out the stored items one by one from the storeroom. i pointed my flashlight to each nook and cranny. there were only a few items left in the storeroom and still nothing. all of a sudden, chelsea bacame agitated and started pawing against the sheet glass that rested against the wall. i pointed my flashlight at the very small space between the glass sheet and the wall and my heart leapt in joy! there it is, the white pup, alive, wedged between the foot of the glass sheet and the wall. it had somehow managed to crawl inside but got stuck. gently, i pulled it out. it was crying very, very softly. almost inaudibly. perhaps, chelsea was able to hear her. it is safe now. i placed it beside the brown one at the garage. chelsea  lied down beside it  and started cleaning it with her tongue. it snuggled close to her and begun to suck.

i cleaned up the storeroom and returned the items back. i was able to accomplish 2 things: clean the storeroom and rescued the pup. if there are rats there, they might have escaped to some place else. i went back to the house and brewed some coffee to relax.

i was enjoying my coffee seated by the window overlooking the garage when i saw her. chelsea. white pup in her mouth.  i followed her. she is transferring her pups back to the storeroom!

"no, chelsea, don't take them back there!" i shouted. she proceeded anyway. i went out of the house. went to the storeroom. braving chelsea's angry snarl, i picked up the pups and brought them back to the garage. chelsea followed us. as soon as i put them down, she immediately carried them back to the storeroom. i followed them. when she laid them down on the storeroom floor, again i braved chelsea's angry stare and brought them back to the garage. i think we did this ten times. chelsea won. my patience wore off and honestly i got tired racing from the garage to the storeroom and back.

"this is your decision," i told her, "don't say i didn't warn you. we might not be able to rescue the pups again. especially if there are really rats here." i pointed around the storeroom. but, it is generally cleaner now and more organized.

she just looked at me. i don't know dogspeak but i think her eyes are saying, "mother knows best!"

we'll see.

this is day 4, morning. tonight before i leave for work, i'll count them again.