'Twas the night before whelping

'Twas the night before whelping, if we figured it right

Sixty three days, this must be the night,

The box and the tools were laid out with care

In hopes that a litter would soon be there

 

Our girl was nestled all snug in her bed

Every inch of paper torn to a shred

And Mum with her coffee and I with my beer

Were taking bets as to when they'd be here

 

When from the next room there arose such a great clamour

"Do you think this is it?", I asked with a stammer

"It must be" said wife, as she scanned through the book

"We'd better get in there and take a look"

 

As we raced through the door, our girl gave us a smile

This was pain number one; it would still be a while

It was our first time and I think she knew

Cause this happened eight times before we were through

 

By 3.00am we'd about given up, when low and behold

There came the first pup

With white gown and tools, I felt pretty racy

My wife told me latter, I looked like Ben Casey

 

With eagerness and confidence we were poised to help

Then stood there amazed as she delivered the whelp

We studied for months, and read many a book ...

Two seconds flat, that's all she took

 

The first was a bitch, a Champion for sure

I could tell at first glance, why she had furnishing and all

And eat, my lord, you should have seen her scoot

I think she had a radar built into that snoot

 

As we stood there admiring this pup so new

Our girl very quietly had pup number two

A dog, just as cute as can be

"Two Champions!" we shouted and jumped with glee

 

From this point on, it was like Christmas toys

More little girls and more handsome boys

For six long hours with hardly a pause

Our girl came through like Santa Clause

 

When finally it stopped and there were no more

Mum and I settled down to count the score

Believe it or not, our little mate

Had given birth to a healthy, hungry eight!

 

We paused at the door for a final look

It's a picture; believe me, right out of a book

With a tear, Mum said, "It's quite a sight"

I sniffled and said" It's been quite a night"

 

Our girl and her charges settled down for a rest

It was hard to leave that bustling nest

Finally turning to leave, you could hear us both say

"We've had our good blessing, this whelping day"

 

(Author unknown)