Poff poff! 🐾

It's my 5th Hive Birthday today — and also Mother’s Day all around the world — so... Happy Hive Birthday to me! I guess... 🐶 And Happy Mothers' Day to everyone who fits the description!

And have I got some huge Mother’s Day news for you!

Muffin, as some of you may know, came to us when her previous guardian home went through a separation, and they had to give her up. She was only 8 months old at the time. Mommy and Daddy kindly agreed to take her in, and she became their placement dog instead.

The agreement was that she would have two litters for the breeder, after which she’d be fully adopted into our family.

After Muffin’s second litter was born and her obligations to the breeder were complete, both she and her daughter Tessa — who also became our family’s second placement dog — came home. That’s when Mommy started looking for a new boyfriend for Muffin — and found Sulo.

Sulo is a sweet and cute boy, and he and Muffin got along wonderfully from the very first time they met.

Sulo is a black Russkaya Bolonka who lives quite far from here, so Mommy and Daddy had to spend quite a bit of time driving Muffin there and back — twice!

^Sulo

So that happened back in March this year. Since then, the wait has been a bit hectic, because Daddy has had to take us all — mostly Tessa and Muffin — to the veterinarian’s office over and over again for check-ups.

Tessa hasn’t made things easier, either. She’s from Muffin’s previous litter, and she’s been a nuisance since day one. She’s constantly teasing me, peeing and pooping all over the apartment, and gnawing on Muffin’s hind legs. I don’t know how Muffin puts up with her. She’s absolutely the most lenient parent I’ve ever seen.

So yes — Tessa’s been bullying her own mother, and Muffin? She hasn’t had a care in the world. Even when Tessa eats all our food, it’s just, “That’s okay”.

But I guess... it was all worth it.

Because a few days ago — more precisely, last Thursday — Muffin delivered a set of five healthy baby puppies.

^{You can see a dewclaw in her hindleg near the paw.
You can read more about it after the puppy photos!}

There were altogether two girls — one brown like us, and the other black. They were followed by three black boy puppies. Since there were so many, Mommy has already given the puppies simple Finnish nicknames so it’s easier to tell them apart:

• Ruskea tyttö ("brown girl") – the only brown puppy, with four white diamond-like spots on her chest — she also has hind dewclaws.

• Musta tyttö ("black girl") – smaller than the others, with just a tiny white dot on her chest.

• Kannuspoika ("dewclaw boy") – the boy with white toes and hind dewclaws.

• Laikkupoika ("spot boy") – has a big, star-like white patch on his chest and some red markings.

• Musta poika ("black boy") – no flashy markings, just classic black fur and a small white dot on his chest.

And Daddy...? He’s been calling the black girl Pikkumusta.
Mommy wasn’t sure if that was appropriate. Daddy just grinned.

While we all have dewclaws on our front paws, rear dewclaws are pretty rare these days. I’ve got them — and guess what? Two of Muffin’s pups were born with them too! It must be something in the cosmic dog DNA.

Unfortunately, Daddy doesn't seem to appreciate my cosmic connection to the puppies. He doesn't let me or Tessa into the bedroom while they’re there. He even put up a fence in the doorway!

I don’t like that arrangement at all — my place is on the bed, right at Daddy’s feet. But now I can’t even get to it.
Daddy is so stupid.

That’s all for now — I’ll keep you posted once the pups start wobbling around and causing proper chaos.
Until then, I’ll just keep staring at the baby gate and sighing dramatically. Maybe Daddy will get the hint.

Happy Hive Birthday to me again — and Happy Mother’s Day to Muffin and every other dog mom out there! 💐🐾

Poff poff!

– Ninnu