We welcomed the first new member of our family at 9:41am on Monday morning—the four others followed over the next four hours; their deliveries set in cycle a period of short-lived relief, anxious Googling, poking and stroking of mother and probably a few too many phone calls to the vet. (In hindsight, a litter-count x-ray may have been a good choice?!) Now, five healthy labrador puppies inhabit the small entranceway in my parents’ home; parents whom I had to beg to get a dog when I was ten…