Assuming your bitch has been successfully
mated, the scan has shown that your bitch is carrying healthy normal sized puppies, and you have
been advised by whom ever scanned your bitch that the puppies are imminent and every thing appears
to be fine. Make sure you have every thing ready, bitches in whelp have no concept of time. To put it correctly it's the puppies
that decide when they are due to be born.
Hopefully by now you should have:
A whelping box, Cover the floor with a thick
layer of newspaper, don't
bother putting the polyester bedding in
until all the pups have been born.
Also introduce your bitch to the whelping
box a week before hand so she
can get used to it. (Some bitches will decide
that they don't want to have
their puppies in the whelping box so you
have been warned.)
Plenty of old clean towels. (I personally
find towels to be a bit thick and
rough for newly born pups. I scour the charity
shops for second hand
Candlewick bed covers. When I get them home
I boil them cut them up
into tea towel size, and hem them. I find
that they softer and easier to
use.)
A laundry basket with a towel and hot water
bottle, this is so you
have some where to put the puppies in while
the bitch is
having her next pup.
Sterile scissors
Antiseptic wipes. These are a god send as
they can be used for cleaning
your equipment, hands, whelping box and
the bitch when she has finished
whelping.
Plenty of newspapers
Rubbish bags
Watch or clock
Notebook and pen
Glucose mixed with some water and a drop
of milk, your bitch may require
an energy boost while she is in whelp, as
whelping can takes a lot of
energy out of your bitch.
A torch, as I said earlier you never know
when or where your
bitch decides to have her pups.
The phone number of your vet.
Words of warning for all of you that wear rings, take them off. For two reasons firstly they could
scratch either the bitch or the pups. Secondly you may lose them with the rubbish that gets thrown out. I personally don't
like going through rubbish especially after a whelping. Those of you with long nails get them cut; I need
not have to explain why.
If you have other dogs in the household
keep them away from the whelping bitch, as their presence could affect the way she responds to her new pups.
Keep all strangers away for exactly the
same reason.
Question: How will I tell when she is due?
It is advisable to take the bitch's temperature
about a week before
the puppies are due. Your bitch's temperature
will drop at least
24 hours before the puppies are born and
a pregnant bitch's
temperature is normally lower than the norm.
So taking the
temperature a week before hand will give
you a new figure as a guideline.
The normal temperature is 101.5 F, a bitch
in whelp's temperature is100 F and the temperature when the puppies are due is 99 F, and it can go down to as low as 97 F.
Most breeders will take the temperature 3 times a day, for a couple of days before the due date. So they can be prepared.
Because each bitch is different some
can show no indication at all that they are about to whelp, some will go through all the motions. I will list all the things
that could happen. They can appear to be very restless, - very clingy, - go off their food, -start digging furiously at there
bedding. This can last for up to 24 hours.
Question: She is squatting as if she is desperate to empty her self?
Basically she's about to have her first
puppy. Make a mental note to the length of time she has been straining. If at all possible try and get her into the whelping
box. The first thing you will notice a black fluid
filled bag protruding from her vulva. This
is the
water bag. Its main purpose is to lubricate
the
passage for the birth of the puppy. Sometimes
this can appear as a gush of water. Quite
soon
after this you should see the head of a
puppy,
it will be enclosed in a membrane, the bitch
will
strain again and this time the rest of the
pup
should slide out quickly, followed by the
placenta.
If the bitch doesn't break the bag,
you will
have to do it for her. Do this calmly
but quickly,
you must tear off the membrane, hold the
pup
upside down, wipe the face and nostrils
so that
the airways are clean, and drain any fluids
from
the lungs. Rub the puppy vigorously with
a towel.
You may have to cut off the placenta. Ease,
with
your fingers, the blood in the umbilical
cord down
towards the puppy. Cut the cord as far away
from the puppy as you can. If the puppy
is still
lifeless you need to hold the pup in your
hand so
you are supporting its head between your
first
two fingers, and the rest of the body in
the palm
of your hand. Swing the puppy in a downwards
motion fairly vigorously beside your body.
The
puppy should take its first gasp. Rub the
puppy
dry. Let the bitch lick the pup. The next
thing to
do is to get the pup suckling;
the pup may be
reluctant to do this at first. You may need
to get
the pups mouth open by placing your thumb
and
finger either side of the pups mouth and
gently pressing it open, while you do this place the mouth over the teat. While holding the pup in place try and suppress
the milk from the teat.
Allow up to 2 hours between pups
and normally the first few will come quite quickly. Make sure that you count all the puppies and placentas if you have a placenta
missing you will have to inform the vet.
Once all the puppies have been born phone
the vet. To explain what has happened, the vet may want to see the bitch and possibly administer an injection of Oxytocin,
to make sure that the uterus
contracts down properly and all the
contents have been expelled, this would
include any missing placentas. Now is the
time to tidy everything up the whelping
box etc. wipe the backend of the bitch
clean. Put the nice clean polyester bedding
in the box get your bitch back in, place
the
pups at the teats. Your bitch may want a
light meal of scrambled eggs with a pinch
of
glucose. Make sure that the pups are
nice and warm. Leave mum and pups in peace,
as she will need a good rest.
Keep your eye on them but don't make to
much fuss.
