Whelping Advice For Beginners

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

I'm not going to preach to anyone who's reared a few but recent events have shown me never to be complacent about it.

From the day your bitch is last mated its roughly 63 to 65 days to birthing .The vet will usually scan your bitch from day 40 as this is when the foetus is large enough to show a heart beat .No vets will say for definite how many you have in her but a rough idea is given there and then .This is also the time when vets recommend that you start worming your bitch with panacure .Doses vary and is best discussed with your vet .Keep the bitch active within limits as good muscle helps with labour .

2 weeks or a week before birth ,the vet will usually want to scan her again and its this scan that reveals a better picture for us laymen .Whole skeletons are seen as well as strong heart beats.

These scans to me are invaluable to let me know how many to expect come the day .The bitch will go off her food near birthing and this is the time to seperate her into her birthing quarters if not already there .She needs something to tear up ,news paper or clean rags and this is very necessary to settle her in for the occasion.Shaking ,licking her vagina and restlessness are all signs she is near .Contractions will follow a few minutes apart getting stronger for longer as the first pup arrives .If the bitch has contractions for more than 30 minutes its time to phone vet .When its born the bitch will clean the pup very vigorously which is normal and this stimulates the pups first breaths .She will then eat the cleansing ,also very necessary .Now is the time to leave her a while to bond with the pup .Vets will tell you how important it is to get the pup feeding the minute its dry but this is not so .The next pup should happen within 45 minutes definitely no longer than 90 which is cause for concern .When all are born the bitch will sleep and now is the time to observe all pups suckling and to steer any wanderers towards a teat .Leave the bitch alone now as she will sleep for a good while .

I recently thought I knew best on a first time bitch and went out to deal with a fallen sheep when I should of been at home .I was caught out and came back to a dead pup ,4 days early .Killed I believe by an over zealous bitch that mothered it a bit too much .Any longer the bitch would have eaten it and this ,although very natural can lead to the next dealt with in the same way whether its live or not .

Take any dead pups away .The next and only pup was born alive and healthy and is still in kennels now .I stayed with the bitch until she fell asleep and I was at ease the pup was safe .

The gist of all this is to expect and be ready when the bitch nears her time and to watch but not interfere unless you see something is amiss .Get a number for the out of hours vet as birthing is generally a night time event and can last into the early hours .There's no shame in ringing the number for advise but be aware they will do their best to have your bitch in ,costing the earth lol.

Please add to this if you've anything else to say .

[Rat face 1,655]

sound advise that mate, this should be pinned i think.

[onion jonny 526]

bitch should be in her birthing spot at least a week if not more rather than a day or two, some bitches go off food for a few days prior to birth of her pups her temp will drop as she very near her time from 101:5 to around 98:5, if its a long labour a little drink with some glucose wont go amiss.

[Accip74 7,112]

Good post foxdropper.

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

Good post foxdropper.

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

X2 :-)THUMBS(-:

[HGN 150]

 

Good post foxdropper.

 

 

[foxbolter 447]

Some bitches have a pup and could have the next 24 hours later as long as the bitch isn't in any stress for a long time leave her alone and leave nature run its course . a bitch is more likely to eat a pup because of being fussed too much . I've seen bitches have pups between 59 and 63 days which is normal but sometime earlier and sometimes over to 73 days that being 10 days over which i have seen everything was fine vet told me not to worry but anything later he would have injected her to bring her into labour. A bitch will tell you if something is wrong .vets should always be last resort but if you breed enough litters you will need them so be prepared and if you don't want to pay for a vet or haven't enough money you shouldn't have bred in the first place

[shovel 160]

Very good post Foxdropper. One of the better and more useful posts on here lately..Should defo be pinned. ?

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Should of said if bitch is in labour for up to 90 minutes is cause for concern .Sorry for misleading .

Foxbolter , the title is aimed at those who maybe are thinking about it not aimed at internet experts like yourself .Please don't ruin another thread .

[skycat 6,173]

Maybe it would be a good idea to qualify the term 'labour'. I would say, if the bitch is actually straining, having contractions, and there is no sign of a pup after 90 minutes, then that is a cause for concern. If a pup doesn't present correctly at the cervix, by which I mean if it is breech (coming arse first: not hind legs first, which is quite usual, but just the rear end with the hind legs facing forward under the pup's belly) then unless the pup is very tiny compared to the bitch, she won't be able to pass it.

[foxbolter 447]

Guy won't ruin this thread you might take it down again nothing was aimed at you foxdropper if you leave me alone I can leave you alone let's stop being childish.

[Chicken_man 1,651]

Great post ?

[Plucky1 1,119]

Great post FD,as some one who breeds a few litters a year and have for over 36yrs now I still leave nothing to chance,I am lucky enough to have plenty of space inside the kitchen or laundry room and when the time approaches they are brought inside from a week before, I keep a lot of clean towels and always whelp in plastic boxes or beds, I take mine out right up to the day of labour starting,nothing to heavy just a bit of bushing on the bunnies,if she goes off her food its quite imminent unless its a "run through" which some do a day or so before, I always start my counting of days from the first mating but have had a bitch go a week early,now whether he mated her before and I never seen it is a possibility, I check for movement of the pups every day by placing my hand on the bitches side and the day comes near they really can go round like a train, before labour starts I put a large disposable pad in to absorb the water or embreotic fluid, when labour starts I hand deliver every pup,all my bitches were hand delivered and they don't mind me being there to stroke and encourage them to push on,I hand dry every pup with a towel and then give it to her to lick,the bag is opened from over the pups face as soon as possible after the pup is fully out, sometimes a bitch will not eat every afterbirth, I trim the chord back to about an inch to avoid the bitch being over zealous trimming and chewing as some bitches can go a bit overboard,I always have a heatlamp ready in case of cold or shock, I keep a thermometer that has a probe on the end of a metre long wire,this is put in the bed on the floor,I will not let that temperature go below 19degrees C, a heatlamp will dry them in no time, the temperature must stay constant as much as is possible for the first week, I have 2 litters here at the moment born this last week and they are all doing very well,both bitches still come out with me morning and night and the pups huddle and learn to be a bit independent, I do not take them anywhere they could get injured or lost and they love to go out and they love to come home, my bitches are always wormed at 6weeks into their whelp and I hardly if ever have worms in my pups,my pups are wormed at 2 weekly intervals until they leave, I wean my pups from 3 weeks and like to have them fully independent by 5 weeks old, they normally go at 8 weeks unless arranged otherwise,it is unusual to lose a pup but it can catch anyone out and the main reason I do not let "nature" take its course, I have manipulated a few breach pups and have helped a few bitches get them big bull headed pups out that sometimes appear stuck, Good luck to anyone mad enough to breed but only do it if you are prepared to give the very best of food and care possible, WM

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Cheers Plucky .I don't agree with all you've wrote but thats your way ,your pups .Decent post though mate .I used to religiously whelp indoors but nowadays complacency has taken over ,in summer months anyway .Plenty of newspaper that is cleared out after parturition .The temperature is something I also worried about but now know its not as big an issue as I thought ,with a small litter anyway .The bitch I refer to in this thread was in a crate in the kitchen and after she fell asleep I went onto bed but she woke me at 4.00 am whining .I let her out for a wee and after that she promptly picked up the pup and took it to her kennel which I'd already lined with new vet bed .The pup is now 8 days old and fat as hell .She's not the first to do this and won't be the last .What I'm getting at is I'm a believer that bitch knows best and its unwise to play God at this stage .I too take the bitch out twice a day when pups are born which helps to regain an appetite as well as a routine .