Whelping Advice For Beginners

[Plucky1 1,119]

Cheers Plucky .I don't agree with all you've wrote but thats your way ,your pups .Decent post though mate .

I already know the bits that will annoy you,strongest survive and all that but you know I never cull unless its something innate like cleft palette or deformed in any way, The way I see it is that if I'm going to the trouble of losing a bitch for a while due to pups I will do it the only way I ever have,looking after any stock comes easy to me be it chickens,lambs,goats or whatever and going the extra mile is better than losing a good bitch with a litter inside her, WM

[howdeeposxxt 1,448]

Ive had very strong pups been outgrown by their smaller siblings so i wont cull unless necessary.

[howdeeposxxt 1,448]

Its a bit barbaric and unwise and im not having ago at you fd honestly just disagreeing with you

[turkish 289]

have anyone giving a relaxer of some sort to bitch once she pups. have bitch and has puped two litters first litter 13 and one survived. second litter 8 none survived.bitch does great job getting them out and cleaning them does great job but then absolutely looses the plot and either does be too rought or just pushes some aside each day till none left. and is lovely pleasant bitch before pups butbwould eat f**k out of you when has them. any suggestions.

[shovel 160]

Good post plucky. Sounds like you take good care of your dogs. ?

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

have anyone giving a relaxer of some sort to bitch once she pups. have bitch and has puped two litters first litter 13 and one survived. second litter 8 none survived.bitch does great job getting them out and cleaning them does great job but then absolutely looses the plot and either does be too rought or just pushes some aside each day till none left. and is lovely pleasant bitch before pups butbwould eat f**k out of you when has them. any suggestions.

How many times are you mating her.I've found over the years there is a distinct correlation between times mated and pups born but others no doubt disagree .Try mating her once next time for a smaller litter .

[skycat 6,173]

have anyone giving a relaxer of some sort to bitch once she pups. have bitch and has puped two litters first litter 13 and one survived. second litter 8 none survived.bitch does great job getting them out and cleaning them does great job but then absolutely looses the plot and either does be too rought or just pushes some aside each day till none left. and is lovely pleasant bitch before pups butbwould eat f**k out of you when has them. any suggestions.

If you've tried twice and the bitch has either rejected the pups or damaged them badly, then I wouldn't breed from her again. Some bitches do lose the plot, possibly due to hormonal behaviour gone awry, but unless you can hand rear or foster pups on to a sensible bitch I'd not put myself or the bitch through that again.

[Plucky1 1,119]

 

have anyone giving a relaxer of some sort to bitch once she pups. have bitch and has puped two litters first litter 13 and one survived. second litter 8 none survived.bitch does great job getting them out and cleaning them does great job but then absolutely looses the plot and either does be too rought or just pushes some aside each day till none left. and is lovely pleasant bitch before pups butbwould eat f**k out of you when has them. any suggestions.

If you've tried twice and the bitch has either rejected the pups or damaged them badly, then I wouldn't breed from her again. Some bitches do lose the plot, possibly due to hormonal behaviour gone awry, but unless you can hand rear or foster pups on to a sensible bitch I'd not put myself or the bitch through that again.

 

Great advice Penny and age can sometimes play a part in a bitches behaviour, WM

[hjckcff 1,738]

great thread FD. ive bred a few litters but not for a long time now. so its interesting to see the differing opinions. and gives me time to reflect on what i did right or wrong . now who is going to write the next thread on the care from six weeks to six months. before i make any mistakes with my new ward.

[jeemes 4,484]

All good advice this...never an end to learning. As a matter of interest FD what do the vets around your way charge for scans?

[skycat 6,173]

Anyone breeding a litter for the first, or even second time, should arm themselves with a great little book called, aptly enough: The Book of the Bitch. Invaluable to those starting out breeding.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Bitch-J-M-Evans/dp/1860540236

 

 

 

[Corkman 944]

Good post by FD.

 

I agree with most points. I can see Plucky takes great care of his dogs, but I personally don't like too much interference when the bitch is pupping. Dogs have been doing it for thousands of years and "in general" I don't see the need to turn into a dog mid-wife with towels at hand? I prefer to keep an watchful eye on matters and leave nature take its course. But we are all different!

I don't panic when they are pupping and it will become obvious to most unless you are blind that a bitch is in trouble. Some bigger pups can take a little more time and rarely in my case have they needed a helping hand. Sometimes I find interference causes more stress on the bitch than is needed which doesn't help matters.

Regular but gentle exercise is good for the bitch right up to pupping to keep her somewhat fit and don't leave them get overly fat as that can cause problems for the bitch. I also lift the bitch in and out of the jeep to stop them jumping in case pups get twisted inside close to pupping. If you pay enough attention to your bitches you will see their body shape drop slightly as the pups are engaging a few days before. A really good indicator to me and something I particularly do is checking her for milk everyday from about a week beforehand. This gives me a few days notice to ensure things are all in place and that the bitch is moved to a quiet and private place to pup . When the bitches milk comes in (sometimes early) I know things are very close - only days to go. Its like an alarm clock to me. By doing this you can also ensure the bitch isn't getting engorged if her milk comes too early and cause soreness and possible infection for the bitch. I also check the bitches teats after pupping especially the back two smaller teats with smaller litter numbers because if they do not get milk drawn off they get engorged, infected and mastitis sets in. I manually draw off some of the pressure in the lumpy teats. The bitches milk can be whipped on the teats to create antiseptic protection. A very sore and unnecessary thing for the bitch if left unattended.

A heat lamp for me is a must - nowadays for the first 3 weeks. A small expense but helps them thrive.

No expert, but a few things that I have learned to help things go as best they can.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

All good advice this...never an end to learning. As a matter of interest FD what do the vets around your way charge for scans?

First scan was £48 but no charge for second scan though she said second was half price to start with .

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

 

have anyone giving a relaxer of some sort to bitch once she pups. have bitch and has puped two litters first litter 13 and one survived. second litter 8 none survived.bitch does great job getting them out and cleaning them does great job but then absolutely looses the plot and either does be too rought or just pushes some aside each day till none left. and is lovely pleasant bitch before pups butbwould eat f**k out of you when has them. any suggestions.

 

If you've tried twice and the bitch has either rejected the pups or damaged them badly, then I wouldn't breed from her again. Some bitches do lose the plot, possibly due to hormonal behaviour gone awry, but unless you can hand rear or foster pups on to a sensible bitch I'd not put myself or the bitch through that again.

Good advice Penny .Out of interest ,have you had much success fostering ,something I've never tried but then again I don't ever have 2 litters on the place .

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Corkman ,do you use a heat lamp in summer months mate .