Grandparents Love For The Puppies

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

We at Sand Spring are so fortunate to live near (across the field) John’s parents. Ever since we moved here which was 12 years ago Sandra and Howard have been taking care of our dogs when we are away from home which is usually while we are gone working. The dogs think it is great as they don’t have to sit in a kennel for 12 hours a day and they get many potty breaks and treats from Gma.

When we have a litter of puppies Gma and Gpa (mostly Gma) come over and take care of the puppies, Gma does the work and Gpa plays with them. We wouldn’t be able to have these litters if it wasn’t for their help.

So a big thank you goes out to Sandra and Howard for all your help with this litter of puppies. These pictures were taken when they came down on last Friday to say goodbye to them before they headed to their new homes.

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We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

1 More Sleep

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

1 more sleep before the beaniebears start going to their new homes.

Today the puppies are with me at work getting their exams, vaccinations, fecal check, deworming and microchip. Friday 3 puppies will be going to their new homes. Forrest Stump, green boy and orange girl will be going first.

Forrest Stump

Green boy

Orange girl

Saturday 3 more will be going. Yellow boy, red girl and either pink or lime green girl will be going.

Yellow boy

Pink girl

Lime Green girl

White and blue girls will be staying with me. I’m not sure yet which one I am keeping. One of them will be going across the pond to a friend who already has a puppy from me. Jacky will be coming over the end of May once the required time frame has passed for taking a puppy back into the UK. The importation laws are strict for animals. They don’t have rabies in the UK and they don’t want to introduce it now so in order to get a puppy into the UK they can first be vaccinated for rabies at 12 weeks of age then they need to wait 21 days before entering the UK. This time frame falls on the puppy can travel May 25th 2016 so I will have 2 puppies until then. I’m letting Jacky pick which female she would like so until then I won’t know which one is mine.

White girl

Blue girl

I still have one female to sell.

The pictures below were taken by my friend Kathy when she came and played with the puppies last weekend.

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So many have asked how can I send them to their new homes, will I be sad? Of course I will be sad, this was a work of art in progress from the planning of the breeding to the breeding to the whelp to the raising of these 9 lovely pups. The first three weeks is easy, just watching the little ones in the whelping box. The next two weeks aren’t so bad learning them how to eat real food and get used to things. The next week isn’t too bad either as they are learning how to go outside and get used to outside items. The next week which is 7 weeks they start to venture more, pee and poop more have to do more cleaning as the more they eat the more they poop. Going into the 8th week is by far the most hectic. They are eating more so more and more pee and poop, they like to play with everything so their litter box fillings get flung all over the place, they are more feisty and want to play fight with each other so the expen is pushed all over from them pushing it. Their bedding is spread all over the place because they feel the need to play with it all, they start playing in their water and spilling it. When outside they are so confident they venture longer and longer away and with 9 of them it is hard to keep a eye on all of them. They have little teeth that shark you and pull on your pants while your walking and they want to be by you so they are all under foot. By this time I love them up and I look at them and tell them it is time for them to go to their new homes so their new people can love on them and give them all the attention that they need and deserve. Of course it melts my heart when all the little ones look up to me to guide them in their learning but I am just the beginning person to teach them the beginning and it is up to the new families to teach them the middle and end. Will I be sad, yes I will but when your a breeder you know you can’t keep them all if you did then there would be some really lonely people out there and I would get committed for being a hoarder.

Good luck my lovely’s may your new adventures be as bright as the brightness you have shown me these past 8 weeks.

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We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

Can You Litter Box Train Your Puppy(s)?

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Have you ever thought that a puppy could be litter box trained like a cat and why would you want to litter box train a puppy?

I know clients who paper train their little dogs or use pee pads with them but until a couple years ago I never thought of litter box training my puppies that I bred. Up until about three weeks of age mom keeps the puppies really clean. The puppies reline on mom to make them poop and pee for the first two – three weeks of age. At about 2.5 weeks of age they start moving around more and pooping on their own. Mom still cleans up after them as she keeps the whelping box clean.

At this time before I start introducing mush to start weaning them I place a litter box with a shallow pan in their whelping box for them to get used to and start using. I tried this for the first time last litter and I ended up taking it out and not using it because I felt they ate more of the litter then I thought they should be and I was worried it would upset their stomach. This litter I decided I was going to try it again and start earlier before they knew what real food was. What I used for litter was Yesterday’s New’s cat litter and compressed wood pellets used for horse bedding. I mix both bags together and put it in a shallow tray.

The puppies thought this was some kind of bed. They didn’t mind walking on the litter or sleeping on the litter. When I would come into the room and they would wake up I would place them in the litter because once they wake up they have to pee. After some time they would go in there and pee and I would get so excited. I would also find little poop’s in there.

Poop happens!

Of course when they were out of their whelping box poop happens! Even in the whelping box they would have pee and poop on the blankets and I would still need to change them twice a day but there would be pee and poop in the box too so to me any little bit that was done in the box was less I had to clean up.

At 4.5 weeks of age I moved the puppies to the basement to their new digs. You see the wooden box in the picture that used to be Glory’s whelping box. I put it in their pen thinking they liked their new whelping box that they would want to go in there and sleep but no they would go in there and pee and poop so I figured I would put the litter boxes in there so when they kicked out the litter it wouldn’t be so messy it would be contained in one spot.

Their potty area.

Pee pad area.

Just after I cleaned the box then one had to come in there and poop.

The litter box is easy to clean. I just use a kitty litter scoop to scoop out the poop and some of the pee. I change out the litter every couple of days to keep the smell down.

This is what it looks like in the morning.

The pee pad area in the morning.

Easy to scoop out.

There was only one pile of poop on the blankets where they play, everyone else pooped in the boxes. This is a huge improvement for me over using just pee pads as once the puppies get bigger they like to shred them and make a big mess and the pads aren’t really environmentally safe as they have a plastic backing that I don’t think breaks down to well.

And sometimes even know they are using their potty area poop just happens where ever you are playing. I’m not sure why they like peeing and pooping in the sled as it’s not balanced at all. They wobble around in it so I guess they are working on their balance.

So the answer to my first question if you can litter box train your puppy(s)…. Yes Yes you can! When you have 9 puppies peeing and pooping any little bit in the box helps!

I have been working on them going to the bathroom outside and they are doing really well with that too. Some will go to the patio doors and cry after playing inside for a while and when I open the door they go out and do their business. But then on the other hand they are small and have gerbil bladders so they do pee quite often when out and about playing so I always have a mop in my hands.

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We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

Puppy Firsts

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Puppies have all kinds of firsts because they were just born and they grow so quickly. They start out having their mom take care of them 24/7 for the first three weeks of their lives. After that they start to pee and poop on their own and then it is up to us humans to take over and start teaching them how to live. To do this we first start by feeling them gruel at about 3 to 3.5 weeks of age. If mom dog was out in the wild then she would catch her prey, eat it and regurgitate it back up for the young. Since Glory and her puppies don’t live in the wild except for the wild of my house she doesn’t need to feed them that way.

Ninja is my new best friend.

To make the gruel I need to crush up the kibbles that I am going to feed them since they are just getting their little teeth they need it ground up because they can’t chew it. I used to grind it up in my blender which took forever and didn’t do a good job. I got a Ninja from my friend so I decided I would give that a try. This thing is my new best friend and I want to know where it has been for all my other litters? I filled it up with dry kibble and a couple of pulses and it was ground to pulp. Just what I needed to feed the puppies.

Eating gruel for the first time.

I would take the ground up kibble and add warm goats milk to it, mix it to a slurry. Puppies are great you really don’t have to do anything to teach them to eat you just put them by the bowl and put their little face in the gruel and they start lapping it up. They do get very messy doing this as they aren’t really coordinated all that much right now. I feed them gruel three times a day and Glory feeds them as much as she wants until now which is week four and a half and Glory is so done with feeding them. They have sharp little teeth and some moms continue to feed them others like Glory want it over so I take care of all the feedings and if she wants to feed fine if not then I make her let them drink for about 30 seconds to release the huge milk pressure until she starts to dry up.

The next first is teaching the puppies to drink water. They need to learn to drink water since they aren’t getting to drink on mom whenever they want to. For this I just filled a bowl and put it in the middle of the room and they just came buy to investigate and started drinking. Some put their feet into it some ran past and pushed others into it but all in all they learned how to drink.

Look it’s water.

Disregard Forrest pooping in the background.

How about we swim in it, we are water dogs.

Splash splash.

The puppies did great with their water drinking so they were able to be relocated to the basement to their play land. More on that tomorrow. I’ll leave you with another first for today. Since the puppies got relocated to the basement they are able to go outside. Here is a video of them outside and me calling them to me.

Come back tomorrow to check out their play land.

I don’t know what is going on with my comments or really how to fix it. Only one person in the past two days has been able to comment. I’ll hopefully get that fix today sometime.

Barks And Bytes

We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

I’m also joining Oz The Terrier and Barking From The Bayou to #Fight4Flea.

Flea you are the best and your going to kick cancers butt! Hang in there! Love the Sand Spring Gang.

Meet Forrest Stump

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Hello All,

Today I want you to meet Forrest Stump,

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he was olive now brown male out of my Glory and Bear litter that was born on February 6, 2016. You may have seen in some pictures that I posted up on Facebook that one burr head has a bare tail which when you look closely it is shorter and has stitches in the end of the tail. Here is what I wrote to my puppy buyers a few days after the little guys surgery.

When your a breeder you deal with the ups and the downs of breeding. If you breed long enough you encounter all of these things. You try your best to do everything perfect but there is never perfection. I wanted to share with all the puppy buyers that olive boy needed surgery on Monday. I wanted to tell you before you saw pictures and wondered if you were seeing things. If you notice a shaved tail and a little stump your not seeing things. I don’t know what happened all I can suspect is trauma, the little tail was kinked, lost blood supply, became infected and needed to be removed so it didn’t cause any further damage. He was such a trooper and handled his day at work with me beautifully. I have to thank my boss who took such care of him with this delicate operation at just two weeks of age. I of course wouldn’t let anyone but me assist with the surgery. He is doing great! He’s on antibiotics and pain meds and momma glory is leaving the stitches in. This by no means will make him any lesser of a dog, he will just have a shorter tail so the items on your coffee table are safe. I’ve been calling him Forrest Stump and giving him all the kisses and hugs he can handle.

Saturday February 20 while cleaning the puppies I notices a little blood on the end of olive boys tail. It was really odd and had no idea why there would be a little blood there as I didn’t see any wounds, I did notice the little tail was kinked a little ways up the tail and the hair was shorter when I thought was real odd, Glory must have been licking it and broke off all the hairs. I watched it Sunday and nothing changed until Monday morning when I was cleaning them all before I went to work and that is when I saw the tail was swollen and when I squeezed it puss came out. Time for his first trip to the vet. I grabbed his blanket, formula and feeding tube and off we went.

The infected tail.

My boss took a look at his tail and cleaned it. While cleaning it we found out it was much worse than it looked as the skin on the tail sloughed off. We had to make a decision as to what to do. We could clean the tail, put him on antibiotics and let it heal so that the tail is saved. Or we could amputate and not risk the infection going higher up in the tail or to other locations in his body. We decided surgery was the best option.

Before surgery.

He was never bothered by his tail or what was going on at all.

Surgery.

Of course I was the Veterinary Technician assisting in this surgery and making sure he was doing well with the anesthesia.

Using the laser unit.

All our surgeries at Harmony Pet Care are done with a laser surgery unit. The laser cuts and cauterizes with using a beam of light. It cuts the nerve so there is less pain involved and less bleeding.

After surgery.

He handled the anesthesia so well, the surgery when really well and now he has a stumpy tail.

In recovery.

His recovery was uneventful. He of course got lots of handling with all the hugs and carrying around he got while at the clinic. He went home on pain relievers and antibiotics.

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We are now 10 days out from surgery and he is doing do well. He takes his antibiotics great, the surgery site looks wonderful, he is a trooper and doesn’t even know anything happened.

Meet Forrest Stump.

This surgery will not affect him in any way shape for form. He may have a couple inches off his tail but that will not hinder his everyday doing’s or his hunting ability. It gives him character and a story!

Thanks again to my boss Dr. Johansen who made the right decision on this surgery and for doing such a great job on this little guy. Your surgery skills are amazing. I’m so glad I have you for all my pets needs!

Barks And Bytes

We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

Gambler And Choptank Upcoming Litter April 2016

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Last week you may have seen if you follow my Sand Spring Facebook page that Gambler had a house guest. This house guest was his girlfriend for the week. “Choptank” HR Krauts Choptank Revisited came down from upper Michigan to hang with Gambler. Of course they did more than hang, they did what dogs do when they are together for breeding.

Isn’t she beautiful? Don’t you think they will make beautiful little Gamchops? Stay tuned for good news that there is a pregnancy and Gamchops on the way.

You can see the breeding announcement here.

You contact Rick at sauerkraut26@gmail.com

You can also visit them on Sauerkraut Facebook page.

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We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

Eastwood Sisters First UKC Show

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Over Valentine’s weekend the Eastwood Sisters attended their first UKC conformation show. Both girls did great.

We first started out by picking our spot for chairs and crate.

Tom and I had our tour bags ready with bait for the girls, snacks for us.

Preacher thinking being caged sucked.

Sister bitey face going on the whole time in the crate.

Stuffed kong toys to entertain the girls when not showing.

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The Eastwood Sisters pit crew Willow and Sophie.

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All phone inquiries were answered by the pit crew when we were in about to go in the ring.

Stacking for the judge so she can get a good look at Preachers conformation.

Tom Stacking Josey for the judge.

Tom doing a down and back so the judge can look at her movement.

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Josey ended up with one competition win and 85 points towards her UKC conformation title. She won her class which was puppy class in all four shows, she took best female and best of breed three shows.

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Preacher won her class which was owner breeder handler in two shows and won best female along with best of breed in one show. For the weekend she received one competition win and 35 points.

In UKC you need to gather over 100 points and have 3 competition wins with three different judges in order to receive your UKC conformation title. Below is a outline of how you get your points.

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A great weekend for the Eastwood Sisters!

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We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

Glory’s Scheduled Cesarean Section

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

We are six days into Glory’s scheduled cesarean section which took place at Veterinary Village on February 6, 2016. I chose to do a scheduled csec after talking in depth with Dr. Greer about Glory and what would be best for her and her puppies. Dr. Greer is my reproduction veterinarian for all my repro needs. I also consult my doctors where I work as a Veterinary Technician at Harmony Pet Clinic between us all we came up with a game plan. This breeding was a surgical AI using frozen semen that was also done at Veterinary Village, you can read that post here.

First we took into consideration that Glory didn’t have a “normal” whelp with her last litter. Glory gave birth to a dead puppy 5 hours after her last delivered live puppy. This puppy looked normal in all aspects except that it was dead. That constitutes not a “normal” whelp.

Second Glory’s due date landed on the weekend. If by some chance Glory had problems with her whelp and became distressed the reproduction clinic or an emergency clinic would be over a hour away that is not a good distance to have to travel with a bitch that is having problems delivering. The percentage of survival of puppies is higher with a scheduled csec than letting the bitch deliver naturally if the bitch becomes distressed and it turns into a emergency csec. This has been proven by Paula Moon et.al study that she did “Perioperative risk factors for puppies delivered by cesarean section in the United States and Canada.” JAAHA 2000, Vol 36, N. 4, p. 359-368.

Third thing we took into consideration was that x-ray showed that Glory was going to have a large litter. Even know the x-ray shown that she was going to have at least 8 puppies Glory was very large which made me think she had more puppies in there than on x-ray for they were 8 really large puppies.

This decision is one that isn’t taken lightly and should be well thought out and discussed with your reproduction veterinarian. You know your dog and you know what you and your dog can handle so you need to do right is right for your pregnant bitch.

Without further adieu let me take you through Glory’s c-section experience.

Date: February 6, 2016 time to be at Veterinary Village 12 pm, time to leave Stancerville 11 am. Friends Tom and Irene (who own Josey from Glory’s last litter) arrived promptly at 10:45 am, we loaded up the van and were off on an adventure that we will never forget.

Supplies we took with.

Supplies we took with: Comforter for Glory to lay on in the van, basket to bring the puppies home in, heating pad to keep the puppies warm, power inverter for the heating pad, blanket for puppies, towels for basket, notepad to keep notes, soda, cookies, camera, chocolate and chapstick for the vet staff.

Blood draw, catheter placement.

Once we arrived at the clinic we checked in with the receptionist, Glory weighed in at 95.5#, we were then taken to our examination room where the pre-op stuff would take place. First Glory had her blood drawn for her pre anesthetic blood work which will check her internal organs check a complete blood count and a coagulation panel. While the blood work was being run on the in house chemistry analyzers Kassie one of the Veterinary Technicians placed the IV catheter. This would be for IV medications and for IV fluids during the procedure. She then received steroids through her catheter site as well as flush to make sure the catheter was patient. An Adaptil collar was put on at this time. The collar which is a calming collar should be put on a couple days before any whelp. It has dog appeasing pheromones that help calm the mother.

ECG and shave.

While the steroids were incubating (needed at least 45 minutes) a ECG was taken of Glory’s heart to make sure it was beating correctly, they didn’t want any surprises in surgery if there was something that could of been detected before surgery. Her abdomen was then shaved so there could be a sterile surgical field lastly she was given a couple subcutaneous injections which were calcium, reglan and atropine. Calcium was given because it has been anecdotally reported to improve maternal skills and aids in uterine contractility. Reglan has been shown to improve lactation. Atropine will cross the placentas and aid in maintaining fetal heart rates. *taken from the book Dr. Greer wrote: Canine Reproduction and Neonatology. Published by Teton NewMedia.

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At 1:45 pm Glory was induced, intubated, hooked up to general anesthesia and IV fluids and prepped for surgery. When they are prepped a plastic drape is put down and only the incision area is scrubbed so the puppies are more apt to take to the nipples since nothing was put on them. Dr. Greer and Dr. Ahmann performed the c-section while Dr. Griffiths was monitoring the anesthesia as well as Glory and keeping track of the surgery as what puppy came out first and out of what horn of the uterus, what time the puppy came out and who it was given to in what color towel so the puppy could be kept track of from start to finish. Their were 4 support staff members handling the puppies as they came out. Heather and Cassidy are Veterinary Assistants, Cassie is a Technician and Dr. Greer/Griffiths daughter Katie was home for the weekend so she helped out also she is a nurse.

It’s show time, at 1:54 pm the first puppy was born, the last one was born at 1:59 pm.

The video shown what a well oiled team this is. Everyone had their duty and place.

Surgery report.

Another puppy coming out.

The puppies were popping out like popcorn so more hands were needed on deck to help stimulate the puppies and get them warmed up and breathing good. The first stop for the puppies was at the puppy resuscitation center.

The more hands the merrier.

I thought the rubber maid container with heating pads inside of it was most clever. That way if you needed to let go of the puppy there was no chance of it falling off the table. There were heating pads in the bottom with a towel over it to keep the puppies warm. Each puppy came out and was put into a specific colored towel so they could keep track of who was who. At this table was where the puppy’s throat got suctioned out with a DeeLee Mucus trap, caffeine was given to help stimulate them, dopram was given if needed help breathing where oxygen was given too if needed. They stayed here until they were stable then were transferred to another table where another team member did their work on them.

Weight, id, umbilicus table.

At the weight, id and umbilicus table where the Dr’s daughter Katie was tying off the umbilical cords from the placenta using a sterile hemostat and suture material. Once tied off then the placenta could be cut off and the umbilical cord dipped in iodine. The puppy was weighed and a small spot of nail polish was placed on the head before it headed to the incubator to stay warm.

The supervisor.

Another puppy coming out and resuscitated.

The surgical suite.

While Dr. Greer was overseeing what what going on in the treatment room with the puppies Dr. Ahmann was suturing up Glory. Glory was done at 3 pm.

Glory in recovery.

While Glory was in recovery the puppies were all doing well so I asked if the Dr. could remove their dewclaws right away so I didn’t need to make a trip back with them since I live a hour away. Each puppy had rear dewclaws that needed to be removed along with the fronts.

Removing dewclaws.

The technician holds the puppy pressing on the cephalic vein that goes down the leg at the elbow while stabilizing the leg for the doctor. A sterile surgical scissors is used to remove the dewclaw, kwik stop is applied and surgical glue is used to seal the incision. Once done the puppy was given to me to see if they wanted to nurse on Glory.

Trying to nurse.

The puppies and Glory wanted no part of nursing. It was too soon for them so instead of taking any chances that they might not get Glory’s colostrum which is a valuable part for puppies to develop adequate passive immunity and should be given within 12 hours of birth Dr. Greer decided to get them started on fresh frozen plasma.

Giving plasma via tube feeding.

Since I needed to give the plasma once we were home via a feeding tube I needed a refresher course on tube feeding. I learned it in technician school but I haven’t had to do it in a very long time. Dr. Greer was explaining to me what I should do. You take a feeding tube and stretch the end of it to the last rib and the nose. You put a mark on the tube where the end of the rib landed. You then tip the head of the puppy down and insert the tube into the left side of the puppies mouth and guide the tube down the esophagus, once you get to the mark you made on the tube you hold the head in your hand while holding the tube and using your other hand you pinch the puppy to get it to cry, if it cries then the tube is in the stomach and not the trachea and then it is ok to administer the fluid. If you can’t get the puppy to cry then reinsert the tube.

That is a video of me tubing the puppy and giving it the plasma. Fresh frozen plasma can be purchased through HemoPet. The donor dogs have their health screenings so they are disease free so you don’t have to worry about introducing diseases. The tube feeding went well. Glory was recovered enough to go home with her pups so it was time to pack them up.

Time to go home.

We took the puppies out of the incubator, placed them in their heated blanket and into the van we went.

Ice Cream for the ride home.

On our way home we stopped for ice cream and of course I was busy texting my friends telling them all was well with everyone.

So far I am very pleased with my decision to do a scheduled c-section. I have the best well organized repro clinic a breeder could have. Since I am a technician and know how a facility should be run it was so nice to see this clinic being run that way. Everyone was so professional and took such good care of Glory and the pups. They all had their jobs and they did them well. I can’t thank the staff at Veterinary Village enough for allowing Tom, Irene and I to partake in such an amazing delivery. So far all 9 puppies are doing very well and so is Glory.

THANK YOU!!!

Barks And Bytes

We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

Puppy X-ray And Contest

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Yesterday if you follow me on Facebook or on my Sand Spring FB page you may have seen the x-ray I had taken of Glory at Veterinary Village to get a puppy count so I know what to expect at delivery time.

Digital X-ray of Glory’s abdomen.

If you seen the X-ray you know how many puppies the doctor counted in her abdomen which was 8. These are going to be 8 big puppies as in July when I bred Glory to Thunder from 2browndawgs their were 11 puppies in there and she is now weighs more then she did with that litter. She is 94.4# now and she was 93# in July.

2-3 days left.

The countdown is still going on and we are getting very very close. Glory is due to whelp this Saturday or Sunday unless she springs a leak earlier and lets the little burr heads out.

Puppy Sex Contest.

It’s time for some fun. Since I already blew the surprise with how many puppies are in her I decided to do a puppy sex contest. Now mind you X-rays aren’t exact and even know the doctor counted 8 there could be one or two hidden in her bellie behind some organs and not visible so she may or may not have more puppies in there. If you would like to guess a count along with how many of each sex Glory will be having leave your guess in the comments. After she whelps I will notify the winner on Monday Feb 8, 2016 and they will get a little prezzie package from me if they respond to me within 24 hours otherwise I will move on to the next closest count. This contest is open to the whole wide world.

Good luck!

Barks And Bytes

We are joining Linda at 2browndawgs and Jodi at Heart Like A Dog for this great blog hop.

Dura-Whelp Because Glory Deserves It

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Sand Spring Chesapeakes

Glory is due to have her and Bear’s (Lzy Mtn Piper’s 3-D Brown Bear SH) puppies the weekend of February 6th. Now is the time to break out the whelping box, set it up and have Glory get used to it. You know from the last breeding I did in July Glory used Nellie’s old wood whelping box that I painted to try and make it seem “new” to her.

The wooden box.

I thought for this litter Glory deserved a new whelping box so I did my research and found that Dura-Whelp was the way to go by Breeder Base. I ordered one up, ordered a pad to go with it and waited for it to arrive which took 2 weeks (I did order it on a Saturday). Yesterday was the day to set it up as I had off of work.

What is Dura-Whelp?

*Dura-Whelp® is the Original PROFESSIONAL whelping box.
The worlds Cleanest & Easiest & Safest whelping boxes“since 1994”

Corrugated plastic is somewhat flexible yet extremely durable and easy to clean. Our patented floor-to-wall design eliminates parts with complicated slots, grooves and gaps for poop/urine to get trapped in & leak through. Our flat and open surface area allows for easy cleaning! Outdated wooden boxes are not only heavy but impossible to keep sanitary. Painting introduces diseases, skin lesions, etc. & the probability of puppies eating the paint. The entire Dura-Whelp® Box can be easily cleaned with Bleach, Quatricide, other detergent or disinfectant.*

*from Breeders Base website

The shipping box doubles as a storage box.

I hauled this big box up stairs to my bedroom all by myself so it was actually quite light. My helpers were there ready to help me out. Gambler thought he had the job of opening the box as he gets to open ALL boxes. He was taken back when I told him to kindly remove his teeth from the box. So he just stood and watched me.

Preacher helping me open the box.

You want to be careful opening the box so that you can use it again to store the box in when not in use. I pulled out all the components and got started assembling.

The side rails.

You want to be careful when using a scissors to cut the plastic away from the side rails. They put plastic over the velcro when they were securing the rails together. I almost cut right through the velcro not knowing what it really was.

The instructions.

The box came with instructions on assembling, cleaning and care of the pad that I bought with it.

The base.

After everything was unpacked and opened up I laid down the base in which Preacher had to check it out.

The side piece which is the box.

You center the one piece box on top of the base.

The velcro on the sides.

The velcro was attached to the base, you then had to peel off the sticky plastic along the whole side then press the small side up onto the side of the whelping box. The sticky velcro will then adhere to the tall side of the box and stay there for future use. This was the most time consuming part. It took me forever to peel that sticky tape off the velcro. You do this for all four sides.

The velcro on the side rails.

The pig rails have velcro on them to that needs the sticky tape removed. You then put the rail into the open slot on the box and push the velcro side of the rail up against the side of the box. This will help hold the side rail in place around the box. There are 2 side rails that get attached into the holes in the box then the other 2 side rails have lips on them that butt up against the first side rails and then you screw them in place.

Attaching the side rails with 4 screws.

I had to use a screw driver to screw the screw into place, it wasn’t that difficult.

Velcro to attach the pad to the base.

The box came with one disposable pad liner that goes under the pad. The pad that I bought separately came with 4 velcro pieces that attaches to the base and then the pad will attach to that velcro. The pad is made of a faux fleece with rubber on the bottom to keep it from sliding around. The pad can be put in the washer on gentle cycle and cool dry in the dryer or hung out to dry. It’s a good idea to purchase 2 pads so when one is in the washer you have one in the box.

Front view.

Ta Da it’s done. The front of the box has a removal door that you can keep in place to keep everyone in or you can pull it out when it’s time for weaning and let mom come out. There is another weaning box that can be attached to this box when the time is right so then they can move from one box to the next. There are corner pieces that you can purchase also to help save the corners, I didn’t get these or the extra weaning box.

The side view.

The box I bought was the XLG box which is 48 x 60 in. For right now I got a K & H heating pad for warmth which looks really small inside the box. It is a 12 x 23 in. I’m not sure if I’m going to use it or not. Breeder Base has a puppy incubation system called the Therma-Whelp which I may look into getting. I’m not digging the heating pad idea with the cord in the box even know it is lined with wire to prevent biting but the cord will have to be strung over the box and not sure how that will all work out. I used to use a heating lamp with Nellie and had no problems with it but I wanted to try and stay away from that with Glory as Glory tends to run hot and she hates heat so I wanted to do something where Glory could be cool and the puppies warm.

Gambler and his gender crisis.

Of course Gambler had to be the first one to hop in the box with the door up. I think he is having a gender crisis and wants to be a girl so he can have a special box.

Time for Glory to check it out.

Come on mom? Is this really for me? That means I’m about to have little burr heads again and have to spend time in the box with them again. She checked the box all out and made sure it was to her liking. Last night thou she didn’t sleep in it she slept on the floor right outside the box.

It’s great!

It took me 35 minutes to unpack and set this all up. Now that it is all put together and I know how to do it taking it down and putting it back up will be a snap.