Where Are We At With Glory’s Breeding~Part 6

A while ago I wrote Part 1 of Where Are We At With Glory’s Breeding. If you missed it you can read the full version here. The short version is: I talked about preparing your dog for breeding by doing genetic tests, other tests that can be done, picking a stud dog, the heat cycle of the bitch, breeding and implanting of the eggs. Part 2 I talked about pregnancy confirmation, a app on my phone that you can follow along and read what is happening, the food I was feeding her and milk development. If you want to read the full version here. Part 3 I talked about proper feeding and being able to xray to determine how many puppies might be delivered as well as talked about getting the whelping box out and Glory used to it. If you want to read the full version here. Part 4 I talked about Glory nesting, how to tell when she will deliver and the whelping box. You can read the full version here. I told you by the end of the post she may deliver and she did which brought me into Part 5 which I talked about the birth of Glory and Thunders puppies. You can read the full version here. We are now at 3.5 weeks after the birth of the puppies, I will be talking about postpartum and postnatal Care.

Before the delivery I made little puppy collars out of paracord. These little collars were going to be put on the puppies as they were delivered. I like to keep track of the pups as they are being delivered all the way until they go to their new homes. The only way that I have found that works is by putting collars on them. Some people have used nail polish on the fur but the mom may lick that off so I stick with the collars.

Some people don’t like using collars as something might happen and they may get hurt but I make real sure to check them several times a day and adjust them as needed as they grow. In the above picture I needed to put bigger collars on them as they were growing so fast.

After each pup is born you should weigh them and I weight them each day for the next two weeks following birth to make sure they are growing. It was a good thing I was weighing this litter as I had 3 puppies that were smaller than the rest, there was two days after birth that the yellow girl was loosing weight. Each puppy should be gaining and not loosing, if loosing something is going on. In this case the little yellow girl was so small she was getting nudged off the nipple and not getting any milk. She also was sucking on just skin. I would look at them while nursing and everyone was sucking away I would then pull yellow off and she was on skin and not a nipple hence the weight loss. When I found out she wasn’t getting enough milk I started trying to bottle feeding her to give her extra nourishment. I then any chance I got would put her on the back mammary gland which hold the most milk. She was back to gaining weight like the others in no time.

It is very important that the puppies get to nurse immediately after birth so they can receive the mothers colostrum which is the the mothers first milk. This milk contains high levels of antibodies that are absorbed into the puppies bloodstream which will protect it against infectious diseases. There is a time frame that the puppies need to ingest the mothers colostrum which study’s have shown to be with in the first four hours of birth which is the most beneficial up to 12 hours. After 12 hours they don’t get the benefits because their intestinal walls close up so they can’t absorb the antibodies. If you want to read about the study you can here.  When they don’t get the colostrum in the critical period of time the puppy’s can “fade away”.

The puppies are born with their eyes and ears shut. They will stay that way for 10-14 days. Even know these senses are closed they still can find their mothers nipples and find mom or the littermates to lay next to and stay warm. It is just amazing to watch them crawl like a seal the first week after birth and be able to crawl across the whelping box to get to mom. Two puppies opened their eyes at 10 days and then the rest were open at 14 days.

During this time they can’t go to the bathroom by themselves. They will need the stimulation from their mother in order for them to pee and poop. While the puppies are nursing or right after the mom will start to lick them to stimulate them to pee and poop. The mother will eat the pee and poop to keep the whelping box clean. If something happens to the mother or she refuses to take care of the puppies you will need to do this procedure by wetting a kleenex or napkin and rubbing it on the penis, vulva and then rectum to stimulate them. At about two weeks they will start pooping and peeing on their own.

From day one you should be handling the puppies, you should be touching their toes, ears, mouth and body. From day 3 to 16 days you should be doing the early neurological stimulation which I wrote about here.

The first two weeks mom will spend most of her time in the whelping box. She may be protective of it so care should be taken if people come over to the house. Actually because the puppies immunity isn’t the best people shouldn’t be visiting as they can bring in virus that may make the puppies sick. At two and a half to three weeks of age the puppies start to walk around and get their motor skills. They start to play with each other, toys and you. At this time you can start to potty train them on pee pads. Depending on the length of walls of your whelping box just after three weeks is when the jail breaks start to happen. Glory’s puppies started breaking out this past Tuesday. Soon they will be transitioned to their new location with a kennel and a exercise pen so they can have a sleeping area and a potty/play area as they will learn they don’t like to potty where they sleep so they need a big enough area to separate them out. At three weeks of age you want to start introducing noises so they can become familiar with sounds and not be afraid.

Sorry for such a long post, the words kept flowing and I didn’t quite know where to end. So I will end now and continue at a later date.

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

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