She Had her puppies! : )

[Guest Anonymous]

Phoenix had her puppies this morning!! :D I've been up since midnight, sitting up with her, while she was delivering. all went well and now she's the mommy of eight adorable little bundles of fur! All are gorgeous, two females and six males. I'm so happy she had them now, becuase now I won't have to miss the wedding and I won't have to worry too much about Phoenix (even though I worry about her all the time). I forgot to put in my other post that my brother-in-law would be stopping by a few times a day to make sure she has food and water and to let her out. I still fell bad about leaving her alone, but I called her vet and he said that as long as someone was coming in to check on her and the puppies, she should be fine.
Also thanks for everyone's replies to my last post! It's good to be brutal :lol: better than trying to spare someone's feelings and something goes wrong.
I'll have newborn pics as soon as I can get them developed and get this stupid scanner to actually work.

[kendalyn]

Glad to hear the pups have arrived and are healthy :) what kind of dogs did you say these were?

[imported_Kat]

Glad to hear the pups are well but still there should be someone staying with the bitch. What if something happens in between the times when someone visits her? You can not take chances with young pups and I am also surprised that your vet is so lax in saying that they will be ok with just a look in now and again. Its a lot of work and bedding constantly needs changed, you must also make sure all pups are getting enough milk.

The first few weeks are critical with pups and is the period when something will go wrong if it is going to occur.

[Guest roo]

Willow napisał(a):

Phoenix had her puppies this morning!! :D I've been up since midnight, sitting up with her, while she was delivering. all went well and now she's the mommy of eight adorable little bundles of fur! All are gorgeous, two females and six males. I'm so happy she had them now, becuase now I won't have to miss the wedding and I won't have to worry too much about Phoenix (even though I worry about her all the time). I forgot to put in my other post that my brother-in-law would be stopping by a few times a day to make sure she has food and water and to let her out. I still fell bad about leaving her alone, but I called her vet and he said that as long as someone was coming in to check on her and the puppies, she should be fine.
Also thanks for everyone's replies to my last post! It's good to be brutal :lol: better than trying to spare someone's feelings and something goes wrong.
I'll have newborn pics as soon as I can get them developed and get this stupid scanner to actually work.

Someone stopping in a few times a day is not good enough.

Just a few what ifs. :o
What if the bitch decides she will not let the brother- in- law near her new babies?
What if she gets distressed and KILLS THEM ALL?
What if she lays on them by accident and kills some?
What if her milk dries up?
What if the unclean bedding causes illness?
What if the bitch becomes unwell ?
What if the weaker puppies (and there always is one or two) cant get to the milky bar because the others are stronger?

Who is going to be there for her when she needs comfort ,company, a cuddle, ? Who's going to be there to make sure the puppies are safe and sound, to help the weaker ones, to touch them so they know human contact, to check they are not dehydrated?

NO ONE WILL BE THERE............BECAUSE A WEDDING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THESE LITTLE LIVES OR THE LIFE OF MUM
:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

[StarFox]

I agree with everyone here. If you cannot be with thoes pups 24/7 then please please please get someone else to do it. A good freind, relative.

And please read Marebears post about her sisters dog who just had a pup!

[JudyHoffman]

Well, it looks as if I am going to disagree a little here.

In July, my Belgian had a litter of 8 puppies on a Sunday. I took off from work the following 2 days and watched mother and babies.

I did not have to stimulate the pups to defacate, Kira did that all just fine. My main job was to handle them. I watched them to make sure the smallest was getting her share of milk and the largest was not hogging the teats :) . Two days following delivery, Kira and her pups went to the vet. Kira has a slight infection and was put on antibiotics for 10 days. The pups were all healthy and thriving.

My main job those first two weeks was to make sure Kira has easy in-out access to her puppies, the other dogs had no access to the puppies and cleaning her everyday, cleaning the teats with warm water, cleaning around the discharge area.

She ate in the room where the puppies were, she had food available to her 24/7 and water. Bitches who have whelped a litter need A LOT of food, high nutrition food, high calorie food and lots of water. They need to be monitored at least once daily for heavy bleeding. You need to check in on the pups to make sure they are not under the mother and have not gotten stuck in the whelping box. Papers in the box need to be changed daily.

The temperature of the whelping box needs to be at a constant 85 degrees. If it is too hot, the puppies will die. If it is too cold the puppies will die. The mother can lay down and crush a baby and you will never know. I've know many breeders who have lost puppies this way. Also within the first 2 weeks there is something called Failing Puppy Syndrome. Many complete litters are lost to this syndrome. If you are not there you cannot monitor the health and well being of the entire litter and the mother.

Anyway, my point is, you need to be vigilant, you are taking a chance leaving them alone while you attend a wedding, but you must be prepared for what might happen if you are not there to monitor the pups and mom. All of them could possibly die ........ is this a risk you are willing to take?

Three days after my litters birth, I went to work full time. The pups were alone with Kira from 7am to 6pm everyday and they were fine. She had access to the puppies to feed them and clean up after them the entire time.

Once the pups are two weeks old, they will get out of the whelping box, their eyes will open and there is a whole new world to explore. If you can get the pups to two weeks you can probably start to sigh in relief, but then a whole new set of challenges begin.

At 3 weeks they start on food ...... 4 times a day. This will be your responsibility and then mom will stop caring for them. You become mom! She will start teaching them other lessons. You will clean up, change papers at least 7 times a day.

But first things first ....... you need to get them through the first two weeks of life.

I do not think that marebears problem is common. The mother was quite young to have a litter and her environment did not sound nurturing or caring to me. That was a horrid circumstance due to a neglectful and stupid owner ...... it will happen again and again and it is not as uncommon as one might think.

[Guest roo]

Why breed if you cant be there for them for at least 6 weeks??????

Judy H i too work full time, my work hours differ from my husbands, so if no puppies here then my dogs are only alone for 4 hours......
Yet when i have a litter i am there............full stop.

[JudyHoffman]

After the first 5 days it was unnecessary for me to be there all the time, as in 24/7.

Belgian sheepdogs are quite good mothers with quite a bit of common sense.

The pups were fine being left 10 hours a day after the first week. This is just with my breed and knowing my dog. I would not necessarily do this with any breed or any dog, but I was more than comfortable with these arrangements.

Each dog is different, each litter is different. I suppose if I ever breed another litter things might be different.

Here is a picture of one of my puppies in his new home. He is 17 weeks old in these pics.







I hope you like the pictures.

[mouseatthebusstop]

After the first 5 days it was unnecessary for me to be there all the time, as in 24/7.

Belgian sheepdogs are quite good mothers with quite a bit of common sense.

it may work some of the time but not all the time
you could have been lucky in the past

[JudyHoffman]

I did say that this would not work with all breeds or all dogs didn't I?

You are correct of course, but I would have no qualms doing the same thing again with this same bitch.

There are very few breeders that I know will stay with their litters 24/7 for the first 2 weeks.

They will have the bitch and litter in a secure room where the bitch has access to food, water and the puppies. Puppy whelping for "most" breeds do not require human intervention.

The whole experience is much nicer when you can sit and watch in amazement at the how well your bitch instinctively knows what to do.

[Guest roo]

:o Well i know quite a few BSD breeders over here in the uk, and i do not know ONE who would leave a litter alone from 5 days old for 11 hours a day.........................
Yes some mothers are good, some not some breeds harder to rear than others, what is the average loss you have after birth in your litters?
Just as a matter of interest.

[JudyHoffman]

So far I have lost none. All are thriving and healthy. Never even had any close calls. Never even had a close call with the dam.

Here in the US it is different with the breeders I consider my mentors. Most will stay home for one week and then the dam and pups are left alone for a time. I can't speak for everyone, but I suppose I am lucky.

[Guest roo]

Judy you are very very lucky :lol:
I will admit with the danes it was far easier, yet i still would not leave them alone for long.
Dont get me wrong i'm not in there taking over from mum
I am just there for her and the babies. :lol:

[JudyHoffman]

Perhaps I try not to stress over it and let nature take it's course. I did the same with my kids and my own pregnancies. I also know that breeding bully breeds, giant breeds and mini toy breeds is much more dangerous. But BSD's are easy whelpers and good mothers traditionally. Don't get me wrong, each litter is nerve wracking but it gets easier each time I do it.

I always had the attitude that my body was made and built to have children and that if I took care of it, it would take care of my children. I wasn't wrong.

I just made sure Kira was healthy, the sires were healthy, good food, lots of exercise and fun and training.

Kira actually got all of her qualifying runs and titles in Agility while she was pregnant and carrying her babies. I guess she must've felt good and more bonded to me ! :wink: I only let her relax and hang out the last 8 - 10 days of her pregnancy. The rest of the time, it was business as usual. :)