May 10, 2017 - Five Important Points on Whelping
Since some of our members have just recently had litters, I thought it might be a good time to do a little chat on how to avoid panicking if something isn’t quite right and, to bring up some tips and things that I’ve recently found to be very helpful in my own breeding experience. So, to that end, I will present five points about whelping.
1 - Be prepared! It may seem obvious but, you need to have the basic whelping supplies on hand well before your girl start her contractions: bedding, a secure box or pen, heating pad, lamp with heating bulb, towels for rubbing puppies, garbage receptacle, bulb syringe for aspirating fluids, hemostats, scissors, dental floss, Betadine, KY jelly, Benebac or similar item, Nutrical or similar item, kitchen or postal scale, and a warm, quiet area prepared for your girl. You should also have your vet’s number handy and the number of a friend who might be available to help if needed. Lay in a supply of some of your girl’s favorite foods and calcium rich treats such as yogurt, cottage cheese (mine like ricotta), and ice cream to offer her after each puppy. This helps keep her energy level up.
2 - Calcium is your friend! Once contractions have started and your girl is seriously trying to push out puppies, you can give calcium in the form of Tumms (mine like the fruit or berry flavor) or any other similar antacid product. This seems to help keep things moving along smoothly. I also give it after each puppy is born and later on during lactation. Helps to keep your girls from looking run down and helps them settle down to their job as moms. During early days, do not leave pups unattended with the mother even if all seems well. Mothers can become stressed and disoriented (especially first timers or ones with difficult or prolonged labor and/or who have had sections (anesthesia can have odd side effects) and they can hurt or kill puppies. Once the first 2-3 days go by and all continues to go well, you can rely ore on the mother and leave the puppies alone with them for longer periods of time.
3 - Be sure to get fluids out of puppies! This may be the difference between a pup that survives and one that fails to thrive. Have a bulb syringe ready to get as much fluid out of puppies as possible as soon as you get them out. Rub vigorously to get the pups to squeal since this helps get them breathing on their own. If you still hear any gurgling or see any fluid, you can do the Accordion Method to get this fluid out. Hold the puppy in your hands with the head slightly lower than the body, stretch it out a bit and then, gently bring the two ends together in a folding motion (like playing the accordion). This action expresses the fluid from the lungs and the nasal cavity and helps it pours out the nose and mouth from the lowered position of the head. It’s safer that the old fashioned technique of shaking the puppies which can actually be harmful (like shaken baby syndrome).
4 - Poorly positioned puppies can be helped! If you have a puppy coming out breach or your girl just can’t seem to deliver a puppy, the puppy may be stuck in a poor position and, you may want to try the Wheelbarrow Technique. Hold your girl by her hind feet (head pointed to the ground) and walk her around for a bit in this position. this may seem odd but, it will help to shift and re-position a puppy which may have become stuck and will then allow for normal progression of labor.
5 - Supplementing puppies can make the difference! You can supplement puppies if the mother has little milk, if there are too many for everyone to get enough, or if you have a pup that isn’t doing as well as the others. You can use a variety of things to supplement (there are several commercial ready mixed products) but, I have personally tried the following two things and have had great success. You should have small baby nursers (4 OZ) with preemie nipples to use when feeding puppies. There are also some special nipples that can be purchased for really tiny and/or weak puppies to help them nurse. Baby bottles can be purchased at Target or Walmart and the other special nursers from Revival, Amazon, or other similar animal supply companies.
Since some of our members have just recently had litters, I thought it might be a good time to do a little chat on how to avoid panicking if something isn’t quite right and, to bring up some tips and things that I’ve recently found to be very helpful in my own breeding experience. So, to that end, I will present five points about whelping.
1 - Be prepared! It may seem obvious but, you need to have the basic whelping supplies on hand well before your girl start her contractions: bedding, a secure box or pen, heating pad, lamp with heating bulb, towels for rubbing puppies, garbage receptacle, bulb syringe for aspirating fluids, hemostats, scissors, dental floss, Betadine, KY jelly, Benebac or similar item, Nutrical or similar item, kitchen or postal scale, and a warm, quiet area prepared for your girl. You should also have your vet’s number handy and the number of a friend who might be available to help if needed. Lay in a supply of some of your girl’s favorite foods and calcium rich treats such as yogurt, cottage cheese (mine like ricotta), and ice cream to offer her after each puppy. This helps keep her energy level up.
2 - Calcium is your friend! Once contractions have started and your girl is seriously trying to push out puppies, you can give calcium in the form of Tumms (mine like the fruit or berry flavor) or any other similar antacid product. This seems to help keep things moving along smoothly. I also give it after each puppy is born and later on during lactation. Helps to keep your girls from looking run down and helps them settle down to their job as moms. During early days, do not leave pups unattended with the mother even if all seems well. Mothers can become stressed and disoriented (especially first timers or ones with difficult or prolonged labor and/or who have had sections (anesthesia can have odd side effects) and they can hurt or kill puppies. Once the first 2-3 days go by and all continues to go well, you can rely ore on the mother and leave the puppies alone with them for longer periods of time.
3 - Be sure to get fluids out of puppies! This may be the difference between a pup that survives and one that fails to thrive. Have a bulb syringe ready to get as much fluid out of puppies as possible as soon as you get them out. Rub vigorously to get the pups to squeal since this helps get them breathing on their own. If you still hear any gurgling or see any fluid, you can do the Accordion Method to get this fluid out. Hold the puppy in your hands with the head slightly lower than the body, stretch it out a bit and then, gently bring the two ends together in a folding motion (like playing the accordion). This action expresses the fluid from the lungs and the nasal cavity and helps it pours out the nose and mouth from the lowered position of the head. It’s safer that the old fashioned technique of shaking the puppies which can actually be harmful (like shaken baby syndrome).
4 - Poorly positioned puppies can be helped! If you have a puppy coming out breach or your girl just can’t seem to deliver a puppy, the puppy may be stuck in a poor position and, you may want to try the Wheelbarrow Technique. Hold your girl by her hind feet (head pointed to the ground) and walk her around for a bit in this position. this may seem odd but, it will help to shift and re-position a puppy which may have become stuck and will then allow for normal progression of labor.
5 - Supplementing puppies can make the difference! You can supplement puppies if the mother has little milk, if there are too many for everyone to get enough, or if you have a pup that isn’t doing as well as the others. You can use a variety of things to supplement (there are several commercial ready mixed products) but, I have personally tried the following two things and have had great success. You should have small baby nursers (4 OZ) with preemie nipples to use when feeding puppies. There are also some special nipples that can be purchased for really tiny and/or weak puppies to help them nurse. Baby bottles can be purchased at Target or Walmart and the other special nursers from Revival, Amazon, or other similar animal supply companies.
Liver Water recipe
LIVER WATER RECIPE Place a small piece (8oz) of liver in a sauce pan, add approx 1-1 1/2 cup water to cover liver. Gently boil the liver and water until the liver is no longer bloody. Remove from heat. Remove piece of liver from water, this may be fed in small pieces to bitch. Strain the liver water through either a coffee filter or fine mesh strainer. Liver water may be frozen in ice cube trays, then placed in zip lock freezer bag for future use. When frozen it should last 6-12months. Fresh liver water should keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator. Liver water can be given to a fading puppy either 0.5cc to 1.0cc every 30 min, or you can even substitute it for a whole tube feeding at 0.75cc per 1oz puppy weight. Liver water can also be given in small amounts to a stressed bitch/dog who need extra calories and nutrition as well.
LIVER WATER RECIPE Place a small piece (8oz) of liver in a sauce pan, add approx 1-1 1/2 cup water to cover liver. Gently boil the liver and water until the liver is no longer bloody. Remove from heat. Remove piece of liver from water, this may be fed in small pieces to bitch. Strain the liver water through either a coffee filter or fine mesh strainer. Liver water may be frozen in ice cube trays, then placed in zip lock freezer bag for future use. When frozen it should last 6-12months. Fresh liver water should keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator. Liver water can be given to a fading puppy either 0.5cc to 1.0cc every 30 min, or you can even substitute it for a whole tube feeding at 0.75cc per 1oz puppy weight. Liver water can also be given in small amounts to a stressed bitch/dog who need extra calories and nutrition as well.
Myra's All Purpose Home Made Puppy Formula:
This is my puppy formula recipe with an explanation of why we use each item:
10 oz can of evaporated goats milk (can substitute canned evaporated cows milk too. If you use fresh goats milk you will not have as many calories per cc but the product is still nutritious for puppies) Don't dilute the canned goats milk; you are after the calories.
1/3 cup of strained liver water (you can substitute beef broth too, but you want this is every recipe because of the amino acid, "taurine" that it contains because taurine prevents juvenile cataracts. Always use the beef broth.
2 raw egg yolks (don't worry about using raw yolks, it is fine for the canine of any age)
1 Tablespoon of canola oil (you can sub other kinds of oil if you need to)
1 cup of whole fat yogurt, fresh and fatty, unflavored
1 tsp of any color of Karo syrup, white or dark, or maple syrup (You're after the sugar)
1 dropper (about one ml) of any brand of baby vitamin, no iron.
Mix in a blender, strain, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, just keep the "ice cubes of formula" in a plastic bag in your freezer and take out the cubes as needed for bottle feeding or tubing. If you find that the formula is a little bit thick, just thin it with some Pedialyte fresh goats milk or even water. Feel free to share this recipe with anyone you want to share it with. The reason it is made the way it is, is because hand reared puppies need more calories per cc of formula to keep up with the weight gain that they would be having from nursing from mom several hours a day. It will stabilize the GI system to prevent diarrhea and constipation and it will keep the blood glucose levels in the blood at appropriate levels. Use it for any age puppy or elderly dog. It will stay in the freezer for six months or in the fridge or 5 days and it has been well vetted by vets and breeders.
This is my puppy formula recipe with an explanation of why we use each item:
10 oz can of evaporated goats milk (can substitute canned evaporated cows milk too. If you use fresh goats milk you will not have as many calories per cc but the product is still nutritious for puppies) Don't dilute the canned goats milk; you are after the calories.
1/3 cup of strained liver water (you can substitute beef broth too, but you want this is every recipe because of the amino acid, "taurine" that it contains because taurine prevents juvenile cataracts. Always use the beef broth.
2 raw egg yolks (don't worry about using raw yolks, it is fine for the canine of any age)
1 Tablespoon of canola oil (you can sub other kinds of oil if you need to)
1 cup of whole fat yogurt, fresh and fatty, unflavored
1 tsp of any color of Karo syrup, white or dark, or maple syrup (You're after the sugar)
1 dropper (about one ml) of any brand of baby vitamin, no iron.
Mix in a blender, strain, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, just keep the "ice cubes of formula" in a plastic bag in your freezer and take out the cubes as needed for bottle feeding or tubing. If you find that the formula is a little bit thick, just thin it with some Pedialyte fresh goats milk or even water. Feel free to share this recipe with anyone you want to share it with. The reason it is made the way it is, is because hand reared puppies need more calories per cc of formula to keep up with the weight gain that they would be having from nursing from mom several hours a day. It will stabilize the GI system to prevent diarrhea and constipation and it will keep the blood glucose levels in the blood at appropriate levels. Use it for any age puppy or elderly dog. It will stay in the freezer for six months or in the fridge or 5 days and it has been well vetted by vets and breeders.