C 2006 Drs. Foster and Smith, Inc. Reprinted as a courtesy
and with permission from PetEducation.com(
Pregnant
Dog Care
Are you getting ready for the pitter-patter of little paws? As with
humans, one can minimize complications with proper care in pregnancy. Having
puppies may sound easy and it may seem like the dog does all the work,
but that is not always how it turns out.
So our first assumption is that the litter is wanted (if not necessarily
planned.) If the litter is not wanted, please consider that there is a
terrible canine over-population problem with some shelters in our own area
euthanizing over 100 dogs DAILY. If your litter is not wanted, please consider
spaying the pregnant female or having a medical abortion.
Now on to caring for the pregnant dog:
The female dog is pregnant for an average of 63 days.
Plan accordingly.
Diet
The expectant mother will gradually require increasing amounts of food
to nourish her developing litter. A food approved for growth (i.e., a
puppy food) will certainly be necessary during the nursing period and pregnancy
may be a good time to transition into this new diet.
About 3 weeks into the pregnancy, she may experience a little nausea
and appetite loss similar to morning sickness. This should resolve within
a week, so if an upset stomach or loss of appetite lasts longer than that
or is accompanied by listlessness, something more serious is going on and
the vet should be notified.
Calcium supplementation may be tempting but is not a good idea. As
long as the expectant mother is on a quality diet, supplementation is unnecessary.
Further, supplementation can suppress her natural calcium releasing hormones
so that when she really needs extra calcium during nursing, she will not
have the proper hormone balance to get it. This can create a very dangerous
situation that could easily be avoided by not supplementing with calcium.
At around 30 days of pregnancy, bring the female dog to the vet for
a wellness check up and to confirm the pregnancy with a simple blood test.
Exercise
Regular walking helps the expectant mother keep up her strength but
intensive training, showing, or even obedience school is probably too stressful.
Obesity is a dangerous problem for pregnant dogs and serious blood sugar
regulation problems can put the litter at risk. Still, pregnancy is not
the time for a weight loss program. Your veterinarian will help guide
you regarding the optimal nutrition plan for your individual dog.
During the final 3 weeks of pregnancy, the mother dog should be completely
isolated from other dogs at home (see below). This means no walks in public
during this stage of pregnancy.
Vaccination
A female dog should not be vaccinated during pregnancy; there are sera
in the vaccine that could be harmful to
the developing fetus. Ideally, the female should be vaccinated just
prior to breeding. She will be passing on her immunity to her pups in the
first milk she produces (special milk called colostrum) so we want her antibody
levels to be at their peak yet we want to avoid vaccination during pregnancy.
Parasite Control
If the expectant mother uses a heartworm preventive product normally,
she may continue to do so during pregnancy. All heartworm products available
are approved for use in pregnancy and lactation.
Flea control is important during pregnancy though is more important
after the puppies are born. It is important to use a safe product during
pregnancy. There are two specifically approved products for this use:
Capstar/Revolution
Roundworms and hookworms can both be transmitted from the pregnant
mother dog to her unborn puppies. This is a nuisance as one usually ends
up with both an infected mother and infected puppies, but fortunately
there is a deworming protocol to control this infection. If you have concerns
about internal parasites for the puppies, speak to your veterinarian about
worm control. Daily medication will be needed but it is possible for worm-free
puppies to be born.
Isolate the Mother to Prevent Herpes Infection
Canine Herpesvirus infection causes a minor cold in adult dogs but
can cause abortion in pregnancy as well as death in newborn puppies. The
best way to prevent infection is to isolate the mother dog completely
during the 3 weeks prior to delivery and the 3 weeks after delivery. This
means absolutely no contact with other dogs.
Just prior to isolation, it is a good idea for the expectant mother
to have a radiograph of her belly to count puppies.
Knowing how many puppies to expect will tell you when she is finished
delivering.
Labor and Complications of Delivery
There is always the possibility of a problem with delivery and
you will need to be able to recognize labor when it is occurring, what
is normal and what is a sign you need to see the veterinarian for assistance.
See birthing puppies for information on care during labor and nursing.
Date
Published: 6/8/2003 11:43:00 AM
Copyright 2003 - 2007 by the Veterinary Information Network,
Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright 1991 - 2007, Veterinary Information Network,
Inc.
This work was originally published by Veterinary Information
Network, Inc. (VIN) and is republished with VIN's permission.
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*******************
The
Cradle
D. Welle
Blue Knight Labradors
When I was new at breeding,
I read an article in the AKC Gazette that I believe was called "The Family
Cradle". It was written by a breeder following a sad outcome of her litter.
She spoke of sitting on the edge of her whelping box, wishing for what might
have been, rubbing her hands across the edge of the box, and feeling the multitude
of tooth marks and nail marks from litters past. She spoke of the delight
of feeling those marks from past litters, and that the rough, unfinished,
unsightly box was a family treasure -- the family cradle for her dogs.
I can no longer find that article, which I kept for many years, but I
don't need it anymore. I have a family cradle of my own, in fact, two of
them. They're rough, unfinished, full of tooth and toenail marks. Some would
find them ugly. To me, they are beautiful, and carry the memories, hopes,
and dreams that I have had for 20 some-odd years.
Of the two whelping boxes I have, one is my favorite, and if I only have
one litter, it is the box that is in use. I was given one of my whelping
boxs, by a friend of mine, Barbara Davis, owner of Champion Bold Aaron CD,
WC (*The* dog who inspired me to get into the breed -- the dog who was,
in my opinion, the best Labrador on four legs). When Barbara got out of
dogs, she gave me the box. It had been used by her for almost ten years
and one can only imagine how many of Aaron's own puppies were born in that
box. When she gave me the box, every yellow dog in my kennel, and most of
the blacks, had Aaron behind them. It was fitting that the grand, great-grand,
and great-great-grandpups of Aaron should continue to be born in that box
and each of them leave their mark (quite literally) on the walls of the
box.
Those little tooth marks, each of them, represent a life that was either
a show hopeful, or the life-long pet of a puppy buyer that spans 30 years
now. Those tooth marks are precious to me. The rough texture of the box
is comforting and beautiful.
The box is simple. Just a 6X4 space with a removable divider somewhere
around 1/3 of the way across. The smaller side for bitch resting, the larger
side being the puppy side. It has no "pig rail" because I am among a few
who believes that addition actually contributes to neonatal injury or death.
It isn't fancy, it's easy to clean, and it serves a purpose, and it's far
more practical than its simplicity would indicate.
As I rub the edges of the box today, I remember large healthy trouble-free
litters, and also the sadness that occurred in the box. But during the
sadness, the box served its purpose as a cradle for hope, dreams and prayers
given up for small lives that sometimes, were never meant to be.
Sometimes the box is a place of comfort for my girls when their labor
has gone very wrong, and they suffer the pain of c-section. I wonder if somewhere
in their memories, they remember the comfort of the box when they were newborns
and growing puppies. Is it possible that the box gives them a sense of home,
security and comfort? I will never know. But I do know that sometimes, a
bit of magical healing happenes in the box.
I remember Wish when she had an infection, and she permitted the lactating
female of a friend to nurse her puppies, while both of these bitches laid
in the box and tended their charges. I remember Abby, who came so close
to dying after a ruptured uterus, and raised her litter in that box. I remember
when I had had two litters, and one mother was exhausted after a c-section,
and the other mother jumped in the box to tend the babies until she gained
her strength. And I remember a single puppy who only felt the comfort of
the box for the short 24 hours of his life, and how his distraught mother
slept alone in the box following his death.
There have been so many litters born in that box, that I hardly recall
them all, but I have memories of wet, firm bodies, and first breaths. Of
the anticipation of each delivery. The Joy of looking at healthy litters
nursing quietly in front of contented mothers.
When you visit my home when a litter is present, please come rub the
rough spots on the whelping box. They are the marks of the past, and the
dreams of the future. Each one represents a life that started in this rough,
but precious and miraculous family cradle.
I anticipate that one day I too will pass a family cradle on to some
upcoming wide-eyed new Labrador enthusiast/breeder. It will go to someone
who will appreciate its imperfections, its rough texture, its mauled edges--Its
promise.
copyright
2004 - D. Welle
Permission
to reprint granted if author and http is provided
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A healthy puppy is firm, plump, and vigorous. Puppies should nurse
every 2 hours or so. If they nurse until their stomachs appear round and
they sleep quietly, they are eating enough. If they are crying and moving
a lot, they are not eating enough. They may be swallowing air, which makes
the stomach appear larger. As they become weaker, they will lay still and
not cry. A puppy may lose weight in the first 24 hours (less than 10% of
birth weight), but after that, the weight should increase steadily. Their
weight should double in the first 7-10 days. Before, during, and after nursing,
the bitch will lick the stomach and perineal area to stimulate urination
and defecation. She will continue to do this for 2-3 weeks.
water dish should now be available at least part of the day. At 3½
weeks of age, the puppies can start receiving puppy mush.
By the time the puppies are 6½-7 weeks of age, they should be
fully weaned from the dam's milk, eating dry food, and drinking water.
If the weaning is not rushed, she will naturally start decreasing milk production,
as the puppies increase their intake of solid food. As the puppies begin
eating the puppy mush at 4 weeks of age, start changing the bitch's diet
back to adult food to also help her decrease milk production. Start by replacing
1/4 of her puppy food with adult food. Keep increasing the adult food and
decreasing the puppy food until by the 7th week postpartum she is eating
only adult food. During the last week of weaning, the dam's food consumption
should be less than 50% above the maintenance levels and declining toward
maintenance levels. Hopefully she has been fed well during pregnancy and
lactation so she weighs the same at weaning as she did before pregnancy.
Dewclaws are removed and tails docked at 2-4 days of age. Make an appointment
with your veterinarian for these procedures to be done. Check your breed's
standard, as some breeds need to have dewclaws left intact in order to
show. Tail length changes, so again, the current breed standard should
be consulted. When the puppies are at the clinic and having these procedures
done, the bitch should be taken for a walk around the block until the puppies
are done. She should not be close enough to the clinic to hear the puppies
crying. Once they are put back with the bitch, the puppies normally nurse
and then sleep.
A health check done by a veterinarian at 6-7 weeks of age before the
puppies head for new homes should include checks for heart murmurs, hernias,
cryptorchidism, demodectic mange, other parasites, eye disorders, etc.
separate from the puppies to allow her time to rest. At about this
time, the puppies will start trying to leave the box to explore. They should
be well supervised and have safe toys available. The box at this point
should be big enough to be divided between eating, sleeping, playing, and
eliminating rooms. At this stage, a crate with the door removed and lined
with sheepskin or a dog bed can be given to the puppies for sleeping quarters
and to familiarize them with crates.
Early socialization of the puppies will help them become confident
and develop fewer behavior problems. The puppies should be exposed to
everything possible from metal food dishes dropping, to vacuums, garage
doors opening and closing, thunderstorms, sirens, garbage trucks going
past, cats, and other pets, etc. Do not try to keep the area quiet during
the day. The puppies need to get used to normal household noises. Children
should be allowed to play outside the whelping box (supervised so they do
not enter the box or drop toys in), as children behave differently than
adults. Everything the puppy is exposed to now, will help her become a
well-socialized, unafraid adult. The puppies should be handled several
times a day. They can be picked up, their teeth looked at, ears checked,
toes played with (nails will need a weekly trimming), and have anything
that may be done as an adult started slowly now. Play helps to develop
the puppy's mind, as he needs to find solutions to problems he encounters.
If the puppies are not in new homes by 10 weeks of age, they should be separated
from each other for a large part of the day and given one-on-one time with
humans. They can have play times during the day, but they should eat, sleep,
and be handled separately. Being in a kennel (group) situation beyond 10-12
weeks of age decreases trainability.
