Advice on raising a litter of puppies

[skittle]

I am fostering a momma Lab for the humane society and she is due to have puppies any time (she is HUGE). They think she is about 7 years old and she is super sweet. However, I am concerned because I have never raised a litter of puppies in the house. Growing up, we raised a few litters of puppies, but it was in an outdoor run in the summer time.

I know there are breeders on here and I am hoping I can get some advice/ suggestions. I have made her comfortable in a bedroom with a whelping box, but the room is carpeted, so I'm worried about when the puppies get older. I do have a sun room that I can make a pen for them when they get a little older and start walking around, I would have to put a heat light out there, or I have heard some people put them in the garage. I guess I just was wanting to hear what other people do when they raise litters in the house. Also, for potty training/taking them outside, when is a good time to start that?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me!

 

[anoki]

I am by no means an expert, but mine start off in a whelping box, and usually around 3 weeks, once their eyes are open and they are motoring around pretty well, then can get out of the whelping box...that's when I start setting up an x-pen for them. You might want to look into getting some end of roll linoleum(flooring) to put down where you are going to have them, especially if the room they will be spending most of the time in is carpeted. Carpets and puppies don't go well together once the pups are getting more mobile and 'going' more often.

It is important to keep them warm for the first week or so....

Do you have an x-pen?? It would probably help you greatly...at least for the first few weeks of them being mobile...until they learn how to get out of it

Don't forget that the Mom will have accidents in that carpeted room for several days after whelping...and she will still be discharging for that first week at least too.

Perhaps keep them in the bedroom (and whelping box) until they are starting to move around, then move them to the sunroom?? I don't know where you are located, so I don't know how cold the temps get in your area.

Some people litter train their pups, by making an box/area with shavings for them to do their business in.

With the litters I've had, they have all be raised in my basement (which is where my workshop was at the time as well). I kept a heater on for the first couple of weeks, and when the temperature got too cool down there (usually at night). I kept a thermometer in the area they were in, so I could monitor the temperature. They were in a whelping box until they started climbing out of it..usually going into their 3rd week. At that time, I would flip the front of the whelping box 'open' and put an xpen around the whelping box, then remove the whelping box within the next week. I put down an area that they can get off the cement (foam mats covered by a vinyl table cloth) with a blanket/mat/bed on it, then cover the rest of the area with newspaper. The first litter I had, I used potty training pads on the floor, which worked.......but the next litter liked to drag them around the pen and SHRED them, so it didn't work for them. The big downside to the basement was the fact that it was very difficult to get them outside for potty training! They did start to learn not to go in their x-pen, but they would go while they were out of it. These litters were born in the winter as well...with lots of snow on the ground....I really didn't start taking them outside until they were 7 weeks old...mostly because of the cold temperatures and snow outside. The singleton litter that I had was born in Sept, and I had him outside at 6 weeks old, because the weather was decent enough to do that.

Everyone does it a little different, and what works for one person doesn't for the next....so really, do what you feel is comfortable in your situation.

But if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask...there are several of us on here that can offer suggestions!

~kathryn

 

[Katiean]

Since I have been an adult I have only raised small dogs. However, When I was a kid we had a collie and my dad made a whelping box that was about 4 foot squire. Enough room for Lassie (we were kids what do you expect?) to move around and not hurt the other puppies as they were born. We always used linens in the whelping box. It absorbs well and easy to clean and inexpensive (you can get everything you need at a thrift store). Lassie would have 10 to 14 puppies. Anyway, we kept them in the dinning part of our kitchen. If you want an ex pen for a reasonable price they have them on ebay. They have them with a door that is about a foot off of the ground and if you want to make a 4x4 whelping box and put the 4x4 ex pen around it then mom could get in and out and the puppies would have to stay behind (until they are bigger). When my small dog puppies are born, usually in the winter we do not let it get any colder in the house than 70 degrees for the first week. By the time they are about 10 days old and getting their eyes, I start turning down the heat to our normal night time low of 66 degrees. I wish you the best of luck. with your foster fur baby.

 

[skittle]

Thank you so much for the suggestions

 

[Stacy Score]

SKittle, with a large breed dog it is often helpful to have a whelping box with "pigrails" on the sides so that the puppy cannot be squished by it's mom. I know that it sounds weird, but sometimes the moms lay down on the puppies and they get smothered - even with pigrails it can happen, so my suggestion is to set her "maternity ward" up in an area that can be kept warm and where you can keep an eye on them and if you hear squealing from a "squished" puppy you can get it out from under mom.

I prefer to keep the bedding on the minimal side because of this, and would rather keep the room warm or use a heat lamp instead of losing a puppy to asphixiation.

You could look into a big kiddie pool to help keep the mess contained, and as the puppies get larger transition into the linoleum idea as previously suggested.

Puppies are a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Make sure that mom gets plenty of calcium after she whelps and for the first week or two (I like cottage cheese and yogurt) - this will help prevent eclampsia.

Mom will do (should do) most of the work the first 3 weeks but after that your help will be more important.

Keep a scale on hand and weigh the puppies at birth and each day - they should gain daily, if one isn't, then it will need supplementing (personally, if I have a couple of "piggie" puppies that are getting all the teats I ususally supplement THEM instead of the smaller ones, because if the piggies are full they won't demand as much from mom!) They should pretty much double in weight by end of week 1.

Eyes won't open for 10-14 days past birth and about then the ears will also open -- then the fun begins!

Feel free to give me a call if you get scared - I haven't had all that many litters myself and am eternally grateful that the breeders I bought my dogs from still are happy to coach me!

 

[Reble]

Just a few suggestions, can take her temp morning and night

will drop to 98 when going to whelp within 12-24 hours.

Normal temp is 101

I have used the big plastic sand boxes for our large dog.

They can not keep their own temperature until 4 weeks, so want to make sure they are warm.

Heat lamp in the porch would be fine at a week old if weather is not too cold.

Best to keep them near by you to make sure they are all nursing for the first week.

Blankets can work for the first few days but after that, must be careful mom does not get them covered up and not be able to get out.

Tums with calcium one a day is also good for large litters.

Mom should be on puppy food by now.. to make sure she is getting enough protein.

Lot of good advice, keep us updated and good luck.

 

[skittle]

UPDATE: Well, she didn't eat her breakfast Monday morning, so I figured the time was near. The first puppy was born some time around 2pm and there were 4 black puppies when I went to bed at 10pm. When I woke up at 2:30am to check on her she had 4 more, another black one and 3 merle colored ones. She had 3 more but they didn't make it. One of the black ones didnt make it through the night last night, so there is a total of 7, 4 girls and 3 boys. The merle colored ones are all female. I couldn't figure out how to post a picture on here, but I did figure out how to post some in my gallery. Any ideas what breed they could be with the merle coloring? One of the merles has hind dewclaws as well.

 

[Carolyn R]

I saw the pics, you are such a good foster mom! Hard to tell in the photos, but mom looks to be smaller for a lab, possibly mixed with something else? I know austrailian cattle dogs and australian shepards can carry merle. The Australian cattle dogs tend to have a bit of a German Shepard build, but are squat looking, like there legs are short for their bodies. Australian shepards on the other hand are built like border collies and come in standard, mini and toy sizes. There are plenty of other breeds that have merles.....dachshounds, Cockers, chihuahuas, pits, great Danes, corgis, poms....and more.

Good luck with them, enjoy them!

 

[bonloubri]

How do I get to your gallery to see the pictures?

 

[chandab]

How do I get to your gallery to see the pictures?

Click on her ID like you were going to PM her, then when on her profile, click on the gallery link.

 

[Flying minis]

Oh, they are adorable!

 

[mad for mini's]

I've delivered and raised two litters of Llewellin Setters in the house. The things I found that made this a snap were a big plastic kiddy pool, human bed pads and the fold up excercise pens. I kept mine in the kitchen on linoleum. Easy clean up. Good luck ! It's alot of work but so worth it.