Whelping Advice For Beginners

[Plucky1 1,119]

Corkman ,do you use a heat lamp in summer months mate .

that would depend what you call summer, I've had litters in june that have needed them because of wet cold conditions and it would also depend where you are keeping them, common sense really, get yourself a incubator thermometer,it has a digital read out and a remote sensor on the end of a wire that can be placed in the bed with the bitch, I keep mine around 19*C.

Corkman, I always used to let nature take its course until finding 3 "dead" pups on my kitchen floor at 6-30am one sat morning and another large bull headed pup half hanging out the bitch, I quickly put the 3 "dead" ones in my dressing gown and shook,rubbed them and blowing in their mouths,saved all 3 bringing them back, I then helped get the pup out the bitch which is always a worry,she then went on to have another 5 pups without any major concerns,once under the heatlamp the bitch and pups all thrived as it was a cold march morning,so as I retired 14 yrs ago I have the time to do it right, I spent all sun/mon night with a bitch having 7 pups, all doing well and the bitch just gets on with it, most my dogs live out but they are brought in close to their time, I feed the best of everything and never hardly see a worm,I obviously could not do this if I was working full time, WM

Edited July 21, 2016 by Plucky1

[TOPPER 1,809]

FD we use a lay at lulsgate by the airport for scans £20 ist at 5 weeks second at 7 weeks shes very good and her scanner is top notch better than most vets shes also very obliging she will fit around you , sharon at south west scanning 07793026446

[Cargol 302]

There is a women in devon that I used. £20 and she was very good. She will scan any time after 28 days if I remember rightly.

[foxdropper 17,092]

The money isn't any issue and being a stones throw away means a stress free visit which money can't buy .

[foxdropper 17,092]

 

Corkman ,do you use a heat lamp in summer months mate .

 

that would depend what you call summer, I've had litters in june that have needed them because of wet cold conditions and it would also depend where you are keeping them, common sense really, get yourself a incubator thermometer,it has a digital read out and a remote sensor on the end of a wire that can be placed in the bed with the bitch, I keep mine around 19*C.

Corkman, I always used to let nature take its course until finding 3 "dead" pups on my kitchen floor at 6-30am one sat morning and another large bull headed pup half hanging out the bitch, I quickly put the 3 "dead" ones in my dressing gown and shook,rubbed them and blowing in their mouths,saved all 3 bringing them back, I then helped get the pup out the bitch which is always a worry,she then went on to have another 5 pups without any major concerns,once under the heatlamp the bitch and pups all thrived as it was a cold march morning,so as I retired 14 yrs ago I have the time to do it right, I spent all sun/mon night with a bitch having 7 pups, all doing well and the bitch just gets on with it, most my dogs live out but they are brought in close to their time, I feed the best of everything and never hardly see a worm,I obviously could not do this if I was working full time, WM

Wet cold conditions shouldnt apply to kennels at any time of year tbh and just to remind you that food plays a small part in the picking up of worms if treated right before fed .Much more likely to get them during exercise on grass ley's and sheep areas .

[Kaizer Sozĕ 266]

I walk any pregnant bitch as per usual alongside her kennel mates up to the 5 week mark. The only difference being that I take a route to ensure she doesnt come in contact with any cow fencers. After the 5 week mark her only exercise is a run around the garden till she pups. From about the 5 wk mark she is fed extra but dont overdo this as pups will grow too big unnecessarily. I use a suitable draught free whelping box with enough room for the bitch to pup in comfort. I use fresh straw as bedding not too much. Fresh water up on a block and secured. A Heat lamp is used no matter what time of year, left on 24/7 for the first 3 weeks. Then for the 4 wk on at night and/or day depending on temp. A thermometer is used to monitor the temp. First 2 wks approx 27 deg C, 3rd wk approx 22-25 deg C & 4th wk approx 20 deg C. Make sure lamp is not directly over bitch and pups. That theres room for them to move away from it if necessary. Bitch usually pups day 63 but make sure shes in her whelping box a day or two either side. In general I leave her pup away naturally bar checkin in on her, any problems dealt with as they arrive...

[Corkman 944]

Corkman ,do you use a heat lamp in summer months mate .

 

Yes I do. But only since recent problems with fading puppy or canine herpes.

 

Plenty heat is recommended and it working for me, so to be honest I am kind of cautious to stop for the sake of a few quid. I have noticed pups thrive better under heat so no harm in it. 3 weeks of heat and then they are out of the danger zone.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Corkman

[foxdropper 17,092]

 

Corkman ,do you use a heat lamp in summer months mate .

 

Yes I do. But only since recent problems with fading puppy or canine herpes.

 

Plenty heat is recommended and it working for me, so to be honest I am kind of cautious to stop for the sake of a few quid. I have noticed pups thrive better under heat so no harm in it. 3 weeks of heat and then they are out of the danger zone.

Cheers mate .I may be a dinosaur where pups are concerned but I'm still a firm believer in nature before nurture and believe that if a pup isn't going to make it it will die regardless of heat or not .I will never mate a bitch out of summers months ,preferrably spring and would rather the bitch and their own tenacity keeps them warm .Honestly I've never had a pup die that made it past a few days .As someone who has never sold a dog in my life ,the numbers game means nothing and small litters are much more what I desire nowadays more than ever .The culling of pups is an emotive one I know but unless I can place a few with what are regarded as decent folk ,surplus pups are culled according to the needs of those in line .There are ,in my opinion far too many pups bred with no owners vetted and ready ,sold to first come first serve candidates whether suitable or not .Rant over

[turkish 287]

 

have anyone giving a relaxer of some sort to bitch once she pups. have bitch and has puped two litters first litter 13 and one survived. second litter 8 none survived.bitch does great job getting them out and cleaning them does great job but then absolutely looses the plot and either does be too rought or just pushes some aside each day till none left. and is lovely pleasant bitch before pups butbwould eat f**k out of you when has them. any suggestions.

How many times are you mating her.I've found over the years there is a distinct correlation between times mated and pups born but others no doubt disagree .Try mating her once next time for a smaller litter .

As regards to mating I only mated her once each time. Just looses plot. Going try her once more and try line up a foster bitch for in around same time

[mad4it 694]

great thread it should be pinned.

Edited July 22, 2016 by mad4it

[krawnden 1,036]

 

Corkman ,do you use a heat lamp in summer months mate .

that would depend what you call summer, I've had litters in june that have needed them because of wet cold conditions and it would also depend where you are keeping them, common sense really, get yourself a incubator thermometer,it has a digital read out and a remote sensor on the end of a wire that can be placed in the bed with the bitch, I keep mine around 19*C.

Corkman, I always used to let nature take its course until finding 3 "dead" pups on my kitchen floor at 6-30am one sat morning and another large bull headed pup half hanging out the bitch, I quickly put the 3 "dead" ones in my dressing gown and shook,rubbed them and blowing in their mouths,saved all 3 bringing them back, I then helped get the pup out the bitch which is always a worry,she then went on to have another 5 pups without any major concerns,once under the heatlamp the bitch and pups all thrived as it was a cold march morning,so as I retired 14 yrs ago I have the time to do it right, I spent all sun/mon night with a bitch having 7 pups, all doing well and the bitch just gets on with it, most my dogs live out but they are brought in close to their time, I feed the best of everything and never hardly see a worm,I obviously could not do this if I was working full time, WM

 

 

As someone who's never bred a litter I can't contribute anything on the pros/cons of heat or not, nature versus nurture etc, but am finding it all very interesting and useful as I plan to breed in the future. However what I can say with certainty is that you shouldn't automatically assume those digital incubation thermometers are accurate. I used to incubate quite a few eggs using homemade incubators and in the early days didn't have much success. I decided to try and verify if I had the temperature correct and ended up getting four different makes of digital thermometer. I put them all into the same incubator along with my trusty old maximum/minimum mercury greenhouse thermometer and monitored them for a few days. Every one of them gave a different reading, and the difference between the lowest and highest was 4 degrees C! When hatching eggs that's a massive difference and was a crucial factor in the lack of success I was having. I have no idea how critical - if at all - that sort of difference could be to newborn pups. What you're doing obviously works Plucky, so no need for you to do anything different, but for others planning to go down the same road just realise that just because you get a digital thermometer and set it at 19 degrees doesn't necessarily mean that it actually IS 19 degrees, nor that you've got the temperature the same as Plucky has it....

 

And as others have said, please can mods pin this thread...

[krawnden 1,036]

 

 

Corkman ,do you use a heat lamp in summer months mate .

Yes I do. But only since recent problems with fading puppy or canine herpes.

 

Plenty heat is recommended and it working for me, so to be honest I am kind of cautious to stop for the sake of a few quid. I have noticed pups thrive better under heat so no harm in it. 3 weeks of heat and then they are out of the danger zone.

Cheers mate .I may be a dinosaur where pups are concerned but I'm still a firm believer in nature before nurture and believe that if a pup isn't going to make it it will die regardless of heat or not .I will never mate a bitch out of summers months ,preferrably spring and would rather the bitch and their own tenacity keeps them warm .Honestly I've never had a pup die that made it past a few days .As someone who has never sold a dog in my life ,the numbers game means nothing and small litters are much more what I desire nowadays more than ever .The culling of pups is an emotive one I know but unless I can place a few with what are regarded as decent folk ,surplus pups are culled according to the needs of those in line .There are ,in my opinion far too many pups bred with no owners vetted and ready ,sold to first come first serve candidates whether suitable or not .Rant over

 

 

I agree about too many pups being churned out to unsuitable owners. I'm assuming when breeders talk about culling they mean at birth or shortly afterwards? If that's the case, assuming all pups look healthy, presumably it's just pot luck what stays and what goes? I never choose a pup based on colour and in the past have never chosen based on sex either. For me, assuming they're physically sound, by far and away the most important factor is temperament/character/mental attitude, none of which start to become sufficiently obvious to make a meaningful decision until they leave the nest. I'd be paranoid if culling at birth that I could be removing the best pup in the litter.

[womble 1 nut 491]

 

 

have anyone giving a relaxer of some sort to bitch once she pups. have bitch and has puped two litters first litter 13 and one survived. second litter 8 none survived.bitch does great job getting them out and cleaning them does great job but then absolutely looses the plot and either does be too rought or just pushes some aside each day till none left. and is lovely pleasant bitch before pups butbwould eat f**k out of you when has them. any suggestions.

 

If you've tried twice and the bitch has either rejected the pups or damaged them badly, then I wouldn't breed from her again. Some bitches do lose the plot, possibly due to hormonal behaviour gone awry, but unless you can hand rear or foster pups on to a sensible bitch I'd not put myself or the bitch through that again.

Good advice Penny .Out of interest ,have you had much success fostering ,something I've never tried but then again I don't ever have 2 litters on the place .

never had the need to foster personally but have seen it done on a couple of occasions with hounds and sheep dogs , both times the whelps were smothered in butter or margarine before being placed with the surrogate mother and both times the bitch accepted and reared the pups without any problems.

[foxdropper 17,092]

 

 

 

Corkman ,do you use a heat lamp in summer months mate .

 

Yes I do. But only since recent problems with fading puppy or canine herpes.

 

Plenty heat is recommended and it working for me, so to be honest I am kind of cautious to stop for the sake of a few quid. I have noticed pups thrive better under heat so no harm in it. 3 weeks of heat and then they are out of the danger zone.

Cheers mate .I may be a dinosaur where pups are concerned but I'm still a firm believer in nature before nurture and believe that if a pup isn't going to make it it will die regardless of heat or not .I will never mate a bitch out of summers months ,preferrably spring and would rather the bitch and their own tenacity keeps them warm .Honestly I've never had a pup die that made it past a few days .As someone who has never sold a dog in my life ,the numbers game means nothing and small litters are much more what I desire nowadays more than ever .The culling of pups is an emotive one I know but unless I can place a few with what are regarded as decent folk ,surplus pups are culled according to the needs of those in line .There are ,in my opinion far too many pups bred with no owners vetted and ready ,sold to first come first serve candidates whether suitable or not .Rant over

I agree about too many pups being churned out to unsuitable owners. I'm assuming when breeders talk about culling they mean at birth or shortly afterwards? If that's the case, assuming all pups look healthy, presumably it's just pot luck what stays and what goes? I never choose a pup based on colour and in the past have never chosen based on sex either. For me, assuming they're physically sound, by far and away the most important factor is temperament/character/mental attitude, none of which start to become sufficiently obvious to make a meaningful decision until they leave the nest. I'd be paranoid if culling at birth that I could be removing the best pup in the litter.

You need faith in what you are breeding that's for sure mate .I would never force a choice on anyone but bitches to me are worth a bit more than dogs as the future ,harsh but true .

[Rabbit Hunter 6,610]

I remember reading in one of Harcombe's books that he thinks a Winter litter could be better than a Summer litter due to the weather being cooler meaning less chance of infection and less parasites etc. so in turn less chance of harm to the mother and pups.

Would anyone agree with that?