HI! my dog just starting having pups-she had her first one and wouldn't clean him, or touch him. She would turn her face away to the whelping box. We got him out of the sac, tried to aspirate him and took forever to get him breathing-almost lost him, but got him yelping!
we tried to get her to nurture him-but she doesn't want anything to do with him-we made her lay down to let himsuckle-he was getting very cold feeling.
she is letting him, but when he wiggles to get up by her face, she tries to turn her head and get up.
I need some help on what to do!(she is a first time mom and labor so far was pretty easy)
Is there a way to get her to bond?what must we do?
we cleaned his genitals to get him to go potty.
we clamped the cord. put him on to eat.
also,how can we make sure we get all the mucous out-this little guy almost died! We aspirated, swung him, and he still had a hard time-we aspirated over and over again.
how far down do you go?
also, what must we do for the pups? and how much time should we give her to take care of them?
can someone help?
I am very concerned!

Thanks!
Tammy

How are things now? First litters can be a big shock for bitches but usually once there are more puppies born and they have recovered a bit they usually take to their babies. The important thing is to keep very calm and keep the puppies warm. Hopefully you have a heat lamp or heat pad or are keeping the room at 80 degrees. If she just will not nurse them - stay with them, then you may have to keep the pups separate in a cosy box ideally lined with vet bed with a hotty botty underneath and put them with her and on to suck every 2 hours, night and day, while holding her if need be. This happened to me once and the bitch would not look at the pups til all seven had been born and she began to get uncomfy with milk. Good luck.

My girl usually ignores her babies until she has finished delivering............that's my sure sign that she has finished, she comes up to the box with the heatpad and lifts the lid with her nose, then I know she's done and return them all to mum!

Maybe this is the case with your girl...........Good luck, let us know how it goes!

what a night! 4 pups and one placenta still to come. Not sure if there is another pup. She is letting them eat and has licked some. We are exhausted as I know she is! The last one is having a hard time sucking-2 were really tiny!

hope all is well!
thanks for being up late girls! I needed the moral support!

all is quiet noq, I better go rest!
Tammy

Hi Tammy, hope things are o.k. with mum and pups, you will probably find mum has a rest of about 1/2/3 hours then will start to deliver any more puppies still to come, just be there for her, I used face cloths warmed on a radiator, or, as I had to do 2 wks ago in the tumble drier when my bitch was early in welping her litter, I find the face cloths are much easier to work with and they dry the puppies better than struggling with either a towel or t towel, you can also wrap up the new born puppy to get heat into it until its dry. I had the problem with bonding with the first two pups born as well, but we did manage to get her to let them suckle and two weeks on she is being a very good mum. I know its hard, but, try and keep calm then you wont stress your bitch, please keep us posted. I also use a hot water bottle wrapped up in towels, or a lemonade bottle, filled with warm water,especially when you get caught out as I did.

Hi Tammy,

Hope everything is going well now, you did well with the little guy you saved, bet you will keep him now <LOL> :D Sounds like things are getting better, as the others said, sometimes bitches having a first litter panic a bit and need time to settle down and get used to everything and these little squeaking balls of fur :)

When Tassel (beardie) had her litter, she was fine with the pups all the time we were there, but if we left, she rolled them up in the vetbed and sat on them!!!!! Someone had to sit with her 24 hours a day, until they were 3 weeks old and moved into the kitchen and she hopped in and out to fed them, but was fine on her own.

Good luck ;)

manda
X

hello tammy.
Hope things are settling down.
When one of my bitches had her first litter she didnt accept any of them until she had totally finished, and then she was much better after having an ocitiocin{cant spell} as she didnt deliver all the placenta's.
she would also dig up the bed and bury them if i wasnt about but after a few days she soon settled down.
emma xx

HI!
mom has taken to the pups better than I dreamed! She is a great mom! Just needed a little time!
The pups are doing great with the exceptionof the little girl who has a soft cleft palate. We are considering having her put down as she will most likely die from complications.
We are not sure what to do.
hopefully we will get some good advice!

Thanks to everyone for the great input and care!
I am so glad that I found this site! I have truly been helped and blessed!

off I go to hand feed our little darling!

Tammy

Hi tammy

I had a litter pups a few weeks ago. One of the pups had a clef palate and the vet put it to sleep. It will probably be the best thing to do.