Hi all,
Wonder if any of you can advise me on getting my girl in good condition for welping.  This is her first litter and just wondered if there is any vitamins [ or anything else ] I should be giving her.  She is on day 42 from her first mating or 45 from her second mating.
I have heard about lactose and just wondered what it was for and should I start her on this now.

She is healthy and is showing signs of her pregnancy now. I have even saw the pup/ pups moving. So exciting and scary at the same time.

I am feeding her puppy food.

Any advice would be brill and gratefully received.

Thanks
Sharon

As long as she's on a good quality puppy food, you really shouldn't need to give anything else.  My vet told me as long as the puppy food has a good phosphorus/calcium ratio then that's all they need.

I think day 45/46 is the earliest I've felt puppy movement, it's a lovely feeling isn't it.

Most importantly, make sure you keep her fit and muscular. A flabby, unfit bitch can have serious whelping problems.

Hi,
Thanks for replying.  She is young and very fit, but the last few days she is just not interested in her usual walks and just wants to do her buisness and get home again.  I am sure this is normal.  She is sleeping a lot as well.

thanks
Sharon

My bitch was walked right up to her whelping date and enjoyed every walk, she was even running the day she whelped, so keep her exercised with small short walks.  I was happily giving my bitch all the best foods, fresh chicken, beef, calcium tablets, my vet told me no need for any of these things at all, especially calcium tablets - more harm than good.  Just a really good quality complete dry puppy food is all that your bitch will need, nothing else is required.

I don't feed a puppy food to an in whelp bitch but I chose to feed a diet that would be given to a very active dog as it tends to be higher in fat which suits my breed.    A general all-round supplement like SA37 or Vetzyme B+E wouldn't go amiss and yes, make sure she has some daily exercise just to keep her toned.

my friend's bitch actually started whelping in the park!!!

Oh my goodness!  I don't think that I would take my bitch to a park once her temperature had dropped!

Thanks to all,

I have gave her different types of dried puppy food but she does not like any of them, I am giving her Butchers canned puppy food with a small amount of dried through it.
Its strange because all she ate before was dried food.  Perhaps they are a bit like humans and there tastes change.

I was also advised to give scrambled eggs every couple of days which she loved but she started to get constipated so I stopped this.

I will carry on with the exercise.

thanks
Sharon

ps. This is a great site, answered a lot of my questions

she is not the best breeder in that she doesn't check temperature but all pups were kc reg, very healthy and all went to really good homes oh and she did have all the health checks done. she only ever had two litters so probs a bit of a back yard breeder but all pups are having a lovely life so that is the main thing i suppose

I am sorry but not all breeders take their bitches temperature before whelping.  I know many respected breederws that have never doen so in 50 years of breeding, and I ahve never yet doen this either, prefering to rely on other signs of imminent whelping and contsnt supervision of my bitches in pregnancy and never leaving them unattended in the last week.

I don't think that anyone said that breeders have to take temperature to be respected, did they?

I don't take my girls temperatures either   What a bad woman I've been all these years :d

I DID but found it pretty useless!

she is not the best breeder in that she doesn't check temperature

seriously i am not very good in writing and find my words get all mixed up. sorry. i don't think i am up to this whole posting stuff cos i always get miss read.
sorry if i affended any one i didn't mean you arn't a good breeder if you don't take temperatures i meant she is not a great breeder in knowing the signs before whelping and therefore maybe should take temperatures.
maybe i will just stick to reading the information instead of giving it
sorry
anna

This has gone way of course, Never mind I am gratefull for the advice given at the start.

Sharon

Its very hard with cold sterile letters on a screen Anna, In face to face conversation about 70% of communication is through Body Language..the actual spoken word comes in at 5%... so its no wonder things sometimes can be taken in the wrong context on here.
No Harm...No Foul!!!!
keep posting :)

ahh,dont be sooo hard on yourself!

I always explain things too deeply as I like people to know the full facts when I post of course this is sometimes called waffling  LOL  this is a very important post for Sharon she is trying to do the best for her girl lets not be so picky on this one ....hey

Nice one Huskygal the calming influence once again!

Roni

>I always explain things too deeply as I like people to know the full facts when I post of course this is sometimes called waffling  <

Ditto I know what i am talking about but i always worry everyone else doesnt,so i explain everything in minute detail.What would only take a pharagraph to say in person sometimes takes half a page in writing :rolleyes:

Hi all,

Just came back from the Vets with Ellie,  she was being really sick yesterday and of her food.  The vets gut instinct is that she is pregnant.  He thinks that it could be cystitis [sorry if spelling is wrong]  or a urine infection. Her temp. was fine.  He gave her a shot of antibiotics and tablets home with her. I have to put in a urine sample on Mon. and he will test it.

I thought he could tell at this stage[42 or 45 days] if she was pregnant just by feel but surely not. He also spoke about scaning her and doing blood tests if she was no better by Monday.

I am sure she is pregnant, but could I be so wrong, poor dog.

Sharon

Hi,

I hope I have not said anything wrong as no one is speaking to me.

Sharon
x

Dont worry Sharon, no one is ignoring you... we do sometimes have other things to do ;)

The ideal time for palpating (feeling for pups) is around day 30 to 35 so its a little late to try this, and scanning would be the best way to determine if pregnant....It wont give you exact numbers but is a good way of getting a definate yes or no answer

If she does have a little urinary infection the the AB's will kick in quite soon....

Hoping your girl is feeling a little better

Thanks Kay,

She is a bit brighter today and she ate some chicken last night. Going to speak to the vet today about scanning her,  The receptionist did not know much about scanning as she had never seen it being done. Do you know if they get sedated for this? 
Thanks
Sharon
x

My bitch was scanned last week at 31 days of pregnancy, she stood up and the vet even managed to not shave her tummy as I said if she WASN'T pregnant she'd be shown soon. It all took 5 minutes. :)

Hi,

Just booked her in for her scan tomorrow morning,  Hopefully everything is okay inside.
I will let you know how she gets on.
Thanks
Sharon
x

Hi Sharon, glad to hear she is feeling a little better :)  

Scanning is very simple....a bit like a human scan only standing up, instead of lying down ;)   a little lubricating jelly on the tummy and the scanner is simply placed over the tummy and gently up towards the horns....my girls stand quite happily.... If she is pregnant you will be able to see the little blobs on the monitor...:)

Hi Kay,

Thanks for that.

Sharon
x

Hi Marianne ,
I take it you saw your babies ...any idea how many??

Roni

Hi Marianne ,
I take it you saw your babies ...any idea how many??

The vet said at least 5 or 6, but could be more. :) They always seems to see less than there is!

gonna have your hands full then!!

good luck hope everything goes well.

Roni

Cheers Roni, I'm very much looking forward to it. :) Sleepless nights, days full of poo, etc. :D

Hi there,

I wonder why your vet was prepared to tell you how many pups he/she could see when my Vet would not tell me, I thought he would have given some clue but he was determined not to.  All he would say was that it was more than 1,

Strange !

Sharon
x

Prize waffler here, your lucky to find the salient facts in it.

No worries just wanted to clarify for anyone reading that a breeders competence should not be based on whether they choose to take temperature :)

This statement "....she is not the best breeder in that she doesn't check temperature but all pups were kc reg..."  does give that impression :D

Hi all,

Ellie has had her scan and YES she is pregnant..  Everything is looking fine and vet is happy with her. What a relief.  I think the antibiotics are also kicking in now as she is a lot happier in herself. 
The vet would not say how many pups there was for fear of litigation, but he did say when I asked if there was more than 1 [with a smile on his face] oh yse there is definitly more that 1.  I personaly thought I saw 3.

I am going to try and stop worrying now and just let her get on with it without me fussing over her all the time.

Thankyou all for allowing me to go on and on.

Sharon
x

Great news Sharon :) 

Try and relax now, you are going to need all your resources when pups arrive ;)

That's great news. :)

good news ....are you prepared??

Roni

No Roni,  Not yet, But I am getting there.  Her whelping box is in place and so far she has not even looked at it.  Mabey a bit early yet for her.  I have also been given a large cage for the pups to go in, Ellie does go in this as she was used to one when she was a pup. She may use this to have her pups.

  I have been to the fish & chip shop and asked the man to order me some of the paper the use to wrap the food, rather than use newspaper, she is a white dog after all.

Going to get some lactose incase I have to hand feed any of the pups.  [should I give some to Ellie now?]

Got a friend who is a nurse going to get some syringes and incontinence pads for her to give birth on.

I bought 2 hot water bottles.   Got plenty of old towels.

I think I have covered all I need, but if not mabey you can let me know.

Sharon
x

sharon, I have pm'd you my breeding webpage...although it is intended for my breed, it covers everything you need know about whelping and rearing pups :)

do you have a copy of 'The Book of the Bitch'....if not, I would advise you to get it now and read from cover to cover daily ;)

I am a little confused about your reference to lactose. lactose is the milk sugar in cows milk, adn is what a lot of dogs fidn hard to digest and gives them dirhoea (sp).

What you shoudl ahve in is puppy milk, there are various ones, most made out of modified cows milk (in the same way as formula for human babies).  I personally like the one that is made out of goats milk, called Nutrolac, s dogs usually have less trouble with goats milk compoared to cows milk, but any formula modified for puppies shoudl be fine.

I would also say that an electric heat pad will be more useful than hot water bottles, whcih are handy for short term use.  I prefer heat pads to overhead heaters, especially in a domestic situation tyey are less intrusive.

Hi there,

Sorry I have used the wrong name,  Thanks for advice, where is the best place to get a heat pad from?

Sharon
x

I got my last one from Hyperdrug, also good place to get wormers at much better price than the Vet, and they do puppy milks too.

try canine chemist..

www.hyperdrug.com
around £40

snap brainless sorrry didnt mean to copy LOL

Roni

Hi heat pads at www.petcetera.co.uk £24.00 including delivery

wowthats a good price will take alook...thanks