Breeding and Whelping Information

This information about breeding and whelping is from my own experience and may not be what other breeders do. This is what works best for me as I have a large area to work with. You may have to adjust things according to your own individual space and circumstances.

First and foremost, you need to know when your dog will come into season and how often. My female comes into season about every six months. She stays in heat for three weeks.

During the first week there is a thin red discharge. During her second week it turns a thin yellowish stain and this is when she is ready to be bred. The third week her heat cycle is just winding down but I still take precaution as she can still be bred during this time by other dogs.

My Dog is Bred, Now What?

So your female is going to have pups whether planned or unplanned. The question now is did you get to see when they tied (were bred)? If you got to see when they were tied then you can pin point the approximate day the pups will be born. If not, you may want to take her to the vet to get an approximation for you.

You can expect puppies in about 63 days from the day she was bred. During this time your female should be receiving normal care with the normal amount of exercise. If she is on the thin side then supplementing her with milk and bisquits will put some weight on her to adequetely sustain the pups.

You can expect your female to carry on her normal activity levels. My female still played with my male as if she wasn't pregnant. I did watch her though, as I didn't want her to rough house too much when she was in her last week.

Whelping

Make sure you have prepared a whelping box or somewhere the pups are to be delivered. Your female will pick her own spot if you don't. This area needs to be clean and dry and free from cold drafts as the pups are sensitive and will get cold easily. I have a container with a heating pad underneath and a towel over the top to put the pups in when they are born to keep them from getting cold.

When your female is about to have pups she will become very restless and start scratching and tearing up newspapers, if you have them, she will pace back and forth, and she will refuse food. I keep my female in the house during the last few days and she will come and wake me up when she is ready to have her pups. Then I take her outside to her area to have the pups.

Sometimes this scratching and pacing are false alarms so taking her temperature with a rectal thermometer is more accurate at telling you when she is about to have the pups. When her temp drops below 100 degrees F you can expect the pups within 12 hours. So as soon as her temp drops you want to take her to her whelping box and start to prepare to have the pups.

There can be many complications when having pups. I have not had any problems with my females in the last five years that I have been breeding but they do happen. The pups can become breech and you have to help by sticking your finger in beside the pup to help it along. Do not pull on the pups to help them out as this can cause dislocations and damage to the pup.

When my female is having her pups, she averages about one hour per pup. Which means she has a pup and then don't usually have another pup until an hour later. She averages nine to eleven pups so you can imagine all of the time spent having pups.

I do not give my female anything to help her along with the pups. I do not believe in this unless she has stopped having contractions and I know there are still pups inside. So far I have never had to assist with this.

It is not uncommon for whelping to go on for 24 hours. Sometimes there will be a lapse in time between pups, two to three hours or so. If she hasn't started having contractions again after this period then vet assistance will probably be needed. During this period of time your female is probably just tired and is resting her uterus.

The puppy is out, now what?

She has had her first pup and it is covered in a slimy sac now what? If your female does not automatically tear open the sac and start to clean the pup, then you will need to tear it open and then show her the pup and she should then start to clean it.

She will also consume the sac and the placenta and bite the cord. The cord is a little tricky and you can help your female cut the cord by ripping it with your clean fingers so that the cord does not get pulled on and so that the cord is not too long.

When your female is inbetween pups you can put the pups she has already had next to her to start suckling. This will help her to start her contractions again as well as help her to start her milk.

After your female is done having all of her pups she will be very tired. Make sure during her labor and after that she has had plenty of water. You can try to introduce food to her but she will probably refuse it if she has eaten too many sacs and placentas.

I use a moist dog food like the Bil-Jac frozen dog food to get her to eat to help her to start producing milk for the pups.

Now she can feed the pups on her own if there are no problems with her teets. You might have to be there for the feeding so that you can rotate the pups if there are not enough teets to go around. You might also think about getting a couple of bottles to help supplement a couple of times a day if you have a large litter.

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