Keep the mum clean and well-groomed Instead, use a warm, damp cloth and clean her gently. If she has long fur, give her a sanitary cut around her tail, hind legs and mammary glands and make sure to keep these areas clean.
Once she feels that her puppies are becoming independent, a female dog will go back to wanting to spend most of her time with her owners. Many owners find that in just a few short weeks their dog's behavior has completely returned to how it was pre-puppies.
After giving birth, she must resume intake of highly palatable, good-quality food as soon as possible. The inexperienced or overattentive mother may be reluctant to leave the pups. Bring food and water to her if necessary. Some females are anorexic for a few days after whelping.
Keep the mother dog and her puppies in a clean, quiet, low-traffic area of the house. If there is too much commotion around her, she may become stressed and neglect her puppies. Also, provide a safe space where she can rest away from her puppies while still having easy access to them.
After the birthing process, clean up the mother as much as possible without upsetting her using a warm water and washcloth. Do not use any soaps or disinfectants unless instructed to by your veterinarian. Remove any soiled newspaper or bedding from her whelping box.
Position the box half-on half-off a heating pad (rather than placing the heating inside the box.) This way the puppy can crawl off the heat source should the pad grow too hot. Cover the floor with a towel, blanket or puppy pads.
Newborn puppies sleep about 22 hours a day, so they're really not going to be experiencing much. They also cannot walk. They will try crawling around just a bit however they won't move far from mother at all. When not sleeping, a newborn will be eating.
Food, food, and lots of food. A nursing momma may need up to three times as much food as normal to make enough milk for her pups! To help her get enough calories, it's best to give her four or more smaller meals a day. Get her a dog food made for performance, full of high-quality calories.
From day 29 to 49 puppies will venture away from the whelp box sleeping area. They will not go far, but they will begin to explore. At this time we expand their area to add a play and eating area in the daytime. This is the time to move them out to the kitchen and family room area, where life is happening in the home.
A normal litter size can range from 1 to 12 puppies, with 5-6 puppies being average across all dogs. But just as every breed of dog differs by size, function, and personality, they also differ when it comes to litter size, according to AKC registration data.
A whelping box. An absorbent material for the whelping box, such as newspapers (but these may become sodden quickly and often stay wet and cold), puppy pads, incontinence pads or vetbeds. Clean towels or paper towels to help clean up during labour. Towels for drying and cleaning up the puppies.
During the first three hours following birth, puppies should nurse several times. If a puppy is having trouble latching, rub its muzzle sideways over the nipple, not up and down. You want to get mom lactating on day one and puppies nursing so they get the necessary colostrum they need.
If she has just given birth someone should be at home with her for at least the first few days. I would not leave mom and pups during the first week for more than 3 to 4 hours.
What should I feed my dog while she's pregnant and nursing? We recommend feeding Hill's® Science Diet® Puppy Foods as soon as possible. These formulas feature essential nutrients in sufficient amounts and help developing puppies get off to a great start in life.
If the female is not producing any milk at all, the puppies need to be fed a supplement immediately. You should also weigh the puppies. If they are not gaining weight, she is not producing enough milk. If the female is producing some, but not enough, you need to supplement feed the puppies.
Put the puppies up toward the mother dog's teats. Allow the puppies to nurse. Visit your vet. If the mother dog is reluctant to nurse her litter, or if the puppies are exhibiting signs of malnutrition, you should set up an appointment with your veterinarian as soon as possible.
A small box with blankets and a heating lamp is ideal. Keep the lamp at a fair distance so the environment does not overheat. A heating pad and blankets can also work, just make sure the heating pad is well-covered to prevent burns.
Sleep in the same room for the first few nights.
For the first few nights, your puppy will need time to adjust to being without their mum. Wherever you decide to settle them in your house, it's a good idea to spend the first few nights in the same room with them so they don't wake up in a panic because no-one is there.
Remove any food or water after about seven o'clock and just before it's time to go to bed, take the pup out to the toilet, and give it lots of praise when it's successful. On the first night, and for about three weeks, have the puppy sleep in a dog crate next to the bed.
“The neonatal period from birth to 3 days of age is a critical stage for puppies,” cautions Dr. Smith.
Heating the area over the whelping box with the aid of a heat lamp is usually all that is necessary. The larger the litter the lower the environmental temperature needs to be, since the puppies will huddle together and keep each other warm.
During the first day after giving birth, panting is normal because the mother dog is exhausted, and all the puppies crawling over her may cause her to feel overheated. The puppy's nails on her tummy may also cause her pain.