Hi everyone,

I am a foster home for a breed rescue. I recently took on a female rescue (mix breed) that ended up being pregnant. She is a smaller dog, about 45 lbs. Six days ago, she gave birth to four healthy boys.

I will be the first to admit that I don't know anything about raising a litter. Everything I know I learned in the past 3 weeks. But I think we are doing well so far!

I have a whelping box set up in my spare room. My main concern is that I often find the bitch sleeping in the closet (outside of the whelping box) away from the babies. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night because a pup is screaming and she is sleeping, I have to get her up and make her go inthe box. Once she is in the box, she will lay down and nurse the pups. This has been going on about 2 days. Is this normal for her to do? The pups seem plump enough and I have been weighing them, and they are gaining weight. She also is cleaning them. Should I be worried that she doesn't sleep inthe box with them all the time?

My second concern is that during the day, the bitch does not eat or drink anything. I have offered her fresh water and also chicken broth and she will refuse both. She will refuse her food too. In the evenings she will eat and drink. It is hot in the puppy room during the day (about 75 F), could this be the reason?

The bitch's temperature is normal. I am however, concerned she is not eating any more now than when she was pregnant. I cannot add more tempting food, like canned, because I tried that and though she ate it, she got diarrhea. She is eating a 50-50 mix of Wellness Puppy and Canidae Chicken and Rice kibble.

Thanks for your insights.

-A.

HI Angela,
I can tell you that pups that are six days old most mothers are there 24/7 in the whelping box.My female eat the next day , I gave her broth that day of her whelping but the next day i gave her cut up meat in broth and she eat it all, she drank lots of water, I am surprised that your female is not drinking any water with a temperature of 75 and having pups, is not the norm.
I know everyfemale is different but that sounds like you need to keep a close eye on her.
I wish you well ,I have to go but I'll go back and see if I can give you more help...

Hi Angelique, thanks for your reply.

Do you have any suggestions on what I should do? The babies all look healthy. They are just over double their birth weight. When the mother is in the box, she feeds and cleans the puppies. Should I force her to stay in the box?

This morning I opened the door, and all 4 were nursing. As soon as Lucy (the mother) saw me, she jumped to her feet and all the puppies fell off! They are 7 days old.

Yesterday when we came back in from outside, (Had been outside about 20 minutes or so), the puppies were all sleeping but they woke up and started squeaking when they smelled their mom. But Lucy just stood at the entrance of the door to the room and did not go in. I had to take her collar and lead her into the box. Should I be forcing her like this or let her make her own decision on when to go in?

Thank you for any suggestions.

You can get a crate large enough for a whelping box and keep her locked in it except to potty until the pups are two to three weeks old and then just put her in every few hours if she won't go on her own.
Some of my moms also would not eat enough before or or after they whelped (very thin all the time, but the pups were OK). Since I switched to raw that has not been a problem.
My moms will also get up from nursing when they see me, that's not a problem if they are staying with the pups enough for them to nurse.

Check that the puppies nails are not scratching her - this is a good time to clip them off a bit. Also if she does not have a heavy milk supply they could be doing a bit of unproductive sucking and causing her some discomfort. Check her teats for any abnormal warmth and also take her temperature. Did she get checked out by the vet after she delivered? - a visit might be in order just to rule out a physical cuase of her reluctance. Maybe a bit of supplemental feeding of the pups with a good puppy formula would take some of the pressure off of her. If you have gound her sleeping in the closet you might try tenting some material over the whlping box(I've used a kitchen table over one and draped it with a sheet) as it sounds like she likes a little den like comfort. She might like a bigger box where she can get away from the puppies but still observe them. A fan in the room might help if it is too warm.

Wow thanks for the great comments.

Debbie, I have an ex-pen that will fit around the whelping box. It is a big box, 4' x 4'. So what you are saying is she should be with them all the time until the pups are at least 2 weeks old?

Lynn, I would like to note that I have clipped the puppies' nails. I should have mentioned that.

She was last at the vet 2 weeks ago, a week before she whelped, and was OK. I looked at her breasts and there was a red spot on one of them (not the nipple part).

I don't know about her milk supply. There are only 4 puppies, they are gaining weight well and their urine is a pale colour. So I thought the milk was OK. Is there anything else I should be checking?

Is it OK to let the mother out to play with my other dogs? She will stay out for 20-30 minutes before I decide it's time to come in. The first 2 days after birth it was the dog who wanted in, now it's me who decides. The puppies seem to sleep while she is out.

My good moms will stay with their pups all the time except for short potty breaks until they are about a week old, then they will stay very close to, or in, the nest box and nurse very often. They will gradually spend less time in with the pups.
The 4 x 4 pen is a good size. Just let her out the same as if you were crate training her.
If you check the pups for dehydration (lift the skin on the back of the neck, if it stays up for any length of time they are dehydrated) and they are fine she is probably nursing them often enough and her milk is adequate.

Angela, the red spot , i would watch that carefully it could be a sore that is very uncomfortable for her to have her pups nursing even if it's not on the nipple.Also no fan around the pups , you don't want air blowing around them. As long as the mother is not "hot" in that room they're fine.Is she eating now and drinking water? I assume she must be by now.as long as the pups are gaining weight and the mother is eating and drinking you should be ok.i would not let her around other dogs too much , her focus should be her puppies not playing with other dogs.Keep up the god work , things will be fine.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their replies. I have been keeping an eye on things and the mother dog knows the routine now - all I have to do is point and she gets in her whelping box. Sometimes i have to help the puppies pee, but they are all gaining weight and at 14 days they are now just over 3 lbs (they were 1 pound when born). Her red spot (was probably a hickey, as I observe the puppies sucking on things that are not nipples!) is healing.

Angela,
I'm happy for you that everything is going great.I know it's a lot of work!
On my last reply I meant to say "keep up the good work"
Keep in touch..