Whelping & First Week Flame Puppies

Last Update 08/06/2015

Monday, September 18, 2006 -- Happy Birthday Puppies!  

Flame and puppies settle in together a few hours after everyone was born (above).

From left to right, above:   Green Boy born at 11:55 pm, 14 1/4 ounces; Teal Blue Boy born at 12:43 am, 14 1/4 ounces; Orange Girl born at 3:04 am, 15 1/4 ounces; Yellow Boy born at 3:24 am, 14 1/8 ounces; Purple Girl born at 5:20 am, 15 1/2 ounces.

Here are my notes from the 48 hours prior to the whelping:

Sept. 16, 6 pm to 2 am:   Day 62.  Flame started to become restless, panting and nesting.  Took her temp and it had dropped to 98.8.  (Keeper's temp dropped to 99.0 and she whelped about 12 hours later).  Called midwives to come over.

Sept. 17, 2 am to 6 am:  Some light sleep alternated with panting, nesting -- wants to nest behind couch in family room, in toy basket.  I slept while Cathy & Katrina kept watch & napped on couch.

Sept. 17, 6 am to 8 pm:  Very restless, lots of heavy panting and serious nesting.  When we relocated her to whelping room she preferred to dig at blankets next to x-pen.  We kept redirecting her to whelping box.  She was okay using the whelping box at times, but became disgusted by the box after a potty break when Cathy rearranged things for her.   Flame would occasionally lay down and rest, but those periods were few & far between.  It was a long, long day thinking that we'd have puppies at any minute.  Deb La Monica came over for a while prior to work.  Because this was Day 63 and because Flame's temperature dropped 24 hours ago, I called Dr. Cumming.  She said not to worry, everything sounded just fine.

Sept. 18, 8 pm:  Flame awoke abruptly after sleeping quite a bit, threw up some water, went out to poop and pee, came back inside with heaviest nesting & panting so far.  Everyone thinks we're getting close.  Another stressful few hours for the midwife crew of Katrina Tustin, Cathy Horrocks & Sondra Horrocks. 

Sept. 17, 9 pm:   Flame passed a little urine while nesting, followed by a mucus discharge.  She started having contractions about 9:45 pm.  Discharges & contractions increased.  Gave her some Dyne (high calorie supplement similar to NutriCal).

Sept. 17, 10:25 pm:  After a lot of pushing, contracting & effort to get the first puppy out we determined it was stuck.  I reached in and was surprised to feel something other than just a puppy (sac was broken).  Something was caught around its foot.  Puppy was breathing.  Flame was very upset as it must have been quite painful.  I pulled puppy out and her intestines were outside her body cavity (read more about this at the bottom of this entry).  We removed the puppy from the immediate area so Flame would not be looking for it and did not allow her to eat the placenta.  This puppy was breathing and strong...she really wanted to live.   I called Dr. Cumming for guidance.  She said that most puppies in this condition don't survive, and she would meet one of us at the clinic to look at the puppy.  Sondra had the really tough job of putting the puppy in a box with a microwaved pad for warmth and drove to the clinic.  It Dr. Cumming was prepared to do surgery if she thought she could save the puppy, but it wasn't possible so this first little girl was euthanized.   This put a very somber tone on what should be a happy, albeit very stressful, event. 

Sept. 17, 11:45 pm:  Fortunately Deb La Monica arrived prior to the birth of Green Boy, who came without a sac and feet first.  It took some KY Jelly and a good grip to get him out.  We let Flame have this placenta.  By 12:10 Flame was cleaned up, settled and nursing her first puppy.  We gave her a little oral calcium to help with contractions.   I was very pleased with Flame's immediate acceptance of motherhood.   The midwives were thrilled to have a live puppy.

Sept. 18, 12:30 am:  More contractions coming, so Green Boy was put in the warming box while Mr. Teal Blue was born.  Flame is hard to read when it comes to contractions and pushing.  Her contractions are relatively mild (by all of our standards), as are her pushes.  We let her have this placenta.  Mr. Teal joined Mr. Green for some colostrum.  Gave Flame some Dyne.

Sept. 18, 3:00 am:  It was close to 2-1/2 hours between puppies, so we were starting to get a little concerned.  Some more oral calcium and a potty trip started the process again, and after more contractions and harder pushing, Orange Girl was born. 

Sept. 18, 5:15 am:  Time for another potty break, some more Dyne and some fast contractions soon followed with the arrival of Purple Girl, breech presentation and she had pooped insider her sac.  We got her cleaned up, changed the bedding in the whelping box (again -- yes, after every puppy was born -- yes, there was tons of laundry) and put all the puppies with Flame.   Unfortunately, we couldn't rest easy, yet.  Because the ultrasound veterinarian estimated 7 puppies and Cheryl Bednar's staff at her veterinary clinic believed they counted 7 spines on the JPEG of Flame's x-ray, the midwives weren't certain that we could simply sit back and wait.  Although all the placentas were accounted for, we didn't know about the possibility of another puppy.  Deb palpated Flame and wasn't sure (click here to read about Deb's "surprise" birth of one more puppy than the x-ray showed), so I called my wonderful vet at 6:30 am for advice.  We decided I should bring Flame in to the clinic for a quick x-ray.

Sept. 18, 6:15 am:  A quick call to Carol Morris, owner of Shane, the litter's sire. 

Sept. 18, 7:00 am:  At the vet clinic, x-ray reveals we're done.  A quick oxytocin shot and we head home where Cathy had been puppy sitting, monitoring the temperature in the warming box so the newborns stayed at the proper temperature.   (Newborn puppies cannot regulate their temperature, so environmental management is critical to their survival, especially when mom's warm body is not there to help.)

Sept. 18, 8:00 am:  Back from the clinic in rush hour traffic, mom gets reunited with her kids.  Flame eats some special treats, has some more Dyne and settles into her new role.  Then she went into a nice, long, deep sleep.

After the puppies were born and things settled down, here are my general thoughts:

Breeding dogs is hard, stressful, exhausting work.  The hardest part, for me, is the whelping.  Ask my midwives and they will tell you, whelping stresses me out.  The numbers say a 70% to 90% survival rate in a litter is good.  I am an idealist and aim for 100%, have never achieved it and am always saddened and disappointed to lose puppies, for whatever reason.  The condition of the first girl born that we euthanized is the same birth defect that one of Deb's whippet puppies faced.  Click here to read to the information that Deb posted on her web site regarding "omphalocele" or "schistosoma reflexus."   Anyone involved in the breeding of dogs has to understand that puppy loss, and heaven forbid the loss of the dam, is a risk that a breeder chooses to take.

I never thought I would need four assistants to whelp a litter, but this time I did.  Kasondra Horrocks was our record-keeper and general assistant.  Katrina Tustin assisted with Flame, puppies, record-keeping, coffee and food.  Cathy Horrocks helped with the whelping and the newborns.  Deb La Monica helped with everything, especially my mental health and stress.  At one point I actually said to her that I wasn't thinking clearly and she needed to take over.  Thank you ladies from the bottom of my heart.

I am so very thankful to have such a wonderful veterinarian and friend, Melinda Cumming, DVM PhD, owner of Spring Glen Veterinary Hospital in Renton, WA.  I cannot imagine breeding a litter without the guidance of a skilled, experienced and compassionate vet clinic.

Tuesday, September 19, Day 1

At this point I cannot believe what I've been through in the past two weeks.  On September 5 my husband went in to the hospital for the first of two back surgeries, that kept him hospitalized for 10 days.  Running back and forth to the hospital while also taking care of the "other" dogs in the household plus Flame was stressful and tiring by itself.   Then to get Gary back home and settled just in time for the puppies...whew.  My midwives also helped tremendously by taking care of Gary when I couldn't.  Fortunately Gary can now go up and down the stairs, sit in a chair for a while and be fairly self-sufficient.  His next doctor's appointment is this Friday, so a good friend will take him into Seattle.  Thank you, Bill!  

I can't remember when I had a good night's sleep last.  It'll be a while before I can sleep in a bed again, so I have lots of padding for the floor next to the whelping box.

Flame takes her mother job quite seriously -- much more so that her mom did.  Keeper was a "hippie mom" -- she took great care of her kids, but she welcomed all visitors from day one.  Flame is more leery, even as a couple of midwives have come back to spend the night, help with chores, say hello, etc.  I am trying to achieve a balance of giving Flame her space and comfort these first few days, yet also reminding her that certain people do have the right to enter the room.  I am certain she will relax once she gets into a routine, but for the next few days I'm not going to have anyone new come to the house.

Flame is quite fastidious, keeping a clean whelping box and giving her children regular, thorough washings, stimulating them to pee and poop and cleaning up after them.   She is eating well but still turning her nose up at kibble, a problem I had throughout her pregnancy.  I never experienced a fussy eater for an entire pregnancy before; it's been a challenge to feed her a balanced diet of things she'll eat.  I'm hoping that once her milk starts to come in and the puppies make more demands on her body, she'll be back to eating without bribery.

Her green post-whelping discharge has pretty much diminished and her post-whelping diarrhea is done.  The hair is starting to fall off around around her teats and she has her pre-pregnancy figure back.  However, she's as exhausted as I am.  Fortunately she's had several very sound, long naps today (wish I could say the same).

All the puppies are doing great and I'll get weights posted one of these days.  The two girls are the biggest by a few tenths of an ounce, but everyone is within an ounce or two.  My mild/moderate concern today has been with Green Boy, who has had yellowish diarrhea for about 12 hours.  I have treated him with Bene-Bac (acidophillus/lactobacillus gel that is safe for newborns -- always have some in my whelping kit).  I also spoke with my vet who agreed with my treatment, but we will talk first thing in the morning about the potential need to put him on antibiotics.  He might have an infection or he might just be eating too much and/or getting his gut adjusted to mother's milk.  Or, Flame might be having the first stage of mastitis, so I have to check all her teats and watch for that possible problem.   You would never know that Green Boy had a problem otherwise -- he's active, eating and acting like all the other puppies. 

And you thought the stressful stuff was over!   Newborn puppies and new moms are susceptible to a wide variety of health concerns and require constant monitoring.

Wednesday, Sept. 20, Day 2

I'm happy to report that Green Boy seems to be over his diarrhea problem.  I'm also thrilled and relieved that Flame was more relaxed today, more willing to get some deep sleep and leave the puppies alone to sleep, as well.  Newborn puppies typically spend 90% of their time sleeping and 10% eating.  I think Flame had these kids awake way too much the first day, not atypical, however.  I'm also figuring out a system for using my lamp (just a 100 watt bulb in a silver reflector) and a low voltage heating pad to keep puppies warm enough without making Flame uncomfortably hot.

I slept on the floor next to the whelping box last night and set my alarm to wake me up every 2 hours to check on them as I can be a very heavy sleeper.  There were a couple of times where puppies had crawled off to a cooler area of the box and I replaced them.  Other big events of the day:  replacing the Scrunchie (for human pony tails, thanks Deb) newborn collars with ric-rac collars (they were outgrowing the newborn collars) and trimming a lot of hair off Flame's chest to make it easier for puppies to nurse.  Most of that hair will fall off, but I wanted to help it along.  Flame is still refusing kibble, but she had an assortment of good food today.

I'm also happy that all the puppies are gaining weight nicely.  There's a link to the weight chart at the top of this page.

Some personality traits are starting to become evident.  I believe Orange Girl is going to be the dominant puppy in the litter.  She's a go-getter like her mom.  Purple Girl is pretty focused on getting what she wants (food), as well.  Yellow Boy seems more driven than Green Boy or Teal Boy.  Green Boy tends to get lost the most, ending up behind Flame and under the puppy rail when he didn't mean to.

Tomorrow's big events will include their first nail trimming and their first round of Early Neurological Stimulation exercises.  I'll give you more info and links tomorrow.

Thursday, September 21 -- Day 3

From left to right:  Green Boy, Teal Blue Boy, Orange Girl, Yellow Boy, Purple Girl -- held by Auntie Cathy Horrocks who came by to puppy sit while I took a shower.  Cathy then helped me start to work through Flame's anxieties regarding people (other than me) holding her babies.  After a little while, Flame was much more relaxed when Cathy picked up a baby.   The kids also had their first nail trimming today, although I only did front feet so that they weren't away from mom for that long.  Flame was quite concerned when they wiggled and squirmed and vocalized in my arms.   We gave everyone a break and then did their first round of Early Neurological Stimulation exercises developed by Dr. Carmen Battaglia.   Flame and her siblings are a product of these exercises and most of my breeder friends also believe in this program.  Click on the link to read more, and if you ever get a chance to go to one of Dr. Battaglia's seminars, I highly recommend you do so.  If you browse his web site you'll find lots of information as well as a link to get on his email list.  Dr. Battaglia is an AKC conformation judge and head of the CAR Program (Companion Animal Recovery) for the AKC.   Interestingly, Flame finished her championship under Dr. Battaglia at Seattle Kennel Club a few years ago, where her dad, Baccarre' took BOB.

Pictures above are from later in the day after the kids got fresh bedding.  I've had to compromise with Flame by keeping the back 6 inches of the whelping box uncovered (painted wood) for her to lay on to stay a little cooler.   More puppy personality observations:  Green Boy is like Flame in that he is very grumpy and very vocal if you wake him up abruptly...he will let you know about it!  So if I have to move him, I make sure to stroke him gently to wake him up and then gently pick him up.  Yellow Boy was a mountain goat in a previous life.  He is the first puppy trying to climb over his mom's back while she's laying on her side.  Blue Boy is sweet and mellow and goes with the flow, as does Yellow Boy.  Orange Girl is still the first to eat, the one most likely to lay on top of someone else, etc.  Purple Girl holds her own, though, as well.  

Friday, September 22 -- Day 4

Flame doesn't look too shabby for a new mom.  Of course, all that will change about the time the puppies are ready to go to their new homes, the mothers have blown a lot of their coat, they are still getting their figures back after having a lot of milk, etc.   It's interesting to see the changing interactions between Flame and Keeper now that I occasionally let them out in the yard together.  Flame is becoming more dominant over her mother and Keeper is not challenging her.  I do feel sorry for Keeper, though.  I can tell she knows there's new puppies in the house and feels left out of the loop.  That will change when they get older and mobile and Flame is ready to relinquish some control -- probably 5 or 6 weeks.

Saturday, Sept. 23 -- Day 5

Bill & Kathleen stopped by today to drop off a cane for Gary (so he can start his walking program; his back surgery recovery is going very well.  Bill was also here on Friday to take him to a doctor's appointment.)   Flame is happy to have visitors enter the foyer and look at her and the kids through the living room, over the baby gates and into the whelping room.   She's also happy to go see them and get petted over the x-pen.   However, when Katrina came over later, and came into the whelping area, Flame was on high alert.  She was okay as long as Katrina sat in a chair, or fed her roast beef and I was in the room.  She was also okay with Katrina stroking puppies in the box and holding a puppy up -- as long as it remained within the confines of the box.  However, while I was taking a quick shower Katrina continued to feed her treats, but when Flame had enough, she ushered Katrina out of the room, making it plain that Katrina was no longer welcome right next to the whelping box.  Very interesting, especially since she loves Katrina and Katrina helped whelped the litter.  And again, so very different from Keeper's initial approach to visitors -- "come on in, the more the merrier!"

And thanks to Katrina for picking up another low voltage heating pad for me.  On Monday I'll be turning off the 100 watt bulb over the whelping box (for warmth) and switching to two heating pads as puppies' eyes are extremely sensitive to light as they start to open, which will begin to happen next week.

A while later Alda & Luckie Weaver stopped by.  They brought us a home made casserole for our dinner (thank you so much!) and visited with Flame in the living room, who was thrilled to see them.  She thought nothing of leaving her puppies to jump in their laps.  She was also comfortable as they came into the whelping area, sat and chatted for a while.  Another positive experience for mom and pups -- and food for us humans!

Sunday, Sept. 24 -- Day 6

Ingrida Robinson (photo at left) stopped by for a visit today.  All my dogs absolutely LOVE Ingrida, so Flame was beside herself when she discovered who today's visitor was.   I continued our "training program" for visitors & Flame today.  Visitors are asked to stop at the bottom of the stairs to our front door and spray the bottoms of their shoes with disinfectant.  There's a note on the front door asking visitors to simply open the door and come in (ringing doorbells set the entire household off barking), take off their shoes and then go down stairs to wash their hands before entering the living room and then whelping area.   (This time of year there is usually an increase in kennel cough in this area; no germs allowed!   A note about socialization vs. protection from disease:  puppies have immunity from their mother, so they do have a fair amount of protection.  Although I would never knowingly have a sick dog or owner of a sick dog come to visit, I do realize that certain things can be picked up on shoes, etc., so I do take precautions when visitors come over. However, I believe the risk I am taking is extremely small, and the benefit of early puppy socialization outweighs the risk.  There are also some breeders and vets who believe that puppies should not start puppy training classes until they are six months old due to the possible risk of disease; I recommend to my own puppy buyers what I also recommend to our training school clients -- puppies benefit tremendously from positive, well-structured and controlled puppy classes starting at 12 weeks of age.  All of this, however, is just my opinion...each breeder has his / her own beliefs.)

After visitors are scrubbed and shoeless, I have them come into the living room and sit on the couch for a few minutes.  This lets Flame know that I have invited them into MY house.  We then move into the whelping area where visitors sit in a chair several feet from the whelping box.  Flame is free to do whatever she deems appropriate.  From there visitors move to the floor next to the box, reaching in to pet puppies and then hold puppies where Flame can see them.  Flame's reward for allowing visitors to do all of this is CHICKEN.  (As you can see, my proactive training approach starts pretty young.  It's much better to plan things out in advance and set everyone up for success, than take the "wait and see" approach and then have something negative happen.

Flame's appetite continues to grow and she's eating kibble once again.  Puppies continue to gain weight and thrive.  In the past two days I've heard little puppy barks and seen scratching reflexes.  Nothing is cuter than a week old puppy barking or scratching its ear.  I continue to sleep by the whelping box.