Despite being told Scout would pant, there was no panting before contractions started. Scout was nauseous and went out to the toilet about 10 times during the day and as it was day 62 we thought whelping was close.
Despite having a whelping box, Scout decided she was happier giving birth on the sofa and as we didn’t want to upset her, we simply put lots of towels out and let her stay where she was happy.
Whelping took 2.5 hours and was pretty straight forward. The order was 3 boys first and then 2 girls. Two of the puppies were breach including the first one and Scout did scream a lot before the first puppy was out but after this one, just like with human mums, once the puppy was born, the pain was forgotten as Scout got into her stride. All puppies suckled after birth with some encouragement from us to stimulate contractions. We had been told 5 or 6 puppies from a scan but after 5 Scout got very tired and feeling her belly, she didn’t feel like there were any puppies left. Once established back in the whelping box, Scout went into a deep sleep with her pups so this was another clear sign that she was finished.
We fed Scout calcium after the first puppy and in between each pup. We also made sure she was hydrated by syringing water as she didn’t want to leave her pups. This made her wee in the whelping box which wasn’t hygienic or ideal so we started to lift her out to go outside for the toilet and to clean her up after which she would run back to be with her pups.
Scout was allowed to eat 2 placentas but she vomited this very soon afterwards so wasn’t allowed to eat any more. All placentas were delivered and we tied the cords not wanting Scout to chew too close to the babies delicate tummies. We found that if we held the cord we could still let her chew the cord as that is what nature was telling her to do and then we tied it closer to the pups.
One pup was born in 2 sacks and only 1 sack burst as the puppy was born so we opened them and rubbed the puppies to help them breathe. A puppy aspirator was used but there wasn’t any real gurgling noises so this was just a precaution. Scout licked the pups as she finished giving birth as they were placed on a heat pad near her head. The final pup was born and the placenta was inside Scout but with some encouragement she pulled the placenta out herself.
After about 3 days Scout started to come out of her own accord for a cuddle or to lie on a cool mat as the temperature in the room had to be kept very high for her pups.
We did use paracord collars to begin with but they had a tendency to move down around the pups legs so we quickly decided to name the pups and as they were very different, we used identifying marks instead of collars not wanting to damage their delicate bodies inadvertently.
The pups had a heat mat and a cover over their whelping box to make them feel safe and this also helped Scout to feel like this was a safe den so there was no need to try and move her babies which mums will do if they don’t feel safe.
The pups are handled gently every day being watched carefully by Scout but they are never taken away from the whelping box and never for more than a few seconds.
Despite having a whelping box, Scout decided she was happier giving birth on the sofa and as we didn’t want to upset her, we simply put lots of towels out and let her stay where she was happy.
Whelping took 2.5 hours and was pretty straight forward. The order was 3 boys first and then 2 girls. Two of the puppies were breach including the first one and Scout did scream a lot before the first puppy was out but after this one, just like with human mums, once the puppy was born, the pain was forgotten as Scout got into her stride. All puppies suckled after birth with some encouragement from us to stimulate contractions. We had been told 5 or 6 puppies from a scan but after 5 Scout got very tired and feeling her belly, she didn’t feel like there were any puppies left. Once established back in the whelping box, Scout went into a deep sleep with her pups so this was another clear sign that she was finished.
We fed Scout calcium after the first puppy and in between each pup. We also made sure she was hydrated by syringing water as she didn’t want to leave her pups. This made her wee in the whelping box which wasn’t hygienic or ideal so we started to lift her out to go outside for the toilet and to clean her up after which she would run back to be with her pups.
Scout was allowed to eat 2 placentas but she vomited this very soon afterwards so wasn’t allowed to eat any more. All placentas were delivered and we tied the cords not wanting Scout to chew too close to the babies delicate tummies. We found that if we held the cord we could still let her chew the cord as that is what nature was telling her to do and then we tied it closer to the pups.
One pup was born in 2 sacks and only 1 sack burst as the puppy was born so we opened them and rubbed the puppies to help them breathe. A puppy aspirator was used but there wasn’t any real gurgling noises so this was just a precaution. Scout licked the pups as she finished giving birth as they were placed on a heat pad near her head. The final pup was born and the placenta was inside Scout but with some encouragement she pulled the placenta out herself.
After about 3 days Scout started to come out of her own accord for a cuddle or to lie on a cool mat as the temperature in the room had to be kept very high for her pups.
We did use paracord collars to begin with but they had a tendency to move down around the pups legs so we quickly decided to name the pups and as they were very different, we used identifying marks instead of collars not wanting to damage their delicate bodies inadvertently.
The pups had a heat mat and a cover over their whelping box to make them feel safe and this also helped Scout to feel like this was a safe den so there was no need to try and move her babies which mums will do if they don’t feel safe.
The pups are handled gently every day being watched carefully by Scout but they are never taken away from the whelping box and never for more than a few seconds.