is not something I was prepared for as a rescue foster.
Our latest foster guest, Ivy, was found stray with two 5 month old puppies, so we were a bit surprised to realize that she was pregnant. I could feel that Ivy’s abdomen was large and firm already on the 2nd day she was with us. My gut feeling told me that we were about to embark on a new experience in fostering – bonus puppies. It turns out that whelping is much easier than I had expected, and we have learned a lot along the way.
Our vet guesstimated that Ivy was about 30 days pregnant, or halfway through her gestation (the average is 64 days). As Ivy got closer and closer to giving birth, we made lots of preparations and she settled in and let us know that she needed her own space. She become restless and irritable around the other dogs, so we repurposed our media room into a nursery and moved Ivy in.
During the first 5 weeks of a dog’s pregnancy, there are few physical changes. After Ivy’s 5th week, there was noticeable weight gain. With smaller litters there may be little weight gain until the very end of gestation. Ivy was quite obviously pregnant, so perhaps we should have known that she was carrying more than 2 or 3 puppies, but we think she is a Chihuahua mix and we expected a small litter. In the last few weeks, I could feel her puppies moving and kicking. She developed a lovely waddle.
Our nursery is a small room at the back of the house that is just wide enough for a couch and twice as long. It is a cozy space, and, importantly, the only room available that can be closed off, safe and quiet. We made a whelping box from a kit that I ordered. Dogs can give birth in a baby pool or a cardboard box. We went with an easy to keep clean vinyl whelping box that would be a safe place for Ivy’s puppies through weaning. This is the Cadillac option, but something tells me we will be doing this again in the coming years.
To prepare myself for the exciting moment, I watched a few dozen YouTube videos on whelping puppies and I ordered the Bare Bones Basic Whelping Kit for up to 8 Puppies on Amazon (which provided all of the intervention materials necessary if Ivy did not do all of the work during delivery.)
I was anxious to know when the puppies would arrive. My husband was due to leave town for work and I was strongly hopeful that he would be with us for the big event. One way to tell that a dog is ready to give birth is to take her temperature. A drop in temperature to 97-98 degrees Fahrenheit, indicates the puppies will arrive within 12-24 hours. Ivy let us know that she was very much not okay with the rectal thermometer. Rather than have a bite, I relented. Other indications are decreased appetite and vomiting. Ivy skipped her meals and vomited on the last day of her pregnancy.
I knew that Ivy was getting really close when I saw her digging through the layers of blankets in her whelping box, making a little safe nest for herself. I decided to sleep on the couch that night to be close to her. There was no actual sleep that night. Ivy stayed on the couch with me, restless, until her first puppy was delivered around 11pm. Ivy delivered five of her six puppies next to me on our leather couch. So much for the whelping box. She was comfortable there, close to me. I have to say, as a mother of two, she made it look easy. Her tail would raise when she was having a contraction and pushing, a puppy in a sac would appear suddenly, she broke and consumed each sac, cut each cord and licked each puppy to stimulate breathing and each puppy immediately began to nurse.
We were prepared to breaks sacs and cut cords, but in the end, Ivy handled everything on her own. She was very efficient.
Ivy’s first five puppies came about 15 to 30 minutes apart. The last puppy came after an hour. I was very concerned before doing this about how we would know when she was done and no more puppies were coming. I read that if there is pushing, grunting and crying that lasts over an hour with no puppy in sight, its time to get to your vet. Ivy had a normal, quiet delivery. By 2am, we had six lovely puppies, around 8 ounces each. It was really beautiful to watch.
There are situations where you need to assist a dog in whelping puppies. If your dog does not tear open the sac within a few minutes, you will have to do it for her, or the puppy will die from suffocation. Have a clean cloth ready. You will need to rub the puppy vigorously, but not roughly, to allow circulation to start. Have a bulb syringe on hand in order to clear the airways if the puppy does not start to breathe on its own.
If your dog doesn’t cut the umbilical cord, you will need to tie it off with dental floss or thread about 1 inch from the pup’s body, and then tie a second knot further away from the body. Using clean scissors, cut the cord half an inch from the body, between these 2 knots.
Newborn puppies cannot regulate their own heat. We kept a small heater in the nursery and kept the temperature at 85 degrees. You can also place the puppies on a heating pad set on low and covered with a towel. We kept the room very warm for the first weeks, gradually lowering the temperature until the puppies had grown and could keep warm on their own.
Ivy was a wonderful mom. She did everything just right. My job was just to feed her 3 times her normal amount so that she could produce enough milk, and keep the whelping box clean. We changed the blankets once or twice a day and weighed the puppies morning and night to make sure that every pup was gaining weight properly.
Ivy’s puppies were all latching on and sucking from the start, but Ivy was not producing enough milk. We took mom and pups to the vet where Ivy was given Estrogen shots for 2 days to help her milk come in. I was bottle feeding the puppies with puppy formula every 2-3 hours for the first days and then Ivy took over. As long as a puppy was gaining weight each day, they nursed on mom only. If a puppy had not gained weight over the course of 24 hours, we supplemented with bottle feeding. I also rearranged the puppies sometimes so that the smaller puppies were nursing on the back teats where there is a greater milk supply. My daughter helped out with bottles.
Between 4 and 5 weeks, we decided to start giving the puppies soft food, because as they were rapidly growing, Ivy could not keep up with producing enough milk. I soaked puppy kibble in puppy formula and transitioned to dry kibble over the following weeks. Ivy weaned the puppies on her own schedule, gradually eating less herself, and pushing the puppies away when they tried to nurse on her.
This entire experience has been amazing. I’m impressed with Ivy’s mothering skills. The puppies are 8 weeks old tomorrow and ready for their own forever homes. Puppies need to stay with their mommas for at least 8 weeks while they earn how to dog. Ivy has been a great teacher. These are great dogs.
I expected that this whole process would be a lot more work. Having the whelping box with a separate section where we placed a fake grass puppy potty training pad made everything very easy to keep clean. I laundered the blankets daily and my husband hosed off the potty pads daily (it helps to have more than 1). Armed with Lysol wipes, I wiped down the vinyl whelping box and the rubber floor mats underneath it. We used very few disposable puppy pads. Puppies like to chew and tear them and it makes a mess.
Once the puppies were walking, they slept in the whelping box overnight and spent their days playing in the nursery, so I put down a potty pad, some toys, a water bowl, and I wiped down the wood floors daily. Ivy had a couch that she could retreat to when she needed a break.
The puppies had a teepee to play and nap in. I couldn’t resist.
The puppies had their 1st set of immunizations* at 6 weeks and were dewormed several times. It is important that puppies who are not fully vaccinated do not play outside in the grass where they can be exposed to many germs and parasites. Their immune system is still not fully developed. They will get their 2nd shots at 12 weeks and the 3rd set at 16 weeks. *DHLPP (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvo, and parainfluenza).
Here they are – heading out into the world one by one beginning today.
Miss Ivy will be starting heartworm treatment and crate rest as soon as all of her puppies have moved into their own forever homes. Once she is healthy, she will be spayed and ready for her own forever home.
www.talepawsrescue.org to ADOPT