How To Help Your Dog To Whelp, Preparing For Childbirth
How To Help Your Dog To Whelp, Preparing For Childbirth

Video: How To Help Your Dog To Whelp, Preparing For Childbirth

Video: How To Help Your Dog To Whelp, Preparing For Childbirth
Video: How to assist your Dog during Whelping - the delivery process 2024, March
Anonim

Density in dogs lasts 63 days, deviations within the normal range - 4-5 days in one direction or another.

By the time of the puppies, that is, giving birth, you must fully equip the place where the bitch and her offspring will be located. Of course, it is best to place it in the same place as the dog is used to, but some rework will be required. It will be ideal if you can build some kind of roof and walls - dogs, and other animals, like to feel "in a burrow". Pet stores now sell various pet houses, but if you have a large dog, it is not always possible to find the right size. Note also that the dog will not be alone there, but with the puppies. For a large dog, you can equip a "nest" under the desk if it has solid side walls. Of course, the table cannot be used in this case.

The place for puppies must be fenced off: for tall dogs, the height of the fence is 20-30 cm, for small breeds - 10-15 cm. It's hard to imagine how early the kids begin to crawl out of their place and into what cracks they will not be able to crawl! Therefore, the longer the fence remains an insurmountable obstacle for them, the better for them and the calmer you are. Of course, the entire structure must have a sufficient margin of safety to withstand the weight of the puppies storming it. In this case, the walls - or at least one of the walls of the fence - should be easily removed so that, if necessary, you can help with childbirth, you can remove the wall and sit next to the dog.

The litter should take up about half the area of the fence, be firm enough not to bunch up all the time, and be replaced regularly. There should not be any bowls with food or water leftovers in the fence: puppies are very tender and can injure themselves on the seemingly plastic edges of the bowl or even drown in water. There should be enough space in the fence so that 4-7 puppies not only freely fit there, but also can play, since it is better to let them out into the room from about three weeks. Naturally, when they grow up so much that no fence will hold them back, they will constantly crawl out of it, but it is still better for them to sleep on the spot - this disciplines them, preparing them for adulthood, and saves them from unnecessary risk that someone something will step on them.

I don't think it's worth explaining that all valuable or dangerous things should be removed from the room where the puppies will be released: first of all, wires and rubber toys, erasers, balls, etc., books and newspapers, ironing boards, irons, long curtains, cords - in a word, everything on which you can hang, get tangled, peel, gnaw, swallow, choke … Furniture in this room must be moved close to the wall or, conversely, put as far as possible from the walls - so that it cannot was getting jammed and stuck there. We had one puppy who loved to sleep with his head and chest between the wall and the closet and only his rounded butt in the room. We were still inexperienced breeders and were moved by this sight until the baby was still stuck. Fortunately, everything worked out: we were there and immediately pulled him out,and this story could have a sad end.

The place should be equipped in advance, 3-4 weeks before giving birth, so that the bitch has time to get used to it. Remember that a puppy bitch has a heightened instinct for self-preservation, and a sudden change in environment can scare her at first. By the way, do not start any large movements of furniture, repairs, moving, when puppies are expected to appear: firstly, the risk of injury sharply increases, which is aggravated by the fact that the dog becomes less mobile and dexterous, and secondly, in nervous, choleric and in highly excitable dogs, change can be stressful and cause miscarriage.

I would like to give an example of how my dog, being a puppy, walking along an absolutely familiar route in the country, did not have time to dodge the open hatch (any dog, of course, would have jumped, but because of the puppyness its reaction slowed down) and fell into the basement. The height was small - about a meter, and the dog was large, nevertheless, 2 out of 7 puppies were born in the form of macerated, that is, dried, corpses. A smaller, lighter built dog could lose all litter or even die. Therefore, you should especially watch your dog during puberty, walk it only along familiar routes, avoid noisy places and dog gatherings where it can be injured, try to lead it away from sources of harsh loud noises (for example, from freeways, where all the time honking cars, screeching brakes, etc.), especially in the last third of pregnancy.

In a word, caring for a puppy dog is somewhat similar to caring for a sick animal: everything, even familiar objects or animals, now pose this or that danger to it, and no one, except its owner, will take care of it or protect it …

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