Puppy Pics *NEW* post #320-322 - Page 3

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

They are inside the barn. If she were my dog she would be in the house but my mom will not allow dogs in the house she is adament about it unfortunatly. I tried to talk them into moving her into the garage or the wood shop were there is a wood stove but they feel like she will be fine since this is what she is used to *sigh* I had some old clothes in there with her but I removed them because they got wet. I will put some more down after while when she settles down.

I know it isnt optimum conditions really not even close but I have done everything I could for her. She is a 100% outside dog always has been. Please dont be mad at me there is only so much I can influence my family unfortunatly.

[North_Of_60]

Yeay! She did well! And Jack Russell x Doxies are one of my favorite mixes. I'm also glad you don't live near by.

If there is no way you can get the pups inside or bring them to your house, just stress the importance of checking on them, at least every 2 hours, if not more, even during the night. I think it's already been suggested to weigh them and put the lower weight pups on top after she rolls over.

I would, however, nix the straw. Especially for small breed pups. They can get lost in it very easily, and it's very rough and sometimes dusty/moldy.

I would get shop towels (you can get them hardware stores, or car parts stores, they are low-fiber so when you towel dry a car you don't get bits of paper on the paint and are great for puppies, they're blue) and put a ton of those down, then a blanket, and old wool one is great, and then more towels. You should be able to replace the top paper towels, and the wool will wick any moisture away and into the lower paper towels which can be changed less often. It's also flatter and will reduce the chance of any pups getting squished, especially with a big litter. Straw is just too uneven.

[thekimballs]

Yup. If she MUST be outside, try to provide as thick a base of blankets/towels/whatever as you possibly can. Clean out the "junk" linen closet; shop towels are a great idea but you can use normal linens as well. You can make four or five layers and then plan on exchanging/washing the top two layers each time you go visit.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I wish I could take them home with me but my indoor cat has the only room I could put them in and she wouldnt share

Brother is checking on them constantly it really touched me when he came in from work and saw them and told Jill what a good job she did and held one of the pups and talked about how cute and tiny it was.

I intend to put the old clothes down before I leave tonight even though mom dosnt want me to. She dosnt think that I should be touching them even though Jill dosnt seem to care really though she does want them back right away like a good mama should.

I will get brother to help me that way the stress wont be as much on her.

I have the perfect scale to weigh them with I just need to bring it down here. 1 is definatly smaller than the rest but very active right now. I will be watching her close.

Thank you all for the support and help. I really do wish there was more I could do but for now I am doing all I can.

[thekimballs]

You are doing great. Trust me, we're not worrying about YOU--we're just puppy-obsessed and I do freak out. The way I was taught to whelp puppies is incredibly labor- and care-intensive, so I get the shivers when I picture a momdog out in a barn.

It is MORE THAN OK to touch the puppies. You should be handling them daily. Picking them up is the best way to tell if they are OK--they should feel like little sausages, all firm and tight, they should be warm all over, and they should wiggle. I am all over my puppies from the second they are born; they are completely moved three or four times a day to change the bedding under them, and I weigh twice a day and also do BioSensor exercises. They're not like baby rabbits or something; they do better the more they are touched, at least by their primary caretaker and gently and carefully.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Mom was saying she might decide to move them if we bug them to much. I know I sound like a little kid with mom this and mom that but she always was this way about pups on the rare occasion we had them.

She freaked on me when I came back in and told how many there were and the genders because I had *gasp* touched them : Lucky me she dosnt know I was picking them up and drying them off as they were born.

I figured as long as we didnt go in there yelling and jumping around she would be ok with having a visiter on occasion. I dont know what her past history really is other than previous owner sold the pups but he may very well have killed some of them at birth as well I know she goes into a licking frenzy as soon as you walk into the barn. Kinda makes me wonder.

Because of what mom said about her moving them brother is afraid to even touch the little guys. From what I have learned puppies that are handled more by humans make the best dogs cause they see humans as part of the pack.

So what are the odds she will move them if brother goes out a few times a day and pets them? I have no idea were she would move them to honestly she dosnt have any options but the barn she is in.

[North_Of_60]

She should be in a closed area but with the option to get out of the whelping box, and then YOU let her out to pee, leave the barn, etc. In other words, there should be NO option for her to move the pups, that can get dangerous. Especially if she is acting nervous (though licking isn't really a bad thing) because she can get so wrapped up in moving them from spot to spot that she may not nurse enough, they can get chilled, lost, etc.

We always put the whelping box in bathroom with a gate. She could get ouf of the box and ask to come out of the bathroom, and chances are a just-having-whelped lab wasn't going to jump the gate with a pup in her mouth so we felt good that she couldn't move them.

Is there a way to close her off from the rest of the barn a bit?

And if she IS acting nervous, it's actually best if you spend MORE time with her and the pups. More supervision with her and the pups, reassuring her she's a good girl, handling the pups, etc. If this were a dog in the house I basically wouldn't give her the opportunity to (gosh forbid) do anything to the pups because I would be *right* there.

But really, bringing them into your mom's house might not do any good if your mom will power trip about no one handling them in there. It's probably best to set her up outside so you can do what you want with them and not having her chasing you out of there.

[thekimballs]

I agree--put her in a stall somewhere or in a gated-off area. She doesn't need to be curled around them 100% of the time (though she will naturally do that for the first few days), but she shouldn't be allowed to get too far, or to have any option to move them.

I've never had a mom even try to move puppies; it's not an automatic instinct like it is for some other animals. As long as she feels safe and like she's not in danger, the number of people touching them won't matter and she should be relaxed.

And yes, by all means handle the little one; make sure that he is always first at the milk bar and gently shove some of the others aside. But little guys often do beautifully; the size at birth is a result of placental attachment, not overall health, and they *should* be able to keep up if given a chance.

When I had my litter of seventeen, I had puppies ranging from almost 2 lb down to 10 oz at birth. We knew how many were coming, and we actually decided not to c-section because we wanted the birth to weed some of them out (it's just incredibly hard to raise a litter that big, and I had a one-year-old nursling who needed me), so we had five stillborns because the birth was so prolonged. But of the 12 remaining, the littles were indistinguishable from the biggies by the time they were a month old. She raised that litter herself, too; I started solids early (2 weeks instead of 3) but she did all the nursing.

[MummyBird]

I just wanted to jump in and say congrats to the new little MaMa on her new big family!!!!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Since no one can stay with her constantly she has to be able to get out and use the bathroom on her own so closing her in with them in the box wouldnt work so well. But so far she has shown no signs at all of leaving them or moving them. I think she will be fine and I will encourage brother to go out and talk to her since she has bonded with him most and pet the puppies a bit.

I am going to try to take the scale down there tomarrow if nothing happens and we will see how much they weigh

[ananas]

Awww, cuuute

[Frogmorest]

congratulations mama dog!!!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

All the puppies are doing well mama is doing a super job a bit to super actually she is refusing to leave their sides. So brother and my mom have had to hold her food and water up to her to get her to eat and drink.


Once dh gets home I am going to take the scale down there and give them all a good look over and weigh in regardless of what mom wants. I need to make sure they all have their parts and none have cleft pallets etc.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

OK I have the weights

7 of them are 6oz. approx. 4 inches long
The 8th female was only 4oz. approx. 3.5 inches long. She is very healthy looking though & nursing well.
Good size yes? Mama is probably around 12 pds when not pg.

Mama has settled down a lot today. Has stopped licking the pups like crazy when anyone walks in and it dosnt bother her when we pick them up as long as they dont cry When I left they were all happily at the milk bar and quiet.

Brother is a bit worried about mama though she hasnt gotten out of the box yet at all. But she has drank and ate but they had to hold the food and water for her I told him I thought she was just being a good mama and to give it till monday and see how she is then.

She looks bright eyed and her gums are good color no real icky discharge that I saw just normal.

[thekimballs]

Sounds good. It's normal that she doesn't leave them--sounds like a great mom to me.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Brother is kinda worried that she is paralized or something because she hasnt wagged her tail either. My guess on that one is that it is sore back there and she dosnt want to because of that. I told him to give her till monday then take her out and sit her outside the box and I bet you $$ she will move so fast he would miss it if he blinks

She is definatly being a good mommy so careful and attentive to the little guys. Not aggressive to me or brother either. Just concerned like she should be.

[thekimballs]

If you want her to walk, pick up two of the puppies and take them with you. She'll jump up to follow them, and you can take her out to pee.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I thought about doing that but brother dosnt want her messed with that much. I am pretty confident she is fine. I am pretty sure she has gotten up to pee and no one saw her do so. It would be odd if she hadnt peed since yesterday before 2pm.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Puppies are doing great all but 1 gained 2oz from Sat. evening till Mon. evening and the 1 gained 1oz. The smallest is no longer the smallest now.

Jill got up a few minutes yesterday and today mom said she spent about 10 min. outside.

[thekimballs]

great update!

Just keep watching out for the smallest (whoever that is). They should double their birth weight by a week old, ten days at most.