Orphaned Litter (almost)
One of the biggest worries in whelping is
to have your dam die at birth, or next worse... to reject, or kill her puppies.
This particular litter is almost equal to an orphaned
litter. Sassy, the English Mastiff Dam, is refusing to clean and potty her
puppies. She is not aggressive towards them and is not rejecting them
totally, she is tolerating them. She will allow them to feed, if the pups
are manually placed on her teats, however she shows no interest in them. I
was hoping if the pups suckled, that her hormones would kick in, but we are
on day 5, and still zero interest.
Even if I had a Dam that just refused to clean and
potty her puppies, I could at least leave the puppies with her all night to
keep warm, stimulate, and feed, then potty in the am.
I cannot do this. Many breeds cannot stay with their
puppies, as they could purposely kill them, or accidentally kill them in
this case, because of the size of the dam.
I must take the pups away, and give them to her every
2 hours.
Even if I had a GREAT Dam with little milk, I could at
least leave them all night, and do supplementing in the day.
This litter is presenting the breeder with a similar
challenge, as an orphaned litter.
She has milk, But cannot be left alone with the
puppies,
nor will she stimulate, or potty them.
This means, a committed breeder, must put a whole lot
more into this litter than ever imagined, being Robbed of a once welcomed
act, called sleeping.
Every 2 hours, (and each feeding takes an hour),
She must take the pups out of the warm box, and put on
the dam. (with this litter, there are only 9 teats, and 11 puppies), so she
needs to rotate, and top up with supplemented canine milk.
Then she needs to gently massage the vulva and penis,
to make them potty,
Then she needs to massage the anus to make them poop.
This is very time consuming, a messy job and mentally and draining.
If you don't have convenient access to a sink, you can
use the wet wipes to clean your hands before pottying each puppy.
Occasionally you may need to use them to clean up a puppy bum, (make sure
they are baby wipes, meant to clean a babies bum). Floor wipes should not be
used on the puppy bums.
Sassy calmly lays back and watches her humans do
her job
| In a case like this, where a human is keeping track,
not the dam, EVERY puppy needs to be identified, I am using colored ribbon,
as the tails are too dark to color. |
|
|
Even with a Dam in total control It is wise to
identify the puppies, so when you weigh them, you know who is gaining what.
Every step of the way must be recorded, to
make sure no puppy or the dam is being neglected.
WE are winning!
| |
17th |
18th |
19th |
20th |
21st |
28th |
Nickname |
| Red boy |
614 |
634 |
628 |
640 |
714 |
1118 |
Pluto |
| Green boy |
658 |
644 |
622 |
680 |
720 |
1144 |
Chip |
| Yellow boy |
700 |
692 |
672 |
730 |
802 |
1134 |
Moose |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Pink girl |
614 |
600 |
620 |
652 |
694 |
1100 |
Minnie |
| Green girl |
514 |
522 |
522 |
574 |
636 |
932 |
Lady |
| Red girl |
588 |
580 |
548 |
598 |
670 |
1030 |
Tinkerbell |
| White girl |
534 |
514 |
508 |
534 |
594 |
908 |
Alice |
| Aqua girl |
620 |
612 |
624 |
688 |
736 |
1050 |
Daisy |
| Orange girl |
502 |
500 |
526 |
544 |
614 |
968 |
Lilo |
| Brown girl |
434 |
446 |
452 |
498 |
522 |
910 |
Thumbelina |
| Black girl |
510 |
518 |
528 |
544 |
638 |
1000 |
Cinderella |
500 g = 17.5 oz
600 g = 21 oz
700 g = 24.5 oz
800g = 28 oz
I put Catreeya, a
Havanese dam, in the guest room, and moved the
blue kennel back, and put in is place, a big Rubbermaid bin.
I then gave her 2 pups, at a time + 2 + 2 + 2 till she had them all.
Catreeya came in and got them all
exercised up.
She was
willing to nurse them, or let them try. She lifted up her leg.
She was very accommodating, licked all
their heads, but didn't' go for bums, but I had just done that. She got them
good and exercised and moving.
Sassy, the Mastiff was up on her feet,
wondering, WHAT was up, so I let her go look, hoping she would be jealous. And
she saw Catreeya, greeted her, kissed her, and thought.
OH... OK... go ahead, keep doing whatever you are doing, thanks and Sassy went
back in her room. without the pups.
I may use Catreeya at night, to keep the puppies company, too bad she didn't
have milk.
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Today's problem, we are dealing with
constipation
WELL,, NOW they are all constipated.
They need heat, but it can dehydrate them, so... do you turn the heat down, and
risk fading syndrome, or deal with it.
Too much heat, can cause constipation, too little heat can cause death. (WAY to
much heat can also cause Death)
It took me from 7:30 till 9:22 to feed them and try to get them all to poo, they
hadn't pood since this am. Yesterday, I tried a bottle of water, and a drop of
oil, but it wasn't working. Poos' were pasty.
Nature works soooooo well, when it does all for you.
Anyway,
I had to give them (9 of 11 of them), a nice warm enema and lickety split, all
pooped..
This is so much work, just like having quintuplets!
In the end of all this, these puppies will be Better
than ever, because they have been mainly hand reared, using the dams milk. The
hands on that these puppies are getting will make them exceptional pets, and
worth all the effort.
DAY 6,
She licked and kissed 3 puppies... in a very small way, but she is falling for
them...
Last night was brutal.
I fed them at 9pm, finishing at 9:30, if I just potty them,
Then they wanted to eat at 11pm ,
Then 1am,
Then they wouldn't settle, at 2am they were just scampering and screaming,
finally at 2:30am I fed them again, and spent the hour to top them all up with a
bottle, so I was done at 3:30, and they slept till 7 ish; so I got to sleep from
about 3:45am till 7:00am.. 3.25 hours.
FRIENDS, at times like this, it sure is nice to know
you have some. (grin)
Courtesy of MistyTrails Mastiff's
Although this section is based on a
whelping of an English Mastiff, it also contains good general whelping
information in large breed dogs. You can find more whelping information in the links above. The links below
tell a story about Sassy, an English Mastiff. Sassy has a wonderful temperament.
She loves humans and Adores human children. An all around mild mannered,
wonderful Mastiff. Sassy however is not the best mother towards her puppies, she
is not rejecting them, she will nurse them when a human places them on her to
feed, however she will not clean the pups or pay any attention to them. It is as
if, they are not her puppies. This litter is getting moms milk, with major human
interaction, manually giving each and every pup what they need. In return, the
pups will be super socialized and will make remarkable pets, however the work
involved is astounding. It takes one dedicated breeder to keep this situation
healthy. Thankfully this litter has just that, a dedicated breeder. Read the
links below to get the full story. There is a wealth of info that everyone can
appreciate and benefit from.
C-Section in a Large Breed Dog
Newborn Puppies... What you need
Whelping Mastiff Puppies One to Three Days Old
Things do
not always go as planned (imperforate anus)
Orphaned Litter (not the plan)
10
Days Old Plus ++
3 Week Old Puppies
Puppies 3 Weeks - time to start
potty training
Puppies 4 weeks old
Puppies 5 weeks old
Puppies 6 weeks old
Puppies 7 weeks old
Socializing the Puppies
Mastitis in Dogs
Whelping Large Breed Dogs Main
Whelping, a new
found respect
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