BIRTH AND GROWING UP

The process of giving birth to a litter of puppies is hard to describe adequately, but an unforgettable event for the family.  The first stage of birth is a period of restlessness on the part of the bitch.  She will usually start to tear up her bedding and attempt to make a ‘nest’ for herself, preferably in the whelping box.  She will get up and sit down a great deal, and not seem relaxed in either position.

Visible bodily symptoms consist of a general slackening of the tautness of the hind quarters, a slight vaginal discharge and a good deal of swelling of the genital area, in preparation for giving birth.

As an owner, all you need to do at this stage is to make the bitch as comfortable as possible, and to write down the time of every development you notice, as it occurs.  This information may well be important if the vet needs to intervene later on.  The three main phases of birth to note are: (i) restlessness, (ii) labor or ‘contractions’ in which the puppies begin to leave their place in the womb, and (iii) delivery itself.

Many bitches vomit shortly before going into labor. – this is work that has to be done on an empty stomach.  A sure sign of impending labor is a marked drop in body temperature.  To observe this, take the bitch’s temperature at regular intervals via the rectum, but it is most important to use only a stubby-ended thermometer.

IF DELAYS OCCUR

If there are no signs of birth beginning, even though the due date has come and gone, normally you need not worry as long as the bitch still looks well, east and drinks and does not vomit or produce unusual discharges.  The first thing to check is your own estimate of the date of delivery: mistakes can easily creep in here, especially if there has been more than one mating.

You do need to call the vet, however, if there is any sign of ill health, or if more than five days have passed beyond the expected date of birth.  The bitch may not be pregnant at all, and this will need to be checked.  One sign of the pregnancy is, during the first phase of birth, the bitch periodically looks round at her flank.  If so, when proper straining begins it is important to make a note of the time again.

LABOR AND DELIVERY

Up to this point most bitches find it reassuring to have people around whom they know, but as the business of having puppies begins in earnest, mothers soon start to resent intrusion.  All unnecessary spectators must be excluded from the area: observation without interference should be the main aim of owners at this stage.

The first positive sign of a puppy is usually the appearance of a small fluid-filled sac that heralds the movement of a puppy down the birth canal.  No more than two hours should pass from the start of regular puppy straining until the appearance of a puppy.  Allowing for the time it takes for the vet to arrive, in practical terms you should never let a bitch strain in earnest for more than an hour without sending for help.

All being well, with further efforts, a puppy will eventually emerge.  It is normally covered with a double layer of membranes, from which it has to be freed to be able to breathe at all.  The membranes often rupture when the birth occurs, or if not, the bitch may clear them away.  Whatever happens it is vital that anything obstructing the puppy’s airway is cleared as soon as possible.  A clean, dry towel is adequate for this purpose.

Once the puppy is born it is very important to allow the bitch to see and lick her young.  This not only stimulates the puppy into activity, but also helps to create a firm bond between mother and offspring.

If there is a delay during delivery, and the bitch is clearly having difficulty in moving the puppy along, it is quite in order to apply firm but gentle help.  This is achieved by wrapping the puppy and its membranes in a clean dry towel, and pulling downwards and backwards.  It is not necessary to apply force.  If this intervention is unsuccessful, professional help is needed without delay.

Any puppy which seems lifeless and neither moves nor makes any noises should be checked immediately to see if its airway is clear.  It should then be rubbed vigorously, but not clumsily, with a dry warm towel.  As soon as it makes a healthy sound it should be replaced with its mother.  Newborn puppies are unable to control their own body temperature, so the environmental temperature must be kept up to around 27-30 degrees C (80-85 degrees F),

POST-NATAL CARE

When a bitch has finished whelping, she should be allowed to settle down in the whelping box, and the room kept warm and free from draughts.  Make sure the puppies stay with their mother in the box.  Infrared heaters can be used, but take great care to avoid heating the puppies directly: if they are unable to escape the direct beam, this can dry them out rapidly, possibly with fatal consequences.

You may need to coax the mother to come out of the box to relieve herself, as she may be unwilling; but it is very important that she does so, or she may suffer from a bladder illness known as retention cystitis.

It is not at all easy to tell if there are puppies still to come, so once all the activity is over, it is best to have the mother and litter examined by a vet.  As well as checking to see if it is all over, the vet can examine any weakly puppies and give suitable advice.  The vet will be able to detect any faults in the puppy that are congenital, i.e. present from birth but not necessarily inherited from the parents, and advise on the best course of action.  This is also a very good time to discuss with the vet any minor cosmetic operations such as removal of the dewclaws in some breeds, or even tail docking where this remains a practice.

Occasionally the mother may be unable to suckle her puppies, either through lack of milk or through illness; while sometimes bitches simply seem unwilling to suckle.  If this happens, or if the mother should die, you should seek a foster mother without any delay.  This is best done through the appropriate breed club, the address and telephone number of which can usually be found via the original breeder or by way of the Kennel Club.

HAND REARING

If you do not succeed in finding a foster mother immediately, then the puppies’ only chance of survival will be through hand rearing.  This is difficult but many find it a rewarding task.  Commercial foods are available for this purpose, but you can prepare a formula food yourself.

There is one other vitally important task for the owner in hand rearing, and that is to simulate the action of the mother when she licks the base of each puppy to stimulate it to relieve itself.  You have to do this after each feed for at least two weeks, say and night.

This can be achieved by stroking a piece of damp cotton wool over the puppy’s rear end.  Although the prospect of continual care, day and night for what will seem a very long time, is daunting, the successful rearing of a litter by hand is a considerable achievement and brings with it its own satisfaction.

Each day’s feed must be made up fresh and fed at blood heat.  It is given to the puppy by hand, by means of a miniature bottle with a rubber teat, or a plastic syringe.  A supply of these can usually be obtained from the local veterinary practice.

SUCKLING AND WEANING

For bitches who succeed in suckling their own puppies, this is an extremely demanding time.  The newborn puppies are entirely dependent on her milk for the first three weeks or so of their lives.  They must be left undisturbed while they feed, which they will do day and night until they are capable of eating some solid food.

The presence of any humans at feeding time will reduce the amount of nourishment they get.  It is crucial that the temptation to show off the litter to friends is resisted at least until the puppies can take some solid food.

Puppies start to eat solid food, usually by discovering what their mother is eating, at about the time they begin to explore.

DEVELOPMENT OF PUPPIES

Puppies are born with only the basic senses of touch, taste and smell.  They feel cold and warmth as well as pain and hunger.  They cannot see or hear very much until their eyes have been open for a day or so.  This begins to happen at about the tenth day.  But it is some two and a half to three weeks before they actively start to explore their surroundings.

The progression of characteristic behavioral skills that the young puppy develops follows a fairly fixed sequence, and it is extremely important that the process of socialization takes place in as normal a way as possible during this time.  The first thing a puppy has to learn is that it is a pack animal and that it is a dog.  So it needs to mix with others of its species.  It then has to be aware of other species that are not dogs, and learn where it and they fit in.

It makes good practical sense to allow puppies to become accustomed to other species kept as pet animals, such as cats and rabbits or even rats and mice, at an early age, so that they can all live in harmony together.

Puppies reared in isolation, without seeing any other dogs other than their mother at birth, and no more than one or two humans from then on, are prone to develop behavioral problems later in life.

MAIN PHASES

Here is a list of the main phases of puppy development.  Time periods for this development are not fixed, and vary slightly between individuals as in any natural process.

--AT BIRTH

Puppies’ eyes remain closed, and the puppies have no sense of hearing or smell.  They feel pain, heat and cold, hunger and thirst.  They are asleep for at least nine tenths of the time and spend the rest seeking food from their mother.  They pull themselves along with a ‘swimming’ action.  They cannot walk or even stand up.  The suckling reflex is very strong.  They need their mother to stimulate urination and defecation by licking their hindquarters.

--AT AROUND TEN DAYS

The eyes open but it takes one or two weeks more for the puppies to develop fully acute vision.

--FROM TWO TO THREE WEEKS

The senses of hearing and smell start to function.  The puppy is now able to walk with quite a lot of control.  It develops the ability to relieve itself at will, independently of its mother.  It begins to learn from experience and to avoid things that it has found to be unpleasant.  As it begins to explore its surroundings, the puppy will eat anything that looks at all like food.  This often happens as a result of walking through food put down for the mother.

--FROM THREE TO FOUR WEEKS

The puppy emerges from its earliest infancy and is ready to undertake the period of socialization.  Through interaction with its mother and littermates, it forms an intricate and varied set of behavior patterns, which remain intact for the rest of its life.  The puppy now weighs some six or seven times its birth weight.

--FROM EIGHT TO TEN WEEKS

The amount of milk the puppy takes, or is allowed to take, from its mother, diminishes rapidly.  After the period of socializing with dogs and other pets, comes the time for socialization with humans.  If the puppy is deprived of all human contact it will almost certainly be impossible for it to adapt to human living conditions, and it will probably be completely uncontrollable.  It learns from its mother how to fit into both canine and human society.

LEAVING THE LITTER

Most puppies that are sold to pet owners are taken into their new and permanent homes at around eight weeks, but there are many advantages in waiting until as late as 12 or 13 weeks, so that the new puppy is as fully equipped for life as it can be.  It also helps to overcome the conflict of interests when the puppy needs to socialize with other dogs, but is not allowed outside because its vaccination program is not completed and it would therefore be at risk from infection.

from The Practical Guide to Dog & Puppy Care - Andrew Edney and Roger Mugford