Alyosha Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Every bitch and litter will be different. My girl finds her whole litter of 12 very stressful. She doesn't settle and fidgets trying to keep off them - the upshot of which is stepping or laying on some while she tries to avoid others. We've had one emergency rescus on a squashed pup - I don't know if my heart can stand another!! Also, as her milk really didn't come in until day five (yes, even with oxy!), supplementary feeding and keeping them very warm was vital. She overheats quickly in a normal warm room, whereas the pups need lots of warmth, so spearating them has worked well. And by separate I mean in a basket at the edge of the whelping box where she can stick her head in. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bokezu Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Ok I have a question - the pups haven't even arrived yet but it's been something i've been trying to figure out for a while. When you take your bitch/pups to the vet in the first week or two I'm guessing you can just put the pups in their washing basket and off you go. But how on earth am I supposed to get god knows how many 6 week old GSP's to the vet for their vacc's??? I have a landcruiser but how do I contain them? Can anyone tell me what they've done in the past? I had a litter of 11 recently so we took them to the vet at 6 weeks in the dog trailer. We took 2 c-crates in and set them up in the waiting room. It wasn't easy and I had hubby to help me, couldn't have done it without help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Mobile vets are great and will often give good discounts for a full litter. Figure. They pay $5/vac. It takes an hour or so. If they make $20/pup, a litter of 12 returns a pretty good wage. Ok I have a question - the pups haven't even arrived yet but it's been something i've been trying to figure out for a while. When you take your bitch/pups to the vet in the first week or two I'm guessing you can just put the pups in their washing basket and off you go. But how on earth am I supposed to get god knows how many 6 week old GSP's to the vet for their vacc's??? I have a landcruiser but how do I contain them? Can anyone tell me what they've done in the past? Edited July 13, 2011 by sandgrubber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rottsup Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 We have had two litters within the last 4 months. First litter of 10 were quite manageable and the mum was very good at flicking the ones who were full off with her tongue which allowed others to come in to feed. Our current litter there are 12 pups and the extra 2 make a big difference. They are 17 days old today. We rotate in 2 groups of 6 around the clock 24/7 which has worked very well so far. All but one of the pups doubled their birth weight by 12 days old. We did not supplement feed but kept a very close watch incase we needed to. We still have the 2 groups of six and will continue to do this even when we start solids as I feel it will be easier for the pups to get their fair share and for us to manage too. We did put the 6 who were not nursing in one of those plastic tubs on wheels with a hotwater bottle and a towel over the top to stop draughts but we found that without some air circulation the plastic box got condensation which dampened the towel in the bottom (under the hotwater bottle) so we brought a laundry basket which was tightly woven plastic but allowed some slight air flow without any draughts and this worked so much better. When we take them to the vet for their first vaccinations and microchips we put them all in a crate in the back of our car and off we go. Once there (I have help) one of us gets one while the other stays with the vet while he does the vaccinations and microchip, once one is done the next one is in the room and we take the one done back to the crate and keep going until they are all done. If we could get a vet out to our place we would but generally they want quite a large fee to visit us. Hope this helps someone :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 No - I would never remove puppies from their mother unless I absolutely had to. The puppies are so vulnerable in those first few days they must have thier mother curled around them, stimulating them, licking them. This maintains their body temp which they have no control over. It is essential that they do not become chilled which by removing them you do risk. They must have her warm body constantly available to stop chilling. They must have constantly available a supply of rish warm milk. They need to sleep, wake, nurse, be stimulated to empty and sleep. I am an advocate of the theory - "The more you interfere the less the bitch will do". To stimulate milk production a top diet must be a priority for your bitch her whole life not just when she is pregnant. Adding fenugreek to the diet of your pregnant bitch does seem to help milk production - 1 to 2 tsp a day after mated. The Billinghurst Milk Drink - this I start with our girls at about week 7 - have not had one refuse it yet and never an issue with the runs. It does however seem to have milk dripping when they are ready to feed pups which is what we want. 250ml milk (cow or goat) 1tsp honey 1 tsp flaxseed oil 1 raw egg (or 2 egg yolks) 1 or 2 junket tablets plus multi B & C Vit Blend it and keep at body temp for about 10 minutes for the junket to work. I always allow my girls to eat as many placentas as they want to as well, just in case they decide to go off their food after whelping (hasn't happened yet) - the placentas and milk drink will get them through several days without losing condition. I have had one maiden bitch not cope with 12 puppies to start but once her Vit C levels were back up she was fine. I didn't however remove her puppies from the box - I just took half off her teats while the other half fed. Once she had slept, relaxed, Vit C levels back up and had a feed herself she took over and never looked back. I so agree with everything you say! I would never remove the puppies, nature is wonderful, we really don't need to interfere unless there are problems, its amazing how well our girls can cope, please don't underestimate them. me too. let nature do its job - stop interferring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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