Puppy Development

The whelping box is ready! Mom's temperature will
drop from a normal 102 down to 99, she will be panting constantly, and digging in her bedding. Within
12 hours the puppies
will start arriving.

This week the puppies eyes and spinal cords develop, their faces take shape,
and the fetuses will grow from 5-10 mm to 14-15 mm.

The Mom will start to look pregnant
and her mammory glands will start to
develop. The puppies will develop toes,
whisker buds, and claws. The fetuses
will now look like dogs and you can tell sexes.

This week the puppies develop skin pigment and the fetal heartbeats can be heard with a stethoscope. It's time to assemble the whelping box. Of course Mom has to arrange things to her liking.
The puppies will be born in this box. The rails around

the inside of the obx will protect the puppies from Mom accidentially laying on them or squeezing them against the sides of the box.

The puppies continue to grow and develop. Everyone gets excited and the big discussion is
HOW MANY WILL THERE BE ? ? ? We keep a list so after the delivery we can see who came closest with their prediction. Mom will love all the attention.

This week Mom won't have much to do except take it easy and be pampered. She will have around the clock supervision. I'll put the whelping kit together.

Towels - to dry the puppies
Hemostats - to clamp the cords
Scissors - to cut the cords
Dental Floss - to tie the cords
Cotton balls or Q-tips
Colored identification collars
Clock - to time between births
Birth Record Sheet
Pen - to record all information
Scale - to weigh each puppy
Thermometer - to take temps
K-Y Jelly - for thermometer
Heating pad - for extra basket
Garbage bags - for soiled towels
Favorite Coffee mug
Camera - for lots of pictures
Leash - if we need to go outside
Flashlight - for going out in the dark

Rubber gloves
Nail polish - to dab on puppy nails for
identification until collars
are put on
Bulb syringe - to asperate a puppy
if needed
Eye dropper, bottle, and milk replacer
Phone & Vets emergency number

If all goes well with the delivery most of these items will not be needed, but I want to be prepared in case of an emergency.

The next 4 to 24 hours will be very busy. As the puppies are born they are dried off, weighed, and
colored identification collars put on. After all puppies are delivered Mom gets all cleaned up and fed chicken broth with rice in it. Now we can all RELAX and watch the puppies cuddle up to Mom and nurse.

Until the puppies are 3 weeks old the Mom will help with a lot of the work. We make sure they are warm and dry and that their bedding is always clean. We keep a very close eye on growth and development. Each puppy is held, cuddled, rubbed all over, and talked to several times each day. They have learned to walk and now's the time to start house training.

At three weeks old the puppies have so many new experiences. Baby rice cerial is
their first solid food and they patiently wait for their turn to eat. Each puppy is fed in their own dish so I know everyone is
getting enough to eat. At first this is a very messy process and all faces and paws have to be washed.

After everyone is fed and cleaned up they're put outside for a bathroom break and play
period. While they're outside the whelping box is cleaned and the bedding changed. Then it's
back inside for nap. We go trough this process at 7 A.M., 1 P.M., and 7 P.M. We are working
hard on house training and the puppies are put out MANY MANY times between feedings.

As the puppies continue to grow and thrive we always look forward to and welcome lots of company. These are two of our most experienced socializers. It's really hard to say who enjoys these visits most - the kids, the puppies, or the adults watching the kids and puppies.

From birth until the puppies are ready to go to live with their new families they are subjected to
every imaginable family living situation. We do everything possible to make the transition from
our home to yours as easy as possible for the puppy and the new owners.

We intorduce the puppies to a crate gradually. We start by putting 3 puppies in a crate and then rotate them between different stlyes of crates. By the time they go to their new homes they have each spent at least 2 nights in a crate by themselves.