Decided this blog/thread really belongs in the Health Section


Just been to the vets and Nevada is pregnant to Jackal...... yay
We don't know how many yet but I am really pleased.

I have deleted a few congratulations posts below mine, no offence, but it was decided we would turn this thread into a blog on my litters progress. As I have to buy all new equipment and supplies as I usually borrow from my mother who is also having a litter it is going to be quite informative to new breeders and those interested in breeding in the future.

I have whelped many litters now and I have been to many health seminars about whelping and rearing young puppies, a few years ago I created a booklet called 'Breeding Your Tamaskan' to go along with our other booklet 'Caring for your Tamaskan' and it gave many hints and tips. It didn't prove very popular and so both these booklets were combined to form 'The Ultimate Tamaskan Survival Guide'

In this booklet it tells you everything you need to know about whelping litters and how to care for sick puppies.

I do recommend this booklet to all new breeders as well as our dog by dog guides of the Foundation and First Generation Dogs.

My bible and the book that is always on hand when I am having a litter is the Book of the Bitch written by J. M Evans & Kay White

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Day 27: (35 days left)
ok, now that I know I am definately having a litter I can get going with buying all the important stuff.
I usually borrow my mothers equipment but now I live on my own and my mum is having her own litter I guess its about time that I buy my own stuff.
I bought my vet beds yesterday from a champ show that I went to.
This is the type of vet bed my mother uses

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and was the only type you could find until recently in grey or white and sometimes green.
Well now they have lots of pretty colours. This is the stuff I bought

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With a non stick backing, of course I didn't buy this much. I bought two large pieces to cut into 4 pieces that would prob each cover the base of a large crate.
When puppies reach weaning age you can usually go through 4 or more of these a day they are very easy to wash in the washing machine and they dry super quick.

You also need a heat lamp, I used to believe these were super important as newborn pups get cold very easily, but after watching dogs give birth outside in Finland at minus 30 and 40 and then coming back to the UK and sticking heatlamps on in the summer, I wonder if it is worth it. But I would rather be safe than sorry so a heatlamp it is, from the canine chemists

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I have also recently been introduced to dopram. It contains DOXAPRAM which stimulates breathing (in just born pups) and is similar to treatments used in caring for premature babies in hospital. In the past I have often had to perform mouth to mouth on a new born pup to get the oxygen pumping but sadly it doesn't always work, I always have this in my birthing box now.

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Well I have searched the internet for some welpi (puppy replacement milk) and none are quite as cheap as our local pet supermarket so i will buy from there as it is only £6.50
but here is a link to the product

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Puppies have a habit of arriving at midnight or there abouts and so if the bitch rejects the pups or refuses to feed them, has no milk, pups are loosing weight or you have a weaker pup that cannot crawl to its mum then you NEED welpi. I know it has a use by date and to this day I have never used a whole tub, but had to throw a load away, but it is important to have it in the house even if you are lucky and you don't need it, because when you do need it you can guarentee the shops are shut or they are out of stock.
Should you ever find yourself in this situation, you can use carnation evap milk (but no other brand) for maybe one feed before they will need more nutrients.
Always buy a small tub of Welpi, you will never use all of it.
Some people use Welpi after the pups have been weaned, they add it to the morning breakfast which is usually weetabix, this is an excellent way to use it all up before it goes off.

Day 28: (34 days left)
Have just bought myself one of these puppy pens from ebay

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Not tried these ones before, these are by far not the best ones.
Mum uses this one, but she adds more sides

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They are much bigger, they have solid sides so even if you have 20 pups jumping up at them for their dinner the pen will not move or tip over.

I would normally have borrowed my mothers pen, being the best you can get (and the most expensive), but I can't as she will have her own pups in it. For this litter I will buy the cheap alternative and hopefully be able to steal mums pen next time (she does have two), it is brilliant but takes up an awful lot of space when its folded down and I would have no where to store such a large puppy pen in my new house (which is shedless at the moment).

Just had Nevada out for a nice walk.
It is important at this stage in the pregnancy to keep your bitch fit and active. Only later on will they need to take it easy, but at this stage they need a good run.
After all they will have to find the strength to push out all those babies and care for them afterwards and that takes a lot of energy out of a dog, infections are a worry after birth, expes in c-section dogs, a fit and healthy dog will more likely be healthier and recover quicker after a large litter birth than one who is unfit.

Day 30: (32 days left)
Puppy pen has just arrived.... , haven't opened the box yet though. Looks a bit tall to me, I hate puppy pens that you can't bend over without loosing your oxygen supply for a few seconds or leaving a large indent on your stomach, but the shorter sides meant less floor space too, oh well.

Just in the middle of building my whelping box, with a little help from mother we are cutting the large 8ft x 4ft sheets of contiboard we bought from B&Q yesterday, will post a picture of the end product.

PS. Have succeeded in having multiple accidents, the most recent being dropping the box of screws all over the floor.

Day 32 (30 days left)
Sorry I haven't got the whelping box pictures up yet. I did take some but I didn't have my memory card in my camera at the time and then I packed up the whelping box ready for my house move so can't take more.
Have to find my camera lead to get the pictures off, will look for it tonight

Well today is day 33 of Nevs pregnancy and she has had a treat today, a tin of sardines, some scrambled egg and a sprinkling of puppy food.
Pregnant bitches need a higher source of protein when carrying babies and although you can buy special food for pregnant bitches you will find it will have the same nutrition and calorie intake as normal puppy food (but be twice the price).
I always feed my bitch on the same brand that I plan to wean the puppies on, in Nevs case it is Pedigree complete, this supposedly helps the pups transfer from milk to biscuits easier, although I am not sure if there is truth in it.

I introduce it slowly, with the idea that she will be eating this and nothing else (except treats etc) by the time the pups are born.
I don't use supplements, but I often give fish, goats milk, yoghurt and cooked egg.
She is not pregnant enough to have her food increased yet though so these treats should be given in moderation.

Day 40 (22 days left)
Today is the day that I start Nev on her worming program.
I worm my dogs with panacur 10% liquid. Pregnant bitches should be wormed everyday (at a lower doseage) from day 40 of their pregnancy until 2 days post whelping (birth).

I am worming my other 3 dogs today as well. If your dogs have worms and you only de-worm your pregnant bitch then she could easily pick worms up from the other dogs if they have them.

Having a good worming proceedure in place is one of the most important things to remember to do with your pregnant bitch and your young puppies. If the mothers have worms they will pass them onto their puppies, worms can cause a lot of damage to a young pup, in serious quantities they can cause blindness, brain damage, organ failure and even death.

Today is the day I also start to 'up' the food a little bit, she will start to receive a small breakfast in addition to her evening meal and she will now receive a tin of sardines everyday (I buy the cheap ones from Asda for 12p a tin). She has already put on quite a bit of weight and is looking very pregnant indeed.

Day 47 (15 days left)

I have just ordered my new disinfectant. I usually just use Jays fluid on my dog pens, but as pups are sensitive to infection and disease I am getting some stronger stuff.
Mum uses Cromessol, but I believe I may have found one a bit better, its called Mistral and unlike Cromessol it comes in lots of differant scents, Peach, Bubblegum, Pear Drop, Lemon, Vanilla, Cherry, Floral, Pineapple, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Coconut, Orange and Spearmint.

On their website it says 'Ideal for usage in Kennels and catteries to control Canine Parvo-virus (type 2), Feline Calici virus and kennel cough etc. Also effective against H1N1 Swine-flu, Newcastle disease, TB, Avian Inflenza Virus and foot & mouth not to mention its use in many laundries to control MRSA Unlike conventional disinfectants it will not cause detrimental effect to animals and is safe to use around them. Also highly effective against Weil\'s Disease.'

I have ordered a 5L bottle of Lavender, I will use this not only to clean out my yard and make it smell fresh, but to clean the whelping box pre and post birth, I also have cat litter trays with disinfectant in it for myself and visitors to dip their shoes in before they enter the house to stop them bringing in diseases.

Day 61 (1 day left)

Well the whelping box is up, the newspapers are stacked, the heat lamp is hanging and we are just waiting on Nev.
Sorry I haven't been keeping you all up to date but I have just moved house and my internet is not up and working yet.

Nev is very large now, she is having trouble getting up and lying down because she is so huge. If you place your hand on her stomach you can feel lots of babies moving around and every now and again she turns her head around and stares at her stomach like she is wondering what is in there...

Since last Sat I have been sleeping on the couch with her just in case she comes early. Dogs can be up to a week early and a week late and they need to be watched at this time. My friend has come to stay with me so I can leave the house to walk dog and go shopping etc.......

I will keep you posted but I expect they will have arrived by tommorow night.
You can usually tell the first stages of labour when they start to pant heavily and shake.

That's exiting! Good luck

Have the puppies been born yet? I can't wait to come visit! xxx

As Jennie as just moved house, I am not sure she is on-line yet, but I am sure she will give an update as soon as she can

Yes Jenny is busy with the pups and new house. She dosnt have internet access there at the moment and has to rely on coming over to me every now and again to answer her mails. Nevada had 7 lovely puppies. They are 4 days old today. Im sure Jenny will post pics eventually.

Congratulations Nevada & Jennie

Hurray! well done Nevada and Jennie!

Yay new puppies! Congrats!

Yes, many congratulations Nevada and Jennie - hope all going well

Congratulations Nevada & Jennie

Kirsten und Karsten

Thanks guys, its been hard work so far and Nevada started off as a very poor mother, not doing as she is supposed to, but she is much better now.
Will fill you all in with more detail when I can, can't stay long as the dogs have taken to howling while im out.....haha
All the pups are doing fine, will put some pictures up next time as I forgot my camera this time....
Should have my internet up and running by the end of next week hopefully so will be able to tell you all the whole story.

Names of pups in order of birth

Blufawn Xavier (Dark Grey)
Blufawn Beast (Dark Grey)
Blufawn Wolverine (a sort of gold colour, with restrictions as he has a flash)
Blufawn Gambit (the smallest, but only by an ounze, pale gold, with restrictions because of a flash)
Blufawn Jubilee (pale gold)
Blufawn Rogue (Dark Grey)
Blufawn Storm (Dark Grey)

All named after x-men characters for those who never watched it

oh btw, all these puppies have been sold.
I am getting lots of emails from people asking about the litter, but they are all gone, sorry.

Congrats! Can't wait to see pictures

I love the names of the pups
My own name 'Rahne' also comes from the X-Men. There's a mutant which is called 'Rahne Sinclair', her mutant name is 'Wolfsbane' and she can transform herself into a red wolf. My mother was a big fan of the comics. If I get any children in the future I also want to name them after X-Men characters.

Lovely names Looking forward to hearing more and seeing the pictures!

so ironic, I just watched the second xmen movie. Haha, i love xmen.

Ahh cute! I can't wait to see pictures, I've been dreaming about puppies

I finally remembered to bring my camera, here are some pictures.


Our heavily pregnant Nevada

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Nevada during labour

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All finnished

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Inside her homemade whelping box and pen

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Blufawn Wolverine

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Blufawn Gambit

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One week old

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Blufawn Wolverine at 1 week

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Blufawn Gambit at 1 week

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Aww, so cute

Fantastic Jennie

Thanks Jennie for putting the pictures on, so sweet! It's funny how alien looking the new born pups look - they get cuter as the get older!

I hope you are doing okay and Nevada is taking her responsibilities seriously and giving you a bit of a break!

xxx