Supplies for the big day

 In addition to the whelping box, gather these supplies and have them available and ready:

• lubricating gel
• a rectal thermometer
• alcohol swabs
• probe covers
• notebook, pen
• face towels
• hemostat
• pair of scissors
• unwaxed dental floss 
• tincture of iodine
• heating pad

The Tums are for me and the dam MySP.

The Whelping Box

To allow your dam the opportunity to feel comfortable and about a week to two weeks prior to her whelping date, provide the dam with an area for whelping and nursing her puppies, or your dam will chose a location that may not be desirable. You want to place the whelping box in familiar surroundings that also provide some degree of privacy.
 

There are whelping boxes available from pet stores or ordered from the web. Below is a homemade one I made for MySP. I undercut the ledge near the floor that is high enough so that the puppies cannot jump out but MySP may be able to go in and out. I bedded down the whelping box area with towels to provide nesting material.  For me, towels are ideal and I find them  soft enough (unlike paper, and newspaper ink may stain your dam and the puppies) and can be washed and reused many times over.

 A homemade whelping box

Is she, or is she not?

Although it was not until three and a half weeks from being bred that I noticed the early signs of pregnancy, I immediately replaced MySP's adult dog food with a high quality puppy food right after breeding her. Puppy food provides the extra calories and nutrients that will be needed for the health of the unborn growing puppies and when she nurses them after whelping.

The first and early signs of pregnancy are loss of appetite, nipple growth, reduced activities and  behavioral changes.  I observed MySP to be always sleepy and less active. I would find her inside my dressing room, cozening up with my comfy sheepskin night slippers. I also noticed that she kept cleaning herself more than usual. She also did not want to play our favorite hide and seek game, and did not want to run after me around our dining table. But as soon as I sat down in the sofa, she would immediately snuggle up to me, which was not usual for her.

The later signs of pregnancy are weight gain, increase in appetite, the stomach becomes firmer and starts to expand very quickly. As soon as MySP showed these later signs, I made an appointment with her veterinarian for a check up.

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At the final stages of canine pregnancy, one can observe puppy movements, increase in abdomen size, nesting behavior and milk production. I was quite excited to see the first puppy movements in MySP's abdomen!