Lesson #1: Momma dogs love to dig up their bedding and make pillows for themselves. Who can blame them? Puppies like to crawl around and bury themselves under the blankies. And then Momma doesn't know they're under there and... fortunately this was only my thought and nothing tragic happened.
Solution: remove the bottom of the whelping box. With the sides firmly on the ground I tuck the blankets/sheets under them. I made my box to fit inside an X-pen. Since Kayla was still able to dig up her bed I found some heavy-duty clips and clipped the bedding to the X-pen. It's as comfortable as it's gonna get, Lady!
Lesson #2: Momma dogs are very messy. They will bleed for weeks after and poo is diarrhea. (All the afterbirth stuff they eat, hormone changes, etc.)
Solution: They need to be bathed. Often. And it is very hard to get out. You have to scrub some parts but be gentle around the tender parts. 'Nuf said.
Lesson #3: Babies grow fast! Last night one crawled into momma's water bowl. Fortunately it was almost empty.
Solution: hamster bottle for thirsty Kayla.
Another solution for #2 & #3: I'm setting up another X-pen outside of the box. Kayla will have more room to wander around without getting messy everywhere and puppies will stay in the box? I don't know. They are getting pretty agile.
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1 year ago
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It's a steep learning curve, but isn't it fun?
I used the green waterproof whelping pads. Thanks to my sis, I had 3 of them so could change them out daily. They fit under the x pen (my main puppy box didn't have a floor either -- you will want one, however, in the potty side if you choose to do the two sided box when they get a little older) with just a few inches all the way around. We added 2 x 4's the box sides to make them heavier and found that the "flooring" stayed in place well and didn't ruin the carpet thanks to the waterproof backing. Plus, the dark green color hides all the yuckiness from Mamma and little paws can really grip the fuzzy surface. Big bonus: they are machine washable!
Momma dogs are really, really messy. Don't try to get everything out of the panties. Use scissors. Remember that all of the hair is going to fall out anyway.
Oh the memories are flooding back! Being a dog 'grandma' for the first time is exciting, frustrating, disgusting, awesome, worrisome, and totally fulfilling. I have only had 4 litters born at my house and each one has been so different.
Congrats on the beautifully marked litter (lucky!) Keep having fun!
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