Throw the Ball!: Pre-Puppy Prep and Swim Break

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Pre-Puppy Prep and Swim Break

A note of administrivia first--if you have emailed me and not gotten a reply, please re-send. I recently realized that an SMTP setting was blocking my reply emails, and while I haven't fixed the problem, I do have a workaround so I promise I'll reply!

Hunter is very pregnant and lying on the couch dreaming right now--she's due in about 4 days. She's quite big, so I'm thinking 6-7 big puppies. She's handled the pregnancy well--only a few bouts of nausea, very active, and seems quite happy with the new whelping box I put together for her, although she does have this look of UGH I ATE TOO MUCH in this picture....

I'm debating an xray to count the puppies, but I think I'm going to pass on it this time. They can be valuable tools if you aren't sure whether mom has birthed all the babies, but the counts can be inaccurate, especially if mom is full of little baby skeletons and is storing any up under her ribs.

So, in the next few days, I'll encourage Hunter to spend more time relaxing in or near the whelping box (not difficult since that's in my office and she spends a lot of time there already). I'll probably start taking her temperature twice a day. Normal temperature for a pregnant bitch is lower than normal canine body temps. Normal is around 102 degrees, but I expect that I will find Hunter's temperature around 99.5 to 100.5 for the next few days. If I see it drop below 99, though, or two degrees below her current "normal"--then I will know she's likely to begin having her puppies within 12 hours.

The signs of very early labor are heavy breathing and some restlessness, which is really not that unusual in the summer heat.... But if you know a bitch well, you can see the difference.... there's a look they get, like they're focusing inward; she may get somewhat obsessive about finding just the right spot. If I take her outside then, I will have to watch her carefully, she may duck under the boxwood bushes and begin to den in the cool dirt, out of sight and somewhat out of the weather.

I took a break in mid-writing and took dogs for a romp, which turned into a splash. Some peektures!