Expecting a litter

[Birddawg]

Been monitoring my females temp for a week now, along with her appitite and her behaveur. Her appitite has dropped off considerably the last few days. Today her temp dropped below 99 for the first time, and i checked it twice this morning to be sure. Today she has been wanting to lay in my wifes closet (personally i think thats funny), so i set up her bed in there. Now this afternoon her temp is back up to just below 100. Is it normal for the temp to drop like that and go back up? I really think she is close.
Thanks,
Glenn

[prairiefirepointers]

I pay absolutely NO attention to the temp. Many times its made a liar of itself.

What I pay attention to:
A) When she's reached 60 days into gestation
B) The weather (front coming in, etc)
C) If she didn't eat

That is a better litmus test IMO than anything else.

Just curious, did you not have an area setup for her a week or two ahead of time for her to nest and whelp her pups? Usually a really good idea.

[kninebirddog]

Yes it is common as they get closer for the temp to fluctuate

I just keep monitoring

When the temp drops and stays under 99.5 then your getting closer

I have had females be 99.9 in the morning and then after noon drop to 98 and then others take their time but once under the 99.5 where it stayed there or lower pups were whelping with in 24 hours

some females can be tricky

[Birddawg]

Thanks guys. Yes I do have a whelping box set up for her, but just today she decided she likes my wifes closet. I will keep monitoring.

[Birddawg]

Pups born Thursday morning from about 1:15am to 5:30 am. Had a liter of 5, but unfortunatly one of them never took her first breath. She was also the smallest. Anyway pics:
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn26 ... G_0971.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn26 ... G_0969.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn26 ... G_0966.jpg

3 boys and a girl. Moma is doing great.

Glenn

[ezzy333]

Pups born Thursday morning from about 1:15am to 5:30 am. Had a liter of 5, but unfortunatly one of them never took her first breath. She was also the smallest. Anyway pics:
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn26 ... G_0971.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn26 ... G_0969.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn26 ... G_0966.jpg

3 boys and a girl. Moma is doing great.

Glenn

They look good. I want one of the drker colored ones

Ezzy

[rkappes]

Good lookin' pups! I like the pup on the top right in 0969 photo.

[Birddawg]

Thanks all.
Pups and mom are all doing well. Pups are gaining 2 oz a day each. Of course i have them all inside, and I am sleeping down here with them to be sure they dont get sqished ant that they are all getting plenty of attention. I am one tired dude. Good night.

[Birddawg]

Dew claws removed and tails docked today.

[Birddawg]

8 days old, all 4 more than doubled in weight. All looking real good. Will have 3 for sale.

[Gordon Guy]

Have you heard of the super puppy program?

http://breedingbetterdogs.com/pdfFiles/ ... ion_en.pdf

Check this out.

[ezzy333]

I am aware of it but have never seen anything in a puppy that tells me it has any effect. Supposedly they can measure differences but too often we later find out it was something else that made the difference. Guess all I am saying is a pay little attention to these kind of things but have no proof they don't work. One of my concerns is we know the brain is not active till the 13 day if I remember right so what are you stimulating?

Ezzy

[Cajun Casey]

Have you heard of the super puppy program?

http://breedingbetterdogs.com/pdfFiles/ ... ion_en.pdf

Check this out.

I have used it and know several breeders who swear by it, particularly GSD folks. It came out of the US military dog program. Interesting stuff.

[RoostersMom]

I've used it on foster litters as well. The military swears by it. Apparantly they did random testing and did see a difference in the pups that went through this stimulation system. What could it hurt?

[Gordon Guy]

I'm a believer....I just had a litter, it was a repeat breeding. The first litter was a few years ago and I didn't know about the program then. Out of 8 pups there were 3 that were quite shy. I thought I was doing my best at socializing them but yet they still hid under the dog house when I or anyone came out to visit and play. In this second litter there were 10 puppies and I used the "Super Puppy Program" excercises, for lack of a better term, on these puppies. All of them are much more bold and confident then the previous litter. Maybe it's a coincidence or... maybe not...or maybe a little of both...But I do believe it doesn't hurt and possibly even helps puppies better handle stress. Folks that have come to visit my pups have commented on how attentive and friendly they were and that they have seen litters in the past where many of the puppies were shy and afraid.

What can it hurt??? And as a breeder it's my job to produce the best puppies I can for my buyers.

[Sharon]

I used the methods of stimulation on a litter. Certainly not a scientific study but i felt it made a difference in subtle ways.

[Birddawg]

Printed it off for reading.

Pups are doing very well as is mama. All are looking very healthy (not starving if you know what i mean), all trying to walk, all have eyes open, and at least one is beginning to hear.

[Birddawg]

By the way,,,,gonna be moving them outside into the garage into a pen with a dog door leading outside. I will need to put a heat lamp out there for them. My son has a lizard that we use a heatlamp on, its a red bulb that the lizard supposedly can see so it does not interfere with its sleeping. Is there something special i should use as far as bulbs go?

[mountaindogs]

Well, from what I know about reptiles, the heat lamp might be a 50 watt. The deal is keeping them warm enough while keeping the heat source optional (they can move into and out of the heat) and keeping it OUT of their reach. Don't think 50 watts would be warm enough when it's that far away from them. BUT you can get heat lamps and bulbs from tractor supply or the like.
Keep a room thermometer that they can not get to to chew, but in an area that is equally heated so you know if it is staying warm enough and/or too warm.