Care for Whelped Puppies

Immediately After Birth

• Whelping is the process of a mother dog giving birth to her puppies. If all goes as planned, the pregnant bitch has contractions and the puppies emerge hours later, each inside a membranous sac. Immediately after birth, it is best to do nothing, unless the mother rejects or doesn't tend to a puppy in the sac. Too much human intervention or attention given to a pup can lead to anxiety or confusion on the mother's part, and she may injure or even kill her pups. If the bitch does not take the initiative to gnaw open each sac, the pup can drown. In this instance, you must step in. With a clean cloth, pick up the sac with the puppy inside and break open the sac near the puppy's head so he can breathe. The membrane is thin; gently stretch it to pull it apart.

Cleanup

• After the pups are removed from the sac, they must be cleaned of mucous that may be blocking their nose or throat. If the mother doesn't begin licking her puppies, you must clean them with a sterile towel, taking precautions not to remove all the fluid. Don't do this unless absolutely necessary, advises dog care expert and author David Taylor. Never take the puppy away; do only what is absolutely necessary to ensure that the puppy is breathing, then quickly place him back with the bitch.

Feeding

• The feeding instinct is strong in a normal, healthy litter, and each pup quickly finds his way to milk after birth. Be prepared to help the pup find the teat by expressing a few drops of milk, or by rearranging the pups near the most productive teats at the bitch's hind quarters. If the teat is too big for the puppy's mouth, hand-milk the bitch into a small cup, and then feed the puppies by a bottle or syringe, Evans advises. Newborn pups should be fed every two hours at first, then every three hours, depending on their appetite. As the pups grow, they will be able to suck milk by themselves and will continue to do so for the first few weeks of life. Although the mother cleans up after the puppies, you must change newspaper or bedding in the whelping box regularly.

Heat and Sleep

• Newborn pups do not have the ability to shiver and can't make their hair stand on end to trap heat, so they must be kept in a temperature-controlled environment, about 86 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit. This can be accomplished with well-wrapped hot-water bottles, room heaters, heating pads placed under the whelping box or infrared bulbs -- just don't let puppies come into direct contact with heat. After four weeks, puppies can regulate their own temperatures. Just like newborn infants, puppies require a lot of sleep. For the first few weeks of their lives, they do little more, so don't be alarmed if they sleep a lot. At three weeks, they are up and restless, wobbling around. As they get a bit older, they experience incredible spurts of energy followed by deep and heavy sleep.

Socialization

• It's best to leave the pups undisturbed in the whelping box and handled as little as possible during their first three to four weeks of life. After four weeks, jump-start the socialization process by cradling the pups in your arms for several minutes twice a day. Puppies need human bonding if they are to develop even temperaments and become great family companions. At three to five weeks, begin supplementing their mother's milk with baby cereal and warmed cow's milk placed in a saucer twice a day. You should remove the mother while the pups are first learning to eat on their own; the box will be a mess and the mother may interfere with their feeding. After the pups learn to eat this gruel, they can be fed three or four times a day.