Seperation from others for female before and after whelping

[wnalegria]

Well this is a fact not theory question. I was getting tired of what is my bottome line? Do I love my housepets more then my breeders? Why risk my dog's life? So here is some meat and potatoes.

I am interested in knowing how other breeders handle this situation. Your female is prgnant. How long before she whelps do you give her a nice quiet enviroment in which to get ready for whelping. I am slo interested in if you keep her away from the rest of the dogs/cats in your home after whelping and how long.

Thought that this might give some valuable information to those wanting to breed and something to think about.

I isolate my pregnant gals about three weeks before they are due from the rest of the gang. I have the box ready and let her get used to the area. My spare bedroom- I also sleep in that room with her.

My theory- I want mom to calm down and become used to her surroundings.
This is also when she starts to pop out and is becoming more uncomfortable and grouchy. I do not want her to get into any type of of spat over a bone due to hormones or anything remotely silly. I allow my pregnant gals exercise and play time but not with the rest of the gang. The gals are kept together in a harem of expectant mom's. Each gal has her own box and a playpen around her area. None are touching. Blankets/towels are placed around to give them privacy. The real cranking one I place in my closet with the door
open. Same set up with the playpen. Thank goodness I only have one who is that cranky when she has babies. I have plastic that I place on the floor of the playpen (I don't have wire bottoms) and use pee pads on top of the plastic. The gals do not get to rejoin the other members of the gang until the babies are three weeks old. I do not allow the other dogs into the spare bedroom with the moms and babies.

[angelbaby's mom]

Thank you, Kathy, for posting this information. Sounds like you have a good system that works. I'll be watching to see what others do.

Do you by any chance has pictures of your set-up that you can post here? I'm a real "visual" person, so pics help me alot.

Thanks again!

[txshopper73]

Well, I only have Gracie...my one breeding female. About a week before she is due to whelp, I set up the play pen next to my bed. She stays in there at night. I do not keep her seperate from Rebel (my only other dog) but he knows to leave her alone...same as my husband knows to leave me alone, too! HAHA!

Anyway, when it's time for her to whelp, I kept Rebel in a different part of the house and had the house completely quiet. Gracie has enough on her mind without having to worry about what's going on outside the bedroom door. I think that maybe next time, I'll play some classical music for her and see if she likes that.

All kids and Rebel, hubby too, are not allowed in the birthing room. The birthing room ended up being my son's room this time. I'm the only one to go in there to let Gracie out to piddle and poop and to feed her, change out padding, towels, newspapers, etc. This goes on for over a week, closer to 2 weeks. I then moved them to the kitchen area...still in the whelping box but with an x-pen to give her more freedom.

When I was going in to let Gracie out once, Rebel dashed into the bedroom. Gracie had him down in 2 seconds flat. He didn't want near that room after that!

[sylvan]

Nice practical question...
I set up the whelping area in my bedroom (I don't have a spare bedroom, or spare space of any kind for that matter) about 2weeks before due date and mom's can sleep wherever they darn well please. My oldest girl does not like being separated from the rest of the crew and gets quite agitated if I try to force her away, so for her I set up in a corner on the opposite end of the living room from the ex-pen/crate area and drape a fitted sheet over the ex-pen/whelping box. I do leave the pen door open so she can come and go as she pleases from the area, unless I need to leave the house for an errand, then she gets locked in her area with the wee ones. I haven't had any grumpy issues yet, but know it's always a possibility, so keep a close watch on interactions. You will hear an occasional low growl when a bouncy teen york ventures too close to 'her' area, but the message is always sufficient to keep them at a distance she is comfortable with.
Sounds goofy but I swear I have seen my girls 'asking' for babysitting when they need to do an out. First you'll hear mom moving to get out of the whelping box...her 'pal' will pop off the sofa cushion and stretch and then head towards the pen. Mom and pal will sniff noses and then both go look in the whelping box (counting? who knows) Mom looks at Pal, Pal sits down next to box and Mom trots to back door and begins whining to go out. I swear I can almost hear them chatting..."Can I get you anything while I'm out dear?...No honey, I'm fine, just enjoy your break.."
Most of my girls don't seem to appreciate the "quiet" of my bedroom and they get moved back down to HQ when they show any signs of agitation. I think they are just a bunch of gossipy buggers and they're afraid they're going to miss something whilst up in the ivory tower. Each girl has her own 'thing'. Ele had to be confined in her pen with the pups for the first week because she kept moving them around in my bedroom(under furniture, into closets etc). She didn't settle until I brought her downstairs. Ana cannot abide squeaky toys when she has pups and has to collect any she hears and keep them in the whelping box...we refer to her as the 'blonde' of the bunch. Anything that squeaks has to be a puppy, right?
Important to note, so I'm repeating, free reign is only allowed while I am here monitoring (which is most always when there are new pups here). Whenever I can't be watching...separations are complete JUST IN CASE.

[red98vett]

I had NO idea you all had to seperate your females and it sounds like each of you knows your girl so well you just know what to do to make her the most comfortable she can be -

THIS was super interesting to read...thanks so much - I learned something totally new today

[BamaFan121s]

Well, I only have 1 litter to go by, but I'll comment anyway. It was evident when Trixie was about 1/2 way through her term that she wanted nothing to do w/ Flash except to eat her head off. So we kept them separated unless we were right there, holding and petting them both and they were calm. (She actually in the past few weeks has just now gotten back to where she likes her again.)
About 1 1/2 wks before her whelp date, we put her box down for her and pretty much just let her come and go as she please, except if there were people over or Taylor was playing outside of in her room. She stayed right by my side--watching TV, when I was taking a shower, ALL THE TIME--during this 1 1/2 weeks, but didn't really care to be by herself until about 2 days before she whelped and we would have to literally drag her out of her box and carry her outside to go potty. Once she was done, she beelined for the box again.

[wnalegria]

With the few posts on here so far- you can start to see a pattern. There is nothing set in stone. You need to know your gals and change the plan for each one of them. Some gals are clinging vines before they have their babies- some want quiet and rest, some are proud of the kids and want to share them and show them off- others will eat you alive or another dog if they get near the babies. Just like each and every one of us who is a parent- we all have different parenting skills. You work with the space that you have in your home- and your set up can be as simple or sophisticated as you want it to be. There are no set rules but a lot of common sense is required.

This is what makes you a good breeder you take each one of these gals and give them the care and enviroment that they need and require to make the birthing cycle a positive expereince. You learn by listening to others, sharing what has or has not worked for you, knowing your female, asking questions and being able to change the game plan when needed. Being prepared is the key and having thought out your game plan and any options.

[yorkiemom1970]

I set up an place in one of two areas...usually my bedroom. When I have a pregnant girl just like now for example, I usually have them with me in any paticular room that I am spending any amount of time in. My computer is in my bedroom and I have a fairly big bedroom so I make a quiet whelp area next to the wall beside my bed. Many a nite's sleep has been lost in the past raising up to peep over at them. It makes me feel more comfortable to have them near me at all times in the last few weeks before whelp and the first few weeks after whelp. When they get a little older, I move mom and babies into my dining room area which is basically part of my kitchen also. I set up a playpen and leave an opening for mom to come and go as she pleases. At night, I close the opening so that I do not wake up to any "hidden" babies, lol. All of my girls are different and I have one in paticular who is expecting now that has taken a huge liking to my small laundry room. So I have set up a "nest" in there just in case she decides to choose that room as it's really obvious she likes it in there. I would of course move her to the area I've set up in my bedroom though shortly after any labor starts. I keep my others away from my mommy's during labor and for about 2 weeks after they whelp. This is tough to do to because they are always so curious as to what is going on when one of them is not with the others. This is also tough to do with my 2 boys when I have a girl in heat. The seperation issue has always been tough for me and I feel bad having to do it, but it's a MUST at certain times. Luckily my two boys get along really good, so when I have to seperate them, they are always together. When I have young puppies, I don't allow the others around them until a week or so before they I start to wean. Then I let the new babies out of their playpen several times a day to socialize with some of the others. Its always really funny to watch the very first time this happens. All those puppy tails a waggin and little feet running about, with the ever so CURIOUS adults stealing all the toys in fear that these "new" one's are going to get them. I would like to add that I've only once so far had 2 females due to whelp around the same time. My bedroom then had to have 2 areas set up. That was really something. Well, that's pretty much how I do it. By the way, Great thread!

[Paisleypup]

Kathy, Stacy, Robbie, and all of you. I just want to say thank you for all the information that you post here. I copy and paste many breeders posts and save the info to an e-mail that I send to myself and then store permanently in my folders so I can reread it again later.... You really do help many people like me that have many questions in the back of their minds , but don't get around to asking...

[red98vett]

Originally Posted by Paisleypup

Kathy, Stacy, Robbie, and all of you. I just want to say thank you for all the information that you post here. I copy and paste many breeders posts and save the info to an e-mail that I send to myself and then store permanently in my folders so I can reread it again later.... You really do help many people like me that have many questions in the back of their minds , but don't get around to asking...

You can SET your options to send you an email automatically on a thread you want to follow - I agree this one was really interesting ....

Click into the thread you want to be notified about - and up above the first post - on the Blue Bar - it says THREAD TOOLS...

Just click Subscribe to this thread - no more copy and paste - it automatically emails it to you.

[YorkieRose]

My girls who are about 5 to 6 weeks and on are not free to run the house. They are allowed freedom, but not with a group. I have seen too many breeders have injured moms, dead moms, lost fetuses when someone turned on the pregnant dog...as much as we love these wonderful Yorkies, they can be killers. They will sense when one is weaker and for no apparent reason they can decide to bite them or worse.

My Yorkies have never had the run of the yard either..they have always had a fenced play yard with in a fenced yard. Knowing a lot of breeders, I have heard dozens of awful stories...so mine live a "clostered" life, unless I am with them..no one stays outside alone..hawks were a terrible problem in MD..now frogs and creepy things are a problem here in Florida.

When I had Doxies it was different..they were hounds! LOL I never worried for a minute about a 10 pound Doxie staying outside unattended for an hour..nothing ever happened to them..they ate birds, mice, mushrooms, got strung by bees, beat each other up ..and came away without a scratch..

[YorkieShadow]

Separation from others for female before and after whelping
I separate my female Boxers from all other animals two to three weeks before her time. I have always kept playpens in the extra bedroom for the mommies. I also have that room where it can be turned into two smaller areas if needed. and I never let any of the others around the mother and puppies until the puppies reach four weeks. I have seen adult dogs snatch a Females babies and eat them. I have even seen one being swallowed whole and alive. And let me tell you some thing like that stays with you. The thought of it makes me sick. I will never let my Mommy dogs go through any thing like that. A female needs her quite space all to her self with no other animals or humans around they need to feel safe in their surroundings. I always drop all the blinds and pull the drapes shut so it can be dark in the room. I then use a small corner light.and I am the only one that enters that room until the puppies are a week or two old and Mommy dog feels more comfortable.

[YorkieRose]

Debbie..your post about swallowing a puppy whole, reminded me of something.
I went to help a friend whelp a litter. We were in her living room sitting on the floor while the mother whelped, one of her kids let another adult female in the room. My friend said the female was no threat. The next pup was extremely tiny, when it was born, it came out with the long cord and placenta attached in one piece..suddenly the "no threat" female picked it up and swallowed it..honestly, this sounds so unbelievable, but I opened her mouth an only saw a blob of afterbirth..so I pulled it out, along came the cord and the pup attached to the end of it..she didn't chew it, only swallowed it whole..I think she thought it was food..

[red98vett]

OMG - Pat - did the puppy live ?

I'd have passed out.

[YorkieShadow]

Originally Posted by YorkieRose

Debbie..your post about swallowing a puppy whole, reminded me of something.
I went to help a friend whelp a litter. We were in her living room sitting on the floor while the mother whelped, one of her kids let another adult female in the room. My friend said the female was no threat. The next pup was extremely tiny, when it was born, it came out with the long cord and placenta attached in one piece..suddenly the "no threat" female picked it up and swallowed it..honestly, this sounds so unbelievable, but I opened her mouth an only saw a blob of afterbirth..so I pulled it out, along came the cord and the pup attached to the end of it..she didn't chew it, only swallowed it whole..I think she thought it was food..

Your so right she did think it was food. my neighbor at the time had this mother dog and its litter .The mother dog had hid the puppies deep in a hole in the yard under a shed. I was going to help her get the puppies out. when the big dog came running and stuck its head in the hole grabbing one of the babys still wet from just being born and it swallowed it. I called the local vet and he told me that the smell of it all is what the dog wanted it was food to him. All I could think was that poor baby and that poor poor Mommy dog who watched this happen to her baby.