If you have already switched her to puppy food, that is good. I usually wait a bit closer to the due date to start the calcium supplements, but that is just MY preference based on advice I’ve gotten over time. Your vet may want you to start her on an oral antibiotic just prior to her whelp date. I know some breeders do this, some don’t—there is evidence of the pros/cons on both sides. Research that so you can make an educated decision regarding that when the time comes.
The only other advice I can give you is to try to make sure you have an experienced breeder or vet that will be ‘on call’ during the whelp, given your inexperience in breeding and her young age. Some dogs, particularly when they are young like Bella, have more difficulty with acting ‘maternal’ including during delivery. Make sure that you know how to recognize the warning signs of problematic delivery and possibly mom’s disinterest in her babies. Not to say that it will happen, but it does on occasion and you will have little time to act with newborn pups if it does. You will need to make plans for either yourself, or someone who can assist with the whelp, to be with her 24/7 when her due date approaches and for several days after the pups are born—pretty much plan to be by her side for a week solid. Around day 50, you will need to plan to have an ultrasound/x-ray done—this will let the vet judge the size of the pups and will give a heads up if the pups look too big to deliver and give time to plan a c-section. (A planned section is better than an emergency-in-the-middle-of-troubled-delivery section.) |