I live in Canada (on the prairies). Winter is a fact of life for us. I have had to take puppies out in the winter to go to the vet more times than I would care to remember. I have taken pups to the vet when it is 40 below zero. I pack my pups into a small plastic tote with microwave heat packs and cover them with blankets. I then wrap the whole tote into a quilt. The car is well warmed before we leave. My pups are always toasty warm and sleeping when we get there.
My vet sees the pups first thing in the morning in a freshly cleaned cat area. No adult dog has ever set foot into this area. Cats and puppies only. It has always been freshly cleaned before we get there, I work in a hospital and it doesn't smell nearly as clean as my vet's office. She puts out sterile sheets for my pups. Each pup has a full exam before tail and dew claw amputation to make sure that they are strong enough to handle the procedure. If a pup is weak, tiny or struggling with their health in any way, she delays for a day or so until they are strong enough to handle it.
Tails and dewclaws are removed with a pair of sharp surgical scissors. I have never had a bone grow from the dewclaws (although I have when dewclaws were removed with a clamp on a dog that I bought, in all fairness to those who use a clamp, it was a dog from a breeder who was a novice to doing dewclaws). She then cauterizes and puts one stitch in each. After the procedure is finished, she gives 1 cc of a dextrose solution by mouth and sub-q fluids to each pup to just give them an extra little boost and to prevent any shock.
It is my personal preference to have the tails docked in this method (clamp method is fine, I just prefer the scissor method). I find that it is very accurate as to the length and I just like the look, it gives a nice blunt end to the tail without the skinny squashed appearance that I have seen on some tails that have been done with a clamp (probably by people who were not really experienced in doing it).
Anyways, I have to agree with WoogieMan, it makes my feel good to have my pups have a really thorough check up when they are only a few days old.
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Audrey |