Quote:
Originally Posted by roncassie  Hi there,
We lost a couple pups this week. In searching for answers and things I came across this site.
Here is the story.
Have 2 yorkies. Gracie and Bolt. This is Gracies first litter and she had 2 pups. We lost the 1st pup because she had it in the garage and we did not know it. This was last Thursday evening. I let her outside before bedtime like we always do. She was not displaying any behavior that was odd. When I let her in she came in as usual. She noramally sleeps in our bed, but when I picked her up I noticed she was all when and had poop on her end, so I put her in her kennel since it was late.
Friday morning, my oldest son lets her out ans she runs into our room under our bed. He wakes us up and says Gracie has a rat in her mouth. We get her out and it is the 2nd pup. So we get her up and out and clean her kennel up and find no other pups. I went outside and looked around and then found one barely alive in the garage. We warmed it up slowly with moms body heat, but it only lasted another hour or so.
Since then Gracie has taken care of the remaining one. Took it to the vet and checked out and dew claws and tail docked. We have left mom and pup in the kennel all this time and have taken out Gracie to eat and drink and be outside. She has kept trying to take the pup out of the kennel and go hide. Lat night she was barking and my wige got up at 3:30 to let Gracie out. She did see the pup moving in the blanket inside the kennel. This morning, the pup was dead and we reallydo not have a clue why.
So my questions are for the next time.
The kennel we have is a 2 ft by 3 ft wired cage. Has a cover on 3 sides. Is this approriate? A whelping box should be placed in a part of the house that is quiet and away from other pets and children. I don't recommend a wire cage.
The kennel had a flat sheet on the bottom and then a small fleece blanket. Is this ok? Yes, sheets , blankets are fine.
Why would she keep taking the pup out and go hide with it? How old is your female? Was she old enough to breed?
She was hiding it because of any number of reasons:
She felt insecure with it
She didnt know what to do with it
Too much noise or traffic around the kennel
Not dark enough
etc etc.
I appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. We want Gracie to have another litter and that is rallyit. We know more of time frames and what to watch for, but the death this morning was rather odd.
Thanks for your help.
Ron & Cassie |
I agree that before you breed again you should do some major research better yet leave it someone that knows what they are doing. Ignorance about breeding is not an excuse. The thought of that poor puppy laying out in the garage all night is just too heartbreaking, Just thinking about it brings tears to me. So sad.