I read, studied, talked with breeders, read, studied, watched, read, studied some more on and on --- I thought I was prepared, but I don't think anything really prepares for your first litter.
Our first pup came out with a really thick sac...despite how prepared I thought I was, I freaked, thank goodness I had 2 people with me that were experienced. The sac was sooo hard to break, we ended up having to use scissors. The pup wouldn't latch on at first --- had trouble breathing (I think despite our fairly quick efforts he was in the sac too long), I fed him through the night, took him to ER, (vet said, "let him go...sometimes they don't make it") to which I said "BS" --- by morning he latched on and ended up being the strongest of the 3
I couldn't believe the ER vet just wanted me to give up on him at only a couple hours old - all because he wasn't latching on and I was feeding him a milk replacer and the beef liver remedy (which I think the latter made all the difference).
Anyway, yak, yak...I do believe breeding is not for the faint of heart that's for sure. I would never recommend anyone go it alone (certainly for the first couple of litters), always have someone there/an extra pair of hands, as while one person was getting him to breathe properly, the other person and I were helping with the other pups as they came out (she had them fast!)
__________________  Kendra |