I've got my girl due about the same time as yours, I think.
I am right there with her while she whelps, helping to bring the babies into the world by cutting the cords, making sure their noses & throats are clear, and then giving them to mom to finish cleaning them & nursing. Mom & pups stay in a 4 x 4 x-pen in our spare bedroom, first few weeks in a plastic under the bed storage-type box. No visits from onlookers (skin or fur) until the pups have had at least their first set of shots. Rather than blankets that the pups can get "lost" in, I lay a large bathroom rug in it with a heating pad on low placed underneath the rug on just one side of the box. That way Mom can move to the other side for a bit when/if she gets to warm. Mom gets 24/7 access to all the food she wants (and needs), and I also use the whelping pudding recipe(s) found in separate sticky thread in this breeders section. |