Regulation of the body temperature of a newborn puppy is poor for the first 8 days of life and does not become fully effective until about 3 weeks of age. The puppy should therefore be protected against draughts and cold. It is preferable that the whole whelping room should be warmed instead of only the whelping box. Recommended ambient temperatures in a puppy room are as follow:
1st week: 85
2nd week: 80 ± 1˚
3rd week: 75˚F ± 1˚
4th week: 70˚F ± 1˚
If the temperature is too high, the puppies will start breathing faster and with open mouths, the skin colour will become more red and they will spread out to try to cool down. If the temperature is too low, they will all bundle together in one corner to find warmth and some may whine continuously. A healthy, happy puppy will spend 90% of its time sleeping and will occasionally twitch an ear or a muscle, which is an indication of normal healthy growth of the muscles and nervous system. |