40 days into pregnancy 1 litter questions

[RoxyYorkie]

Ok so my sweet little girl is pregnant. And I have been researching every day to look up everything I can on it. It is her 1st litter. She is normally 5 lbs. pre pregnancy. Right now she is 6.2 lbs 40 days in so hopefully that is good weight gain. I have a couple questions that I thought I would ask the experts.

I was getting her Whelping box ready, which she is not too interested in, and I have read about having railings in the box to protect the puppies. Is that necessary or just with big dogs? They had the railings and heating lamps. But I keep my house pretty warm so I did not know if I needed that too.

Also I got a few of the doggie steps from my neighbor to help her out but she will not use them. She runs and jumps on my bed and off my bed and it makes me so nervous. Will she try this when she is bigger or do I just need to ban her from the bed altogether? We also have stairs from our house down to the grass where she goes to the bathroom. There are 8 steps but was not sure if I should carry her down every time.

Lastly, I usually cut her hair myself with clippers and I wanted to trim her belly hair but am scared that the clippers are going to freak the babies out.

So I am sure I am probably being overly protective but it is her first litter and I want to make sure that she is fully taken care of.

[gemy]

I'll wait to Yorkie Breeders respond about the railings. I use the railings, but then I have a big breed dog.

I definitely would have on hand a heating lamp; in case needed. Remember new born and very young pups can not regulate their body temperature. Also make sure that whelping box is in a space that is draft free. I would have the box already in the locale you want the whelping to happen.

Awh not to worry, if she is used to the clippers then use them. It is good that the pups in utero hear all the normal sounds of home life.


I'm afaird I'm going to say Yes to banning from the bed, if she won't use steps or a ramp. It is just too dangerous for her to be jumping.

As long as she is good on the stairs to the outside, I'd let her move on her own up and down.

She does need to exercise according to her regular routine. But I'm pretty sure she isn't a performance dog; but if she was, no more agility, flyball, swimming, frisbee, etc until way after weaning and the litter goes home. Gentle obedience work, No Jumping, no fetch, no drop down's etc.

[Yorkiemom1]

I dont use a whelping box with the railings....I did loose a baby one time because momma laid on top of it...but she was in the middle of the box, not up against the sides, so a rail would not have helped anyway. I start about 3 weeks before the babies are due...I bring the momma into my bedroom/master bath, and get her used to the whelping box, which I set up in my master bath....put her whelping box where she will sleep in it from now on...she will get used to it by the time the babies arrive. Put the box where it is going to be after she has her babies so you dont stress her out rearranging the position of the box and the babies, etc. NO DRAFTS on the box, and if you use a heating pad, I put mine UNDER THE ENTIRE WHELPING BOX SO THAT THERE IS NO CHANCE OF A BABY GETTING ON THE PAD.....I dont use a heating pad much any more since I let momma whelp in the huge master bath...I have her over in the "sitting area" with the whelping box under the heat lamp that is over that area...it keeps the area nice and warm for the babies, and doesnt dehydrate momma and the babies. NO JUMPING, NO ROUGH HOUSING with the other dogs....and 2 weeks before she is due, momma is in isolation....just her and me...in the yard, by ourselves, no running, no jumping, no vigorous exercise...just kind of lolly-gagging around, taking it easy, I bathe and massage her, I shave her tummy and rear end.....a week before they are due, we go for our ultrasound/abd. xray, so I will know EXACTLY how many babies to expect.....and that last week, she is kept pretty much inside the house, isolated from everyone....playing soft music on the Uverse TV station in the bathroom....she and babies will be in that area until they are 8 weeks old, at which time they will move to the nursery.

[bjh]

Congratulations on your upcoming litter. I pray all will go well.

Personally I would not allow her to jump on and off the bed at this stage of her pregnancy. I see no problem with her going up and down the stairs for now if she is not having any problems doing so. Do you know about how many pups she is expecting?

If she is use to the clippers I see no problem with you shaving her belly. Personally I just trim the belly hair short with scissors but either method will work. Make sure her body and facial hair is not long either or the pups could get hung up in it.

I do not introduced my new mommas to a whelping box prior to delivery and I have never had any problem with them adjusting to the box. The box I use does not have rails and I have not had any problems with any getting suffocated but occasionally a pup might get trapped behind the mom and start crying. I use a bottomless whelping box that just sits on top of the bedding so I don't have to worry about the pups getting lost in the bedding. I do put a small fleece baby blanket loose in the whelping box so momma can cover the pups with that if she wants to.

I always deliver the pups in my bedroom, on our bed, in a big wicker dog bed. After the pups are born I move the mom and pups to our spare bedroom where I have a big x-pen setup with the whelping box at one end. Then I put pee pads, food and water outside the whelping box If your female is use to sleeping with you then be prepared for her to want to move the pups to your bed. To prevent this you will have to keep her in a small area she cannot get out of.

For heat I use a heating pad designed for dogs that keeps a constant temperature of 100 degrees. I place the heating pad under the bedding where it covers 1/2 the whelping box. That way the momma does not have to lay on the heating pad and the pups can move on and off the pad. I always drape a sheet over the x-pen on the end where the whelping box is so the mom can feel more secure and also to prevent drafts. You do not want to make the room to hot because if the momma gets to hot it can effect her milk production.

[treesfig]

Hello, my 2 1/2 year old yorkie is pregnant with her first litter. She is 48 days pregnant and i know that to be the exact day because we only mated her one day and it took..I am sort of worried because she is normally 5.5 lbs and she is now 6.2 lbs and as big as a balloon..but what i am worried about is that she has a bacterial infection and i have taken her to the vet and she put her on amoxicillin on Monday and i still notice a little discharge still coming out..I have been reading so many reviews on google that i am worried i will lose her or she may have a still born puppy inside. Has anyone had anything like this happen to their dog, and if so, what may i expect? She does go for her exray this Monday coming up..I do feel puppies moving inside..
treesfig