First litter & Nervous
 

My delilah and toby tied on Oct 3rd. She's 7/8 lbs and he is 5/6 lbs. . She's 55 days pregnant today. Took her on Monday to the vet and did x rays. She weighed 11.8 lbs & There is 8 puppies in there!! Vet measured heads and said she should be able to deliver on her own. But I'm soo nervous should i schedule her a c- section or let her have them naturally??

Do you trust your vet? That's the question I would ask myself. Do you have a mentor that can be with you during the birth? So glad I have zero interest in breeding - this would scare me too. Good luck!

I think that a whole more needs to be known. Is this her first litter? How old is she? Do you have both a whelping mentor to be with you, and do you have your vet on speed dial in case of emergencies during whelping? Will your vet be available to you 24/7 from now to 10 or so days from now? If your vet is un-available do you know where to go next? Programmed the directions into your GPS?

8 pups is a very large litter for a Yorkie, so it would not be unusual for your gal to get exhausted during the whelp particularly if you have to re-position a baby in the birth canal. If that happens you will be in for an emergency C section. The age of the female makes a difference as well.

You better be prepared to calcium supplement her after whelping, and to prepare to supplement feed if necessary. Weigh scale is going to need to be in use a whole lot. Daily weighings at a minimum. You want to m ake sure that litter if all survive the birth thrive!

Have on hand a goats milk supplement in case your gal can't nurse all those babies. There is a recipe on here for this. Pre made Puppy supplement is well frankly not as good.

Debbie Jensen has a good website for novice breeders.

Most likely she will do just fine but you really never know. It will be very hard on the momma to raise 8 pups but it can be done. I had one female that had 8 pups a year or so ago and she was able to raise them but she did have some problems with eclampsia when the pups were a few days old because the momma was not eating enough and she was not getting enough calcium. The vet said to up her calcium intake to two pills a day. I use Doc Roy's Healthy Bones from Revival Animal Health. I started soaking her dry puppy food in warm water and I added some canned puppy food to that and she did very well after that. It is essential that you make sure the momma eats four big meals a day. It is especially important to make sure she eats right before bedtime and first thing in the morning. Make sure you have puppy formula available because it is very possible you might have to supplement the pups.

Do you have her whelping box ready? I recommend buying a package of disposable bed pads from Wal-mart. They come in real handy when whelping pups. It gets really messy, especially with large litters. Also keep in mind that she may go early since she is carrying so many pups.

During the deliver it is advisable to give her some Nutri-cal or a calcium supplement like Oral-cal Plus between puppies. You really need to make sure you have some on hand in case she starts showing signs of eclampsia. You can order it here:
Oral Cal Plus


Have you ever delivered pups before? If not I highly recommend you find someone that can be there to help you. Please keep us updated.

Delilah is about a year and a half, it is her first litter
No I have not delivered pups on my own.
I have contacted the breeder who I got delilah from and she will just be a phone call away.

Would she consider coming over for the whelp? THat is quite usual when an experienced breeder lets a breeding female go to a novice. Also a much less best is to have Skype video on, so your breeder can observe the whelp and might be able to recognize a whole lot faster than you distress in your female. She can coach you in real time how to cut the cord, let Mama eat only so many placentas, the rest you dispose of immediately.

Also you need to know that if an emergency happens whether the breeder is there or not, you can get help medical help really really fast.

Being prepared as I see that you are willing to do is a breeders best defense!

I wish you very good luck with the whelp.

Wow, 8 pups! Although I am not at all versed in whelping, I thought I'd pass a congrats and all the best with all concerned... including you. Sounds like a very exciting time for mama and you. Looking forward to the updates.

Her is Debbie Jensen's site: it a great source of information and has great detailed photos and what you need to know type information.

Canine Reproduction Video and Book on Breeding and Whelping dogs by Debbie Jensen for dog breeders and Whelping Supplies needed to deliver puppies.

Whelping supplies: Canine Reproduction Video and Book on Breeding and Whelping dogs by Debbie Jensen for dog breeders and Whelping Supplies needed to deliver puppies.


For Bedding: Old blankets, rugs, towels, baby blankets & small throw blankets. All can be found at local thrift stores or Good Will.


Wow 8 pups is a large litter for such a tiny gal. Wishing her a smooth whelp !
Please keep us posted.

First things first, you need to have towels, hemostats, child scissors if you can find some, a bulb syringe, non waxed dental floss, a regular pair of scissors, lubricant like KY gel , a box or container you can put either a heating pad or something you can use to create warmth for the pups in between her delivering them. Most use a hotwater bottle or a sock with rice both can be warmed up in the microwave. When your girl starts having contractions it is best to squirt some lubricant into her vulva to help the pups slide out a little easier. make sure you get the sack from the face first as you will need to wipe their face and syringe any possible fluid from their mouth and noses. Then clamp the cord with the hemostat , some use 2 and cut between the two. once the pup is completely out start to dry it off with a towel this should get them to cry out . You want them to cry out. Depending on how fast your girl whelps each pup you can usually put each pup on her to nurse. Make sure they latch on. As soon as she starts having another contraction take the pup or pups already born and put them in the warming box. I have to say with 8 pups you may have to alternate feeding times or supplement them. If you do end up having to supplement them wait until after they are 24 hours old because their digestive systems will be better able to handle a puppy formula. Also make sure pups are nice and warm before any supplementing is done. I also want to add that it might be a good idea to get a beef liver from the grocery store. They have them presliced . If you boil the liver just until the outside is brownish grey you then take the broth and give each pup 2 to 4 drops for the first few days it will help them. Not sure why or how but I did this for a pup that was not thriving and she is now almost 3 years old.

Wow! What great passion you have for YTers. :) So nice of you spend your time to send such a lengthy response. I sure learn a lot on this forum. Thanks! :aimeeyork

No problem I just want to make sure she has all she needs to make sure Mom and pups have a good start.

Thank you everyone so much for your help and responses, I really appreciate it!! I've started taking her temp day & night. So hopefully she will be due by wed or Thursday. Thanks for every tip I hope everything goes good during my babies whelp.

Thank you everyone I truly appreciate all your kind words and information you have given me. I'm checking out the Debbie Jensen site and it's very helpful. I just hope and pray that my baby girl can do this without a c section. Thanks again everyone♡

Will your vet be on call for you 24 hours a day?? If not, it may be good to have a back up one on hand in case you get into any trouble delivering them and need to bring mamma in for anything.

I am not a breeder, but I can definitely understand you being a little afraid being your first time and having 8 to deliver. That's 8 potential risks of having something going wrong...getting stuck, getting turned around etc etc.

I am guessing, since there are so many, the puppies will be much smaller than if there were only one or 2 pups in there....therefore, size-wise, they may be much easier to deliver.

Keep us posted.