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ForumsGerman Shepherd Dog > Pregnant GSD 1st litter! (166 replies)
by Divr01 on 08 January 2012 - 10:54 |
Wow, what an ordeal, so sorry you and Reign had to through this. They are some great Vets, bad vets. Lucky for us we found one that really cares about the animals. |
Divr01 by 1GSD1 on 08 January 2012 - 12:14 |
| Wow! So sorry. Just skimmed most of this. forgive me if I missed it, but if you can tube feed (good videos on how to on you tube or ask a competent vet, ugh) goat's milk that will be faster than bottle feeding. RE: oxytocin, it should work in 20 to 25 mins. It's safe to give every 30 mins but not more than 3 shots. If three don't do it, no more will. Stupid vets!! With that many pups, she would/could have had uterine inertia early on as she was so stretched out. Prayers for the surviving pups and mom. |
by JodyP on 08 January 2012 - 14:57 |
| Victoria.. if you give your bitch some Fenugreek it will help with her milk production.. you can buy it at any pharmacy.. I would give 3 or 4 capsules 3x a day and her milk should come in. I am so glad Reign is alright.. that was my biggest worry also.. good luck with her recovery and with the puppies.. Jody |
by JodyP on 08 January 2012 - 14:58 |
| Victoria.. if you give your bitch some Fenugreek it will help with her milk production.. you can buy it at any pharmacy.. I would give 3 or 4 capsules 3x a day and her milk should come in. I am so glad Reign is alright.. that was my biggest worry also.. good luck with her recovery and with the puppies.. Jody |
by JodyP on 08 January 2012 - 14:59 |
| Victoria.. if you give your bitch some Fenugreek it will help with her milk production.. you can buy it at any pharmacy.. I would give 3 or 4 capsules 3x a day and her milk should come in. I am so glad Reign is alright.. that was my biggest worry also.. good luck with her recovery and with the puppies.. Jody |
by Jenni78 on 08 January 2012 - 15:18 |
| It's also important to let them try to nurse as much as possible or she won't get enough milk. Surgery, the physical toll, etc. all are impacting this. I know from personal experience that while there will only be as much milk as the body thinks it can spare after an ordeal like this, if you concentrate on getting her stronger (Jody's suggestion is a good one, along w/several others), that the body WILL up the milk production so long as you keep trying. Her body needs to know that there are 7 puppies to feed. Production is based on need. |
Jenni78 by Cavalier K9 on 08 January 2012 - 16:54 |
| I know how to tube feed and it is definitley faster but I rather bottle feed since its more natural for the puppies. The puppies are staying with Reign full time I just sit in the whelping box and feed them there. I have to make Reign lay on her side so the puppies can nurse. I'm not sure if its normal for new moms to do this but Reign carries all the puppies to one corner and then trys to lay over them. I don't think she is trying to hurt them but maybe keep them warm? She also digs a lot at the floor of the box with a puppy in her mouth like maybe she is trying to hide them? Just not sure if this is normal new mommy behavior. I'm keeping it at 70 in the room with a heating lamp hanging on the side of the whelping box with the puppies. She is doing a great job keeping them clean! So far she isn't messing with her incision so I'm letting her stay with them. She gets very panicky and anxious if one leaves her site. She even crys! It is so sad. I believe she knows that there are puppies missing. She is constantly counting puppies and then will search every corner and under every piece of furniture in the room. It breaks my heart! |
Cavalier K9 by Cavalier K9 on 08 January 2012 - 17:04 |
 This is amazing to me! My dark female sable puppy has a prfect # 7 on her chest! There were 7 puppies who crossed over the rainbow bridge and 7 are alive and healthy! |
by 1GSD1 on 08 January 2012 - 17:16 |
| That is something, eh? The 7. I have noticed that 2 days or 3 days after a litter, the females dig in the corner of the box, every one over the years did that. I also have noticed they get antsy if it's too hot. A couple of day old pups don't need it to be 80 in the box as that's too hot for the mother too. I have a 2 1/2 week old C-section puppy, first time mother and I had to turn the extra heat off in the room and take the lamp away a week ago. He was crying and going under the pig rails, too hot. He likes it at 68 or 69 degrees. If it gets up to 71 in the box he cries. Maybe she is too hot? |
by Jenni78 on 08 January 2012 - 17:57 |
| I would continue keeping an eye on her to prevent any accidental harm of pups. That's not abnormal behavior, per se, but it's not totally normal, either. I don't think it's odd after what she's been through, though. Maybe ditch the heat lamp and see what she does? I don't have any experience with that; I have never done any kind of aritificial heat. They sleep in piles and mom will bring them close if they get cold. Sometimes it appears they are lying on them, but they're really not squishing them. My bitch likes to put the newest ones under her "armpits" and you can't see them. It appears they're being squished, but they're not. Where is she putting them when she lies on them? Front end or back end? Do you think she's trying to hide them? Protect them? You know her best. Hard to say without seeing her. |
by Betta Wolf on 08 January 2012 - 18:42 |
I know nothing of whelping out puppies; foaling out horses, I know a little more. Question is, could the incision from the surgery be bothersome/painful when the pups nurse? Is she on pain meds, as a nursing mother? Reason I ask is, maybe that may be the reason for some of her current behavior. |
Betta Wolf by Cavalier K9 on 08 January 2012 - 18:47 |
| I think its a nervous behavior. She has been through a lot and she has had them taken away from her a lot the first 2 days. So I think she is trying to hide them. I really don't think she is squishing them she places them towards the front. I am watching her VERY close and i'm so nervous I jump up everytime I hear them cry! Maybe I'm crazy but I think they have different crys! I can tell when Reign picks them up or if she is trying to move one with her paw so I jump up and tell her to "leave it" and she lays right down and starts cleaning them :-) I'm enjoying these babies soooo much! Oh and also Reign only has her pink papers so i need to send in her pics still to AKC and her Pedigree to get her papers. Problem is that her belly has been shaved and they did up the sides some to....Do i need to wait until some or all of the hair grows back? |
by Jenni78 on 08 January 2012 - 18:55 |
| No, AKC cares not what she looks like. It's just for a reference and some kind of ID. Any pics will do, so long as they show what they ask for. But HURRY; they take forever and a day. My import litter had to wait quite a while for their ACK papers...like 8mos or something??? It was ridiculous. Try to get a jump on it! Did you already do her DNA profile? That's about what I thought; she probably isn't really squishing them and you will start to relax about it in a few days, and so will she. She's been through a AWFUL LOT. |
by Betta Wolf on 08 January 2012 - 19:00 |
| Poor Reign; seems like the ordeal would have made any 1st time mom nervous. I just think about pain, as GSD are so stoic. Sounds like Everyone is Much Better Today!! |
by Cavalier K9 on 08 January 2012 - 20:54 |
She is on Tramadol, I'm giving it twice daily instead of three because I don't like the idea of puppies getting it! She is also on Clavamox and vetri-science Canine Plus Mulit-Vitamin. I'm feeding her Natures Variety Prairie Beef Meal & Barley Medley. I will try the Fenugreek with Reign and see how that goes. Hopefully it will work! Puppies are eating great and very active. 3 of them are already weighing 1.2# Amazing how big they are! They are crawling fast and very active too! I always thought they would lay around and sleep all the time. Though they do sleep a lot, just not as much as I thought they would :-)
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by gsd39mr on 08 January 2012 - 21:27 |
| I am so glad Reign and the puppies have pulled through. After everything she's gone through I think it's a good idea to keep a close watch until they get a little bigger. She could hurt one accidently with her digging and you don't want them moved or hidden. My bitch I wrote about earlier that had a c-section with her first litter also wanted to dig up the box. It's funny, she went on to have 2 more litters- no c-section and would dig some but no where near as much as her first. I even ended up putting old sheets in the corner of the room the box was in and when she would get determined to dig, I made her get out of the box and dig in the corner, a couple of times she even almost pulled up the carpet but got it out of her system. I was like you, I could tell by their cries when something was amiss. Many times I had to tell her to just platz and calm down, when she would circle, I would sit with her and talk to her quietly. She was SO much calmer with her following 2 litters, I didn't have to sleep in the same room, but did use a baby monitor. That whole rush to the vet, c-section thing, then fever, just through both of us for a loop and your situation was so much worse. After all this you wouldn't want to lose one accidently. Jo Ann |
by dogshome9 on 08 January 2012 - 21:35 |
I also have a female that will exhibit that same behavior with her babies, moving them into a bunch then trying to lay around but not on top of them, my girl will also pick them up (which I really don't like her to do as they usually scream when she does that) I usually tell her leave it and she will put it down. She also stresses when I lift up a puppy and nuzzles me to put it back or tries to take it from me. They are gaining lots of weight so her milk must be in a good supply. Love the perfect number # 7. |
dogshome9 by festnagler on 08 January 2012 - 21:46 |
| I've got pups on the ground as we speak and they are a little over 3 weeks. My vet thought I had 11 or twelve possible more. He also thought i was further out from having the pups by a week to 10 days then my pregnancy calendar indicated. She kept me up half the night panting and pacing until she dropped her first pup at 6:30 a.m. One recommendation i have is that be prepared once the pups start to drop they will turn cold very quickly and i didnt have my heat lamp on so i skirmished around and got everything going.....all is good and there was 9 pups not 12. Alot of shadows apparently. Good luck with your litter....it is a lot of hard work but sooooo much fun. Keep me posted!!! |
festnagler by yellowrose of Texas on 08 January 2012 - 23:44 |
| Doing great girl So happy that she is taking care of them but got news for ya!! SABLE BITCHES ARE BITCHES.. SHE IS doing just what they all do...she is concerned and a bit anxious with them do not worry but you will have to stay vigilant..I always spent the first 36 hours in the dog box...JAne Steffenhagen told me to never leave them ..I use to laugh at her..she had 22 employees to help her and she had hired help 24 /7 I was the only hired hand here!! But I did it Sh eis doing just what mine always do..they like to hide them as they are not outside where they can dig a whole and cover them up for protection..This is the beast of the wild coming out of the dogs... She is normal and just keep vigil and keep not letting her sit on them I fell asleep last time and lost one because the mom just doesnt understand a hard floor under her doesnt give like dirt does.. Happy she is doing good...Also raw liver, helps produce good milk and increases it...An old german veterinirian made me aware and I always used it and it works..I have had friends with no milk run to store and buy calves liver and start female mom immediately on raw liver added twice daily to food and it works...I swear by it.. now and before whelping liver is my salvation always...I also know it provides very much nutritional strength to a milk supply and helps the bitch recover nicely. you can use pork liver or calves liver...In germany I think they use more pork but here I eat Calves liver so I always buy calves liver over pork ..either one will work.. YR |
yellowrose of Texas by JodyP on 09 January 2012 - 02:49 |
| victoria.. if you are giving Reign antibiotics.. i would make sure to give the puppies some yogurt or benebac once daily.. this will help the gut .. the antibiotics will come thru with the milk.. jody |
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