Whelping & Taking Female's Temperature - Page 2

sunsilver, thanks for the correction. As I said my last litter was 10+ years ago and I've killed off quite a few brain cells in that time.

Sorry for the error k9sar.

Best,

Rik

My bitch didnt do the nesting bit other than 1 or 2 scrapes at the corners of her bed, but did start intenstive foot cleaning, so not all follow the same patterns.  The same goes for their contractions, some are extremely visible and others barely show.

I did the temps for several days before, but make sure you do it before they go out in the morning and when settled at night as exercise can affect your result.  One of my bitches never did the classic drop, managed a small one and it was only once her temp returned to normal that whelping commenced.

k9sar, you still have awhile yet.   You're looking for at least a 1 degree drop and under 98.6

7 days & counting.....

I didn't mean to imply that I thought she was in pre-labor....just that her temp was below normal already.

I had planned to pull out the hide-a-bed anyway this weekend so that I would be close (right next to the whelping box) and she would be in her settled area. I have my whelping box in my living room with all my supplies sitting right next to it should I need it. I also have a heat lamp & 2 heating pads and built her a special 4x5 box with the rails and have had it set up for 3 weeks. She took right to it so hopefully there won't be a problem come puppy time.

I WILL post pictures of course!! I am almost more excited about these puppies than I was about becoming an aunt....I started to say when I became a mom but that's just to mean.

If there is another dog in the house, check its temp to see if the probe is calibrated correctly.  I brought a brand new one from the vet for my last litter and it was reading a degree low,  freaked me out until I took another dogs temp and realized it was off.