Whelping puppies doesn't need to be hard or scary. There a few things though that are needed to prepare for a smooth birthing process. Most important would be a comfortable quiet place for your girl to make her nest. We built a 4/4 box with a door for our whelping box. Some kind of bedding is also essential. We use newspapers, as they are easier clean up than say, blankets or wood shavings. In addition to this we keep a digital scale for weighing pups as soon as they are born.
Here is our list of items for whelping...
- Whelping box
- Embroidery thread or tasteless dental floss (for umbilical cord)
- Digital scale
- Laundry basket with heat lamp and thermometer (for delivered puppies while mom is birthing)
- Newspapers
- Anti-styptic powder (in case of excessive bleeding from umbilical cord)
- Bulb syringe (for clearing a puppies nose and throat of birthing mucus)
- Pre-cut ribbons for puppy identification collars
- Plastic gloves
- Paper towels (for cleaning and drying pups)
- Note book and pen (for recording contractions, weights, and birth order/times)
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| Ribbons make it possible to identify puppies |
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| Whelping box has PVC "rails" to keep Mama from smothering her puppies |
