going to be busy

[lynne duncan]

am about 90% sure our hepzie (cocker spaniel) is going to have puppies, have been reading all the information i can possibly find, any first hand advice from orgers on pregnant dogs, whelping and puppies.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t272/wickscorrie/homeendofmay2007052.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t272/wickscorrie/Picture_0007.jpg

hepzie and her boyfriend lawrie

[ANNIE]

Sorry no info but congratulations to the mum and keep us posted on her progress

[lynne duncan]

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t272/wickscorrie/august2008halkirkstaxigoeharbour-1.jpg
hepzie waiting impatiently for dinner, her appetite is as bad as mine. only 2 weeks to the puppies are due

[stixie]

Your doggy is gorgeous. Such a lovely coat.

Best wishes with the puppies.

I have no advice i'm afraid. Just wanted to pay my compliments lol

[Julia]

You will need to sort her out with a whelping box lined with lots of papers, once she starts nesting in it, it's a good indication the pups won't be far away. I'd seriously recommend getting a book from the library or looking it up online, being as it's her first litter you may well need to help breaking the sac, massaging pups etc.. if she does not do it herself

[porshiepoo]

Yep, you're definitely going to be busy.
I have only ever bred one litter of Dane puppies and I know that with the larger breeds we have to give them 24/7 care for the first three weeks as mum could lay on them, I don't know whether it's the same for smaller breeds!
There'll be plenty of info online but my advice would be to find one or two places for advice (or a couple of books) and leave it at that. Too much different opinions will have you in a tizz and worried silly.
Have the vet number to hand during whelping and be sure to let them know when the time is closing in just so that they're aware they could get a phone call.

Is there anyone you know that could help you if this is your first time whelping? IMO you'll probably need an extra set of hand anyway - especially if there's a few pups and mum or the pups needs help.

Most importantly though - stay calm! Easier said than done I know! lol

Good Luck and keep us posted.

[teenybash]

She is a real pretty little lady and will be fabulous with her puppies.......:)

[lynne duncan]

thanks folks
have spoken to the vet who have taken note of her due date, sept 10th, which is coming very quickly. found a fabulous book on amazon and some brilliant cocker spaniel forums and websites. and youtube is amazing for the amount of videos which have been posted about puppies giving birth
the bairns think it is fascinating but know that they have to give hepzie the space she needs when they are born and for the first week.
dad and mum are also about for support and probably will rope in my bro or pal for support as well
have cut down on hepzie's walking as she gets puffed out quite quickly
someone said the other day it's like a cindensed human pregnancy ie one month per human preg as to one week for a dog
hepzie was lying beside me on the couch last night and as i was stroking her, you could feel the puppy/ies kicking amazing!!
oh has made a birthing/whelping box with son helping too!

[Blondie]

How many are you expecting Lynne? Are you going to keep them?

[lynne duncan]

we haven't scanned hepzie at her stage now, she would need to be xrayed and we didn't want to expose her to it if she didn't need to be. the only thing i think it would have gained would be to tell us the amount of pups (handy to know for us being firsttimers so we would know when they were all delivered) but time and patience will tell us that as well.

we are planning to keep one and so i think is the owners of the daddy and then wait and see

[Margaret M.]

Awww, she's a lovely doggie. Good luck with the delivery.

[flash]

Harry sends his congratulations

[lynne duncan]

supposed to be 5 days to go, but she seems awfully restless today and has been scratching about "trying to nest", the bairns all think that she is going to go early.

[binbob]

supposed to be 5 days to go, but she seems awfully restless today and has been scratching about "trying to nest", the bairns all think that she is going to go early.


sounds like she is preparing her nest.dogs can whelp between 56 to 72 days.the average is 63 days...

i once had a bitch give birt on day 50 and the puppies[cockers] all weighed 15 ounces each.average for a cocker is 6ozs and over.

good luck .

[candyfloss]

supposed to be 5 days to go, but she seems awfully restless today and has been scratching about "trying to nest", the bairns all think that she is going to go early.
Hi Lynne,
i can just imagine the excitement in your house just now :lol: hope everything goes ok, you'll have to post some pics of the little darlings :)

[lynne duncan]

first bit of busy done!!!!
see now busy!!