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My Puppy Project |
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A Twelve Week Chronicle of Puppy Development and Training |
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They’re Here! - 8 Girls and 2 Boys Born November 17th, 2008 |
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Zulu winning a five point major in March 2008 |
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Zulu two days before her puppies were born in November 2008 —ouch! |
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Zulu Contentedly nursing her puppies 24 hours after their birth. |
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Zulu went into labor on Sunday afternoon and continued all night into Monday morning without producing a puppy. God bless my friend Diane Zdrodowski! She breeds Cavalier King Charles Spaniels— Evanlake— has a lot of experience whelping puppies, and she stayed with Zulu and me all night. Neither one of us slept more than a half hour for the next 24 hours. Zulu never got past “stage one” of labor, where the bitch pants and scratches, but does not have any serious contractions. We had been using the Whelpwise service, which monitors uterine contractions via a phone modem, so we knew by 4 AM that she had pretty much stalled and was not progressing into active labor. We took her into the vet and we all agreed that it was very unlikely she would wind up whelping this entire litter on her own. The decision was made to C section her, and she went in for her surgery at 11AM. It turns out that we made the right decision—even when Dr. Leal gave her oxytocin shots to shrink her uterus back to size after the surgery, her uterus was not very responsive. It is possible Zulu’s uterus was just stretched too much by all the puppies and it simply could not contract. By making the early decision to deliver the puppies by C section, we were able to save all of them, and they are a healthy and strapping crew. They are nursing vigorously and are some of the quietest and most contented puppies I have ever seen. We do have one slow starter who can’t seem to get the hang of nursing quite as well as the others, but we are working with her and we expect her to be just fine. So far, Zulu is a star of a mother—the kind of brood bitch you dream about. She is extremely contented to be in the box nursing her puppies, yet not at all hysterical when we handle the puppies or take her out to do her business. She is cleaning and feeding all of them, and everyone is very happy and quiet. Bull Terrier bitches are not famous for being sensible mothers, so I feel very blessed to have Zulu! The litter itself is very uniform and it looks like we have some fancy, fat, heads. Time will tell, but, in my observation of litters of Bull Terriers and other breeds over the years, you can see a lot about proportions, head quality, and what style of dog a puppy will grow into from the time they are born.
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First Day |
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Second Day |
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Fourth Day |
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Puppies are born with their eyes and ears sealed shut. They are essentially heat-seeking milk missiles. They will spend the first few days of their lives divided equally between eating and sleeping. A healthy litter is quiet and twitches when it is sleeping. Sometimes the twitching is so strong it makes them pop up in the air like Mexican jumping beans, which is a lot of fun to watch. This twitching is a by-product of strong neural development taking place. Human babies do it, too. |
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We mark the puppies with food coloring so we can tell the solid white ones apart. For the first couple of days, the bitch produces colostrum. This is a special milk that contains antibodies which the puppies will absorb. This will give them some protection for the first few weeks of their lives, after which they must develop their own immunities or be vaccinated. The bitch does not produce a whole lot of colostrum, so the puppies do not gain much for the first day or so. |
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After the all-important colostrum has been absorbed by the puppies, the bitch’s milk will come in—usually 24 –48 hours after the puppies are born. Zulu’s milk came in yesterday and now the puppies are gaining like mad. As you can see, the milk bar gets unruly. Sometimes the breeder has to act as bouncer and let the smaller puppies have a chance. It’s really fun to watch the free for alls, though. |