I’ve had a lot to deal with over the past two weeks. My husband, Tom, underwent open-heart surgery, so I had to manage visits to the hospital alongside Millie coming to our home. We brought her here on Sunday so she could settle in before her due date. Millie unexpectedly delivered early, which was a surprise. I’m grateful for our wonderful family, who helped with hospital visits and looking after things at home. Due to some post-surgical complications, Tom’s stay in the hospital was extended. I’m relieved he was finally discharged on Tuesday to continue his recovery at home. With everything happening this week, I’m late in posting our First Week Blog.

Looking back at first week

Whelping Day

I spent the day at the hospital on Monday while my daughter kept Millie company. She had reported to me that Millie had been panting off and on, spending most of the day snuggling with her on the couch. That evening, I spent watching some TV and observing Millie. I thought that her puppies would come sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. I looked over at Millie, planning to take her out for a potty break and sleep with her in our whelping room. To my surprise, I saw her starting to push. Quickly, we moved to the whelping room, where she kept me busy delivering her litter throughout the night.

Sometimes first-time mamas know exactly what to do, and sometimes others need help. Millie was one of those first-time mamas who needed help. For the first six puppies she delivered, it was up to me to break the sack, clamp, and cut the umbilical cord, and dry them vigorously with a clean towel. When the seventh puppy arrived, Millie’s mother instincts kicked in, and she took over. When all was over, Millie and Rocky were the proud parents of a litter of twelve puppies with an even split of six boys and six girls.

The Boys

The Girls

Looking back at whelping day

Settling into a Routine

Neonatal Period

Newborn puppies are in the Neonatal Period. During this time, they spend their days eating and sleeping.

Daily Weigh-in

Millie has a huge litter, which makes feeding all the puppies challenging. The weight gain has been slower than that of puppies in a smaller litter.

Because some Millie’s puppies’ weight was less than expected, I decided to supplement with puppy formula.

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep

Taking care of Millie …so she can care for her babies

It is important to care for our mamas so they can care for their babies. Our mama’s get lots of TLC after their whelp. Our mamas are given daily vitamins. We make a special mother’s pudding. It is full of calcium and is usually the first thing all our mamas eat. We also feed them boiled chicken breast for the first few days.

Socialization

Part of raising well-adjusted puppies is socialization. We handle our puppies from birth. This helps develope a well adjusted puppy. In the upcoming weeks, the puppies will have lots of socializing with young and old alike.

ENS

We usually begin our ENS exercises on day three and continue through day 16. Through ENS, we introduce little stress to the puppies, which has been proven to produce calmer puppies. It also produces greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, a faster adrenal system, and stronger heart rates and heartbeats. Because the puppies were slow to gain weight and many puppies were being supplemented with puppy formula, I didn’t want to put more stress on the litter, so I held off on starting ENS until day five. We will continue until the puppies are sixteen days old.