Puppies Week One

Layla finally had her third litter of puppies the morning of October 20. I had underestimated the date of whelp by five days, and my anxiety had been growing intensely over the last nine weeks of pregnancy. The same questions run through my head every time: "What if something goes wrong during the birth? What if she never goes into labor and the puppies die in there? What if two try to come out at the same time? What if they are born too small?" and a million more anxieties, obsessions, and stresses.

I try to prepare for every possible scenario. A week before the whelp, I set up an area in the quietest and least-travelled corner of the bedroom. A place where there will be no drafts and no view of anyone else, especially our other yorkie, Simon. Layla will feel threatened by other dogs so I keep Simon away from her for the first week or so. He doesn’t really bother her so much now, but she despised him when she had her first and second litters.

A week or two before the due date, I make Layla's whelping box. It consists of a plastic under-the-bed storage container and some comfortable sheets and blankets. I try to form bumpers on the sides of the bed so the innermost part of the bed is sunken in. Then I slip a miniature tent on top of the box. I bought this tent at Wal-mart. It is actually meant to cover litter boxes and provide cats with privacy while they do their business, but it works quite well at keeping the box sheltered and enclosed.

A few days before the due date, I set up my whelping supplies. These consist of: hand sanitizer, a heating pad, a roll of paper towels, rubbing alcohol and Tupperware containers for disinfecting tools, baby wipes, an electric tea kettle, a ton of washcloths, hand towels, and sheets, steel surgical scissors, steel and nylon hemostats, a bulb syringe, dental floss, Nutri-drops, Oral Cal Plus, and whelping pudding. I have all this set up and ready to go because the birth can happen at any moment.

It is possible to find out the time of whelp to within a 12-hour-range. About a day before the whelping commences, the dam's internal temperature will begin to consistently drop from 101 degrees to about 98 degrees. Unfortunately, Layla doesn't like when I use the anal thermometer on her, and she tends to get her way when she is shaped like a watermelon.

It is imperative to have the supplies set up before the dam goes into labor. How will you know when it is happening? In Layla's case, she always tries to go outside and take a poo. Pretty much anytime she goes outside in the days leading up to her due date; I keep my eyes locked on her. She will begin to strain and try to go poo in the yard. No poo comes out, and I don't want her giving birth in the yard, so I immediately call her back into the house. She usually goes right to her whelping box (she gets accustomed to sleeping in there in the weeks leading up to the whelp) as she's having the first contractions.

Sometimes she will shiver, pant heavily, or dig at the sheets in her box. She can look really scared or sick, she may even cry out. Layla has never made any noises. This time she didn’t even shiver or dig, and only panted for about two minutes. She just hopped right into her bed and started to lick down there, like she knew exactly what to do.

I knew it was time to bring new lives into the world because Layla had woken me up about an hour earlier, asking to go out. She didn’t want to break eye contact with me. She kept barking to go outside, but she had just been out there about two hours before, so I was fairly certain that it was time. My heart always begins to beat wildly as the truth settles in that it’s about to happen, and I have a mini-panic attack before calming myself down.

I wake up Matt, my faithful yorkie obstetrician, who does most of the dirty work that my stomach is too sensitive to handle. He’s fantastic at staying collected when I get overwhelmed, and I’m the extra pair of hands that is usually needed during the awesome yet frantic process. For a detailed description of the birth, read the next entry.