Contrast this with the whelp forced to lay on a dry
heating pad or under the harsh light of an equally dehydrating heat
lamp. Pups are born in dark places and are rarely exposed to bright
light until after the eyes open. Their eyelids are closed for a
reason. Close your own eyes. Shine a flashlight towards your eyes.
Got it? The brightness filters through your closed lids. If you
won’t allow her to whelp in the closet, at least give her a dark
sheltered quiet room. Throw the heat lamps out. If you have orphan
pups, give them a hospital quality moist-heat pad in one corner of a
covered box.
If the artificially heated pup becomes too warm,
there is no escape, no way to regulate his barely functioning
thermostat. Human hands helpfully put him back in the heated area
and the more he cries in discomfort, the more likely he is to be
placed again and again in the heat. A brand new little body that is
just learning how to react to outside stimuli begins to show the
effects within hours. He develops painful stomach cramps, “bird-seed
diarrhea”, and breathing difficulties. Improperly diagnosed and
treated, he will die. The telltale yellow stool with little greenish
lumps is undigested milk. Just as a chilled whelp can not digest
milk, neither can an overheated one. The trip to the vet wherein he
is taken out of the hot environment is often the first relief he
has. He quiets down, grateful for the respite. All too soon, he’s
brought home and hurriedly placed back in the overheated nest
whereupon he again begins to crawl and cry.
I can’t count the calls from breeders who, home from
the vet with dutifully medicated pups, find them no better off. A
few careful questions will often result in the prescriptive “put
them in the bathtub for five minutes and call me back.” The results
are nothing sort of miraculous! Commit this to memory, it can
prevent incalculable stress for you, your litter, and your friends.
A word of caution. Should you lay this aside or fail to grasp the
overall concept, please be sure the pups are in fact trying to crawl
away from the heat source. If they are fanned out like spokes in a
wheel, “crying and crawling,” the bathtub trick will work like
magic. If however, they are “piled” on top of each other in the
nest, or if after three minutes on the cool porcelain they do not
fall into exhausted sleep, the problem is not overheating and you
may need to find another vet.
A newborn learns cause-and-effect behavior in the
first few hours of life. Instead of having a tube forced down his
throat and his stomach filled with more than it was designed to
process at one time, he learns to bump the nipple repeatedly to
demand nourishment when he needs it. Another life lesson occurs as
he performs the food-by-demand ritual and is gratified by the
let-down of her milk. He sucks vigorously, aggressively, developing
the pushy, survival-at-all-costs attitude which will ultimately
determine his adaptability to the hazards of life, with or without
human management. A newborn unable to join to the nipple for
frequent small meals, one that never learns to fight for his place
but who is instead force fed according to the human attendant’s
schedule, inevitably becomes an adult with a quiescent reasoning
ability and a lackadaisical attitude about life in general. Never
having experienced the most basic neo-natal struggles and
achievements, if at some point in life, he suffers hunger, cold,
pain, or fear, he is the poor dog that will just sit and whimper
in befuddlement.
When pups are bottle or tube fed, we are told to
gently stimulate evacuation by cleansing the genital area with
cotton balls moistened in warm water. What we are not told is that
it should be very warm water. Shocking a newborn with tepid
formula or cleansing cotton is a common mistake. "Body temperature"
in a human feels quite cool to a dog whose temperature averages
101.5 degrees! When pups are learning to eat from a bowl, toy
breeds may be turned off by the cold edges touching warm throats.
They may quickly seem to loose interest in the food when in fact,
they are hungry but the cold sensation translates as something
unknown and inedible. A dog’s temperature is almost three degrees
higher than our own so sensory stimulation should be considerably
warmer than the “wrist test” used for human babies.
If a bitch is spayed concurrent with a c-section,
she may not be given an oxytocin injection or may have been spayed
early in the labor stage, may be extremely stressed or for any
number of other seldom considered reasons, she may fail to make
milk. With the uterus removed and hormonal releases cut short by
interruption of the birth mechanism, the milk just never comes down.
Large breed matrons or those that bagged up in the last few days of
gestation may slip by the breeder’s notice. As the experienced bitch
goes through the instinctive motions of nursing, cleaning, and
comforting, the breeder may fail to notice that the initial milk
supply has run out. Pups who never knew they were supposed to have
milk can just lay there and quietly starve as will pups who
experience a gradual lessening of the milk supply. The breeder who
weighs or instinctively notes that the pups are not "firm and fully
packed" may be puzzled. Within two to three days, dehydration
becomes so evident that even the most novice breeder realizes
something is horribly wrong. By this point, it will take heroic
effort to save the whelps. Any vet who fails to warn the litter
owner of the possible side effects of caesarean-spaying or extreme
stress should be held accountable. It is gross negligence too often
compounded by an attempted cover up of scientifically worded garble
designed to lay blame on the bitch’s “poison milk” or pups who were
somehow defective and “wouldn’t nurse and caused the bitch to dry
up.” Beware.
The Cuddle Curl is an ingenious tool for all moms
that nest; felines, canines, bears, even rodents. Bitches deprived
of the natural birth process may never fully develop the protective
posture that regulates temperature, controls a large brood, and
insures the babies are not laid or stepped on. By the way, pups that
are too warm crawl away from the heat source. Although mom will
uncurl, even roll onto her back to allow mammary heat to escape, she
can do little to change an overly warm environment. Pups will
scatter and are at risk of being squashed as opposed to properly
regulated whelps snuggled to the teat or neatly piled. Understanding
the remarkable multi-purpose mothering device came after an
enlightening discussion with Dan Greenwald, one of the greatest dog
men we’ve ever known.
I was shocked when two decades ago, my dear friend
Meg Purnell-Carpenter, over for a visit from the U.K. chastised me
for changing the soiled papers in the flexible plastic (child’s
wading) whelping pool. Since then, I use newspaper under rubber
gridmats, placing a thick wad of paper towels directly under the
vulva of our Akita bitches. The absorbent pad soaks up the
voluminous birth fluids and can be discreetly changed after each
delivery. Excess fluids drain down through the rubber mat so that
mom is kept clean, quiet, and undisturbed. She can lick and clean
with no risk of ingesting ink dyes nor will the wet whelps absorb
newsprint chemicals.
So it was that while reporting a free whelping on
our co-owned Chihuahua, I began to yawn as Dan cautioned that the
nest should not be changed during the first week. She had delivered
three pups in her foam cuddle bed after having disdainfully removed
the plain white cotton blanket and no, I hadn’t changed a thing. We
were soon laughing about people who are horrified by visions of
germs destroying their precious puppies. Were it a risk, that Rhodes
Scholar of all carnivora, Mrs. Wily Coyote, would have long ago
learned to use disinfectant.
We agreed that knowledge which older dog people,
farmers, and ranchers grew up with is all too often obscured by
today’s technical teachings and practices. Without human
interference, the farm dog has her pups under the porch, in the
barn, wherever she chooses - and she chooses well. After all, her
ancestors still find the right place at the right time. You will
select the place but your bitch must be allowed at least two weeks
to make her nest her own. Please don’t plop her down in a fancy
whelping bed which you keep sterilizing. She won’t be relaxed and
accepting of it any more than you would be comfortable delivering
your first born in the Group ring at Westminster. Just as she
arranges the bedding, imparting it with her scent, and hangs her
curtains so to speak, you come along and take away all her familiar
things and tell her to deliver her babies in the confines of a
hostile, chemically treated, artificial square box. Please!
Back to the Cuddle Curl. Dan went on to explain how
a good mother will instinctively wrap around her whelps. We laughed
as I described how our Mini-Bulls, unable to bend their muscular
little bodies, tuck the pups under their chest and then fold down on
top of them with mom’s head upside down under the sternum. The
classic bullie-snooze position enables her breath to warm the
incubator she built with her not-so-pliant Bullie-body.
So depending on the breed, the Cuddle Curl has some
variations but accomplishes the same remarkable objective. The
snugness of the curl regulates temperature as effectively as does a
mother hen’s fluffing of feathers over her eggs. The bitch’s body
holds the moist heat resulting from her post whelp drainage. It
traps and magnifies the hormone-laden scents which evoke all sorts
of poorly understood mechanisms designed to comfort the whelps,
promote healing, and slow down her metabolism so that she will in
fact “lay in” for the minimum 72 hours.
Left to her own devices, she would survive the first
few days on the consumed afterbirth. Please allow her to have the
bloody mess. It may be repulsive to you but healthy placenta and
birth fluids are laden with as yet unidentified enzymes and hormones
as well as vital nourishment designed to see her through
“confinement.” We interfere in ways offensive to her and to nature.
We deprive her of placenta and then solicitously offer the wrong
food that speeds up her metabolism at a time when she should just
sleep quietly for a few days. When she then becomes agitated, we
give her drugs or herbs to relax her. Then instead of leaving her
alone, we force her into activity, making her leave the nest to
empty a bladder that is possibly performing some miraculous
recycling job which converts waste fluid into milk! Who knows? We
simply should not intrude on the dam’s way of cleaning her nest and
pups, regulating their temperatures, and her natural instinct to
“lay in” with her litter! Be solicitous, let her go out when she
expresses that need, but otherwise, let her do what she knows is
best for herself and her whelps.
Scientists have spent enough to buy a Pedigree Award
in trying to unravel the miracle of momma-bear who gives birth and
nurtures young while in a somnambulistic state. It is said that
unravelling her medical secretes will benefit society. Perhaps. Or
perhaps science should not violate mother nature’s mysteries.
Some things are not mysterious. They are simple
common sense. For instance, you are about to learn why bitches
reject or kill their puppies and more importantly, you will know how
to prevent such behavior. In the meantime, just tell your pregnant
friend that you are trying to understand her just half as well as
she understands you.
Barring medical complications, minimal human
interference is the best thing you can do for the dam and litter.
Today’s fanciers are conditioned to believe that the species would
become extinct were it not for our helping hands. Actually, the
domestic canine is in some danger but it is due to genetic
manipulation and distortions of instincts that have preserved the
dog for thousands of years. The first instinct is self-preservation
and humans have been known to controvert behavior patterns designed
to guarantee survival of the individual and the species. We seem
even more compelled to interfere with the second most powerful
mammalian instinct, the desire to reproduce. We prevent days of
courtship and for obvious reasons, natural selection. We then go so
far as to artificially impregnate the female.
The reproductive drive should be strong and
efficient. Left to their own devices, mammals are pretty good at
producing and nurturing. We do recognize that the world is a rather
hostile place what with so much concrete, carpet, and cars but there
must be balance between assistance and interference.
None of us would consciously stress the brood matron
any more than we would knowingly cause harm to the litter. And yet
we do. We blunder right into the middle of the reproductive process
and then wonder why purebreds have so many problems whereas mutts
and farms dogs still seem able to conceive, whelp, and rear their
young quite handily!
There is a sensible compromise between puppy mill
management (basically a disregard for the safety, comfort, and
well-being of the dogs) as compared to the over-protectiveness of
the dedicated Breeder. Neither allows the dam to control her
whelping environment although the commercial producer is more likely
to leave the bitch alone during the critical “laying in” period
which among other things, completes the bonding process. Newborns
are exposed to bright light, over or under feeding, and unnatural
stimulation. The whelp’s first learning opportunities are
unwittingly compromised by Breeders and ignored by puppy producers.
One of the most troublesome breeding experiences is
the caesarean section. It’s uncommon in Arctic/spitz, herding, and
hunting breeds and when necessary, it rarely results in post
delivery complications. Caesareans are most often needed in toy dogs
or breeds with unusually large heads and narrow pelvic girdles. The
odds of surgical intervention increase when the dog is also short
coupled and “firmly packed.”
For example, Bulldogs and Pekinese are at double
risk due to their unique heads, pear shaped and rather inflexible
bodies. Bullies and Bostons, Chihuahuas and Chows - the list is
complex and when viewed through the spectacles of perspective, it
presents a problem begging for solutions.
This is not meant to suggest that breeders should go
backwards or sacrifice the wonderful features of type that
distinguish such breeds. The point is that new generations of
breeders are having a difficult time coping with the ever-increasing
need for c-sections and the frustrating consequences. The shrinking
group of experienced dog people seem less inclined to waste time
passing on stock-sense to new breeders who are too often here today,
gone tomorrow. Those who do become passionate about creating a
canine masterpiece have fewer and fewer resources for common sense
advice. In many critical areas, Science has replaced Nature.
Successful breeders have already made the
acquaintance of a breeder's best friend, Common Sense. Novice
fanciers struggling with today’s textbooks can avoid many of the
problems encountered by learning management techniques that have
served man and his animal friends for centuries.
Firstly, if you think there is the slightest risk of
surgical delivery, be prepared. Talk to your vet. Explain that you
don’t want an appointment for surgery, that you prefer to allow the
bitch an opportunity to deliver naturally and failing that, you want
her to experience as much natural labor as is safe for her. Most
vets will advise against this plan but you may be fortunate (or
persuasive) enough to have a vet who will go along with you. Most
vets are not on call for their clients. Economics outweigh loyalty
and you are likely to be directed to the emergency clinic at 2:00
AM. That being the case, ask your vet to do a phone call
introduction to the emergency veterinarian and staff prior to her
expected delivery date. Which by the way, can be as much as five
days prior to the traditional sixty-third day.
Give her newspaper or paper towels to shred,
arrange, and rearrange during the nesting period. If you have
provided a proper, private “den” area and the bitch is allowed to
completely indulge in nesting routine, she can be expected to settle
in comfortably with her new family whether they arrive by c-section
or not.
Even though you know she will be surgically
delivered, she should be allowed to progress far enough into labor
wherein she will concentrate on licking her nipples and vulva (and
everything else within reach) and ideally, her water should break.
She will then become quite serious about licking and arranging her
bed so that even with the interruption of a trip straight into
surgery, she will be much more likely to take up where she left off
upon returning home and regaining her wits. The pre-delivery licking
is tremendously important as it coincides with hormonal release and
lays an important foundation for the bonding behavior between mother
and whelp. The first time dam who is trotted off to surgery without
benefit of the nesting, licking, cleaning behavior is one who will
likely never develop good mothering skills. She is more apt to
reject or be frightened by those odd squirmy little things she
awakens to find in her bed.
By now you are beginning to understand why there is
a higher rate of apathy or aggressive behavior exhibited by short
coupled breeds. It is more difficult for a Boston to reach around to
lick the genital area. For a pregnant Frenchie, it is almost
impossible! Combine the physical limitations with a higher caesarean
rate and the predisposition towards offspring rejection is directly
affected. Ahh but there is a solution.
After having allowed her to perform as much of the
pre-delivery pattern as is safe, insist that the veterinary surgeon
save one very wet placenta. To emphasize the importance of the
request, as you gather the bitch, receiving box, blanket, (and of
course, your credit card!) be sure to toss in a zip lock freezer
bag. If you have reason to believe the round trip will take more
than three hours, refrigerate the placenta, otherwise, your very
important nursery tool will keep quite nicely.
Upon returning home, settle the bitch and pups and
hope she will take notice of them. You can try rubbing them across
her vulva but my advice is to take no chances. Prepare the placenta
by placing the plastic bag in hot water. When she is alert enough to
respond to you, dip the pup’s rear quarters into the bag, then dump
the whole mess under her tail as you discreetly place the pups at
her rear.
If she was plucked from the nest in the midst of
cleaning herself (accompanied by the release of endorphins), her
reaction now should be classic. She feels the same pain as before
surgery, and she associates it not with the whelps but with licking,
cleaning, and satisfaction. So what will she do? Sniff at the mess
you’ve quietly made, then clean herself, then with no hovering
interference and no break in concentration, she’ll begin to lick her
messy whelps. You can now sit back, relax, and admire motherhood
functioning as nature intended.
Of course you will watch her closely. She may have
mood swings. She may be restless. Both can be aided by a bowl of
warm milk, calcium and vitamin “C” appropriate for her size, and if
you are knowledgeable about herbs, a bit of valerian and skullcap.
She should be otherwise left in a cool darkened room to sleep and
recover. A serving of warm raw calves liver should be offered the
first time she seems hungry but food should be otherwise limited to
milk, broth, meat, or a light gruel of oatmeal for the next 72 hours
after which she can go back on her regular high quality diet. Offer
water free choice.
Take her out to eliminate only when she lets you
know she is ready. You can encourage her to change sides but if she
resists, do not force her. Change her pads or matting only after 24
hours and do so while she is outside with a friend or family member.
Be sure to leave some small pieces of her original bedding. Handle
the pups daily, but gently. Imagine being swooped up or dropped ten
stories in an elevator and you will understand why pups go rigid
when similarly handled. Gradually expose them to bright light only
after the eyes are open.
Play music for them. Enjoy them. Love them and be
proud as they leave for new homes and new adventures.
You and she have done this right!