Orphaned Litter (almost)

One of the biggest worries in whelping is to have your dam die at birth, or next worse... to reject, or kill her puppies.

This particular litter is almost equal to an orphaned litter. Sassy, the English Mastiff Dam, is refusing to clean and potty her puppies. She is not aggressive towards them and is not rejecting them totally, she is tolerating them. She will allow them to feed, if the pups are manually placed on her teats, however she shows no interest in them. I was hoping if the pups suckled, that her hormones would kick in, but we are on day 5, and still zero interest.

Even if I had a Dam that just refused to clean and potty her puppies, I could at least leave the puppies with her all night to keep warm, stimulate, and feed, then potty in the am.

I cannot do this. Many breeds cannot stay with their puppies, as they could purposely kill them, or accidentally kill them in this case, because of the size of the dam.

I must take the pups away, and give them to her every 2 hours.

Even if I had a GREAT Dam with little milk, I could at least leave them all night, and do supplementing in the day.

This litter is presenting the breeder with a similar challenge, as an orphaned litter.

She has milk,  But cannot be left alone with the puppies, nor will she stimulate, or potty them.

This means,  a committed breeder, must put a whole lot more into this litter than ever imagined, being Robbed of a once welcomed act, called sleeping.

Every 2 hours, (and each feeding takes an hour).

She must take the pups out of the warm box, and put on the dam. (with this litter, there are only 9 teats, and 11 puppies), so she needs to rotate, and top up with supplemented canine milk.

Then she needs to gently massage the vulva and penis, to make them potty.

Then she needs to massage the anus to make them poop.

This is very time consuming, a messy job and mentally and draining.

If you don't have convenient access to a sink, you can use the wet wipes to clean your hands before pottying each puppy. Occasionally you may need to use them to clean up a puppy bum, (make sure they are baby wipes, meant to clean a babies bum). Floor wipes should not be used on the puppy bums.

Sassy calmly lays back and watches her humans do her job.

In a case like this, where a human is keeping track, not the dam, EVERY puppy needs to be identified, I am using colored ribbon, as the tails are too dark to color.

Even with a Dam in total control It is wise to identify the puppies, so when you weigh them, you know who is gaining what.

Every step of the way must be recorded, to make sure no puppy or the dam is being neglected.

We are winning! Mastiff puppy weight chart.

	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	28th	Nickname
Red boy	614	634	628	640	714	1118	Pluto
Green boy	658	644	622	680	720	1144	Chip
Yellow boy	700	692	672	730	802	1134	Moose
Pink girl	614	600	620	652	694	1100	Minnie
Green girl	514	522	522	574	636	932	Lady
Red girl	588	580	548	598	670	1030	Tinkerbell
White girl	534	514	508	534	594	908	Alice
Aqua girl	620	612	624	688	736	1050	Daisy
Orange girl	502	500	526	544	614	968	Lilo
Brown girl	434	446	452	498	522	910	Thumbelina
Black girl	510	518	528	544	638	1000	Cinderella

500 g = 17.5 oz
600 g = 21 oz
700 g = 24.5 oz
800g = 28 oz

 

I put Catreeya, a Havanese dam, in the guest room, and moved the blue kennel back, and put in is place, a big Rubbermaid bin.
I then gave her 2 pups, at a time + 2 + 2 + 2 till she had them all.

Catreeya came in and got them all exercised up.

She was willing to nurse them, or let them try. She lifted up her leg.

She was very accommodating, licked all their heads, but didn't' go for bums, but I had just done that. She got them good and exercised and moving.

Sassy, the Mastiff was up on her feet, wondering, WHAT was up, so I let her go look, hoping she would be jealous. And she saw Catreeya, greeted her, kissed her, and thought.

OH... OK... go ahead, keep doing whatever you are doing, thanks and Sassy went back in her room. without the pups.

I may use Catreeya at night, to keep the puppies company, too bad she didn't have milk.

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Today's problem, we are dealing with constipation

WELL,, NOW they are all constipated.

They need heat, but it can dehydrate them, so... do you turn the heat down, and risk fading syndrome, or deal with it.

Too much heat, can cause constipation, too little heat can cause death. (WAY to much heat can also cause Death)

It took me from 7:30 till 9:22 to feed them and try to get them all to poo, they hadn't pood since this am. Yesterday, I tried a bottle of water, and a drop of oil, but it wasn't working. Poos' were pasty.

Nature works soooooo well, when it does all for you.

Anyway,
I had to give them (9 of 11 of them), a nice warm enema and lickety split, all pooped..

This is so much work, just like having quintuplets!
 

In the end of all this, these puppies will be Better than ever, because they have been mainly hand reared, using the dams milk. The hands on that these puppies are getting will make them exceptional pets, and worth all the effort.

DAY 6,

She licked and kissed 3 puppies... in a very small way, but she is falling for them...

Last night was brutal.

I fed them at 9pm, finishing at 9:30, if I just potty them,

Then they wanted to eat at 11pm ,
Then 1am,
Then they wouldn't settle, at 2am they were just scampering and screaming, finally at 2:30am I fed them again, and spent the hour to top them all up with a bottle, so I was done at 3:30, and they slept till 7 ish; so I got to sleep from about 3:45am till 7:00am.. 3.25 hours.

FRIENDS, at times like this, it sure is nice to know you have some. (grin)

Courtesy of MistyTrails Mastiff's

Although this section is based on a whelping of an English Mastiff, it also contains good general whelping information in large breed dogs. You can find more whelping information in the links above. The links below tell a story about Sassy, an English Mastiff. Sassy has a wonderful temperament. She loves humans and Adores human children. An all around mild mannered, wonderful Mastiff. Sassy however is not the best mother towards her puppies, she is not rejecting them, she will nurse them when a human places them on her to feed, however she will not clean the pups or pay any attention to them. It is as if, they are not her puppies. This litter is getting moms milk, with major human interaction, manually giving each and every pup what they need. In return, the pups will be super socialized and will make remarkable pets, however the work involved is astounding. It takes one dedicated breeder to keep this situation healthy. Thankfully this litter has just that, a dedicated breeder. Read the links below to get the full story. There is a wealth of info that everyone can appreciate and benefit from. C-Section in a Large Breed Dog Newborn Puppies... What you need Whelping Mastiff Puppies One to Three Days Old Things do not always go as planned (imperforate anus) Orphaned Litter (not the plan) 10 Days Old Plus ++ 3 Week Old Puppies Puppies 3 Weeks - time to start potty training Puppies 4 weeks old Puppies 5 weeks old Puppies 6 weeks old Puppies 7 weeks old Socializing the Puppies Mastitis in Dogs Whelping Large Breed Dogs Main Whelping, a new found respect

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So you want to breed Pros and Cons of Inbreeding To Breed or Not To Breed? Whelping puppies - Breeding age Reproduction: (The Heat Cycle) - Signs of Heat Breeding - Tie Dog Pregnancy Calendar Pregnancy Guide Prenatal Care Pregnant Dams Full Term Mucus Plug Whelping Whelping Kit First and Second Stage of Labor Third Stage of Labor Sometimes things do not go as planned Dam Almost Dies on Day 6 Whelping Unfortunate Troubles Water (Walrus) Puppies C-Sections C-Section due to large dead puppy Whelping Puppies - C-section Pictures Dam Day 62 PostPartum Birth to 3 weeks Pups 3 Weeks - time to start potty training Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 6 to 7.5 Weeks 8 Weeks 8 to 12 Weeks Whelping Large Breed Dogs Mastitis in Dogs Mastitis In Dogs - A Toy Breed Case Why are Toy breeds are harder to train? Crate Training Showing, Genetics and Breeding Saving a Puppy Whelping Stories - Three Puppies Born Whelping - All puppies do not always survive Whelping Puppies - A Midwoof Call Whelping a Full Term Preemie Whelping small for gestational age puppy C-Section due to Uterine Inertia SubQ hydrating a puppy Whelping a Singleton Premature Litter A Premature Puppy Another Premature Puppy Pregnant Dam Absorbing Fetus Whelping Puppies Congenital Defects Puppy with Umbilical Cord Attached to Foot Puppy Born with Intestines on the Outside Dewclaw Removal Done Wrong Whelping and Working Whelping a messy litter of pups Whelping Puppies Picture Pages

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Whelping, Close to text book case Puppies Progress Chart Cuban Mysti Puppies - Full Term Mucus Plug - 1 Cuban Mysti Puppies - Labor Story - 2 Cuban Mysti Puppies - Labor Story 3 Cuban Mysti Puppies - One Day Old Pups - 4

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