SoftMaple 2002 litter

Week One
(Days 1-7)
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PUPPIES

+ 90% of time spent sleeping
+ 10% eating
+ Susceptible to heat/cold
+ Instinctive reflexes: crawl, seek warmth, nurse
+ They can right themselves if placed upside down
+ Needs stimulation for urination/defecation
+ Rapid development of central nervous system
+ Need constant care from bitch
+ Rectal temperatures 94-97 degrees Farenheit
+ Pups may lose 10% of weight after birth, but should start gaining again
+ Weight should double by end of week

4/12/2002: Seger and the pups did fine last night. I still have my bed set up next to the whelping box, but most of the time don't even hear Seger when she gets up to get a drink. She is better about leaving the whelping box. The first day I had to put a collar and leash on her and drag her out for a bathroom break. Now she knows the pups will still be in the box when she gets back.
I still take Seger's temperature twice a day, and monitor her vaginal discharge to make sure she isn't getting a uterine infection.


The puppies faces look more like old men or Yoda than what they will look like later. Eyes and ears still closed.

4/12/2002 3pm. Just some more pictures of the pups at the milk bar. Puppies must get colostrum from their mothers to have full immunity to germs and diseases they will encounter in their first weeks. We used to say this had to occur in the first 48 hours. Now we know it is only during, at most, the first 12 hours, and more likely the first 2 hours of their lives that this transfer of immunity is possible.

If a puppy is not nursing strongly, for what ever reason, we must strip some milk from the bitch and feed it to the puppy drop by drop from a syringe or dropper, so they will have the colostral antibodies.


There are many reasons why puppies may not get much to eat in the first 48 hours. A partial list includes:



Who's kicking me!

4:30pm Seger took a short break from her family to stretch her legs in the yard. She flopped down in one of the flower beds, and she reminded me of a picture I have of her father Sam who lives in The Netherlands.

4/13/2002 Day three..Dewclaws removed and start of Bio Sensor neurological stimulation exercises