Jet and Seger's litter
Jet and Seger's litter This litter whelped 4/10/2002 out of CH SoftMaple's International Fling CGC Cardiac Clear,
CERF CR-640G26F-PI, CR-640G26F-PI sired by CH SoftMaple's O' Dark Thirty JH SH CD WC WCX CGC CR-536G27M-T cardiac, CERF
While you may know, I take vacation time when I have a litter of pups around. My husband does not! He gets home from work at 8 am, and has to sleep..... so, I
try to get a lot of the loud morning work with the pups out of the way before he gets home.
4/14/2002 5:30 am. Morning chores! 
First thing is to take care of Seger. She has plenty of water and dry food in with her all the time, but I make her morning meal and let her wander outside with the
other girls. Then to the pups. I move them out of the Whelping box to the vari-kennel half that sits beside it. Then I push that out of the way. My whelping box
has evolved over the years. A few years ago, I took the bottom out of it. This makes it more lightweight, easier to clean, easier to paint, easier to store. I also did
this after I had a bitch that insisted on burying her pups under any bedding that was in the box. I needed a way to be able to give the box good absorbent padding
without giving the dam a big thick blanket to cover up her pups with!
The frame tipped up, papers changed. New liner put down.
The frame is then set back on the base. With the fleece liner tucked under the floor, and pinned down with the frame sp Seger can not dig up the bedding. The pups are weighed and put back in the whelping box.
The whelping box has pig rails on all sides. About 4 1/2" by 4" deep. The pig rails are to help prevent a mom from accidentally squishing a pup to the side of the
box. The triangular piece on one corner in the pictures above of the box is my seat! The ridge is a bit tough to sit on for any length of time. ;-) Some boxes are made so the pig rails come out later, so the pups can't use them to climb out of the box. I never try to keep the pups in the box, once they are out, they are out! (what I do have to do later when this happens is put a step on the outside of the box, so the pups can get back in again)
The pups are put through The Bio Sensor neurological stimulation exercises. This will be done every day with the pups until day sixteen. I make little notes next to
the puppy's page in a notebook on how they react. Its interesting to have this information to look back upon later. Some pups make noise, some struggle in one position or another. Some don't seem to notice they are on a cool cloth, while others squeak and try to scramble off it!
I also have to contact the AKC for a litter registration application. I don't send away ahead of time for one, because I don't want to jinx myself on being all prepared, and then no litter happens! That and the paperwork part of it is not the fun part. I don't mind studying pedigrees, pictures, video, etc... but the AKC forms are just one of those things that has to be done. Sort of like homework... and you want to just put it off!
Everyone hears about AKC registered, this is a bit about the AKC paperwork. AKC is just a pure bred dog registry, it is not a stamp of quality of that particular dog or breeder.
For the litter to be AKC registered, records must be kept. About the AKC, and do my dogs Papers mean they are a good dog? AKC Registered and Quality
All required records must be made immediately when dog is acquired and delivered, and at time of mating, whelping or death. Records must be kept on forms devoted to that exclusive purpose and must be consecutive, accurate, up-to-date and maintained for at least five (5) years after the dog has died, has been sold or has been given away.
a. Records to be kept by owners and breeders.
1. The owner (and the lessee if a dog is leased) shall keep a record of each dog owned (or leased) which will show:
Breed
Registered name and number (or litter number if not registered)
Sex, color and markings
Date of birth
Names and numbers of sire and dam
Name of breeder
Name and address of person from whom directly acquired
Date of acquisition
Date and duration of lease, if any
in addition, the owner (or lessee, if dog is leased at that time) shall keep the following breeding records:
2. Whenever dog is mated to another dog:
Date and place of mating
Names of persons handling mating
Registered name and number of dog to which mated
Name and address of its owner
3. and (if a female) when resulting litter is whelped:
Date of whelping
Number of puppies whelped by sex and by color and markings
Litter registration number
Date of sale, gift or death of each puppy so described
Name and address of person acquiring each puppy so described
Kinds of papers and date supplied
Registered name and number of each puppy registered by breeder
I fill out the litter registration application with the Date of birth, number of puppies. Sire’s name and registration number, Dam’s name and registration number. Signatures of owner of sire and dam. (or lessee of dam) Send in the appropriate fees. This does not register each pup individually. I will be sent individual registration forms for each pup that must be filled out. The AKC imposes a late fee ($65) if the litter application is not made out in the timeline they give. The litter registration fee is $25.00 plus $2 per puppy. The individual dog registration will be $15.00. Again, a later fee is charged if the dog is not registered within the year, and it climbs if the dog is registered after 24 months.
These are not the only kinds of records that need to be kept. I also keep records of the birth. Weights of the puppies. Color Sex, when the dewclaws are removed. Dates they are wormed, and worming medication used. When shots are administered. When they have veterinary care and check ups. What food they are eating. When Seger weanes them. Then there are the breeder notes. How the pups look and act.
4/15/2002 Day five