I start
collecting things that will be needed. I try to keep all my whelping supplies in one area from year to year. Paper and pen to document the births. My whelping kit.
Milk replacer, bottles. Electrolyte replacement for Seger, in case the labor is long and drawn out. Heat lamp. Towels, washcloths, baby wipes, and tons of paper
towels. Flashlight and new batteries. Once she starts having pups, if she needs to go out, she has to be on leash, and I follow with the flashlight. Bitches are
notorious for going outside to relieve themselves, and having a pup in the yard!
I have also been stock piling cleaning supplies. Puppies aren't very neat! The girls at work have been saving newspaper for me. I have baskets of towels and
freshly laundered whelping pads. I have three sherpa pads. One for the box, one for the washer and one for the dryer! Its a never ending cycle once the pups are born. I try to catch up on all the shopping, cleaning and laundry. When the pups come, lots of things will be put on hold. A box of new toys arrived in the mail today.
Here you see the whelping room. The rubber mats on the floor are for better footing. With the extra weight, she is slow and a bit clumsy. I don't want her slipping while getting in and out of the whelping box.
The tan smaller box besides the whelping box is the bottom of a vari-kennel. I use that to put the pups in while another is being born. Some bitches are real good about keeping track of all the pups, others sort of forget about them for a minute while another is coming out. The Vari kennel half will also be used to stick the pups in while the whelping box liner is changed.
