Not all whelping situations are joyous occasions for the kids or any adult to witness. Things do go wrong. It is nature. I do a lot of midwoof services and I run into issues often.
The biggest stress is not everyone has whelped several litters as I have had the opportunity to do. I have dealt with different breeds and various people who had me assist in their whelping. A lot do not know what is normal and what is cause for alarm, and feel helpless to help a weak puppy.
Here is yet another scenario of what can go wrong when whelping. However because of my experience this may have a happy ending.
This poor puppy is only a third of the size it should be. Her umbilical cord was attached to her foot. She has a deformed foot and was being fed through her foot and belly with a couple small skinny cords. She was born very dehydrated, could not retain her heat and was very malnourished. I will keep this puppy and litter with me for a while.
This puppy’s survival depends 100% on a human to keep her warm and tube feed her every two hours. In this case, the dam of the litter is taking care of her potty needs. This means 24/7, around-the-clock feedings by a human and loss of sleep. Not everyone can do this, nor be willing to do this. This puppy could grow up to be a normal little dog. The way I see it, we did the breeding. We brought her into this world. We are committed to not give up on her. She didn't ask to be born, but she is here and deserves a chance.
The puppy was born weighing 83 grams, which is a third the size of a normal puppy of the same breed. She is very malnourished and very small. This is a very strange case. She cannot nurse and is being tube fed.
Her umbilical cord was coming out of her foot and there was blood flow to the cord.
To keep this puppy alive I will be up around the clock every two hours to feed her. She has a heating pad under her and heat lamp above her. I allow her to be close to her mother while I am there watching.
Side view of the umbilical cord coming out of the foot—notice the bright red blood flow going to the cord.
Close-up of the umbilical cord coming out of the foot
Close-up of the umbilical cord coming out of the foot
Close-up of the umbilical cord coming out of the foot
Close-up of the umbilical cord coming out of the foot
Puppies at four days old. She is a little Havana brown-mahogany sweetie. I think she is going to make it. She has gone from 83 grams to 108 grams. I am still tube feeding her around the clock. Here she is next to her littermate. See how much smaller she is; clearly the runt of the litter.
Puppy's first week. You can really see her one leg turning inward in this picture. It's unclear at this point if she will be lame. If she is, I will teach her to walk.
Puppy's first week.
Puppy's first week.
Puppy's first week.
The preemie with her sisters at one week old; she is now nursing on her own 50% of the time.
At just over a week old the tiny preemie pup is learning to nurse.
We taught her to suck from a bottle. She has moved from supplemental tube feedings to supplemental bottle feedings.
Shown here at three weeks next to her full-size littermate; she is doing very well.
This is her foot at three weeks old. She only has three toes, but otherwise she seems like a normal pup.
Her paws at four weeks old; her normal paw is on the right and her paw with the missing toe is on the left.
Puppy shown here at five weeks old; there were five puppies in the litter. Their weights at the 5 week mark: 815 grams, 790 grams, 897 grams, 980 grams and this preemie pup is 519 grams—still much smaller than her littermates.
Puppy shown here at eight weeks old; she is doing well. She has almost reached two lbs., (half of the normal size for the breed). She was named Umbie.
Umbie at 15 weeks (almost four months) weighing only three pounds.
Umbie at 4 1/2 months old
Umbie at 1 year old
Story courtesy of MistyTrails (Midwoof)
