Whelping Kit
When whelping puppies, it is very important to be prepared. This means having what you need on hand. Here are some supplies and tips you should consider, courtesy of MistyTrails Havanese.
- Have your vet on call, and phone number handy.
- Have your vehicle filled with gas.
- If needed, have a babysitter on call.
- Ideally you will have a friend on call to assist you, and drive to the vet with you if needed, or to help with children or anything else that may arise.
The design of this box works perfect for pups from 0 to 3 weeks to keep them contained. Sometimes you have to move the opening against a wall to keep them in as they grow. By 3 weeks simply TURN the box over (upside down) so the raised entrance becomes a doorway to the potty area.
- Whelping box with guardrails (big enough for dam to stretch out) with rails that prevent the mother dog from accidently squashing the pups against the sides). This will be puppies home for 2.5 to 3 weeks, then it will need to be gradually expanded. At 2.5 weeks, a paper potty station needs to be added, and at about 4 weeks, a play area needs to be added. By 6 weeks they need room to run...
- Newspapers, rags and paper towels
- Small, warm box with heating pad for newborn pups (and/or backup hot water bottle for vet travel)
Keep small towels in this box to warm them, some puppies need to be vigorously rubbed with a warm towel
- Scissors to cut cord
- Hemostats to crimp cord
- Un-waxed dental floss to tie cord if needed
- Surgical gloves and K-Y jelly
- Thermometer, Vaseline, book and pen
- Flashlight in case of power outage
- Ribbons if needed to identify puppies
- Good quality scale
- Preemie bottles and canine milk replacer
- NutriCal for dam and warm broth or canine milk
- Syringe to syringe fluids into dam’s mouth (or spray bottle)
- Foamy sleeping bag and pillow to camp beside whelping box
- Calcium—either Calsorb, vanilla ice cream or some other supplement (vanilla ice cream is awesome between puppies, as it gives them hydration and glucose for energy; a calcium boost will help the parathyroid gland to release a hormone from her bones to help with muscles and pushing)
From left to right
Notebook with numbers and pages for recording dam’s progress, puppy weights, etc., pen, telephone, baby monitor, hand sanitizer, NutriCal, K-Y jelly and rubber gloves, heating pad, Vaseline and thermometer, scale , Mamalac and bottle, alcohol, scissors, floss and hemostats, ribbon, heat lamp.
Courtesy of MistyTrails Havanese
Main Menu
