I am starting this blog to chronicle my first working Doberman litter. Swift Run's Volcan Masaya WD1, SchH1, CD, WAC, CGC has been bred to Arras von Moeller Hof SchHIII, IPO III, RH-1, FFB SG1A I will also use the blog later to track Cinders' training and accomplishments. Right now Cinders is on maternity leave.
Puppies are due Dec 30. Ultra sound performed by Dr. Ross at Pee Wee Valley animal hospital showed at least 6 puppies. I am very excited about this litter- Cinders is not! Cinders is very unhappy about her enforced confinement. She is convinced that the puppies are evil as they poke at her all the time. She moans and complains every chance she gets! I haven't told her its only going to get worse. She's hasn't been in the best of moods.
We have exactly 2 weeks from today before the pups are born. I haven't yet figured out how to convince Cinders that she is NOT having the pups in my bed. The whelping box is in my room, but she doesn't go in there. I thought about locking her in, but I am pretty sure she would just go over and I don't want to endanger the pups. Hmmm...
I'll take a picture of her today and post it. I am going to have her x-rayed to get a more exact count next week.
Check back for updates.
Brandi
Puppies are due Dec 30. Ultra sound performed by Dr. Ross at Pee Wee Valley animal hospital showed at least 6 puppies. I am very excited about this litter- Cinders is not! Cinders is very unhappy about her enforced confinement. She is convinced that the puppies are evil as they poke at her all the time. She moans and complains every chance she gets! I haven't told her its only going to get worse. She's hasn't been in the best of moods.
We have exactly 2 weeks from today before the pups are born. I haven't yet figured out how to convince Cinders that she is NOT having the pups in my bed. The whelping box is in my room, but she doesn't go in there. I thought about locking her in, but I am pretty sure she would just go over and I don't want to endanger the pups. Hmmm...
I'll take a picture of her today and post it. I am going to have her x-rayed to get a more exact count next week.
Check back for updates.
Brandi
As you know from the past (I guess Dane litters), things are likely to change dramatically once the pups are here. You might have trouble getting her out of the whelping box to eat much less to do her business. Maternal instincts vary widely though. I hope she is eating well. As the pups take up more room these last two weeks be on the lookout for a problem --might need to feed her smaller meals more often. You might try feeding her in the whelping box so she has positive associations with it. She may go to it automatically when the nesting instinct kicks in. You might also put up an x-pen around the box and put her in there with her crate. I seem to recall from that Decatur nationals that she is not super crate trained --hope that is different now. How are you going to monitor her as her time is near?
ReplyDeleteThere are new ways to do it besides the old-fashioned temperature method.
I absolutely agree with the x-pen idea. Cinders looks THRILLED :-)
ReplyDeleteCinders objects strongly to confinement as evidenced by her broken canine tooth. She is very forceful in her attack on her enclosure. Unfortunately, she has discovered that if she trys hard enough she can escape.
ReplyDeleteI hope her "mommy" hormones kick in. I will try the excellent idea of feeding her in the whelping box.
I didn't know that Cinders had broken a canine tooth? Did you have it capped with a stainless steel crown? A good friend had this done for her sport Mali and it seems that it is holding up well to his extremely strong grip. In the future, you might have to protect her teeth with a greyhound muzzle. I discovered these only recently and they work really well. Dogs can drink and pant freely but they cannot chew on something to ruin their teeth. My critter-obsessed dog was chewing trees where critters had holed up or concrete blocks where they were hiding and this had to stop. Interestingly, she learned to use the muzzle as a critter basher but her teeth are protected.
ReplyDeleteDoes Cinders like a peanut butter stuffed kong or one of those treat dispensing toys? If so, you might put one on those in the whelping box too for her to play with --again building positive associations with it.
Also some extremely comfy bedding there might be helpful. In extremus you BOTH might have to start sleeping in the whelping box for the last few nights. (I am not really kidding as I know someone who did that).
When is the xray scheduled?