Remblak

Thanks everyone, will keep you updated :-)

Next time Chris does an ultrasound for me I will make sure he looks at *both* horns

Cheers

Linda

That made me laugh I was much the same when John did Molly's ultrasound, I kept saying are you sure??? As it is, he was right, but there may be another 1 or 2 hiding...we'll see.

Thanks everyone for your replies

Hey Mel, how's it going???

Zulu whelped litters of 8, 9 and 7 and her daughter whelped 7 and 9 pups, boy have you got your work cut out

The most important part I think is the water and calcium but we also use a high quality vitamin/mineral supplement, plus I make a porridge up using oats, water, natural yogurt, honey and raw egg and give that to the mum for brekkie everyday. With large litters we also start to offer scraped meat off the finger to the pups from around the 3 week mark and then begin weaning proper at around 4 weeks.

Don't be too scared though, but is this a maiden whelp or a problem mother? I remember Sunny was quite frightening her first litter, she just didn't want to know and I had to babysit her babysitting her pups, if I moved away so would she! Her second litter, however, was a lot less stressful, for which I was very thankful seeing I was also early pregnant myself I think what I'm trying to say (badly!) is not to stress too much.

If you need to bounce ideas, you have my email and my number and I can't wait to see piccies. Good luck

Hi Em,

She's a maiden, I am sure she will be ok but its more a shock to the system for me.

Her mother popped her litter out with no problem, mind you her mothers temp did drop, nor did she do any nesting. However was the perfect mother.

So, I am now on long service leave and staying home to keep an eye on this lil puddin.

Molly's temps seem to be on average 37.8-38.1. Fortunately for me her breeder will also be coming down to assist with the delivery of these puppies so that makes me feel much better ;)

Will keep you posted and will definately put up some piccies when the arrive.

Cheers,

Mel

How much Calcium Sandoz did you give to the bitch per day?

And would you recommend giving a bitch CS regardless (once she has whelped) to help ensure eclampsia does develop?

I have no hassles giving a 15kg bitch 5ml 4 times a day. Generally I give them that much for 3 to 4 days after whelping (until their milk has come in) then drop it back to 5ml twice a day until the pups are abour 10-14 days old, then up it again.

Recommend? Well no, every bitch is different and you have to do what you're comfortable with but for me it gives me peace of mind. I have never had a "nervy" "restless" mum since doing this, always contented and happy so if it's a co-incidence I'm happy with that

Thanks for your insight, much appreciated!

Previously with Ebony, she was pretty much text book. Generally 37.5 to 37.8, then when her temp dropped it went down to 36.5.

Probably no help here but we've started taking Molly's temp as of yesterday morning, hers was 38.0 and again much the same at the evening being 37.9.

This morning taken again and it was 37.8, will take it again tonight. I dont expect any changes just yet though...

I've had two maiden bitches whelp big litters - one of 9 the other 10 (Staffords too). Didn't supplement any of the pups but fed the mothers huge amounts of food. Personally I wouldn't be feeding a lactating bitch much vegetable, IMO they need the room in their stomaches for food they can actually use - lots of meat and bone and I do artifically supplement calcium (Calcium Sandoz) due to once having a bitch with only a smaller litter crash with eclampsia, scary scary scary. She's a daughter of the bitch who had 10 first up and grand dam of the bitch who had 9 (she herself had 9 in her second litter but it was her 3rd and final litter of 5 which caused the problmes).

Sometimes people like to rotate the pups, some in a heated box some with mum, but I've always found this upsets my bitches - it all depends on the bitch I suppose.

How much Calcium Sandoz did you give to the bitch per day?

And would you recommend giving a bitch CS regardless (once she has whelped) to help ensure eclampsia does develop?

Cool, thanks for that Lisa - I'll probably annoy you more over this next week...hope thats ok?

Annoy away! I'll send you my phone number!!

We've also been feeding much the same including a variety like yourself of egg, chicken necks, sardines...not tried yoghurt though and have never tried to feed chicken frames. Do you mince these??

Nope....everything is fed "as is".

We also feed a fair amount of beef with a combination of cooked chicken meat mixed through with vegies and pasta. My brother in law is a butcher by trade so luckily for us meat for our kids has been fairly easy to get and at a reasonable price.

I never cook chicken for the dogs, rarely feed a lot of beef (other than on bones) but they get a lot of vegetables (usually raw but lots of table scraps as well) but I tend to give them rice rather than pasta.

It was the same deal for us this morning at the vets...you could clearly count 8 puppies but questioned a possible 1 with another in behind the shadows, we'll know soon enough though. Will be home as of tomorrow and have taken a 6wks long service leave Yay!!!

They only guesstimated the 6 in Koda. It took them literally all day to get 13 shots. They'd take one when they had time, look at it and then decide to do another. The first thing the vet said when I arrived was "you'd think with THAT much belly that it would have been easy to take a photo!"

What will be, will be. All you can do is be as well prepared as possible but ready for anything else that might be thrown at you!

I knew Koda was big, but no way did I expect 9. I kept shaking my head looking down at this pile of puppies, haemostats and towels in the centre of the table at the surgery and then when they were all dry I had to keep counting them to believe it was true! I'd NEVER had a litter that size in my entire dog breeding history!!!!

Thanks Lisa, very very much

Will keep you all informed on any progress!!

I already feed calcium rich foods such as eggs (with shell), chicken necks and frames and raw meaty bones, sardines and fish frames, cottage cheese, yoghurt etc so it was really just a matter of bumping up on the amount which had the effect of increasing calcium and bulk at the same time.

Funnily enough, when we had Koda xrayed, they couldn't get a clear count. They took 13 shots and three of us still couldn't count them. When she was sectioned, it quickly became apparent why that was the case because the uterine horns were like a USA highway system, all over and under and in and around each other. If you can get at least a reasonably clear count, then barring uterine inertia or traffic jams, I'd say you'll be ok.

Cool, thanks for that Lisa - I'll probably annoy you more over this next week...hope thats ok?

We've also been feeding much the same including a variety like yourself of egg, chicken necks, sardines...not tried yoghurt though and have never tried to feed chicken frames. Do you mince these??

We also feed a fair amount of beef with a combination of cooked chicken meat mixed through with vegies and pasta. My brother in law is a butcher by trade so luckily for us meat for our kids has been fairly easy to get and at a reasonable price.

It was the same deal for us this morning at the vets...you could clearly count 8 puppies but questioned a possible 1 with another in behind the shadows, we'll know soon enough though. Will be home as of tomorrow and have taken a 6wks long service leave Yay!!!

Thanks Lisa!! We've confirmed 8 puppies on xray with a possibility of 2 hiding - hence "the stressing" is beginning LOL!

Yep, will be weighing them all daily for the first 3wks to ensure weight gain.

What specific foods were you feeding Koda to help with her calcium intake?

Much appreciated Miranda, just interested as with our previous litter from a different bitch whom had 7 and lost one baby, she did well and had no problems producing enough milk for her litter.

I'm just being overly cautious (this is just me) as with this maiden bitch, not having a history for producing a large litter and wanting to be as prepared as one can be

Hi all,

After reading the expected litter thread for Sept got me thinking about the following;

Apart from feeding mum the correct nutritional diet during gestation, what happens when you are faced with a very large litter?

How does mum cope with the huge demand?

Do you suppliment the puppies with extra feeds inbetween? If so, what would you recommend?

What kind of extra food would you recommend feeding to help ensure mum produces enough milk for her puppies?

Sorry lots of questions, our girl is due to whelp in a weeks time and have just confirmed expected number of puppies this morning by xray.

Assuming all goes well with her delievery, etc...we too will be faced with quite a substantial litter.

Look forward to reading your responses.

Cheers,

Melissa

Huge Congrats on your litter!!! How exciting and OMG 10 puppies, sorry to hear of the llth puppy

Best of Luck with them all over the next few week, it will more than likely fly by with so many bubbies. Cant wait to see some piccies!!!

last night was quiet, or so I thought I woke up with all my folded clothes out of my basket and all over the floor ;)

We have nesting, panting and whining this morning she might very well start having her babies by lunch time. what a good girl waiting for the day lol. won't stay in her box and wants to go outside or nest on my lounge ;) she is the first girl not to want to have her babies in her box

Funny you say that, I think my girl wants to have them on my bed. Still got another week to go but she is really uncomfortable, poor baby

Keep us posted with your girl

Well her temp has been up and down for 2 days now ranging from her normal 37.8 then dropping to 37.1, then goes back up again. Tonight a 7pm it has dropped and now stayed at 36.8. she has refused dinner aswell and is currently sleeping like a baby. Maybe not long now. she has showed no nesting habits as yet. The waiting game begins.

Best of Luck, looks like its all starting now for you!!

Remblack, she is beautiful Look at that big fat tummy full of bubbas!!!

Thanks Trina

And one more

Here's my girl 7wks today, here's hoping for an easy delivery

Thank-you Lisa, just had a peep and they are perfect...much appreciated!!!

Just quickly designed this one in word

Hi All,

Does anyone have a Temp Chart they are willing to share?

Thanks

I think it is nice to NOT include everything, part of the excitment of getting a new puppy is to go to the pet shop to buy toys, bowls, leads, bedding etc.

Hi becks,

I agree with you however the things we include in our packs will generally only last the puppy for a short time.

For us its merely a small gift for his/her new family.

Thanks everyone, I think most of us seem to include similar information and assortments.

Open for any other suggestions though

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...63&hl=puppy

Thanks Lisa

Just out of interest, do you guys make up your own Puppy Packs or order them from the likes of Advance, Eukanuba etc?

We ordered puppy packs from Advance last year for our litter and then added to them to include info about our breed, copies of parent DNA profiling, L2-HGA & HC Clear certificates, LR ped cert, Vaccination details, 5-gen pedigree, photos of both sire & dam, photos of each puppies siblings, our vet contact details, a large blanket each, toys, water & food bowls plus a lead & collar set for each new puppy owner.

As we are preparing for our next litter (hopefully due early Sept) just wanting other ppls idea's on things we may not have thought about including.

Cheers,

Melissa

And you actually received your Advance puppy pack? I gave up after both myself and my food supplier tried over 18 months and 2 litters. Advance lost me all together of it and after years of feeding Advance I switched over to Royal Canin.

I make up my own puppy packs also.

Yes, we did and received them rather promptly.

I can remember reading on one of the topics somewhere that Advance were quite slack and a few people had given them the flick.

Maybe we just got lucky last year, I plan on ordering the kits when the bitch has whelped.

Hopefully they just as efficient as last time.

If you do a search, I raised a similar topic last year, but also asked for input from "the other side" as to the kinds of things THEY would like to see included. It was in General.

Thanks for that Lisa.

I'll do a search to see if I can find anything.

Just out of interest, do you guys make up your own Puppy Packs or order them from the likes of Advance, Eukanuba etc?

We ordered puppy packs from Advance last year for our litter and then added to them to include info about our breed, copies of parent DNA profiling, L2-HGA & HC Clear certificates, LR ped cert, Vaccination details, 5-gen pedigree, photos of both sire & dam, photos of each puppies siblings, our vet contact details, a large blanket each, toys, water & food bowls plus a lead & collar set for each new puppy owner.

As we are preparing for our next litter (hopefully due early Sept) just wanting other ppls idea's on things we may not have thought about including.

Cheers,

Melissa