The Last Two Weeks

Boo has started to shed hair from her belly , her nipples are very prominent and there are eight very plump ones present although she does have two more up the very top. She grooms herself constantly. Very attentive in her back end as her babies are wriggling around.

We have set up the whelping area and introduced to BOO into it and she has taken to it really well, she is very happy in there and is doing some nesting in the whelping box. We have her crate and soft bed, so she has an array of places to get comfortable. Eventually we will remove these, so she rests in the whelping box.

I am given her a groom and trimmed up her pants and around her back end. We have started taking her temperature and it is holding steady at 38 to 37.5. Her appetite is hit and miss, eating small amounts often which is very normal at this stage as there isn’t much room in there.

We went off to the vet for an Xray and to our delight as well as OMG we are expecting nine puppies. They all look fairly even in size, and all have lovely strong heart beats.

Boo loves having her belly rubbed gently and you can definitely feel the little ones moving around in there. They are growing at a rapid rate. All the organ development has happened. They have their hair and pigment; sex organs are developed It is just time to grow now. They are considered full term from day 58 onwards,

Boo will begin lactating at this point, which will give us a good idea of when she will give birth. Lactation usually begins a week in advance of whelping. We are preparing for the birth collecting and making sure we have all our supplies ready including mike supplements just in case, warming pads, vet beds. Plenty of towels and paper.

Each night we rub and wash Boo’s belly it helps toughen her nipples and allows her to get use to touch and calmness. I have a doppler so love listening to her puppies.

We are ready and waiting. Monitoring and prepared. Being Boo first litter we have no idea how she will whelp, her mum whelped very different to her mum so Boo is built very much like our foundation girl Bella so we are hoping that she will whelp like her with ease. Being a big litter she could have puppies any day now

STAY TUNNED!