From: Ray Baker [mailto:r.baker@videotron.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 8:49 AM
To: Todd D. Chrisman; Todd Chrisman
Subject: le Champmarais

Roxie's whelping box is ready, and like you Todd, its one of the nicest things I've ever built.  A melamine floor with cedar walls coated in three coats of water based varathane (like polyurethane), copper rails inside, camo cloth at the rear, and Pascale's  sheer 'Princess' dress (curtain) from the top, to make her feel secure and enclosed.  She has slept in it two nights in a row and is quite comfortable.  Our bed is just four feet away.  She has bedding material, her own blanket and some old cotton dress shirts from the fire station.  The scale and thermometer are beside the box on the dresser, and lots of newspapers, paper towels, Kleenex and 'wet ones'.  We've read and re-read the whelping chapter of the DK book by Georgina Byrne.  What are we missing?
 
Ray

Ray,

Towels.  Like face cloth size or dish towels.  At least 2 per pup.  I had 10 and it wasn't enough.  Each pup gets rubbed down in one, and then there's enough of a mess after each pup to use another.  Then you find your self using them to wash hands, etc.  I found some cheap ones packaged for washing cars 12 for $6 and bought two packages for next time.  You'll also want some old bath towels for bigger clean-up.  Basically it's messier than you can imagine.
 
The melamine is very good (hygienic), but it's slick.  My ingenious sister-in-law bought bath mats with rubber backing for the floor.  It worked well.  They stay in place so the pups don't squirm under and get squashed, and it gives good traction when they start scootching and walking.  She had three complete coverings.  One in the box, one in the washer and one in the dryer. Once they go on food, we covered half with paper and half with the rug and they went potty on the paper and slept on the rug (mostly) which was interesting and I think helped with house breaking.  The pups for the most part were very easy to house break.
 
There's a bulb thingy that's good for getting the water out of the nose.  They sell it in the baby section of the drugstore.  Every one I've ever seen is blue.  If they sell two sizes, get the smaller one.  You squash the bulb, jam it in the nose and let go of the bulb and it sucks.  Repeat in the other nostril.  Keeping the water out of the lungs helps the pups tremendously.
 
Some scissors for trimming overly frayed umbilical cords and unwaxed dental floss or strong thread for tying off the bleeders was helpful.  If Roxie is like her mother, she'll be pretty aggressive about nipping off the umbilical cord and eating the after-birth.  I read she wasn't supposed to eat more than two of them, but I couldn't stop her from grabbing them and it wasn't worth trying.  Didn't seem to upset her tummy or whatever the books say it's supposed to do.
 
Something to read, because mostly whelping pups boring (hours of boredom broken by frenzied activity, like deer hunting).  Maybe a cribbage board?  Some Champagne for afterwards is good, mix it with OJ if the sun is up.  I've never heard of a friend's dog whelping during the day, but Amanda says it happens.  My experience says it's an all-night deal.
 
You might need a heat source.  They need to be kept very warm, especially the first couple of weeks.  I put a wireless thermometer (the kind for indoor/outdoor readings) in the box, but it was August.  I have a special puppy heater, but I'm not sure if I like it yet.
 
I plan to build a low bench for putting next to the box before the next litter.  I think it will be nice for sitting next to the box, and for Dove to get in when the top tier is on.  You won't need it right away, but if you have some wood...
 
I had dehydrated puppy formula and pre-me bottles on hand.  It was the one thing that I didn't need that I was very glad to have purchased.   It's one of those "Pray for the best, but plan for the worst" items.  Also, if you don't have an emergency vet open 24/7 call your vet, explain you are having puppies and ask if he or she will be "on call" for you.  Amanda just did an emergency c-section that saved the bitch and most of the pups, but would have been easier and better at 7:00 AM than when they brought her in at 10:00 AM.
 
Stuff you don't need that I bought because internet sites said I absolutely needed it included veterinary disinfectants and scrubs, specialized medical equipment, bandages, exam gloves etc.  Household bleach is still just about the best disinfectant available.  Anti-bacterial hand soap works great.  At the point where you need to scrub up like you are going to surgery and put on exam gloves and use forceps and all that other garbage, you shouldn't waste the time, you should be loading your girl and the pups into the truck and calling the vet on the cell phone.  I don't even know what to listen for with a stethoscope, but I bought one.
 
Most GSP whelpings go very smoothly.  They are "normal" in terms of size and proportion, generally physically fit dogs.  I've heard of a handful of GSP pups that didn't make it (out of hundreds) and only one bitch that died in whelp, and she was geriatric.

Todd