Making sure pregnant yorkie is ready for nursing

[fluffybunnies_3]

Last time my dog had puppies she didn't want to nurse them, and I'm not even sure she really had milk. (We squeezed the nipples and nothing came out).
I'm looking for any advice to help her have milk (what can we do nutritionally??), and secondly I am looking for any tips on how to get her to nurse when the puppies are born. Do I let the puppies crawl up to her and start nursing? What if she nips at them? Any advice on this process is appreciated!!!
My dog is not that sociable and was scared/confused by her puppies last time. I want to help her as much as I can if this is a problem this time again.
Thank you!!!!

[TxVicki]

Originally Posted by fluffybunnies_3;4360563[SIZE="3"

]Last time my dog had puppies she didn't want to nurse them[/SIZE], and I'm not even sure she really had milk. (We squeezed the nipples and nothing came out).
I'm looking for any advice to help her have milk (what can we do nutritionally??), and secondly I am looking for any tips on how to get her to nurse when the puppies are born. Do I let the puppies crawl up to her and start nursing? What if she nips at them? Any advice on this process is appreciated!!!
My dog is not that sociable and was scared/confused by her puppies last time. I want to help her as much as I can if this is a problem this time again.
Thank you!!!!

You need to post this in the Breeders section. IF she had so much trouble the last time with puppies, then WHY would you put her through this again??? Makes no sense. Not all dog's make good breeding stock!! I would say you need to have this girl spayed and love her as Pet.

[Lovetodream88]

It's so sad to do this to this poor dog when she was scared and confused last time and didn't make a good mother last time.

[Rainbows]

As a mother that breast fed my human baby...lemme just say that squeezing the nipples is NOT an indicator of milk quantity. The way a baby suckles is different than squeezing, you can't express milk that way... If you are too invasive during their birthing and are grabbing at, assisting and over handling the puppies they wont bother much with them you have to let them be and it irks me when people intervene where it's not nessesary. Cat's are the same way, I had to nurse 4 kittens with kitten formula around the clock when I was younger in college, because my roommate just couldn't keep hands off those kittens so the mother lost the bond and interest in nursing them.

You need to leave the mother and her puppies ALONE. Let her birth, let her nurse, do not touch them, clean them, bother her or the puppies or she will not bond and learn by using her natural instincts. Yes you need to let the puppies crawl to her and nurse, don't touch them. She probably wasn't scared by them, probably scared by the whole ordeal and not being allowed to do it naturally in a quiet comfortable place.

I agree with lovetodream88, you shouldn't have bred this poor girl if you really think she has motherhood problems because it's not healthy for the mother or the babies.

[OwnedByJezebel]

You need a mentor to be there with you in person. Preferably, you should have had a mentor and assisted them with several whelps before you ever bred your own dog. These questions and the ones on your other thread are things you should already know BEFORE your dog is pregnant. These aren't things you should be learning on the fly as you go, your girls life and her puppies lives are on the line. (Losing all of your last litter demonstrates that).

Please find a mentor that can be there with you in person. Asking people over the internet is no substitute for having someone right there that is intimately familiar with the whelping of toy dogs.

[Yorkiemom1]

You have a female that is not a reliable breeder. To follow the above suggestion that you "must leave this scared, confused, unreliable bitch ALONE to whelp by herself" is absol;utely ludicrous. There are bitches that will "come around" on their second litter, and become perfect little mommas, but YOU have to be very knowledgable in what is going on and why. From what you have already posted, you can not even say with certainty what went wrong with that first litter, as you did not autopsies to determine cause of death. If you are accurate in your assumption they died from "hypoglycemia", (which means they essentially starved to death) the very least you should have done was to learn how to tube feed newborns, and how to care for abandoned babies. Then you should have concentrated on your bitch. You say your dog is "not that sociable". That is a personality fault and NOT something you want to pass along to puppies. I think you really need to reevaluate your motives for breeding at all, and why you would ignore these glaring red flags in this bitch. You need to devote the next couple of years AT LEAST, and become as knowledgable as possible in breeding dogs. Then you need to invest good money in good strong bitches, and you need to have bankrolled at least $5000.00 to cover any emergencies you may encounter. To proceed as you are doing, is irresponsible, unethical, and unconscionable. You are defiling the respect of ethical breeders, the Yorkie breed itself, you are tormenting your poor bitch and quite possibly endangering the health and well being of any litter she may have. Wait until she starts eating the puppies because she is terrified and confused....just how is THAT going to affect you? She can eat them as she has them, or she can eat on them overnight, so that when you go to check on her in the morning, you find bits and pieces of body parts. Your bitch can NOT be trusted.....DO NOT leave her alone to whelp by herself, but she needs to be attended by someone that has a clue what is going on and can recognize red flags when this bitch beats you over the head with them.

[gemy]

This is one of the more disturbing posts I have seen in awhile.

First if you have not, you should be seeing a reproduction specialist, most especially with the disaster you had with your first litter. And why you did not do that first before breeding your problematic female again I don't know.

Nutriton is relatively easy to fix, how-ever did you do a full blood panel on your bitch prior to breeding her, to ascertain if she was healthy enough to breed, most especially given her failure to nuture her first litter?

And without a full blood panel, how to do you begin to understand if she is missing in essential nutrients?

I can only hope at this late date you step up to the plate, and do what you need to do with vet specialists to insure a more favourable outcome for your bitch and her puppies. Gosh who knows maybe the life you save will be your bitches!

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Rainbows

As a mother that breast fed my human baby...lemme just say that squeezing the nipples is NOT an indicator of milk quantity. The way a baby suckles is different than squeezing, you can't express milk that way... If you are too invasive during their birthing and are grabbing at, assisting and over handling the puppies they wont bother much with them you have to let them be and it irks me when people intervene where it's not nessesary. Cat's are the same way, I had to nurse 4 kittens with kitten formula around the clock when I was younger in college, because my roommate just couldn't keep hands off those kittens so the mother lost the bond and interest in nursing them.

You need to leave the mother and her puppies ALONE. Let her birth, let her nurse, do not touch them, clean them, bother her or the puppies or she will not bond and learn by using her natural instincts. Yes you need to let the puppies crawl to her and nurse, don't touch them. She probably wasn't scared by them, probably scared by the whole ordeal and not being allowed to do it naturally in a quiet comfortable place.

I agree with lovetodream88, you shouldn't have bred this poor girl if you really think she has motherhood problems because it's not healthy for the mother or the babies.

Most small breed dogs require help when birthing and a lot of breeders touch and mess with the puppies a lot. Not knowing what your doing and not helping the mom when she is whelping could end up very bad.

[doriane]

first thing to prepare is to make sure mom is well fed 3 times a day while pregnant lots of water..I have 2 dogs that get really picky in the first trimester and have to find something they cant refuse.. usually cook them chicken ..I have delivered over 30 litters and there is very few puppies I do not help with delivery . I usually get them clean make sure mucus is clear from nose and throat them get them suckling on mom asap soon as they latch on mom takes over. I like to get x-rays about 3 day before delivery so I know how many and to foresee any problems its usually around 200 dollars but it so worth it for piece of mind.

[dawn27]

I strongly suggest that you find a mentor (breeder) near you to teach you what is important and how to do it the right way. Honestly thou, if this had been my female she would not have been bread a second time. Hopefully she will do the motherly thing which in most cases comes naturally but if not you must be totally prepared to become a surrogate mother to them and supplement (bottle feed) their feedings. That will not be an easy task but may be necessary in order to save their lives.

Your baby is going to need you by her side during whelping to help her. If during the birthing process she should become tired it can put the life of the remaining pups in jeopardy. There are so many things that can and will go wrong and like the last time milk production is a huge issue. Some momma's don't get their milk in right away but the babies still must suckle in order to get the nutritional value of the colostrum which provides important antibiotics that they must have. It is important that each of the puppy latches on to get the colostrum and in order to help the milk come in. Be sure that she is getting a proper diet of calcium three to four times a day the last two weeks of her pregnancy and even more afterwards and lots of water. She should be on a high calcium diet of puppy food during the entire time she is nursing.

I wish you much luck and I pray that your baby does well. Meanwhile here is a site that has an abandons of information about the proper care of the mother during gestation and both her and the pups after.


Canine Reproduction Video and Book on Breeding and Whelping dogs by Debbie Jensen for dog breeders and Whelping Supplies needed to deliver puppies.

[Rainbows]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

Most small breed dogs require help when birthing and a lot of breeders touch and mess with the puppies a lot. Not knowing what your doing and not helping the mom when she is whelping could end up very bad.

I meant that its not good to get too handsy and assist where its not needed, not to just leave the mum unsupervised to birth. They don't need us grabbing the newborns away, they have to smell on them and clean them. Lots of people don't let the mums chew the placenta when its good for them to either. Its not ludicrous to let a mother birth and nurse naturally and only intervene where necessary! Most animals can do it fine without us, were there in case they can't. Where is your source that most small dogs need help while birthing, I wanna see it. Bulldogs and pugs excluded for obvious cephalic reasons.

[Rainbows]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

You have a female that is not a reliable breeder. To follow the above suggestion that you "must leave this scared, confused, unreliable bitch ALONE to whelp by herself" is absol;utely ludicrous. There are bitches that will "come around" on their second litter, and become perfect little mommas, but YOU have to be very knowledgable in what is going on and why. From what you have already posted, you can not even say with certainty what went wrong with that first litter, as you did not autopsies to determine cause of death. If you are accurate in your assumption they died from "hypoglycemia", (which means they essentially starved to death) the very least you should have done was to learn how to tube feed newborns, and how to care for abandoned babies. Then you should have concentrated on your bitch. You say your dog is "not that sociable". That is a personality fault and NOT something you want to pass along to puppies. I think you really need to reevaluate your motives for breeding at all, and why you would ignore these glaring red flags in this bitch. You need to devote the next couple of years AT LEAST, and become as knowledgable as possible in breeding dogs. Then you need to invest good money in good strong bitches, and you need to have bankrolled at least $5000.00 to cover any emergencies you may encounter. To proceed as you are doing, is irresponsible, unethical, and unconscionable. You are defiling the respect of ethical breeders, the Yorkie breed itself, you are tormenting your poor bitch and quite possibly endangering the health and well being of any litter she may have. Wait until she starts eating the puppies because she is terrified and confused....just how is THAT going to affect you? She can eat them as she has them, or she can eat on them overnight, so that when you go to check on her in the morning, you find bits and pieces of body parts. Your bitch can NOT be trusted.....DO NOT leave her alone to whelp by herself, but she needs to be attended by someone that has a clue what is going on and can recognize red flags when this bitch beats you over the head with them.

I said let her birth on her own, not to leave her unsupervised.
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~rootk001/whelping.htm

[Rhetts_mama]

Knowing when and how to intervene is not something you can learn adequately over the Internet. That knowledge comes from working, in person, with an experienced breeder.