What to do when a dog gives birth and what owners should do

Nov 03,2023
5Min

Preparation of dogs before giving birth

After the female dog is sure to give birth, she must first prepare the delivery room. The location of the delivery room should be a quiet place. Large dogs can be kept in breeding kennels, and small dogs can be kept in indoor kennels or use appropriate self-made delivery boxes. The delivery room should have a delivery bed, and cold-proof and warm-keeping facilities should be provided in cold seasons. The female dog has a process of adapting to the new delivery room. In order to reduce the impact of stress hormones on delivery, she should be moved to the new delivery room 2 weeks in advance. When giving birth, a straw mat or clean cloth can be placed on the delivery bed, and then use 0.5% Lysol solution or 2% boric acid solution to scrub the female dog's body surface, especially the buttocks and breasts. Prepare midwifery equipment and necessary items, such as towels, scissors, ligatures, iodine tincture, absorbent cotton or gauze, oxytocin, syringes, incubators, etc. At the same time, milk powder, eggs, clean drinking water, etc. should also be prepared to restore the female dog's physical strength. One month before delivery, the female dog's nipples can be washed once every few days with warm water and soap, and then dried to prevent nipple trauma infection. The hair around the nipples of long-haired dogs should be cut before giving birth.

Care for dog birth

1. The birth of a female dog generally does not require special care and is usually carried out naturally. However, some bitches have poor motherhood, give birth to too many litters, are weak in constitution, or have abnormal births such as bitches that cannot bite the umbilical cord or dystocia. If timely measures are not taken, the mortality rate of newborn fetuses is very high. In order to avoid accidents and reduce deaths, the female dog should be on duty before giving birth. 2. In childbirth care, the most important thing is to tear open the fetal membranes in time for the delivered fetal cells. During childbirth, fetal death or stillbirth often occurs. At this time, the owner should provide first aid to the newborn puppy in a state of suspended animation. First, let the female dog lick off the oral and nasal mucus of the fetus or wipe it off manually, and press the fetal chest and body in time to move its whole body to promote the birth of the newborn puppy. The fetus cries and begins to breathe. 3. When the female dog does not lick the newborn fetus, the owner should use cotton balls to wipe off the mucus from the newborn fetus's mouth and nose, and scrub the newborn fetus's whole body until its limbs appear red and make sounds. Then use a dry towel to dry the fetal coat and allow the fetus to breastfeed. 4. Newborn fetuses with low screams, poor vitality, and weak sucking power should be placed in an incubator. The appropriate temperature of the incubator is 32°C, which is the temperature of the abdominal wall of the female dog. If there is a long interval between childbirths, as long as there are no signs of dystocia, you should wait patiently for natural childbirth. 5. In childbirth care, strangers should be prohibited from entering the delivery room to avoid interference. In addition, care should be taken not to allow the birthing female dog to trample or crush the newborn fetus. After the safe delivery, take the bitch outside the house to excrete the accumulated feces, and at the same time wipe the whole body of the bitch to remove the dirt in the delivery room.

How to help a puppy “pee”

Operation method: The owner holds the newborn puppy in place with one hand, and gently wipes the baby’s genitals with toilet paper with the other hand. Urination and defecation will occur naturally. This action is called "peeing". Usually dog ​​mothers will use their tongues to help their babies urinate, but some dog mothers cannot do this action, so we have to help the babies artificially ""Pee".
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