How to deliver puppies at home?

Hi:
Congratulations! I have a miniature schnauzer that has had three litters. Although your dog is smaller than mine, she should have no problems. Keep an eye on her and make a comfortable place for her to have the pups. she will be very protective and won't want a lot of people around her puppies. I got a big cardboard box,( like the one toilet paper comes in at the store). I shredded a lot of newspaper and put it in the box because the puppies will be peeing nd pooping and it has to be changed often. The mother will be nursing them and they will be close to her most of the time for that reason. However, mother will need to be taken out of the box at intervals to perform her eating and walking. She will want plenty of water but don't leave the mothers food or water in the box with her and the puppies. Make sure you take the mother out for this. They will nurse for a few weeks As the pups got older. I put dry food in the blender and made it real fine and added water to it to make it liquid like the mothers milk and gradually I reduced the water until it became like a paste and they ate like crazy and made a mess. Be sure and keep them in the box so they can't get out . Call a vet and find out how old they must be to get their shots and etc. It was a lot of work and the pups are so cute. I didn't have any trouble , the first litter was 7 pups, and I think the next two were 5 pups. Email me if you need anymore advice. Don't worry things will be okay. Good. Oh, I'm going to New York on Thursday but I'll return on the 19th of June. If I have access to a computer while I'm away I'll look to see if you need anymore advice. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some suggested names for your 2nd child. Cameron,Christopher,Johnathan, Donnell,Bryan,Donovan,Gregory,Lamont,Nicholas,Devin,Russell,Zachary,Bruce,Wesley,Brock. That's all I can think of.

Talk to your veterinarian. He/she should have materials and suggestions to share.

Then after the pups have weaned, go back to your vet and have the mama spayed. Please! There are SO many unwanted puppies and dogs in need of a good home already!

Just an FYI, from what I recall, mom is VERY protective of her pups so I would keep your 2 year old away once the puppies are born. You may want to keep mom and pups in their own room that can be contained. Mom could become aggressive when others approach her babies. Also good luck, sounds like you have a lot on your plate right now ;)

Hi K.-I have done the whole puppy thing on a couple of occasions. i bred my Chinese Crested about 3 years ago and delivered her 3 puppies, and then I delivered a friend's 6 Papillion puppies last summer.  It is a really cool experience and I wish you luck.  Here is a list of items I would have on hand:a plastic baby pool, filled with towels nutrical to give to the mommy for energy during deliveryiodinefirst aid scissors to cut the cords/bagsball syringe (nose-sucker-outer)hot water bottlesheat lampcut up towels to dry and massage each puppyscale (ounce scale since puppies will be 2-4 ounces each probably)paper/pen to mark each puppy's weight and sexdifferent colors of yarn to LOOSELY tie around each puppies neck (be sure to make note of yarn color on the weight/sex chartgood luck!i would google information. i dont have the stuff anymore, but i have a day by day packet on what to expect from the puppies/mommy and what to feed/when.

Hi K.,

I have delivered several litters of puppies - when my mom was alive, we bred our Sheltie's - not a Chihuahua, I know, but generally the same.

I did find a web site for your specific need. Looks kinda cheesey, but I read thru the info and the woman is 'right on' with her facts. http://groups.msn.com/ChihuahuaNook/cn1.msnw

Though I think the website may be foreign-origin... because she mentions a couple times that she's not sure what "X" product is called in the US.

you don't say if you bred her intentionally or if it was an accident... but it's important to know if the dad was also a chihuahua...it can greatly affect the size of the puppies if not. Also have you notified your vet of your pending arrival? You'll want to make sure you have a resource in the middle of the night should a problem arise. So have an emergency plan in place. I've learned that the smaller the dog, the more difficult it is for them to whelp puppies without assistance. You will also want feedback from your vet as to what constitues an emergency. Has your vet palpated your dog to see if she can guess how many puppies she's expecting? ultrasound probably isn't necessary but a trained person can typically manipulate the abdomen and guess how many are coming.

What do you need?? I would have a lot of towels on hand (paper and otherwise),... lots of newspapers, a quiet place for her to deliver in a box with many newspaper layers so you can remove a few layers after each puppy, because it can be messy and sometimes bloody. Hemostat if you have one, to pinch the cord if she does a sloppy job of biting it off from the placenta - otherwise you can just pinch with your fingers and cut it (about 1/2 inch from the abdomen - no closer or you'll invite hernias). plenty of fresh water for mom to drink - laboring is hard work... you know first hand I'm sure how annoying it is that nurses won't let you drink fluids while you're panting and blowing - like an ice chip is really effective enough :) LOL

If you have a scale that measures in ounces,... great! not entirely necessary, but nice to have so that you know their birth weight, and weighing them in a few days will ensure they are getting enough milk and gaining weight. You'll want a pad of paper to make notes of her delivery. When puppies were born, their weight, male or female, and how long between puppies.

Not sure how squeamish you are... but if you plan to take a very active role, expect a mess. Your dog may vomit, tremble, poop... placenta bags will burst open, and amniotic fluid will spill out, and also it IS NECESSARY that she eat at least one placenta but no more than two or she will have serious diarrhea. The act of doing this i'm told is to begin milk production. If she won't eat at least one, you'll need to call your vet. I found typically that we had to stop them from eating them.

I am sure I'm leaving stuff out... you can feel free to private message me if you have any questions. I've delivered well over a dozen litters - no expert, but experienced all the same.

You can tell when your dog is labor typically... her behavior will change, and her temp will drop. their temp is normally around 102, and it will drop to 99. She may dig and scratch, she may not eat, she may seem frantic as it gets closer to delivering... try to keep her in the 'whelping box' and encourage her to lay down and rest while she labors, be careful about allowing her to go out to the bathroom once labor begins... sometimes they have to go and if she's clearly not in distress let her go. If labor progresses for a long time she may want to eat, and that's ok too.

Expect her to shake and tremble and not know what to do with herself :) And FYI - our dogs always seemed to go into labor in the evening... well into the morning hours... so expect you'll be up with her if you plan to assist.

And then sometimes even the best laid plans go out the window and you wake up with a litter of puppies at the foot of your bed and they're all nursing and all seems well. :)

I would suggest putting her on puppy food starting now, until she stops nursing. extra calories for nursing.

Oh, and she's likely to lose some hair... this is normal too. Our shelties always looked mangy...

Good luck! sorry for the length :) hope i've helped a bit.

EDIT:

I do want to add as an afterthought... spaying your dog is the healthiest choice for her long term health anyway... I dont want to shove it down your throat though... it's ultimately your choice, but your vet can advise you on the health benefits of spaying, all dog shelters/euthanizing aside.

I think you should talk to your Vet about this and see what advice/resources they have. You should also find out if someone from your Vet's office is available in case of an emergency and where to go (emergency vet clinic) if their office is closed.

You're going to have to take mom and pups for a check up soon after the birth anyway. Might as well set it all up with the Vet now.

I hope you have the support from a veternarian and completely agree with the other posters who are asking you to please spay your dog after the puppies. Thousands of dogs are thrown away and disposed of each year because there aren't enough homes for all of the unwanted animals. Shelter dogs who are killed are also purbred dogs. In these bad times of the economy, they also are suffering. People in hard times, can't afford a dog so they are one of the first to go.

Please, SPAY, SPAY, SPAY.

If the dad was not a chihuahua you could be in for a world of trouble with the delivery. (Actually you could be anyway, because small purebred dogs routinely have trouble giving birth.) You need to talk to your vet about this asap, because small dogs can easily die while giving birth if the puppies don't come out correctly, and she might need a c-section. You will need to know where to take the dog if she has problems, so you need to get that lined up now before she starts giving birth. Once problems start to happen, small dogs can die quickly in this kind of situation, especially if you don't know where to take her. My ex-husband is a vet and owns an emergency clinic in Schaumburg. He euthanizes hundreds and hundreds of dogs each year that were unwanted or lost. It's the worst part of his job. Please consider spaying your dog after this, since there are plenty of dogs already in the world.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE spay your dog after this litter. The world doesn't need any more puppies! There are too many already without homes. The more puppies that are being sold means less puppies being adopted in shelters, therefore, being put to sleep.

Good luck!