HELP....Ginger has lots and lots of new puppies
 

For those of you who have met my dog Ginger, she is in the process of having puppies.
the problem is that she already has had 8, and i fear that there are a few more to come.
she is an awesome mom, but I am afraid that having more than 10 puppies means a heck of alot of work.
anyone have any suggestions in raising a big litter of pups?
she is a boston terrier btw.
and I will post pics tomorrow.
thanks for any input

up to 9

10..lol

Holy smokes that is a lot..

you will probably have to help her with feedings, to insure they are getting there fair share. As you will probably find that some will get most of mommies milk and not want to share. :wink: Watch the runt of the litter closely.

And you may want to tag the puppies so you know who has eaten and who needs to. Easier to keep track if they are color coded or what ever works best for you. Prepare to help in the middle of the night to. :mrgreen: Poor mom. :redface:

Have fun with your new litter. :biggrin: Oh and good-luck!

she ended up having 11 cute little buggers.
i will definitely have to make sure that i keep an eye on them to make sure they are all eating.
I think she should be able to handle it for now, but I think I will have to feed some as they get bigger and start eating more.
it is going to be tough figuring out who has eaten and not eaten.
thanks for the input.
any other ideas would be great.

I dont have any advice, but I was wondering what was the purpose for breeding her?

Puppies
 

I find the first few days are the most critical. When I have a larger litter I weigh each little baby at least a couple times a day & track it on a spreadsheet. I use a high quality food scale as they are more accurate. Make sure you warm it up if it is metal. As puppies & kittens can't regulate their own heat until later on. This way I know who is gaining weight & who isn't. I know it can be hard to tell the difference sometimes if they all look the same but most of the time you can find some distinguishing marking or place a mark in their little ears. I find you get to know who is who quite quickly. Make sure you have a high quality alternate food on hand in case one is not eating enough. If you have any other questions let me know.

what food/formula would you recommend for the puppies?
i am currently feeding the mom Nutro Ultra and a good can food twice a day.
should i try something else for ginger as well?
thanks
Neal

Well I breed Persian Kittens so the food is a little different. If you go to your vets they will have a formula you can buy & make for the puppies in case you have to do the extra feeding. Also get them to give you a good bottle & syringes. Don't forget if your feeding them you also need to stimulate them to use the washroom or just put them by the moms head after feeding and make sure she does it by licking them. If one puppy is being a little "piggy" & one is not getting enough food I sometimes shift the baby & place the little one on or close to the nipple. Sometimes it's also necessary to kind of get 1/2 of them on an alternate schedule of eating/sleeping but don't do it unless you have to. Also try to resist the urge to wake up a baby when they are in a deep sleep because that is when they are developing & growing the most. If the babies are screaming & moving alot that normally means they are hungry. As for the moms food I personally use Royal Canin as they have food especially for breeding. I also worked for them so I know them really well & trust them. But whatever you do don't switch her food now that would not be a good idea when she is nursing. Good luck & have fun. I'll be on & off all day so if you have any more questions ask away. I personally always check on them every hour or so even through the night to make sure everything is going well especially for the first few nights.

I will gladly give one a home! Or help you on weekends! Lol that is a lot of puppies! The internet is a great thing! You can also call your vet for help!

Congrats ! We breed Chow Chows and have a litter coming as well. Feed the mom a good puppy food, plain yogurt & sour cream - not low fat or diet.. and get the pups on baby pablum for starters. Make sure all are getting a chance on the mother - I know, alot of work :dizzy:.

Make sure you give the mom some yogurt to supplement calcium...

any suggestions on what type of yogurt??

I'd strongly suggest calling your trusted veterinarian of choice and asking them their opinion. They'll likely be glad to give you advice. Tell them your concerns. I'd be a bit leery of feeding mama 'strange' (as in not used to) foods that may upset her stomach.

If you don't have a vet and still want more info I could call my sister or father and ask either of them (both are veterinarians so a lot more knowledgeable than myself in this field) for their suggestions.

+1 specially when there are lots of rescue dogs that need a new home.

VERY VERY good advice!

10 puppies
 

Check with your vet. If you suppliment too much calcium too early it will cause her to develop milk fever. Try putting half with her at a time so every one has a chance to nurse in two boxes for nursing. weighing is also a good idea.

I bred her because there are lots of people who want boston terrier pups.
Not everyone wants to rescue a dog, they want certain breeds.
I personally don't think that breeding dogs a couple of times is a bad thing.
no pedestal standing please.
and I have been talking to my breeder and getting some advice from her.
thanks for the advice everyone.
i have been watching and switching puppies as I feel necessary.
luckily, the hungry ones are easy to figure out, they are the ones crying ..lol
Neal

I personally am glad that some people take the time to breed pure breeds. Lets be honest it is rarely that these dogs that wind up in shelters, as breeders (not puppy mills) tend to take far more time being careful about who gets thier puppies and then check in on them once in a while afterward.I doubt someone taking the time to find out how best to care for the pups is going to contribute to the issue
Most of the problem with strays comes from irresponsible owners and puppy mills.
Good luck with your new babies they are such a nice breed.:lol:

Be careful with supplementing her with extra calcium as busypencil mentioned. I work in a vet clinic and we recommend switching nursing females over to a good quality puppy food, gradually of course. She will need the extra calories as the puppies will demand a lot from her. You will definitely have to help her with the feedings, thats a lot of puppies. As the puppies grow and suckle more milk at a time the more milk she will produce, hence the added calories from the puppy food will come in handy. Hills science diet, eukanuba, royal canin, or medi-cal are good choices, just make sure they are a puppy formula. Hope that helps and good luck.

i feed her Nutro Ultra small breed adult an have actually been mixing in puppy food in with her food for the last couple of weeks.
I am also feeding her a can of Nutro puppy food a day.
in total she actually had 11.( i forgot to mention that she had another one)
the one problem she has right now is she has the runs..which is of course from the rich puppy food.
is there anything that people can recommend that helps with the runs?
thanks again
Neal

Usually for dogs that get the runs especially from a change in diet we would do a couple days of boiled hamburger and rice only, but that is probably not going to be balanced enough for her especially while feeding puppies. Its probably worth seeing/talking to your vet to see what they recommend. There are drugs that can be used that won't restrict her diet. Her having the runs is not good, any of those extra nutrients she is getting and needs are getting passed through her system before they have a chance to be absorbed.

Just adding some cooked rice to her normal food should help with making the poop a little more solid.

One of my dogs gets stress diarrhea, I feed her canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix) you can find it in the canned veggie isle. She loves it and it helps her out with a couple bowel movements. She is a black lab and I feed her about 1/2c, btwn feeding.

thanks for the input

do your research on puppy food, most vet sold brands are nothing but garbage, especialy royal canin.

here is a good resorce of dogfood ratings you can look through to get an idea of the levels of quality of different dry foods.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog-food-index-k.html


Steve

You gotten lots of tips now how about some pics of the little rascalls!!!!!!! :lol:

I agree we need to see pics!

That website doesn't list either of the high end foods that I use... your best bet is to talk to your breeder and find out what they recommend... they will know what works best for your breed... assuming that they are a decent breeder (some just feed cheap stuff to keep the costs down).

+1 :biggrin:

which ones do you use?

Steve

ok..why is no one asking for pics of these puppies....show me your puppies.

Was using Before Grain (B4 Grain - can't remember how it's spelled), now Taste of the Wild (AWESOME Food!!).

a couple of pics
 

being that my camera was stolen.
here are a couple of crappy pics with my Iphone.
it doesn't do them justice.
i will take some better ones and post those soon

they list 3 different types of TOTW

the Befor grain is a pretty good food, potato is a little high up on the list for me, but I would put it in the 4 or 5 star catagories.

TOTW is about the same quality but I like the Before grain better than it. the TOTW has tomato pummice which is a stool hardener, so they are using a additive to make sure stools are hard which can mask medical issues.

after reading some more I woulnd buy the befor grain. lots of quality control issues and forgin objects baing found in the food. and the fact that the main business of Merrick is a rendering plant which happens to be the same address as there pet food plant. Rendered product is horable to feed to pets.

Steve

It's not to hard to figure out which puppy has eaten and which has not exspecialy when they are small. the ones with round tummies have just eaten the ones that do not have round tummies have not eaten or eaten very little.mom will probaly end up feeding in shifts. she will work it out there is always a eunt of the litter and with 11 there my be 2 runts but they will all get some thing to eat. generaly the youngest are the one to eat last in a large litter so then never get very big and stay the runt. My dad use to bread german short hairs in Wainwright.

Bill

This will take a huge toll on your bitch. I hope you have her spayed now for her health.

this will be the last litter for Ginger.

are you going to adopt them out ?

I think the point is to sell them....and I am sure this thread helped quite a bit....not something I really agree with. I am sure the parents are show quality and health tested or would not have been bred....correct ?? :mrgreen:

Otherwise do not shop, adopt....:razz: