It's Day 52 of Lily's pregnancy! We are super excited for her first litter to arrive. Dogs typically have puppies between day 58-64. Nearly every Springer Spaniel breeder I have talked to, including Lily's say that the normal day for Springers is Day 60- which puts us at May 7- a week from Saturday! I think Lily is going to probably go into labor Saturday and have them Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Since Al is a Pastor at a church with Saturday and Sunday services, I am sure this is exactly when Lily will pick her time! Luckily I've got some great support- so will have plenty of help for the delivery.
Lily has just started to really slow down. She is waddling and has quite a belly. She can not easily jump on the couch, and doesn't really like soft surfaces. She prefers to lay on a hard floor because it's easier to get back up!
We have been setting up Lily's whelping area. We have a dog training room and we have converted it to be her whelping area.
Over the next 2 1/2 months you are going to see this room change nearly every week! As Lily's needs change and as the puppies grow, we will make changes as part of our puppy raising program. Just above Lily's whelping box you'll see a little camera- this will allow us to check the puppies without disturbing them. Mama dogs like to have some privacy the first week, and this will give us a way of making sure everyone is doing well.
Now that the room is set up, we will be starting the countdown this week. The first pre-whelping activity will be taking Lily's temperature. She will have drop in her temperature 24-36 hours before labor begins. This will alert us to keep a very close eye on her because labor is about to start. This Wednesday we will start checking her twice a day. Once her temperature reaches the pink on the chart, we know we are about to start!
I've set up all the tools I'll need for delivery. When Lily goes into labor we will sterilize the scissors. I also have the scale ready. Don't worry- we will not be weighing the puppies on the table. They are so wiggly and slippery when they are born that we move this to the floor so no one gets hurt. I also have their collars ready. It's so much easier to just refer to them as their collar color. Some people try and draw their patterns, but I'll do that later. I've got old towels, old sheets, pee pads- you name it. Things can get really disgusting so I just throw out anything that gets too bad.
I am a big fan of the products of Nature's Farmacy. It's makes whelping puppies so easy. Mama dogs need calcium once whelping begins, and it's great if they can get them naturally from food. I will have lots of calcium rich foods on hand. I found out with one of my other dogs that sometimes mama dogs won't eat the tums, yogurt, cottage cheese, or even vanilla ice cream. I also use Oral Cal Plus- this makes sure the mama dog gets the calcium to bring in good milk production. Nurturemate is a colostrum supplement. This is good to give to weak pups. Oxy Momma is a multi-vitamin chew for after Lily Belle has her pups. Whelping is hard work and it can take a toll on our girl! Hopefully good nutrition and vitamins will help her bounce back afterwards.
It is AWESOME that you are are so prepared. I can’t wait to see the puppies come. My wife’s birthday is 10 May, so should Lily Belle give birth on May 8 it’s Mothers Day or the 10th it would be cool! Either way it will be easy to remember. Best of luck!