* Tip: It is of utmost importance to know how many puppies your dog has determined by an ultrasound or x-ray, so that you know if she is in trouble when in labor!!! Have this done around 4 weeks after mating.

1. She will have a discharge (sort of like water breaking).

* Tip: Either prior to this or after, she will be frantically trying to nest. You will notice her very diligently arranging blankets, trying to get under a bed or tearing up paper. So, it is essential that you show her to the whelping box you have already prepared for your dog specifically for this purpose. Otherwise, you’ll have a REAL mess on your hands, and likely some ruined furniture, blankets, carpet or clothing.

2. Within about 2 hrs, she should have delivered her 1st puppy.

* Tip: If no puppy appears within 3 hrs, contact a vet immediately!

3. The period of time between puppies could be up to 2 hrs.

* Tip: Be sure to write down how long she labored with each puppy, and if it is a front birth or breach, and the weight of each dog using a kitchen scale (for smaller measurements). If you know your dog has more puppies to come out, but it has been more than 2 hrs, contact your vet immediately!!!

* Tip: If your dogs are purebred and you have papers documenting that fact from the World Wide Kennel Club or similar entity, they will provide you with forms that you will NEED to fill out in their entirety to be sure the puppies can be registered purebreds too. It could take a few weeks for them to mail them to you, so prepare for this in advance!

4. The mother dog needs to eat the placenta of each puppy, so be sure that a placenta comes out with each puppy. It is your responsibility to make sure this happens! She will likely lick the puppy clean too. If she does not, you will need to gently wipe off each puppy with a warm, damp towel.

5. You will likely need to cut the umbilical cords of each puppy, so use a pair of brand new surgical scissors that you have disinfected with alcohol or peroxide prior to this point.

* Tip: DO NOT cut them any closer than 1″ from the puppy’s skin!

6. The puppies will be hungry, and each puppy needs to have 1 teat/nipple.

* Tip: The teats closer to the dogs armpits, for some reason, are more nourishing. It is important to reserve these teats for the smaller pups or runt of the litter.

* Tip: Do NOT let the puppies just go to whichever teat they feel like. 1 teat/puppy is a strict rule. Why? Because the 1st suckling from each teat is what each dog absolutely needs! DO NOT let a puppy go to 2 teats before each puppy has had their turn at a fresh teat!

7. If your dog is still laboring 1-2 hrs after the last puppy has arrived, call your vet immediately!

8. If your dog is a breed that requires it’s ears or tails docked, such as miniature schnauzers, this needs to be done within the 1st 3 days after birth. Also, it is a good idea to have their dew claws removed as well!

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I hope you enjoyed this Dog Breeding post on Terrier Lover! Until next time…

Love Your Terrier,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. I will do a post on how to make a whelping box that makes sense…However, until that time, you can be sure to have whelping box liners that are waterproof on hand:

Technorati Tags: dog pregnancy, dog birth, puppies, puppy birth, whelping box, dog labor, dog delivery, puppy delivery

What to Expect With the Birth of Your Puppies is a post from: Terrier Lover

Unlike my pooches and Precious, who are the easiest dogs to get cooperation from with a little peanut butter, my mother’s dog, Sugar is impossible.

She knows you are going to try to give her something bad as soon as you get the jar of peanut butter out…LOL…She goes and hides!

We have tried many things with her, and I’ll let you in on a couple of good secrets…LOL…They don’t always work, and she often eats around the pill and spits it back out, but something is bound to have success if you have a finicky terrier!

* Tip: Before you start thinking to yourself that you could just crush up a pill and put it into some cottage cheese or their wet food, beware! Many medications are not meant to be cut or crushed, as they are either time released or have a special coating to protect your pet’s stomach from irritation! Check with your vet first before you proceed with this tactic!

1. Hard Cheese
If the pills are small enough, cut out a piece of cheese in the center of a chunk, and put the pill in there…Hopefully, they won’t detect the trickery.

2. Pieces of Hard Meat
Meats such as kielbassa, sausage, salami, or a chunk of chicken breast work well. Cut a slit into the meat and insert the pill…

3. Cold Cuts
Roll a thin piece of cold cut tightly around a pill placed into the center…Give the dog the entire piece at one time.

4. Peanut Butter – Unsweetened
If your dog runs and hides, like mom’s Westie-poo, when they smell the peanut butter, and you have a little bit of time and patience to prepare for a day that they may need medication, try this strategy.

When I have 1 out of our 5 dogs that needs a pill, I will make it a group event…I will call all of the dogs and make it a treat session. Of course, give the dog needing the medication a spoonful of peanut butter with the pill inside first, already prepared before you call them into the kitchen.

Photo above: From left to right – Sugar, Kurious, Knosey & Kaptain – An example of the whole crew waiting for treats!

Then proceed to quickly and in plain view for them all to see give each dog a spoonful of peanut butter without a pill, obviously.

I’ve been working on this tactic, literally, for months…Sugar hasn’t needed oral meds in a while, but I think I have her to the point where she doesn’t feel like she is getting tricked anymore, and she comes with the rest of the dogs to get her fair share. She is no longer afraid of the smell of peanut butter! Yeah!

We shall see how this works when the heat is on and I have to give her a pill…but I am extremely confident it will work.

* Tip: If you only have 1 dog, give them a treat of peanut butter every now and again, so they don’t think that the only time the peanut butter comes out, it is for meds.

***

I hope you find these Terrier Tips & Tricks for Dog Health helpful on Terrier Lover! Until next time…

Love Your Terrier,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Let me know if you have any other food tricks up your sleeve for giving your pooch their medicine by Commenting in the Comment Box Below!

Technorati Tags: pet meds, pet medication, pet pills, dog antibiotics, dog medication, dog health, dog tips, how to give my dog medication

How to Give Your Terrier Medication is a post from: Terrier Lover

“I don’t know how it happened”…LOL…

Well, Knosey, who usually goes into heat before Kurious, has not…In fact, she is very late, so to speak.

In the past week, she has gained 1.6 lbs and has not been fed anything extra or special from the other dogs…She is visibly more “fluffy”…

Extremely “nesty” and uncomfortable while sleeping, we believe she may be pregnant. One more week of weighing, and if she gains close to 1 lb this week, we will be doing an ultrasound.

It is common for the vets to want to just do an x-ray, but in my mind, that just does not make sense. You would NEVER get an x-ray if you were pregnant; why in the world would you do that to your dog? Cheaper, I guess???

The vet says that she could have anywhere from 3-7 puppies, which will be beautiful, little miniature schnauzers, that will probably be of a rare color. Kaptain is the daddy, and he is a super rare blonde color, and Knosey is called a platinum color.

It was slightly unexpected, but will be will be…We’ve waited 2 yrs now and Knosey is of the age to breed safely…We were going to wait 1 more heat for convenience, but oh well…

She might have puppies in that belly…Yeah!!! Awww!

Any tips for us? This is our first litter that we’ve ever had…

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I hope you enjoyed this Terrier Newsflash from Terrier Lover! Until next time…

Love Your Terrier,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Leave your tips below for a successful pregnancy and labor! We’re new to this!

Technorati Tags: miniature schnauzer, dog pregnancy, dog breeding, puppies, dog health

So We Think Knosey Is Pregnant… is a post from: Terrier Lover

Do you feel like your life revolves around watching your dogs to make sure nothing happens?

For those of us, who own a female and a male dog, when both of them are not fixed, it can be a very difficult time for the entire family. When your female comes into heat, as both of our little girls do at the same time, life is excruciating for the males if you don’t desire them to mate, for whatever reason.

In our case, our girls are only 1 yr old, and we are waiting until they are 2 1/2 yrs old. Our poor, little Kaptain doesn’t know what has hit him now. He just cannot understand why all of a sudden he is in absolute love with our little girls, when they were just playmates thus far.

Now, Kaptain is the most obedient dog we have ever seen or known. However, when our girls are in heat, it is like he tunes everyone else out, but them. He is difficult to deal with, to say it nicely. He won’t listen, and will not leave them alone for one minute. Our girls get very frustrated with him as well, as he just won’t leave their side for any amount of time. Every time we look up, he is right there on their tail.

If we want Kappy to go outside, without the girls of course, and it means being separated from them, he just won’t come to you. It’s like you just don’t exist. Foremost, however, is the fact that he wants to mate with them, and whether your females are not old enough yet, as is our case, or if you just don’t want puppies again yet, the males don’t understand that and want to go through with the act…Often…As often as they can. Very annoying, and messy (let’s be honest).

WE HAVE A SOLUTION:

If your dog is small, up to maybe 20 lbs, there is a viable and inexpensive option. We have found that we can put an infant bodysuit on Kaptain to ensure that mating does not actually happen, even if we leave the house.

Kaptain is about 14 1/2 lbs and is a miniature schnauzer. He is small for a mini, as he was the runt, but our girls are of a normal miniature schnauzer size and the bodysuits fit them as well. For Kaptain, he is in an 18 month old infant sleeper with snap buttons (short sleeved, and legless). Most small terriers will fit into a bodysuit, as they go up to 24 months in this style.

The best part is that these little bodysuits only cost between $2.00-6.00 from WalMart. Here is a great example, and I can say so, these are a really great price, as we just bought some this week for $5.97 each.

Baby Connection – Bodysuit 5-Pack for Boys, in Blue

This ensures that he is unable to actually penetrate the females while trying to hump them. It contains the mess as well, and we rotate about 5 sleepers to be sure we always have one ready.

The snap buttons down the front with the flap that wraps around the bottom, and the style where there are just 3 snaps at the bottom work both equally well.

* Tip: It may sound strange, but if you put the sleeper on backwards, as in the back on their belly and belly on the back, this method works much better. Instead of having to snap the buttons on their belly, which may be messy and invasive, you can just pull it up their legs, and snap it on their back and snap the bottom flap on their lower back, instead of their belly as well.

* Even with the style where there are 3 buttons between the legs, if you put it on backwards, and leave the middle snap open, there is a hole for their tail to poke through. It is in just the right spot.

* If there is no hole for the tail, as with the front snap with the flap, you will need to cut a hole in them, with a cut about 1 1/2″. *** Use pinking shears, so as to cut the fabric without it fraying, as you will be washing these bodysuits often. It will look like a zig-zag cut.

With this method, at least for your smaller varieties of terrier/dog, you can alleviate all of the worry and stress, even when you are out, of having your dogs get out of their rooms or pens and mating.In all honesty, Kaptain has never even tried to rip of this outfit at any time, and neither have the girls, even when they play as hard as they do everyday.

* Final Tip: Please make sure you take the bodysuit off before you let the dog out. Yes, I know, common sense, right? It happens, especially when you are in a rush and not really paying attention.These bodysuits get the job done, and he looks so cute to boot!This is our solution, and it works so well for us. We hope it works for you too. Let us know if this keeps the stress level down at your house.

Cherish Your Terrier,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. I found a great promo that I wanted to pass on to you! Check it out here:

* Click here to receive $10 off your purchase of $75 or more at PetCareRx. Ends August 31, 2007.

Technorati Tags: terrier dog breeding mating heat

Is Your Female In Heat?: How To Keep Your Male A Part Of The Family is a post from: Terrier Lover