TERRY'S TINY TOYS
I want to mention to new owners about your netured dog, don't be alarmed if you find that your male can still breed, don't worry!
He is Sterile!!! He just retained a lot of his hormones, but he cannot produce puppies. He will out grow this as he gets older. So please don't worry.
BREEDING YOUR TOYS
When it comes time to whelp your bitch, I always stay with her, I make sure that I don't have any other plans, that way I'm with her at all times. I bring her into my living room, I have everything that I need on hand. That way she is never alone. After she has finished, I place her and the babies into a playpen and they are kept there until at least seven weeks old. They can see everyone and not be afraid of stangers or children. They become part of the family and are around people at all times. This way people can look at them and not pick them up. This works for everyone around, you can watch them and make sure they are growing and thriving.
I insist that if your little girl weighs less than four pounds, that you have her spayed. This will save you from heartache and the life of your baby girl. Because the little girls have such a hard time delivering their babies, most of the time, a c-section is required, you don't want to take a chance of losing your little girl, or the babies. Most breeders will tell you that the girls seem to deliver in the middle of the night and on weekends, this then requires you to take her to emergancy clinics where it will cost you over a thousand dollars and you can still lose you baby. Your best bet is not to breed her at all. You can breed her if she is over four pounds and you use a small male, this way you can get smaller puppies. Always have your vet name and number close at hand, stay in contact with them through out her preganacy. You never know when you might need them. Have a good rapport with your vet.
A widely used euphamism to discribe a small chihuahua OR Imerial Shuh Tzu is TEA-CUP or Pocket pet.
Please remember that this is a description only. This is not a special breed of chihuahuas or Shih Tzus .Remember that these little one can be hard to raise, as they are prone to heart and lung problems, and hypoglecemia. If no one has explained this to you before these are premature puppies, as the mom can breed between her ninth and fifteen day of of heat, she can conceive on these days, thus it's possible for puppies to be conceived a week apart, making one older than the other, as the labor starts, all the puppies are born at the same time, this is why you have different size puppies in the same litter. There are no runts, just "younger" puppies. They will generally catch up by six months of age. Judge your puppies by the size of parents. If you can, go for the larger puppy (gestationally older), choose with caution unless you have the financial means and time to invest in your new baby
The same goes with your male, if he is going to be over six pounds have him fixed. This way you can keep the standard of the chihuahua. Strive for the best in conformation and temperment. Don't breed if they have faults, this will only bring more unwanted puppies into the world., This will also help you enjoy your male as he won't be marking his territory in your house.
Don't breed your babes just because you want to see what they will throw, or your family wants a puppy from you, remember to only breed to improve the lines. There are plenty of puppies that need good homes.
NORMAL BIRTH IN TOYS
Preparations for Whelping!!!!!!!!!
Begin preparations for delivery of puppies before your female goes into labor. Don't wait till the last moment. The preganancy last for 63 days. She can go on day 60 to day 65. A whelping box should be provided for the mother before the birth. That way she will feel relaxed and content and this should ensure the area that you have chosen will be used. This box should be small, the sides 8 inches high, so the pups won't crawl out. Place the bed in a secluded area, away from other dogs and family, they all need solitude at first. A plastic tub from Lowes used for mixing concret works great
Old towels, and baby blankets work best for the nest. That way they can be changed and washed frequently. Have a heating pad set up on (LOW) setting.
You will also need :
rectal thermometer
forcepts
papertowels
vasailine
scissors
unflavored dental floss
garbage bags
leash
clean wash cloths
suction bulb
Nutri-Stat
pencil and paper
THREE STAGES OF DELIVERY!!
If you want to know precisely when delivery is near, check the mothers temperture twice daily starting on the 58th day pregnancy. Normal temperture is between 100.5 and 102.F. Within 24 hours of onset of labor her temp will drop nearly 2 full degrees.
This is stage one: this can last from 6 to 24 hours, durning this first stage the mother will be very restless and often seeks seclusion. She may refuse food and treats. This is a good time to excercise her and allow her to urinate.
The mother will stretched out with her head between her forelegs
she looks at and licks her vulval area.
She may refuse food.
She may vomit.
The vulva is soft, swollen and has a clear mucous discharge.
Her tail will be curled between her legs like a tea cup handle.
She will begin to shiver and pant
STAGE TWO HAS BEGAN:
Contractions and expulsion of puppies begins, usually a small greenish sac of fluid protrudes, this is followed by the puppy and it's attached placenta. Normal presentation is head and nose first, stomach down, but in chi's alot of them come into this world bottom first. This is considered normal in chi's.
At this time, when the puppy comes out, if you have to assist with the birth, because the pup is stuck in the birth canal , hold the puppy with a clean wash cloth and exert steady, firm traction. DO NOT JERK OR PULL SUDDENLY. Traction can last up to five minutes. if you cannot remove to pup , go to the vet immeditaly, if the pup comes out, break the membrane from around it nose, attach forcepts to the umbilical cord, so it doesn't go back into the mother, then gently draw the placenta out with steady firm pressure with the next contraction, milk the cord from the placenta towards the puppy, then crush and pinch the cord to sever it about 1" from the puppys belly, if the mother has bitten the cord off too short, tie it off with the dental floss. Then suction the puppys nose and mouth, then vigorously dry the pup, allowing it to cry loudly, this helps clear the airways of any fluid, and help to stimulate respiration and circulation. You may have to hold the pup upside down and with a throwing down motion, force the fluid from it airway. Put the pup to it mothers teat to suckle. This will encourage more contractions.
The third stage has begun:
This is a resting period between each pup. Arrival of each pup is between 10 and 30 minutes, it can range from a few seconds to an hour apart. Allow her to rest, offer her some warm milk or glucose, between each birth. At this time, you can record the weight and sex of the puppy. Make sure the placentas for each pup is accounted for. The mother may try and eat the placenta, you can remove this immediately from the puppy and the mother. During whelping and nursing the mother may not be her regular self. She may be nervous and filled with a sense of protectiveness, any aggression she may exhibit fades as time passes
Take her and the litter to the vet within 24 hours of birth for a "Clean Out" shot and checkup.
NOTIFY THE VET IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING OCCURS:
* You cannot remove pup from birth canal.
* Strong and pesistent labor for more than 30 minutes without delivery.
* If it has been more than four hours since the last birth and it is apparent that there are more pups inside.
* There is a greenish-black discharge and no labor or puppies within 3-4 hours. This is normal discharge, but it should be followed very soon by delivery of the pups.
* The pregnancy last more than 65 days
There are times when new born puppies may need help durning the first week. They need to get colostrum from their mother to have full immunity to germs and diseases that they could contract durning the first few weeks of life. At first they thought that puppies continued to get colostrum for the first 48 hours of life, it has now been found that they need it the first 2 hours of their lives to transfer this imminity, no more than 12 hours. This transfer of immunity only occurs until the puppy's intestine develops the ability to screen out large molecules. This change in the intestines occurs very quickly, durning the first few hours of life.
If a puppy is not nursing strongly, for what ever reason, you must get milk from the mother and feed it to the puppy, drop by drop, from a syringe or dropper. This will ensure the puppy get the colostral antibodies.
There are several reason why a puppy may not get enough to eat the first 48 hour of it's life.
* Weak Puppy
*Slow developing
*Puppies born by C-section
*Poor appetite in Mother
*Milk doesn't come down in mother
*Mother could have fever or infection.
We must help supplement these babies, This is so it doesn't drain the mother, causing her long or short term health problems. By helping these mothers with large litters, helps to prevent eclampsia in the mother. This is a general worry two weeks before and 2 to 3 weeks after whelping.
DO NOT TUBE FEED !!!!
If you want to lose your babies, do not tube feed!!! This is the easiest and fastest way to lose your little ones. It is a fast way to feed your baby, but one of the quickest way to kill your little one, you may not have any problem getting the tube into the esophagus (Stomach) and not the trachea (leads to lungs) which could lead to drowning, this is not what I'm referring to. When baby nurses, this stimulates the entire GI tract, causing contractions in waves, which is known as peristalsis, this causes the puppy to defecate as it eats. If a puppy does not have a good sucking reflex, it will not have the peristalsis. Because a puppy stomach is small, sometimes less than 1/2 cc , usally not more than 1cc, when you insert your tube and put 2 1/2 cc into it, the stomach will stretch a little, the milk will sit there, when the tube is removed, the milk will be forced back into the esophagus, into the trachea, then go into the lungs. It does not travel down the through the stomach into the intestines as you would think. The stomach and esophagus will stretch slighty, then return to normal size, it's only that the milk has ran into the lungs. This concept is fast and deadly.
WHAT TO DO????
The best way is to give them sub-cutaneous dextrose and saline. (sugar and salt in water). This solution is used for IV therapy. Remember that puppies need three things to survive, Warmth. Water. Sugar. They need this right away, this can continue for a few days if necessary.
First take the weak puppy out of the whelping box, drop a few drops of the colostrum onto its tongue several times in the first couple of hours, get the immunity taken care of first. Then confine to a warm box, with a heating source- a heating pad or light bulb, then give the subQ dextrose and saline injection (just under the skin) to supply the sugar and water. How much??? Half and half, Enough to satisfy any current dehydration and to provide a cushion for an hour or two in the future. You will know how much to give when the last 10 cc hasn't disappered. This will cause a good size lump- you want it to stay there a while, if it stays, you can safely leave the puppy for a couple of hours, the lump will slowly disappear, gravity will shift the spare fluids down around the neck. You can keep a puppy going this way for 2 or 4 days easily. There is no danger, just remember to keep the area clean where you injected it. When giving the injection REMEMBER to keep the needle parallel to the body, not pointed down at the body, if this fluid was given intravenously, you could take the chance of drowning your puppy because excess fluids will fill the veins and will force it's way out through the lungs, the result would be the same as tube feeding. SubQ fluids are outside the circulatory system, a repository under the skin. Don't forget to stimulate the unrination and defecation reflex, gently rub the puppy's tummy with a warm wet tissue, this stimulates the elimination reflexes. (REMEMBER WHAT GOES IN, MUST COME OUT) You cannot skip this step, as you could end up with a puppy with colic. While you are satisfying your puppy needs in this way, present a nipple to the puppy, add a drop of white Karo syrup on the tongue, this gives the puppy an energy boost, so that when you give the puppy back to the mother, it will make a stronger attempt to nurse. Also present a bottle, it is easier for the puppy to get milk from the bottle nipple than from the mother most of the time. The only problem I have found as a deterrent is, the "PET NURSER" which is available at pet stores, few, if any puppy, will suckle from this type of nipple, your best bet is get a "PLAYTEX PREEMIE NIPPLE" this nipple is flat button-shape and soft, do not make hole larger, you want puppy to strenthen its suckle, so use the slow flow nipple..if you can't get the puppy to suckle within the first couple hours of life, it's your fault, they like this nipple just as they would their mothers. Remember put the right stuff in it.
The best formular to use is very simple and reasonable. Cannned evaporated milk. Cows milk and dogs milk are almost the same, it's just the cows milk is 1/2 as concentrated as dogs milk. You will find the canned milk is easy to store, add a dollop of Karo syrup for energy and palatability, warm slighty and thats it. You don't have to make life more complicated than it already is . If you find that you will have to hand rear your baby, you will eventually have to add an egg yolk (without the white) to a can of evaporated milk with Karo, this helps to raise the protein level . If you are just supplementing to help the mother, this is not needed.
Remember if the mother will not lick and stimulate the babies to urinate and defecate, you must do this for them, remember, we allowed this birth, so we must be there to help the mother out. It's our job!!!
As I am not a vet, I cannot state these as facts, it just after losing several puppies by the old method, I have found this to work the best and I have not lost many puppies due to feeding. You can chose to use this information or not, it's up to you . I am just a breeder who loves her babies and want to help anyone who is looking for help in raising their little ones. I hope this information will help. This is just my knowledge from trial and error. Always check with your vet before you do anything.
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