Daisy and Pups – Foster #1030 - 1035

Harriett just got back from picking up Daisy and her pups from the Champaign County Humane Society. Daisy is a 2-3 year old Lab mix and the pups are 5 days old (born 2/19/09). The story we got was that she had 9 pups, but four died before the owners brought them to the Shelter.

We always have to consider the pups we get as high risk animals. You never know the condition of the mother or what kind of prenatal care she may have had. Sadly, in most cases, it’s zero. Newborn pups are fragile, and there’s a lot of reasons they might die, even for the most well-meaning of owners. I think about this every time I hear someone say they want to breed their dog so their kids can see “the miracle of life.” Life is sometimes more cruel than people bargain for.

This picture shows the pups right after I put them into the whelping box. That’s a box with sides high enough to keep them from spreading out. If a pup gets “lost”, even in a 12 by 12 foot room, it can get cold and die. Mom can get in and out of the whelping box, but the pups can’t get out. The red pad they are laying on is a special heating pad made specifically for newborn animals. It stays at body temperature and is completely waterproof. Puppies at this age cannot regulate their body temperature. We’ll keep this pad in the box with them for a couple of weeks and they will move on and off the pad to keep warm.

Two of the five pups are much smaller than the other three. Our standard procedure is to weight the pups every day to be sure they are gaining weight. At this age we ought to see a gain of 10 – 20 grams every day. If they stay the same we go on special watch and be sure they are eating properly. If they lose weight we know we have a problem and can start to take action. Here’s where they stand as of 6 PM this evening:

Puppy	Weight (gr)	Description
1	765	male, white chest, black feet
2	615	female, white socks, white stripe on head
3	365	female, white blaze on chest
4	380	male, white chest, white left front foot
5	655	male, brown feet

Daisy’s been really nice. For the most part we’ll leave her alone tonight. We have to consider that her life has been completely upended today and we need to give her a day or two to settle in. She seems to be a really nice dog and is taking it very well.