IS IT BAD FOR PUPPIES TO DROP?.... Not when it's in a pregnant mom's belly!
Puppies have dropped means that they are starting to get ready to line up for delivery. Nickel's shape changed over night. She went from a Bloated tick to a pot bellied pig.... ah poor Nickel... shouldn't make fun of her. In truth she's glowing like an expectant mom. When I got home from work today she said hi as usual but proceeded to clamor back under the bed. Things might start happening around here soon... anyone want to change their vote!? :^)
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| DAY 61 |
Lynne asked me about seeing the puppies move and I decided to respond here. It's a really amazing experience... especially with so many of them.
Nickel definitely feels the puppies. Sometimes she'll turn and look. Feeling them is the wildest thing. Early on when the puppies move you feel gentle movement. At this point they are really close to the surface of the skin. I like to massage them at this point.... not for long but just to give them the sensation on their bodies. If I gently rub her belly they all start to stir :) If you place your hand gently on her belly they feel like someone rubbing their knuckle on the palm of your hand, it can be quite strong. Sometimes you can tell it's a foot or head. There are a couple puppies under her rib cage and you can still feel them moving.
Last night the puppies were moving A LOT. Nickel was also spending a lot of time stretched out. I've heard that the mom does this so the puppies can start to turn around and get into position for delivery. It still amazes me that there can be so many in there and that there's an order to them coming into the world.
I have now shaved around Nickel's nipples, otherwise the puppies can have a hard time finding the nipples and get constipated by ingesting hair. For the last two litters I shaved mom's entire belly. This seems to be what all breeders do. I found that the tiny puppy nails scratched mom's belly. Despite clipping the nails daily you can see the marks. I decided to leave the hair long this time. We'll see if this helps. The other thing that I start doing the last week is rubbing Lanolin on her nipples to get them soft. Never having had a (human) baby, I never knew how tender the nipples during the first week of nursing. Poor TinTin was raw from her puppies. Of course the more puppies there are the harder it is on mom since the nipples never get a 'rest' (the puppies don't rotate on them. SO! For Ico's litter I went to the store and found La Leche Nipple Cream. I'm sure the cashier was wondering why an old lady was buying Nipple Cream but I decided it was safer to let her think I was using it on myself than telling her it was for my DOG! ha ha ha. In any case.... the Lanolin does the trick. The other thing that I'll start for Nickel is a supplementation of Fennuelgrek. This is an herb that helps promote milk production. It gives mom a very swell breath too :)
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