9— WHELPING OF PUPPIES 



What often is mistaken for acid 

 milk in the mother, Hkely is really 

 navel infection with subsequent inter- 

 ned cold and poisoning. The myste- 

 rious death of puppies at a few days 

 of age may result from this navel 

 fever or poisoning. 



The umbilical cord of the puppy, 

 which the mother bites ofiF, commimi- 

 cates witii an artery and a vein in 

 the liver and thus septic poisoning is 

 easily had. 



The Afterbirth 



The placenta or afterbirth, a mesh 

 of tissue, may come with the puppy, 

 hut usually later. The mother eats 

 it usually and it is well that she does. 

 The afterbirth contains a sexual stim- 

 ulant not unlike that secreted by the 

 sexual organs and this likely aids the 

 mother in cleaning out her system and 

 in producing a milk supply. 



Should llie afterbirth not be en- 

 tirely cleaned out of the womb, the 

 mother may bleed at the vagina even 

 as late as four weeks after whelping. 

 A diet treatment of raw beef, cod 

 liver oil and olive oil is suggested for 

 a week. Then the uterus should be 

 douched thru the vagina with a mild 

 antiseptic in water tibree times daily. 

 The water should be boiled and then 

 douched slightly warm. 



Injury Causes Bleeding 



If the bleeding continues week after 

 week, likely the bitch will not conceive 

 the next time. A chronic rupture or 

 ulcer is indicated. 



A bitch that bleeds out of the vagina 

 some days before whelping, may have 

 a cancer in the womb. This will not 

 harm the coming litter but usually 

 renders the bitch barren thereafter. 



Puppies Fed in Womb 



The placental fetal manbrane or after- 

 birth is only a continuation of an early 

 wall of the yolksac which completely sur- 

 roands the embryo (later the fetus). 



Over the entire surface of this sac or 

 placenta, villi, hairlike in nature, establish 

 a relationship between the embryo and the 

 uterus. But the blood vessels of the fetus 

 and of the mother are not continuous ; they 

 are constantly separated by lajrers of mater- 

 nal capillaries and fetal capillaries. 



Possibility of Natal Infection 



There is a free echange of nutritive and 

 waste products between the capillaries of 

 the mother and the capillaries of the fetus, 

 or youncT in the mother's womb. The circu- 

 lation is so separate and complete that or- 

 dinary disease germs do not pass thru. 



AGES OF THE DOG 



10 weeks 

 old 



10 days old 

 Eyes opening 



10 years old 

 (70 yrs, in the 

 human span) 



Consequently, tho the mother be infected 

 •with contafiiouB disease, the fetus seldom 

 contracts it thru the blood stream. How- 

 ever, worm eggs may pass thru into the 

 fetus and puppies be bom with worms 

 fascarids). 



How Fast Puppies Come 



A bitch in good conditicm should 

 whelp her puppies as soon as an hour 

 or not longer than twelve hours, tho 

 eighteen to twenty-four hours is not 

 uncommon. 



Bitches too fat have trouble and 

 require longer time. 



Pups should emerge out of the 

 vagina at intervals of five and ten 

 minutes to perhaps two hours. Delay 

 usually means a large puppy on its 

 way. If the vagina is dilated to the 

 stage where the puppy can 'be touched 

 easily with the finger, mechanical aid 

 or caesarean should not be given 

 before a period of two hours. 



Don't Interfere Unnecessarily 



The average bitch will whelp very 

 well without aid. Some dogs may 

 need help hut unless the help is clearly 

 needed, it is better that none be given. 



Quiet, no vibrations, and a temper- 

 ature of about seventy degrees (on 

 or near the floor) during all the time 

 of whelping and for ten days after- 

 ward, are demanded. A chilled pup 

 easily can become a dead pup. 



This short treatise persistently empha- 

 sizes the dependence to be placed upon na- 

 ture and mother instinct. How, the reader 

 inquires, did puppies survive in the thou- 

 sands of years all dogs were whelped in 

 the wilds, perhaps in wintry weather, with 

 snow for a bed? 



Our memory goes back to a ramshackle 



