Page 55 - Chow Life - Spring 2016

determine the surgery's effect on after-birth. Leave all but the really
the dam and her whelps. When she
sniffs at the mess you discreetly
made, cleans herself, then with
no hovering interference in her
concentration, she begins to lick
her whelps which now smell "just
right" (normal), you can sit back,
relax, and admire motherhood
functioning as nature intended.
If a bitch is sectioned before
the onset of labor, or she's spayed
concurrent with a c-section, there
won't be adequate levels of oxytocin
(bonding hormone) produced and
vets often fail to give an oxytocin
injection, reasoning that the pups
are already born... With uterus
removed and hormonal releases cut
short by interruption of the normal
the birth process, there's also a
risk that her milk may not come
down. Big bitches that bagged up in
the last few days of gestation may
slip by the breeder’s notice. As the
experienced brood bitch "mothers"
her pups, the breeder may not
notice that there's no milk!
Whelps already weakened by
anesthesia can just lay there and
quietly starve as will pups that
experience a gradual lessening of
the milk supply. The breeder who
weighs or instinctively notes that
the pups are not "firm and fully
packed" may be puzzled. When
dehydration becomes horribly
evident, even the novice breeder
realizes something is seriously
wrong. By this point, it will take
heroic effort to save the whelps.
Any vet who fails to warn the litter
owner of the potential side effects
of cesarean-spaying should be held
accountable. Gross negligence is
often compounded by an attempted
cover up of scientific garble
designed to lay blame on the bitch’s
“poison milk” or pups who were
somehow defective and “wouldn’t
nurse and caused the bitch to dry
up.”
Don't Disturb The Nest!
Who would clean her whelping
spot under a deadfall? Let her
clean up the birth fluids and eat the
Think for a moment. The
wet papers for 24 hours. I know newborn is instinctively drawn to
big breeds make a mess. Wait until the warm comfort of the udder,
she settles down to hard labor, then groin, and genital areas of his
place a wad of paper towels directly dam. Getting there however is a
under the vulva to soak up the learning process that begins with
voluminous birth fluids. Discreetly a good mother’s guidance as she
change after each delivery. Excess rolls and prods him in the right
fluids drain down through the direction. Notice how she breathes
rubber mat so the dam is kept clean, on him. She isn’t smelling him, his
quiet, and undisturbed. She can lick individual scent was imprinted in
and clean but Drydeck prevents her her deepest being before she had
from ingesting ink dyes and the wet finished licking the birth fluids
whelps do not absorb newsprint away. No, she is leading him with
chemicals. her warm breath back to the perfect
Don't worry about sanitation. environment of her cuddle curl.
Were that a risk, Mrs. Wily Coyote, (More on that later.)
the Rhodes Scholar of carnivores, Unless or until mom takes over,
would have long ago learned to you will have to stimulate the
use disinfectant. For those first whelps to urinate and defecate.
few days, put up with a little odor. Wake them up and rumple them
To your nursing dam, it smells around between feedings. Stimulate
like puppy Heaven. Our well- them in other ways. Unpile them
intentioned interference wreaks and let them wriggle back together.
havoc on a process that has worked Roll them back and forth to make
for thousands of years. Were we sure the rib cage doesn't flatten. Be
to believe the confusing array of a good mom.
books, seminars, and expert advice
on the whelping process, we could
only surmise that the dinosaurs No Tube Feeding!
became extinct because there were I know it's quicker, more
no humans to whelp and rear them! convenient to tube-feed the litter
A serving of warm raw calves liver instead of holding each pup and
can be offered the first time she bottle feeding it. Oh, you're too
seems hungry but food should be busy? Then don't breed.
otherwise limited to milk and broth A newborn learns cause-and-
for the next 72 hours after which effect behavior in the first few
she can go back on her regular high hours of life. Instead of having a
quality diet. Offer water free choice. tube forced down his throat and
his stomach filled with more than
Hand-Rearing A Litter it was designed to process at one
time, he learns to bump the nipple
Loss of the dam or her refusal repeatedly to demand nourishment
to care for the litter can result in when he needs it. Another life
maladjusted adults. Pups deprived lesson occurs as he performs
of the constant licking, rough the food-by-demand ritual and
nosing about, tactile sensations, is gratified by the let-down of
feeding rivalry, and primordial her milk. He sucks vigorously,
learning experiences of the first few aggressively, developing the pushy,
weeks of life are prone to behavioral survival-at-all-costs attitude which
problems. Good dams beget good will ultimately determine his
dams for much more than genetic adaptability to the hazards of life.
reasons. A female puppy deprived
of the complex sensory and A newborn unable to join to the
social interactions that naturally nipple for frequent small meals, one
that never learns to fight for his
occur from birth to weaning is ill place but who is instead force-
equipped to handle her own future fed according to the human
litter.
53