Whelping and Raising the Litter
More and more I hear from potential owners that breeders are harder to locate ...this probably has to do with the fact that successfully raising a Shar-Pei litter should not be left to the inexperienced. As with any journey one embarks on, studying and research are vital to success. Do not take lightly bringing new life into this world..there is a big responsibility which goes along with it...
Can't wait to get that litter on the ground??...Well, .it's like being anxious to get baby walking...all kinds of things will happen you didn't expect.
We all look forward to our Shar-Pei litter...because of the variety of colors, coat types and muzzle sizes..and oh yes not to forget...sexes. But this is when the real work begins.
One of the earliest problems to deal with is the whelping.
Hopefully yours will whelp on Tuesday at 9 am..that way if you have any
problems you pick up the phone and call your Vet..these days many Vets
turn off their phone after-hours and you'll have to call the emergency
clinic..then deal with horrendous emergency Veterinary costs handled by
first year Vet graduates....
My dogs make sure that they always whelp at night,
on weekends and holidays..I'm sure they have their own calendars. The first
thing to remember is IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT ANY POSSIBLE PROBLEMS GET TO
YOUR OWN VET WHILE HE IS STILL OPEN
. If your bitch has a Sunday or Monday due date..you
might want to visit your Vet the Friday before..ask for some supplies..just
in case. hopefully your Vet will oblige you. Find out if your Vet has emergency
hours..most Vets make quick visits on weekends their to clinics and may
make themselves available if you ask. For instance my Vet closes at noon
on Saturday but he will see emergency clients Sunday morning at 9 Am. you
happen to know about it. He doesn't volunteer this information easily.
Make a list when you go to your Vet ..how many times have you returned
home only to realize that you forgot to ask something.
Now back to the whelping. It seems some years it is C-Section party time. A bitch goes in labor and then nothing happens. This is not to be confused with pre-labor activities..It is not uncommon for a bitch to dig , pant and make beddies for 24 to 36 hours before the actual whelping. You already know to take her temp but I can tell you from experience that it's not always as reliable as you think.Temperatures go up and down..its when the temp is UNDER 99 degrees something is about to happen. Some bitches can whelp shortly after eating a meal..most don't, but then again it's not THAT reliable. So how can you tell that she is in labor?? If I had a sure fire answer, i'd write a book!...Never the less, here are some ways that may help you.
Delivery Time
1. Count your days from first breeding. Rarely will a dog whelp before her 56 day. But can you be sure you know her first actual breeding...maybe not. Remember, ovulation does not necessary occur at the time of mating ..it may take several days for the eggs to meet up with the sperm..this can though your due date off by several days...
2. Temp drops BELOW 99 degrees.
3. Refuses food.
4. Acts nervous, pants and gets chills.
5. Watery discharge from the vulva. Labor has a unique smell of serum ..you'll remember it once you've experienced it
6. Tears things up like a pillow, blanket or your brand new comforter on your bed
7 Dilates* This will be explained a little later.
8. Contractions. They can occasionally have phantom contractions that are not the real thing.
Eventually you will become certain that your bitch
is in labor. If she goes for 1 1/2 hours of hard contractions and nothing
significant has occurred call your Vet.. A big litter sometimes stretches
out the muscles so much they have nothing left in them to contract. IN
smaller litters the pups tend to get bigger..so big sometimes they can
get stuck coming out..
I had a bitch deliver 4 pups and then continue to
contract and produce nothing else. As it turned out , her uterine horn
twisted close and the last pup had to be delivered by c-section. Another
bitch whelped fine the first time and then developed uterine inertia the
next time. Back to back breedings are just asking for trouble so I don't
recommend it.. It is also advisable let a bitch rest at least a year if
she was sectioned.
If a pup is presented in the birth canal and doesn't
want to come down after a reasonable amount of time ..you need to be concerned.
Needless to say it's very important to have a good relationship with your
Vet by this time. Sometimes it is necessary to pull the pup out with the
contractions. A clean dry wash cloth works good for this. But pull
gently..I know it's easy to get nervous but it's important that you think
about what you are doing and react appropriately. You do not want to damage
the puppy getting it out. It really doesn't matter if the pup comes head
first or feet first in canines. But once the umbilical cord gets exposed,
it closes off and the puppy will not be able to survive unless it can breathe.
Once the pup is out , break the sac if it is unbroken . If one side of
the umbilical cord is attached the pup and the other end goes back inside
the mother, then gently pull on the cord ----toward the puppy and not away
from it..If you are successful , you will pull the placental sac out intact.
It's important to account for each and every sac. Then crush the umbilical
cord with your ( clean) or gloved fingers and tear it apart carefully
protecting the umbilical area so that you don't damage the belly of the
puppy. Have dental floss ready to tie off the umbilical cord in case of
bleeding. This brings up a point..what do you need for the whelping...well
here a list:
Whelping Supplies
Heavy blankets
Good quality indoor-outdoor carpet ( non rubber back ) in 2 foot sections
Child's wading pool - it's curved sides help prevent the dam from laying on her pups. Easy to keep clean.
This is the hard plastic kind , preformed found at department stores.
Heating pad, preferably or space heater and vaporizer ( hot or cold) To keep the room at a even warm comfortable temperature for pups and mom.
I suggest that the Shar-Pei mom have her own room you
where you can close the door. If she is your bed partner, she wont want
to stay with her pups. You are going to have to be able to keep her in
a room by herself while its her only job to nurse the pups is so vital.
Keep her nearby or in your bedroom..shutting the door when you leave. If
you start this practice off at the time of birth she will be use to it..however
if you give her the run of the house..you may have to take over 24 hour
care of the pups as she will not want to be bothered.
If she is in another room..leave a baby monitor near
her as some Shar-Pei mothers will inadvertently lay on their pups
crushing or killing them..the larger the mother the more likely this is
to occur. If you hear a puppy in distress you can save it from being
suffocated. Even knowing this I have lost several puppies over the year
to this phenonomon..its always a tragic loss to come in and find a once
healthy puppy dead. Its the first week you really have to be concerned
about this, eventually they get strong enough to get out of the way. When
this has happened to me its always occurred in the first 6 days.
Plenty of clean towels
Bowl of soapy water ..use the new antibacterial liquid dish soaps .
Bowl of warm bleach water
Alcohol, cotton balls, q-tips
Scissors, dental floss
Newspapers (See if your local newspaper will sell you bundles of unsold papers..You can buy them from the local newspaper with or without the inserts. It costs me about $5. for 125 lb. of clean unopened papers.
A good stand alone light as well as a flashlight
Baby scale, notepad and pen
(magic marker if you are expecting look- a- likes)
Distilled water/ Pedialyte Kayo Syrup.
For the more advanced whelpers:
Pops shots ( Oxytocin) Some Vets will use this regularly while others refused to use it. ( 1 cc at a time)
.Never give it without the supervision of your Vet. I am finding it less useful than I did a few years ago.
Nail clippers for the dew claw removal
Quick Stop or something similar
Antibiotics...Amoxicillin, Keflex from your Vet
I don't want to make a book this a book of basic whelping procedures. Find and keep handy one of more good books dealing with breeding and whelping.
Common Occurrences in Raising Shar-Pei Litters:
Do not raise Shar-Pei puppies in an outside environment. They must be raised in your home and you need to be within ear shot of the litter. They need a clean , dry , quiet and warm area. The cleaner the better. Poor hygiene is one of the leading causes of newborn puppy deaths. Since this breed have a problem with immunity, they tend to get ill easier than other breeds. Maintain their body temperature at approximately 101 degrees. Maintain the humidity with a humidifier as ( 55%) necessary to prevent their nasal passages from drying . If you decide to breed your female or if you are thinking about doing a stud service make sure you or the owners of the bitch do not have to take off for Grandmothers 7th marriage during the time the pups are so dependent At least the first 4 weeks. Make sure some will be able to stay with the pups and not leave them unattended. Working owners must consider the possibility of having to take off work occasionally to assist the whelping of in the event of a medical crisis.
Breathers: These pups start out normal and around day 3 or so you notice that they seem to be gasping for air. Their chest caves in with the effort of breathing Basically, the pup is trying to breathe through their nose and can't.
Breathers can develop as the result of any number of problems. One is the atmosphere is too dry. Puppies can't mouth breathe. Shar-Pei have very narrow nasal passages. Something happens to the nasal passage and they essentially swell nearly shut. The first thing that seems to help is a vaporize. You can use either cold or hot steam. If you use the hot steam type as it burns any bacteria that may have collected in it in prior usage. It is best to use distilled water and add baking soda if necessary to get the steam going. Vicks vapor rub either in the vaporizer ( as per manufactures directions) or on the nose sometimes help significantly. Sometimes it helps to put the '"breather" in a small crate and really make a steam bath for a short while. There are medications the vet can give you to reduce the nasal swelling and it may be necessary to tube feed this pup until he get through this period..he will outgrow it if he survives.
Basically a pups' survival depends on warmth and hydration. It's pitiful to see a puppy struggle to breathe..he usually moves endlessly around the nest trying to breathe. I have tried pediatric nose drops among other things.
But essentially you want to get his nasal passages opened enough for the pup to breathe. I have heard of some vets using a mild steroid ( Dex) as a nose drop with a tiny bit of gentamycin mixed in. Anything you use on a puppy must be used cautiously. Less rather than more..I have to admit that I have sometimes tried so hard as a reaction of seeing the pup struggle to breathe that I probably killed the pup by trying too hard to save it..
It helps to have a friend who is an experienced breeder who can guide you and a Vet who will listen. Breathers can also be a symptom of a far deadlier bacterial or viral infection. Unfortunately most of the time by the time you see a problem, it has advanced to the critical stage.
It impossible to really determine if your breather
pup is sick from bacterial ( e coli or staph or strep are the most
common) contacted though the vaginal canal during birth or toxic milk from
the mother, or simply too warm, too cold, dehydrated etc. Analyze
the circumstances and see if you can eliminate the least likely. If you
are really perplexed, you may need to find a vet who really has a handle
on whelping problems. A breeder vet is one of the best friends you can
make. Most Vets simply don't have the time or interest to breed and raise
puppies...however, some Vets do and for whelping problems this is the kind
of Vet you will need.
Crying Pups: REMEMBER: Healthy pups are quiet. Crying pups are ILL.
Shar-Pei have a better than average chance of getting
an infection after whelping. It goes back to the "immune thing" with them.
I like to put my new mom on an antibiotic for 5 days or longer after whelping.
Something like Amoxicillin or Keflex. If I don't, I take the chance of
all my puppies getting sick and infected with a generalize bacteria that
can cause the pups to go septic and die. Vets will argue that antibiotics
are unnecessary. They say that antibiotic with kill the natural flora in
the digestive tract...All I say about this is that if your pup(s) become
screamers, your there listening to them cry and climbing the walls and
your Vet is not.
If you do nothing or if the pups are left unchecked
the pups will eventually die one by one., After an experience like this
you will be willing to take the chance. Should one or more pups start the
"crying thing" run to you Vet...beg him to dose the mom and the pups with
something that kills such bacteria. If you catch it in time they have a
good chance of surviving. They will either die or survive within 5 days.
If you are giving your mothers'
antibiotics or the puppies antibiotics themselves ..you have to counter
the effect of the antibiotics with a lactobacillus paste such as Bene Bac
or Probios..this contains a source of live naturally occurring
microorganisms ( Lactic Acid bacteria, not less than 10 million CFU/g,
Enterococcus faecium, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus casei,
lactobacillus plantarum..obviously you cannot get these by giving grocery
store yogurt products.
A hint: As long as your puppy is urinating, he has a good chance for survival. Young puppies cannot urinate on their own. It is necessary to stimulate then into urination if the mother won't or can't. When a fading pup stops urinating...death is imminent. An one more note here, which has been a hard lesson even to me to finally learn.
If your pups are starting to get sick ( crying or screaming) or if the mother has an identifiable case of bad milk or mastitis. Take the pups away...DO NOT LEAVE THEM WITH THE MOTHER..Start drying her up immediately and hand feed the pups on a every 2 hour schedule. Remove her from the area where the pups are as it will distress her to know where they are. Keep them in a incubator type environment ( their body temperature should be kept at about 101 degrees and can be checked by you by taking their temperature.
DO NOT OVERHEAT A PUPPY..MAKE SURE THEY CAN LEAVE THE LEAVE THE HEAT SOURCE IF THEY GET TOO WARM. KEEP A THERMOMETER IN THE INCUBATOR AND CHECK IT OFTEN. AS AN ADDITIONAL TEST, PLACE IT UNDER A HAND TOWEL AND CHECK THE TEMPERATURE IN 5 MINUTES..YOU DO NOT WANT TO GET IT TO HOT.
Either learn to tube feed or you will be spending hours
and hours bottle feeding your puppies.. Never use a dropper or syringe
as even a few drops of milk sucked accidentally into the lungs can cause
your newborn to develop a life threatening pneumonia.
Take extra precautions when bottle feeding..if the
nipple hole is too large, the puppy will suck milk down its lungs and you
will lose it. A very tiny hole is necessary..test and test again before
offering it to you puppy. You only have to do it wrong one time to lose
a puppy.
Tube Feeding: You can save a pup's life by learning to tube feed. Many people really have a problem with this but once you learn how to do it..once you get the hang of it, it comes in quite handily. Ask an experience breeder to show you or ask your Vet but learn and you'll be glad you did.
Bottle Feeding: Use a clear 4 oz plastic human baby bottle. Make sure the nipples will work with milk and formula. You may have to enlarge the nipple with a red hot sewing needle. The flow amount is very important, keep perfecting it until it flows easily yet not too fast to choke the pups . Heat only what you will be using and throw out any left over each time.
Ill Puppies: How to tell if you pups are healthy or ill?? Healthy pups twitch and are quiet. They lay in groups. An ill puppy will separate itself from the litter, does not keep his body warm. ( A puppy has no internal thermostat..it is necessary to maintain the puppy's body temperature at about 101 degrees.) An ill puppy will not twitch like the others. It is important to observe your pups regularly. Weigh the pups daily. A sick puppy will feel like a small water balloon when picked up and held. He is solid, heavy and feels full with a big round belly.. A sick puppy feels like you are holding a Twinkie. A healthy pup will have firm muscles and a weak, ill pup will have little control over his arms and legs. Note: DO NOT leave a sick pup with it's mother and littermates..
. Make a sort of incubator, perhaps out of a small box tall enough that a struggling puppy will not climb out , that is large enough to put a heating pad in with at least 5 inches free of the heating pad. Place a folded towel over the pad which it placed always on LOW. Keep checking the status of the heat for the next 6 to 12 hours. Lay a visible thermometer in the box close to where the pup is and check the temp. Pinch the skin of the pups' back and see if it returns to the original position. If it does not slide right back you may be dealing with dehydration. Remember: It is vital to keep pups warm and hydrated in order to survive. When and if the puppy can nurse on his own then you can think about returning him back to the nest. Even though he is not with the others, encourage the mother to clean the pup regularly. This saves you the trouble and keeps the mother bonded with the pup. Hydrated the puppy by offering pedialyte plain or with a small amount of clear Kayo syrup in a baby bottle using the nipple designed for water. Sometimes it may be necessary to sub-Q fluid just under the puppy skin. Lactated ringers is what is called for here. You may be able to order and keep on hand from a mail order suppler or ask your Vet for a 1000cc bag. After doing more research, I have found it vital to sub q sick puppies several times a day and or offer them pedialyte by mouth intermittently though out the day and night.
Mastitis Why and how does a female get Mastitis. Sometimes it's simply that the mother has too much milk and not enough pups to drain the milk and keep is fresh. Stagnant milk builds up bacteria! Bacteria get introduced into the breast through the pup's mouth and because the mother cleans the pups rear and his face transferring bacteria. Mastitis can start on day 2 or day 14. Check each nipple and breast of the bitch. Look for any irregular swelling or redness. Squeeze out some milk and check to see if the milk is watery or tacky or stringy. You can't always see bad milk. But tacky or stringy milk is always a bad sign. Note: This has been a hard lesson for me..more that once I have made the following mistake. DO NOT leave pups with their dam if her milk goes bad. Take her away and hand feed the pups. At the very worst case scenario, it will be a long a sleepless 2 or 3 weeks. I also now will hand raise a one puppy litter for the same reason. Too much milk and not enough pups to drain the milk. I have been advised more than once to leave the dam with the pups and put everyone on antibiotics...This has not had very good results as more often than not I have lost the pups.. In cases of C-Sections, I watch the bitch carefully and I have had poor results unless the bitch is maintained on antibiotics for about 10 days.
Hand Feeding I have used a formula for the last 15
years. With little variation the formula has worked well for me. It is
as follows:
If you are dealing with a very sick puppy I would
recommend just using liquid canned esbilac. This takes away any guessing
or inequalities in the feeding. However for pups which are simply falling
behind and need support..I would recommend the following
Meyerberg Canned Goats Milk (http://www.meyenberg.com/)
found next to the evaporated milk at your local grocery store and
Pedialyte.
Mix: 2 parts milk with one part Pedialyte. Add measured
amount of liquid puppy vitamins
When the pups get older after day 10..you can add
the following
Baby Rice Flour .. Distilled Water
Clear Kayo Syrup
Mix 3 oz of canned Goats Milk with 1 oz of Pedialyte into a 4 oz clear human baby bottle ( boiled and clean) Later you can add a dropper of liquid puppy vitamins together with a small amount of Baby Rice Cereal and heat to warm. Add a tablespoon of plain yogurt and a quarter size drop or so of Kayo Syrup. DO NOT use egg yolks or honey ..both of these items are loaded with bacteria. You can alternate the Pedialyte and distilled water in the formula. Never reheat the formula over.. Throw out unused portions daily. Heat only what you will use.
Worming: Some commercial wormers on the market have been diluted so much that they do not do the job of removing worms. I have been using Synanthic for worming lately having not been satisfied with the success of Nemex or Strongid. Droncit for Tapeworms at about eight weeks, however, if you have your mothers on Advantage..you may not have to worm for tapeworms anymore..or rarely. Have a fecal done if you see anything unusual with the stools..the stools should be nicely formed, brown or yellow in color ..not slimy or loose or foul smelling. Buy your worm meds from your Vet. No over the counter preparations..Besides round or tape worms, there are other serious intestinal "things" which can effect the health or life of a neonate..This includes hookworms, coccidia and giardia. When you take a fecal sample in ASK your vet to check for these as well...Worm your litter regularly from as early as 12 to 14 days on, as eggs begin to hatch out by this time.
UPDATED VACCINE INFORMATION..PLEASE READ..
Vaccinations: Vaccination protocol has been changing
rapidly in the last few years!
Many breeders will do their own vaccinations, at least
up until they are sold. It is a wise breeder that get the puppy Vet Checked
at the time of sale to verify that the puppy is healthy. I do all the vaccinations
until the last one ( before the pup is sold) and then I let the Vet give
those. I have found that if you hit a young pup with too much too soon
it can play havoc with its immune system.
I no longer give combination
puppy vaccines. This is too much for a young puppy to deal with
in light of the fact they have an immature immune system at this age.
I will either give a combination parvo/ distemper
vaccine by Intervet at 6 weeks of age. Repeating again in 3 1/2 weeks,
and again in one month..giving a final dose at 22 weeks..then nothing more
until the required Rabies vaccine. At one year if you have the nagging
feeling you need to give all the other stuff..do so after they have matured
and are approximately a year old with a follow up booster one month
later..THEN THAT IS IT FOR THESE TYPES OF VACCINES
FOR THE NEXT 4 TO 7 YEARS OF LIFE. All the other "stuff" in the
combination vaccines are not needed and are probably the leading cause
of a failing LIFE LONG immune system by overload of unnecessary vaccine
overdosing.
For young puppies, the most deadly viruses young puppies have to deal with are parvo ( first) and then distemper. These can be nearly 100% fatal to young puppies. Not vaccinating at all is very risky.
Adenovirus, measles, lepto, parainfluenza, corona, hepatitis etc..are not likely going to be a problem with young puppies unless you have inadvertently exposed them in some way.
If you want to be really cautious, then you can go with Galaxy straight parvo followed by Galaxy straight distemper vaccine a week later. Galaxy is the only vaccine maker at this writing that I am aware of which makes a DISTEMPER ONLY, with no adenovirus conjunction. InterVet makes a combination Pavo/Distemper with no measles. I have used both kinds of protocols with equal success.
This way you are only exposing your newborn puppies to one antigen at a time and increasing your safety factor. Personally, and I would like to temper this section with my own experiences, I don't like using too much too soon.
All I can say here is that Shar-Pei have unique problem with their immune systems and what works for the majority of other dogs can be rewritten here. Your puppy may not have full immunity until approximately 10 days after their 3 set of vaccination. Its advisable to use highly protective measures until then.
A note to BREEDERS: I suggest if your puppies have not finished the vaccine protocol you have begun..give the remaining vaccines and syringes to the puppy buyers with detailed instructions on care and use and have them finish the vaccine protocol you have started. This way their Vet won't start them on a different brand or manufacturer..which is something the literature says should not be done... that is changed from one to another manufacturer during their vaccine protocol.
Staph ( or Germ Warfare): This can be a common occurrence with Shar-Pei litters. Anywhere from two weeks on if you start to notice hair loss on one or more tiny puppies, consider that the pups may have contracted skin infection caused by the warm moist environment and perhaps will be more at risk for future skin problems. Hair loss give way to oozing sores. This requires immediate action. The pups will need to be put on liquid antibiotics and bathe almost daily with an antibacterial scrub. Keep the whelping areas especially clean using bleach and change the papers and wash and bleach the blankets often. Staph will "burn" the hair follicles and it takes forever for the hair to regrow in the bald places, this of course makes it impossible to show or sell the pups for quite awhile. I have come to believe that pups which show a weakness to staph are more than likely showing a symptoms of poor immunity.
Elongated Soft Palettes: If one or more of your especially wrinkled pups seem to be wheezing a lot, consider that this pup may suffer from an elongated soft pallet These pups tend to become chronically ill with a smoldering type pneumonia. One breeder I talked to and who I respect for her wealth of knowledge said after much effort with one of these pups her Vet discovered through a throat culture that the loose creased ( wrinkled inside as well as out??)esophageal tissue trapped bacteria ( decaying food) inside, on the lining of the throat and kept the puppy chronically ill. I suggest if you suspect this as a problem you inform your Vet as to this possibility and have you Vet take appropriate action such as long term antibiotics or any other ideas he or she may have to help resolve the situation. As the puppy grows and become more mature this condition should become less of a problem .In rare cases surgery may become necessary..but not until the pup reaches a safe age to do the surgery. Throw some stuff teddie bears in the whelping box..it helps any pup with breathing problems to snuggle up and raise his head up to breathe.
Knuckling Over : Sometime after the pups get up and walking you may notice one or more of the pups with what looks like a "broken knee". I have seen this often in fast growing Shar-Pei pups. I am not sure if using Eucanuba causes too fast and heavy of a growth and the legs just can't support it..I have seen it happen using various dog foods. so I am not sure as to what the exact mechanics of the problem is, but I do know how to fix it..It is important to support the weak joint with a wrap a few days at a time and then remove the support and see if it looks OK. Leave it off until you see if the problem reoccurs and repeat as necessary.
You can find finger splints which can be made to work as well as splints purchased though animal supply catalogs. I use a flattened toilet paper roll, trimming the corners and cutting to size to provide support. Place on the back side of the leg, wrap in gauze and wrap again with Vet wrap..the stuff the horse people use to wrap horses tails and legs. It's self sticking and you may have to tinker with it so that it is not too tight nor so loose it will slide off. (Always check the toes continually for swelling while the leg is wrapped.) I like to wrap the top and bottom in a water proof tape such as surgical tape. Some puppies do better than other at keeping the wrap on, so be prepared to replace it as necessary. Do not get too alarmed over this as most of the time if properly cared for this will resolved itself nicely. I have known of some cases where the Vet thought the pups leg had been injured...when in actuality it was not. Many Vets was not aware of this as a problem in the breed. A note: If you do not take care of this problem it will cause permanent malformation of the leg.
Finally, before you sell your pups, take them into
your Vet to have them checked out. Handing over a puppy to his new owner
with a current health certificate and vaccinations is only good practice..for
both you and the new owner..It can prevent heartache and ill feelings in
the long run. Its easy to overlook hernias, heart murmurs or a myriad of
other problems only a Vet might diagnosis.
If breeders were only producing machines and not living
"things" then each would be expected to be perfect..but this is not the
case with a litter of pups. Breeders are not trying to produce less
than perfect puppies..in the natural realm of things..perfection is very
hard to achieve..
No breeder wants to hand over a puppy which is going to have problems..it will only come back as heartache..most breeders do their best with the "tools" we have to work with and breed out of love of animals, showing or whatever other esoteric reasons..believe me, its not for the money..when you consider the time required for days on end and months on end and lives on end as well as the responsibility which goes along with the whole process.
When you do take your litter to the Vets for that check up..bring your own towels, keep your pups in a crate or box and politely ask the staff and other clients ( who may be at the Vets because of a sick pet) not to touch the pups because they are not fully vaccinated and protected. Wait out in the car until you are called..cover your pups with a towel until you are seen by the Vet. Lay a towel on the table where the Vet is checking your litter. Viruses are airborne and easy to contract..and the most likely place your pups can pick up a serious illness it during their trip to the Vets..
NEVER BUY A PUPPY FROM A PET STORE
PEOPLE WHO SELL THEIR PUPPIES
TO PET STORES DO NOT CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR PUPPIES... CONSIDER THAT
PUPS FOUND IN PET STORES LIKELY FROM HORRENDOUS PUPPY MILLS SITUATIONS
AND NOT FROM RESPONSIBLE CARING BREEDERS WHO HAVE THE BREEDS BEST
INTEREST AT HEART.