Lactation Concerns

Della and I got up about 4:00 a.m. Monday morning. She went outside, did her business, and came back in. That's pretty normal. What was different was the fact that she didn't go back to the puppies when she came back in. We went up to the room, but instead of getting back into the whelping pool with the puppies, she tried out the dog beds on the floor and then climbed into bed with me. I was pretty happy about that actually, because the puppies were sleeping contentedly and I thought that she'd get some decent rest if she was away from them.

Of course neither of us slept after that because every time one of the pups moved or made a sound her  head would pop up and more often than not, she'd hop down and go check on them. When the sun finally began to come up we went outside again. Clay and the other dogs got up too, and when we returned she settled down to nurse for a while. But it didn't last long and she left the pups again, which seemed like odd behavior based on the last few days. We took her temperature and got a reading of 103.8, which immediately made us worry about infection, perhaps a final pup who never made it out, or some of the placenta that never got delivered.

Adding to the sense of panic was the fact that on the morning puppy weigh in, a couple of them showed no gain or even some loss of weight over the previous day. Calls were made and I rushed off to the vet with Della, leaving Clay home with the pups. Della's temp was about normal at the vet's office, and the blood work showed no infection, and an xray showed nothing going on inside. That was a big relief, but the puppies' weight was still a concern.

I think what it came down to is that the 12 pups have simply been draining her dry. I'm increasing her calorie intake to boost milk production, and particularly trying to boost her intake of water. And we are doing a little supplemental feeding, at least for the smallest of the pups to help them keep up.

Most of them are continuing to grow and several of them are downright plump. Della is doing a great job feeding and caring for them, but she may need an assist while her milk production ramps up. We can do that. (Thanks for your help today, Beth!)

Oh, and today was the day that tails began to wag. That was a very cute milestone that took me by surprise.