Pre-Whelp Protocols

If your brood is expected to whelp in an environment unfamiliar to her, you should introduce her to the environment well before her whelp so she is comfortable and relaxed during the whelp and weeks afterward.

For example, if your brood whelps in a facility, you could bring her in one to two weeks beforehand so she can get used to the routine, sights and smells of her new environment. Ideally she has also spent some time in similar environments previously.

If she is staying with a home whelper, consider arranging some sleepover visits beforehand.

This also gives your brood the chance to get familiar with the staff or individuals who will be supporting her during her whelp and in the weeks afterwards. Activities like feeding, walking, grooming, gentle play, massage, or even just spending time with the brood will help her become comfortable with any unfamiliar staff.

Prior to sanitising the tools to be used in the first few weeks of the puppy’s life it is helpful to have the expectant brood engage with you while you select your equipment.  Allow her to sniff, pick up and play with the equipment.  Supervision is essential as some toys will be small or made of soft rubber. This supervised time together will allows you to observe if she will be destructive with soft cuddly or chew toys and thus alerts you to ensure no toys are left alone in the den.

The images above show examples of soft rubber toys, and textures/surfaces.

Allow the Brood to familiarise herself with different scents that will be in her den post whelp. Fully secure scent boxes with holes in them can be filled with calming essential oils.

Have the relaxation music playing in the background or other sound CD’s on low volume so that by the time you are ready to introduce these to the puppies the Brood will have heard them all prior to the whelp.  Movies are another great background noise to accustom broods to unpredictable noises and music that will be played during early socialization later. Musical instruments can be played as well to get the brood accustomed to this sound:

Following a C-Section the relaxation music and calming subtle scents may assist in keeping the Brood relaxed and calm while she adjusts to the nurturing role. Remember that any form of trauma will produce changes in the autonomic nervous system of the brood and interfering with the balance of the neurotransmitter of the brain. A first time Brood need time to adjust to the mothering role. Prior preparation as outlined above will ensure no added stress is encountered by the introduction of unseen equipment as it is introduced into the den over the next couple of weeks.