GeneralMy German shepherd just had pups *UPDATE*
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GeneralMy German shepherd just had pups *UPDATE*Posted:

Disrutive
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So I just woke up and I'm found out my family has been up all night with my German shepherd and she had 6 pups. I'm exited for the next 8 weeks. It's the first time we had her breed, is there any tips?

UPDATE:Pups are finally starting to open their eyes


Last edited by Disrutive ; edited 2 times in total
#2. Posted:
TaigaAisaka
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Right now your goal is going to be doing what you can to keep the female dog as stress free as possible, this means no going in there to play with her if she's not in the mood, no one in the family should be getting loud and angry for no reason, especially at her and you may also need to keep the male dog away from her as he's going to be invading her space a lot to try and smell the puppies, which may piss her off.

Whoever she is most comfortable with in the family will be the one who is going to be doing most of the work with her. Some pups may not get to feed properly based on how the others are situated and depending on how the female dog is laying down, so that's where whoever she is most comfortable with will have to come to help out at times.

It's getting colder so absolutely you need to keep them warm since puppies can't regulate their body temperature. They'll usually be huddled around the female dog and each other so their bodies produce warmth, but in the event that the female dog wants some free space and/or you get little stragglers that wander, you want to make sure it's not cold or drafty where they are.

Female dog will also mostly likely clean up after the dogs when they piss or shit -- so don't let her lick you and if she doesn't clean it up, someone will have to so they're not just sitting in it.

Don't touch the puppies for the first few days, maybe a minute or so, but don't carry/touch them around like they're a 3 month old puppy.

If you have the time and money, it may be good to go for a quick visit to the vet with the female dog to make sure she's okay. I wouldn't say this is needed unless there are obvious signs that she may be off, but it never hurts to be safe.

If the female dog ends up rejecting the puppies or a pup, my best advice would be to contact a vet to ask what to do and how to care for that scenario.

What I personally did during this time for my dog when she gave birth, is I switched her to a full on natural/raw diet. She would usually get a raw diet every other day or so before she gave birth, but afterwards she went on a full raw diet. If you haven't fed her a raw diet in the past, you can probably skip this part or slowly but surely wing her onto it, because fully switching a dog's food can mess with their stomach for a few days and that's not something you want to really push onto a nursing dog.

Once the puppies get their teeth in and really start hurting the female dog, someone may have to keep a little bit of a closer eye on them because she may snap and could end up hurting them in response to her getting hurt. She may also be very annoyed and short tempered with the dogs and not want to nurse. You may have to "force" her to nurse and eventually start getting them onto wet dog food as time goes on.

Don't ignore the female dog, if she wants attention from someone, give it to her. If you guys go on walks, take her for a walk when she's done nursing and had time to relax herself. You can let her interact with the male dog and let him see the pups, but if she's showing aggression or discomfort when he's around her whilst she's nursing or just around the puppies in general, keep him away until she's okay with it. Less stress on her and lessens the risk of them fighting, which in turn could end up getting a puppy into it on accident.
#3. Posted:
Disrutive
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TaigaAisaka wrote Right now your goal is going to be doing what you can to keep the female dog as stress free as possible, this means no going in there to play with her if she's not in the mood, no one in the family should be getting loud and angry for no reason, especially at her and you may also need to keep the male dog away from her as he's going to be invading her space a lot to try and smell the puppies, which may piss her off.

Whoever she is most comfortable with in the family will be the one who is going to be doing most of the work with her. Some pups may not get to feed properly based on how the others are situated and depending on how the female dog is laying down, so that's where whoever she is most comfortable with will have to come to help out at times.

It's getting colder so absolutely you need to keep them warm since puppies can't regulate their body temperature. They'll usually be huddled around the female dog and each other so their bodies produce warmth, but in the event that the female dog wants some free space and/or you get little stragglers that wander, you want to make sure it's not cold or drafty where they are.

Female dog will also mostly likely clean up after the dogs when they piss or shit -- so don't let her lick you and if she doesn't clean it up, someone will have to so they're not just sitting in it.

Don't touch the puppies for the first few days, maybe a minute or so, but don't carry/touch them around like they're a 3 month old puppy.

If you have the time and money, it may be good to go for a quick visit to the vet with the female dog to make sure she's okay. I wouldn't say this is needed unless there are obvious signs that she may be off, but it never hurts to be safe.

If the female dog ends up rejecting the puppies or a pup, my best advice would be to contact a vet to ask what to do and how to care for that scenario.

What I personally did during this time for my dog when she gave birth, is I switched her to a full on natural/raw diet. She would usually get a raw diet every other day or so before she gave birth, but afterwards she went on a full raw diet. If you haven't fed her a raw diet in the past, you can probably skip this part or slowly but surely wing her onto it, because fully switching a dog's food can mess with their stomach for a few days and that's not something you want to really push onto a nursing dog.

Once the puppies get their teeth in and really start hurting the female dog, someone may have to keep a little bit of a closer eye on them because she may snap and could end up hurting them in response to her getting hurt. She may also be very annoyed and short tempered with the dogs and not want to nurse. You may have to "force" her to nurse and eventually start getting them onto wet dog food as time goes on.

Don't ignore the female dog, if she wants attention from someone, give it to her. If you guys go on walks, take her for a walk when she's done nursing and had time to relax herself. You can let her interact with the male dog and let him see the pups, but if she's showing aggression or discomfort when he's around her whilst she's nursing or just around the puppies in general, keep him away until she's okay with it. Less stress on her and lessens the risk of them fighting, which in turn could end up getting a puppy into it on accident.
thank you for the tips I really appreciate it, like I said it's our first time so we need all the tips we can get
#4. Posted:
JZX
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Sell the pups and make bare p's
#5. Posted:
BLVD
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I don't have much experience in this kinda stuff but what most of TaigaAisaka said I'd go with!
I give you all the luck and hope every pup grows up healthy!


#6. Posted:
Disrutive
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BLVD wrote
I don't have much experience in this kinda stuff but what most of TaigaAisaka said I'd go with!
I give you all the luck and hope every pup grows up healthy!


thanks man
#7. Posted:
L0pht
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Would love to see some pictures in the future, and hope they are all doing great!
#8. Posted:
Disrutive
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L0pht wrote Would love to see some pictures in the future, and hope they are all doing great!
I will in a few weeks when they open their eyes
#9. Posted:
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I don't have many tips since I've never dealt with new born animals, but I'm another person who would love to see some pictures! Sounds so great!
#10. Posted:
Disrutive
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Maze wrote I don't have many tips since I've never dealt with new born animals, but I'm another person who would love to see some pictures! Sounds so great!
yea absolutely as soon as they open their eyes I will
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