| For yourself or customers ? Whelping a bitch down should never be taken lightly, especially more so when someone has entrusted you with their bitch. We will use a rough example as to what happens. The bitch arrives here after mating or may arrive a few weeks before she's due. Most tend to arrive here straight away. So she has nine weeks until her due date. She is dosed out a few times in that period and fed quality food to prepare her for the litter. 4.25/day doesn't seem unreasonable. A close eye on the bitch especially after three weeks when they tend to go off their food for a few days. All bitches are different, but you tend to know from experience if something not right. Coming near due date and keeping a close eye on proceedings. The monitor is great, as your not disturbing the bitch when checking on her during the night. Your obviously there for each birth, ensuring everything is ok and the bitch is managing. This could go on for up to 24 hours and your there all night. Ensuring the bitch is ok, drinking milk and the pups warm enough. You just know from experience if something is going wrong. I always have my vet told when we have a bitch whelping and she is on call. Its knowing when to help her with some oxytocin and when to make that call and ring the vet and get the pups out before it becomes a bigger problem. Once the pups are born are the bitch settled, a five day course of antibiotics start. Litres of milk and pounds of raw beef the first few days get her going. Fed 5 times a day. Still only 4.25/day. Two tins of sardines are 1.10/day ! Plus the red lamp cranks up the Electricity bill ! In and out with the bitch the first week before you start dosing the pups and clipping their nails in a few weeks time. Red lamp still on 24 hours a day, unless in the Summer time, but the nights can still be chilly. Pups start lapping at three weeks and milk from Lidl at 2 for three litres is what we use. Litres and litres a day once they get the hang are used then weetabix before putting GAIN Puppy and Sapling through the mincer to add to the milk. Cooked beef gradually introduced as well. Keeping a good eye on the pups to make sure all doing well. Once eating solids they become very dirty and straw needs changing daily and sawdust 7/bale on kennel floor once they start venturing out also needs changing. Once they venture outside a close eye needs to be kept on them as they eat leaves and mud etc a scour can cause them to loose condition overnight, so need to be vigilant. The heat lamp needs to be on as cold pups will also loose condition. Ive often had lamps still on in the kennels for pups at 12 weeks of age. We have concrete yards for the pups that are power washed daily to ensure a healthy environment. Pups are fed high quality feed 4/5 times a day and dosed every ten days. At 12 weeks of age, you've been working from when the bitch arrived for 5 months. You've fed, minded and cleaned the pups, you've dosed and vaccinated the pups, ran a red lamp for maybe ten weeks. 7 x pups @ 200/pup 1400
7 Innoculations 140
Bitch 21 weeks 630
Total 2170. Obviously a bitch can go home once the pups are weaned and she getting back in good condition. This will reduce the cost. Take your expenses out of that and 5 months time and effort in giving them the best start and helping the bitch recover. Then have something for yourself at the end to make it worthwhile and you reckon that im expensive. Pups that get a poor start and they will always be playing catch up and never be any good. Give them the best possible start and they have a chance. If people are not in a position to whelp a bitch themselves, dont go for the "cheap" option and do your homework before giving to someone. There have been plenty of horror stories out there with dead broods and pups! I get a lot of satisfaction out of doing a good job, you can fet a nice straightforward whelping and also nightmare ones ! Im lucky i have a great vet. Never questions a 3am call, get in ! You also can have nightmare pups that just dont do well for what ever reason and can frustrate you. You've also got to remember there are other dogs and jobs to be done daily. You wont get rich whelping bitches down and you earn every euro left at the end of the day !
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