Your puppy’s story: how it all starts.
Before we start breeding with a dog it is vet checked. Our dogs are either papered or hip checked (hip problems being the most common, serious medical condition in Labs).
After a female dog becomes pregnant she is started on a special diet. This helps Mum stay healthy and the puppies develop properly. Otherwise, her life is pretty much the same.
Two Weeks Before the Birth
The week before her due date a baby monitor is used overnight, just in case!
Around this time mum slows down, meaning less walks and more rest time. She is also separated from the other dogs as she wants to avoid boisterous play and develops a nesting instinct.
The Whelping
Mother is supervised throughout the whole labour. Between puppies arriving the mum is often preoccupied, so we need to make sure the puppies are warm and safe. Puppies can arrive any time, it is not unusual for us to be helping a mum overnight.
The mother often has her own idea about where she wants to birth. This girl had decided under a table would work just fine!
Sometimes a mother dog will do all the work herself, at other times she needs a little help. Mother dogs are a lot calmer if they have someone they know and trust with them for the delivery.
Straight after the birth the mum is very protective of her puppies.
The first two weeks
This is an incredibly busy time when the puppies are very vulnerable. There is a more in depth look at this time on the Early Days page.
As well as helping Mum look after her puppies and keeping the whelping box clean, we also start early socialising, particularly with children
Mum is kept on a high quality puppy food throughout this time to ensure she is getting all her nutritional needs and the puppies develop well.
Growing Up
By about three weeks the puppies are starting to see and hear.
During the next few weeks the puppies start to play, eat solids and drink independently of their mother. They are growing very quickly: they go from being smller than a block of butter to about 5kg in 8 weeks, a ten times weight gain.
Before leaving us fo for their forever homes at 8 weeks, the puppies have their first trip to the vets where they get a checkup and have their first vaccinations. The puppies are also wormed regularly.
We are always a little sad to say goodbye to a litter, but it is lovely to see the puppies finding their forever homes, where they will be the special puppy.
This link to the American Kennel Club has some good videos about the labrador breed. (Videos play one after the other)
Northbrook Kennels 