In Over our Head

K

karimrhs

New Member
Owned by
1 cocker
Hello

My name is Kari. My husband and I have 2 daughters ages 4 & 3. We have been patiently waiting for a dog that would fit our family for a couple years. Last weekend we found one.

Pearl was living with a family for a month before they decided they couldn't give her enough attention. The woman told me Pearl is 6 years old and a retired breeding dog. She said she found her when she went with a friend to the breeder to get a puppy. The woman thought Pearl's living conditions were not good and ended up taking her home. Then their lives got busier. I was immediately in love when I met her. My husband also liked her and Pearl wasn't bothered by my girls at all.

The woman warned me that Pearl was starting her heat cycle, she was overweight, her teeth were bad and she had no papers. All of which were minor obstacles to me. We were not paying any fees to bring her home with us. The first night went great. She peed outside, slept well and made no noise. My husband took Pearl to the vet the next day to get her shots up to date and schedule her surgery for spay. Turns out Pearl's not overweight OR in heat....she's pregnant. This was 5 days ago.

We believe we've made Pearl as comfortable as possible, spoke with an experienced....are they called whelpers?, built a whelping box, found some folks interested in puppies and prepared the kids for what's to come. Of course we're quite clueless ourselves since we've never experienced this either.

I think Pearl's in labor right now. She was nuts last night, didn't sleep, pooped all over the house, howled and whined a lot, hid under a bed. Today she hasn't eaten or drank anything, she's panting and shaking, sleeping on and off, scratching at her blankets and anything else that happens to be nearby.

That's our story. If you have any words of encouragement or advice for us we would be grateful if you could share them with us. We didn't expect an easy transition when we committed to bringing home a dog...but this is quite a bit more than we bargained for.

Thank you,

Kari
 
I would be too! I don't know how this would be handled. I would consider taking her to a vet and let them handle it. Give them a call at least and see what they say.
 
Hi Kari Welcome to MCS...
Like Manuel says, I would take her to the vet. I would be scared to death because I have never experieced a dog giving birth. Good luck to you and let us know how everything goes.
 
Sounds like she's nesting,

any word on how she's doing? Did you take her to vet?

We have some experienced breeders here, but that won't help you right now.

I hope all is ok
 
Oh my...definitely got your hands full. I have no advice to offer unfortunately but I hope all goes well.
 
It does sound like she's nesting. Take her rectal temp and if it's below 100 degrees it'll be within 24 hours. By the whelp box have some towels, either some string or hemostats to tie off the cords with along with some scissors in case momma doesn't chew off the cords. She will also eat the placentas after each pup both for energy and to help speed along the birth process. You may have to dry some of the pups with the towels that asre on standby and if they're not breathing vigorously rub them to get them to. She may try to 'cover up' the first few pups but instead try to get them to suckle to also speed along the birthing. she's probably an experienced momma so you may not have to even do anything. I would keep your children at a distance as some momma dogs are protective. If you think something is wrong at all don't hesitate to call your vet. Good luck!!!
 
Thanks everyone! The vet was the one who told us there'd be puppies. I sure wish I would have found this forum before today!

Pearl's water broke at 4:15. It's 5:40 and still no puppies...

Her tail's wagging, and she doesn't appear to be in distress. But she does seem to want to leave her whelping box. Good heavens...we had nowhere else to go with this as it's so cold outside and our garage is not heated, so she's in our dining room (floor is protected). She has a couple blankets, a rug (for traction on the plastic) and newspapers (which she seems to love shredding right now).
 
Oh dear, she hadn't had a puppy for over an hour when you noticed her water broke? I sure hope you checked the box to make sure it wasn't buried in there and/or you called your vet as a pup may have been stuck. Water breaks soon before a pup is about to be born. Hopefully something good is happening (birth). Let us know what you get.
 
Pearl's pups are coming slow. I spoke with a vet and while we were talking #1 came. #2 came about 2 hours after that. She's contracting pretty good with #3 now and it's been 3 hours since #2. This is so nerve racking (sp?).

Pearl was up all last night and barely slept today. I feel like she's simply exhausted. That combined with her new home and new strangers (us), she seems to be holding back.

The 2 puppies are snuggled under her ears, I think they nursed because they stopped crying, but they're still squirming around.

Those 2 little puppies are so cute! 1 is black like Pearl and the other looks like chocolate.

I wish she could listen to me "coaching" her. I wish I could make her more at ease and relaxed. There's nothing like diving in to pet-ownership like this.
 
Congratulations! That was a small litter. I would take her for a checkup and make sure everything is okay.
 
Wow.... talk about being thrown into the fire.... in the middle of the night no less. But congratulations! Glad it went well. :)
 
Congratulations! Now on day three you go and get tails docked and dewclaws removed IF that's what you want to do. My vet charges $5 per pup to do that. Also be sure to take mom in too to make sure she is ok and expelled all the placentas. If you don't believe in that you can leave them natural. Do you think they are actual cockers or mixed breeds? Especially since the people you got her from didn't know she was prego.
 
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Wow, new dog and now new puppies. What a handful, but its nice to know she now has a new home and her puppies will get safe new homes. Will you keep one of the pups?
 
We took Pearl to the vet this morning. There was one that wouldn't come out. The vet gave her some oxitocin (sp?) to help her move it down. It didn't survive.

Pearl is doing well. She seems exhausted but relaxed. The vet thinks she's probably 10 years old, not 6.

The puppies look purebred, but I am far from an expert! I'll post a picture when I get a good one.

The little one is brown and male ~ the kids named him Simba. The big one is black and female ~ the kids named her Allie. We plan to keep Allie.

When can I give Pearl a bath?
 
Anytime you can give her a bath just be sure she's completely dry before putting her back with her brood. Try not to keep her away from feeding them more than an hour or so though as they need her. Sorry one didn't make it, but that happens sometimes especially when Momma's older and you're right, sometimes they do hold them in when they're stressed and unsure of things. I'm glad you already took Pearl to the vet as that could have killed her. I have a black/tan girl named Allee. If it were my litter I'd be tempted to keep the brown boy as I'm partial to that color ;). You might try contacting the past owners and tell them of your surprise and maybe ask them if they think they may be purebred. It will be hard for you to tell with them this young. She would have been bred between 60-65 days ago as a pregnancy lasts average of 62-63 days.
 
Sorry for your loss. You should be able to bath Pearl anytime. That is if she's up to it otherwise you could give her a clean up with a warm washcloth and dry her off.
 
The little puppy died early this morning. Pearl was very sad, as were we. She wouldn't let me out of her sight after that. I really had to work with her to pay attention to her last baby. Pearl started coming around at about 10 this morning. She ate, drank, nursed, and snuggled Allie (puppy).

I had to get to work this afternoon so my grandma is sitting with her now. Grandma said Pearl started panting a lot so she contacted the vet (a different one than we had previously seen.). They want to see her today. Her appointment is at 4:30.

This has been such an emotional nightmare. My kids were very sad this morning when we told them about the little puppy. My husband and I feel aweful. We feel so sad for Pearl. We feel like we did something wrong. We're exhausted.

Thank goodness my grandma came over. She'll be coming with us to the vet. She knows what questions to ask. She has offered to pay today's vet bill. Grandma is very mad that the breeder let Pearl go. She thinks the breeder knew Pearl was pregnant and that the litter would probably not be good. Do people really do this?...send sick dogs to unsuspecting families?? It feels so, so cruel!
 
I'm so sorry your puppy passed away. I hope Pearl and Allie will be okay. Sending you and your family cocker prayers. :prayer:
 
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