Pregnant Due to whelp the 5th of Oct

[Iluvmydogs13]

Hi I am new here. My girl is due to whelp the 5th of October! I have a few questions, First is I want to get my whelping kit together this week and i wanted to know what to put in it? If anyone can give some suggestions that would be great! My girl is not huge with pregnancy but she is much bigger than she was before pregnancy, I was just wondering if that would mean she doesn't have too many in there? She has an appt. for an x-ray the 28th of this month, they will be taking two shots so try to get an accurate head count but i was just wondering if the size of the bitch from pregnancy can tell you if shes having more or less(if that makes sense). I also wanted to ask the people that have experience how often do bitches whelp early? I know that your suppose to take temp a few days to a week before they are due to whelp but i was wondering what are some signs I should look for in case she does start whelping early? She does a lot of sleeping and laying around than anything else anymore.
Thanks for any info you can share with me!

[Lauri & The Gang]

Some bitches can carry pups up high so you don't really 'see' them from the outside. She could have one - she could have 10. The xray is the ONLY way to know for sure!

Do you have a whelping box ready yet? That would be the first step.

Do you have a vet that will help 24/7 if something goes wrong? If not, you need to know the phone number and route to the nearest emergency vet.

How many times was she bred? Are you saying October 5th is the due date from the first breeding or last one?

I would start taking her temp at LEAST 3-4 days prior to her whelping date. That way you will know what her 'normal' pattern is. Then when her temp drops and stays down you will know it's time.

[Iluvmydogs13]

My husband built our girl a really nice whelping box already! She will be getting some x-rays but I was just curious about the size. Yes! we have a vet the vet we go to is an E-vet and their clinic is after hours, so we are good there! She was bred twice, I was told to calculate the due date is count from the first day she was bred. She was bred the 6th of August so I counted 61 days from that but I know that bitches can have pups anywhere from the 56th to the 65th day. I did plan on starting to take temps a few days before whelp! Thanks so much!!

[Lauri & The Gang]

63 days is the norm so that would be around October 8th. I would start taking her temp around October 3rd or so.

Is this your first litter? Do you have someone (the breeder) around that can help you if you need it?

[Iluvmydogs13]

Ok great! I thought it might be 63 days but wasn't sure so i counted 61 days. Yes, its my first litter and I do have some support! This is what i was rec. to get for my whelping kit http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/whelpingkit.htm if there is anything we missed please let me know!

[Iluvmydogs13]

Wouldn't it actually be the 7th? I gave myself a window from the 5th to the 7th.

[triordan]

not sure if its on your list but we went through a lot of club soda, our first GSD didnt have any of the pups in the whelping box, a couple in the bedroom, a few more in the living room, even one in the bathroom! club soda helped to clean the carpet!!

[WiscTiger]

dresden, I thought my friend's Weim was the only one who walked around and dropped puppies. She wanted to be moving, luckly my friend has tile on the first floor.

Val

[Iluvmydogs13]

Thanks Dresden, I will put that on my list to get this week. I want to thank everyone again. When I get the x-rays done I will update. If anyone else has some suggestions please feel free to let me know, I want to be prepared as best as I can be- I want everything lined up just in case I run into a problem!

Thanks

[Doubleminttwin]

I hear its really really good for the puppies if you put tons of pics online Just what Ive heard hehe Sorry I can't be more helpful just wanted to say hello and hope everything goes well!

EDIT: This theory applies to the mom as well lol