Scarlett had an X-ray from today (picture with red marked puppies) and Ultrasound today to check on the puppies. All 8 F1 Goldendoodles are healthy and VERY developed so the vet expects the puppies to come soon in the next few days!
Bailey is expecting 10 puppies at least from her Xray today (possibly more), but she has too many packed in to know for sure! Her puppies are seen above (picture with pink marked puppies).
All our puppies are born in our home. Since dogs have been domesticated, they don't always have a natural mothering instinct, so preparing for the puppies is involved! We will keep the moms in separate rooms. We sleep in the same room as the puppies for the first several weeks to keep and eye on the puppies and make sure they don't get rolled on my their mom or have any trouble eating. They eat every 2 hours like newborn babies do!
We hand deliver the puppies, clamp and cut the umbilical cords; tying them off with floss to prevent the mother shredding the cords or causing umbilical hernias by pulling the cords. Each puppy is dried off, identified with a color-coded collar and weighed. We weigh the puppies daily and for any smaller puppies (often called runts, we will weigh them twice a day). We do this so we can make sure they are eating and growing like they should.
Puppies are born blind and deaf. They find mom by smelling. Since their ears are still developing after they are born, having their ears sealed closed helps protect them from loud noise which can damage their ears. We keep the whelping areas dim and very warm. The puppies are sensitive to cold and have to be keep in rooms around 85 degrees. This is too warm for the moms to be comfortable, so we keep the mom's coats short and the room around 75-80 degrees and use heating pads to help the puppies stay warm. The puppies can easily loose fluids through their skin from dry air so they need humidified air which is why we use humidifiers in each room.
We are ready!