The whelping room represents the production core of your breeding.facility.
In this respect, it must be subject to precautions and specific monitoring because it houses the most fragile dogs in the exploitation:-the mothers, which are particularly exposed to the risks of genital infection at the moment of the parturition and to the side effects of the lactation (eclampsia, weight loss, mastitis...) ;- the puppies, which are still immature at the immunological level and whose physical and behavioral development dictates precise and evolutionary standards.
The heart of the whelping room is composed of the parturition nest in which the puppies are kept until they are independent.
It is designed according to the mother's size and must:- help the grouping of the litter (impregnation, training, thermal regulation),- allow the mother to free herself easily between the feeds and to stretch without crushing its puppies (particularly in the big breeds and, among them, those considered as bad mothers),- maintain a temperature gradient where the mother and the puppies will be able to find the comfort which suits them.- be easily washable and disinfected (avoid untreated wood).
The design and maintenance of the parturition nest must allow you to quickly face the most frequent risks:- The regular monitoring of the progress in the parturition and the neo-natal period can be achieved without disturbing the sleep of the puppies thanks to a glass door or a port-hole, which avoids the installation of an expensive video system (more than 80% of the deaths in breeding occur during the first 2 weeks).- It is necessary to take care of the sealing of this room to allow, on the one hand, the reduction of the ventilation (a factor of contamination and thermal variation) and on the other hand, the final gaseous disinfection during the medical cleanings.- As the three most frequent factors of mortality of the puppies (hypothermia, dehydration and hypoglycemia) are often connected to one another (one inducing very quickly to the symptoms of the other), you will imperatively have to control the temperature at the puppies level (see table of the advised temperatures) and to check not only the weight, but also the rectal temperature of the weakened puppies.
For example, the canine herpes virus (CHV), to which whelping rooms currently pay a heavy tribute, only develops if the rectal temperature of the puppies goes below their birth temperature, i.e. 36°C. In the event of an epidemic in your breeding facility, it is necessary to maintain very high temperatures for the puppies in order to hinder the viral development. These precautions must be maintained as long as the risk persists (first 2 weeks), as long as the puppies have not acquired their own faculties of thermal regulation and especially if the mother has not transmitted protective antibodies to them through the colostrum (infection during the gestation).
At the puppies level, the control of the temperature is done through the installation of a plate or an impermeable, electric carpet (see picture) which heats the puppies more that the mother, surmounted by an auxiliary 250W infra-red lamp whose intensity will be controlled by a variator of tension (see picture).
However, a temperature in the whelping room that is too elevated (particularly during the first week) is likely to harm the lacteous production of the mother. That is why the mother should be allowed to withdraw from these conditions and remain outside of the heating cone between feeding.
In the event of the deterioration of a puppy suffering from hypothermia and suspected to have a herpes virus infection, it is useful to be able to take care of him inside a thermo stated incubator (incubator of the poultry farming type).
- Unless perfectly identified through bacterial insulation, the infectious risks should not be covered by a preventive antibiotic therapy as one sees too often in breeding. A rigorous hygiene of the buildings and personnel is preferable, as it is certainly more economic and less likely to select germs resistant to the usual antibiotics. A simple, proven technique consists of cleaning the whelping room with equipment and personnel assigned exclusively to this task to avoid any unnecessary disturbance of the mother and its litter during the first 2 weeks.
- From the 3rd week on, the puppies have reached a certain self-sufficiency and they have capacities of regulation which allow less draconian conditions, all the more so because they begin their period of socialization and require a stimulation of their sensory and motor functions (handling, play, exercise) which was previously often incompatible with a strict hygiene (see chapter on puppy development).
It will be equipped with specific tools and products for its exclusive use, selected in agreement with your veterinary. It must include at least :- a laxative (Sorbilax ND) or a purgative (liquid paraffin) for the mother before the parturition, in case of constipation,- an enema bag to pump out the mucus which is likely to obstruct the higher respiratory tracts of the newborn puppies (especially in the event of posterior presentation),- respiratory stimulants (Dopram ND or Respirot ND) via bones or injections in the event of apnea or anoxia at birth,- an antiseptic for the disinfection of the cords (Vetedine ND),- substitute mother's milk (Royal Canine A1) with feeding bottles in the event of the mother's lacteous insufficiency or if the litter is too large.- general equipment and drugs that the veterinary wishes to find on the spot (artery forceps, compresses and gloves, syringes, needles, catheters, dripping-machines, scalpel, gluconate of calcium, oxytocin ND, serums, antibiotics, solutions...).
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