Our nursery
My kennel is small, I have't any special puppy rooms and puppies placed in our house near us,like home kennel.At
present moment I have three bitches that produce in my kennel.I believe,bitches  that are being considered for breeding should be up-to-date on vaccinations as well as negative for
internal parasites done prior to being bred.If I have bred my bitch with male and we expected pups, all things
should be ready for this.
After I have bred a bitch her life stays pretty much the same until she is about five weeks into her
pregnancy. She remains on a high quality maintenance diet and receives lots of exercise.If she is carrying a puppies, I switch her over to a puppy
or performance food after the fifth week. I also begin supplementing Canine Plus (Liver Flavored Multi-Vitamin/Mineral Supplement). I have never x-rayed my
bitches ahead of whelping.I have always used a wooden whelping box.During the actual birthing process I keep a thick amount of newspapers for the bitch to "dig" in and shred.
 As the babies are born I allow them to nurse until the bitch begins to deliver another puppy. Then I remove the
puppies that are with her and place them in a towel-lined box alongside the whelping box. I set this box on top of a heating pad set on low and
pull a towel over the top of the box to keep out drafts and cool air. After the bitch delivers the next puppy I put all of the puppies back with
her and let them nurse. The nursing stimulates further contractions and lets more milk down.Every few hours I take the bitch out into the yard to
let her relieve herself. I do not leave her unattended and I let her right back in with the puppies when she is finished.If she seems overly tired
I will give her some honey, orally, for an energy boost.
If I'm not sure that every puppy has been delivered, I will take the bitch to the vet for
an x-ray. I will also continue to take her temperature several times a day following the delivery to make sure that she is not developing an
infection. I do not routinely give antibiotics or clean out shots. Everything depends on the individual bitch and the situation.Before whelping I
place a layer of a material (thickness 5 cm) which keeps heat on the bottom of the whelping box. On top of that I place a piece of carpeting that fits snugly to
the sides of the box.
 On the very top I have a soft blanket that the puppies are able to get good traction on. The carpeting underneath
the blanket keeps it from sliding all around unless the bitch in inclined to dig up her bedding. I usually change the blanket every couple of
hours.At this age, the puppies should be either nursing or sleeping. I check to make sure that the nursing puppies are actually receiving milk.
Just because they are sucking does not mean that there is actually milk there. The puppies are checked several times a day to make sure that they
are hydrated. If I have a puppy that I want to monitor I will shave a little patch on it so that I can pick it out easily. I also do leave collars
on the puppies. I don't allow any of the other dogs near the puppy room. I want the mother to be relaxed and comfortable that she and her puppies
are safe.The puppy room is heated to between 21 and 24 degrees Celsius for the first three weeks. This serves several
purposes:
It encourages the mother to lay flat out giving easier access to the babies to nurse.
It leaves the mother a bit warm thereby encouraging her to drink more water and thus to produce more milk.
It keeps the puppies from becoming chilled.
 I have two whelping boxes.I like to start out with the smaller one as it keeps the puppies closer to the mother. If the litter is large I will
graduate to the larger box, if necessary.I begin to feed the puppies when they are 22 days old. I buy a canned food and mix it with goat's milk to form a
runny gruel. I've always felt that the canned food was better balanced than some of the recipes I have seen or heard others use. I feed them this
gruel every six hours and I allow them to continue nursing during the whole weaning process.When they are about 4 1/2 weeks I begin to add their
puppy food - Royal Canin Starter.
As the pups grow they gradually transition to just the softened puppy food
(around 5 1/2 weeks of age). The puppies have unlimited access to water after 4 weeks of age. I always use bottled water for drinking and to soften
their puppy food.The mother has generally tired of the whole puppy business by this time and pretty much weans herself from them on her own.Once they are weaned I move them into the holle where there is more noise and exposure to various people, television
and curious older dogs hanging their heads over the barrier into puppy (whelping) box. Puppies begin exploring the outdoors and by the time they are
about 7 weeks they go outside almost every  time to relieve themselves (unless it's raining). They have a multitude of toys, tunnels to crawl
through and a cube to crawl in and out of.We in Latvia so the weather is very cold for puppies in winter,but warm in May/September and very warm in
summer to play outdoors during the day.I worm puppies with liquid Pratel,beginning at three weeks of age and
then every 10-14 days after.I begin their vaccinations at six weeks, using a DHPP (distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza and parvo) shot. I repeat this vaccination in three weeks
+ Lepto and after at 12 weeks of age DHPPi + Lepto + R.
After the puppies have had their first vaccination, I recruit neighborhood kids and friends
of my son to come and play with them every day. The puppies that are still in my home at twelve weeks will start visits into town as often as I can
possibly take them. I can't emphasize how important early socialization is in a well rounded adult dog.By our LDC breeding rules puppies can go to
their new homes at six weeks(45 days) and bond with their new owners.But I like if my puppes go to heir new homes after seven weeks.
 We take care to try to select the right owners for each puppy and we try to remain in
constant contact with them. We enjoy their successes even more than if we owned these puppies themselves.I insist the new owners stay in touch with
me weekly. Now it's easy with e-mail. I want pictures and progress reports constantly. I want to know about anything that may go wrong or that will
be something I can help with, BEFORE it becomes a problem.I do keep lines of communication open so they can ask my advice and I'm more than happy
to give it.
I'm very honest with any new future owner who answers ALL my questions and sounds very good. We then continue
communicating before and while the pups are growing up.If I have any my famous gut feelings we simply don't proceed. So BEFORE you blame me for not
allowing my puppy to be placed with you, stop and think about the reasons WHY. If you get to know me over many months or maybe a couple years and
if you have done your homework and managed to gain my trust plus if you can afford to raise and train a good puppy and you are, above all, a
TRUSTWORTHY friend who will listen to the my advices, I'm sure you'll end up with a our puppy that will be a Star for you.:o)
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