Litter August 6, 1998
On August 6 Spottie got her first litter. What happened during the delivery and the development of the puppies can be seen on these pages.
The way to the delivery
Spot mated Blue ("Home of Boycaras Trueblue") on June the 6th. After 28 days an echoscopic picture revealed at least four pups. This was confirmed a the 42nd day when four pups could be seen on screen at the same time. The real number of pups is hard to determine as we found out later.
Temperature and the moment of delivery
During the weeks prior to the delivery Spot's body temperature was regularly measured. After the first of August even three times a day (Spot liked it in a way; she got a cookie every time we finished).
This chart demonstrates that shortly before the delivery the body temperature drops dramatically. Generally speaking the bitch will give birth within 24 hours of the temperature drop. The last temperature measurement happened two hours before the actual delivery.
The delivery
At 18:06 the moment was there, the first pup was born. A black and white bitch saw the light and was cleaned immediately by her mother. The rest followed shortly after:
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| Time | Gender | Weight | Colour |
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| 18:06 | bitch | 275 | black&white |
| 18:28 | dog | 275 | blue merle |
| 19:15 | dog | 270 | blue merle |
| 19:37 | bitch | 270 | blue merle |
| 19:46 | bitch | 210 | black&white |
| 20:42 | dog | 270 | blue merle |
| 21:14 | dog | 330 | black&white |
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After the fifth pup we thought the party was over. The first telephone call was made and we were surprised with more pups. Two little creatures followed and that was really it.
During the entire delivery no help was needed. We only helped one pup as a precaution to remove the membranes; the pup was born before the water broke and Spot started to remove the membranes at the back end of the pup. The pup's head was still covered, so we freed its head with one finger and let mum take care of the rest. Most likely this was not even a necessary action, but you don't want to take any chances.
What follows
Copyright © 1998-2013 Jigal van Hemert & Danielle Boshouwers
URL: http://www.bordercollies.nl/litter/enest.shtml
This page last modified: Friday, 01-Aug-2008 17:16:18 CEST
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