Whelping Puppies: Meet Mommy & Daddy

If you are even half as in love with your dogs as I am, you know just how scary it is to find out your dog is pregnant. This is my story about caring for my dogs and helping with the delivery of puppies.

Disclaimer: I have such a great love for my dogs but I wouldn't do it again if the opportunity presented itself. There are so many deserving dogs in shelters all over whom desperately need homes. I wouldn't be irresponsible and bring new lives into this world. I was lucky to find amazing homes for the puppies I could not keep. I knew the families well and had references on file, backup re-homing plans, and adoption agreements. This may sound extreme but I was not about to allow these innocent creatures to end up somewhere I wasn't comfortable with.

Photos from the day I got Mr. Tucker Luigi

We adopted Tucker July 4th of 2012. He was born April 22, 2012 and was the perfect puppy age when he came into our home. He is a papered Yorkshire Terrier. I did not initially have him neutered, thinking that maybe someday I could stud him out for pick of the litter. I am a huge animal lover and every ASPCA commercial rips my heart out and makes me want to drive 200 mph to the nearest shelter. 

While I was in cosmetology school, one of my instructors decided to re home her Maltese/Yorkie/Mini Sheepdog female. They had recently gotten a new puppy and unfortunately their old dog had lost all her dazzle. It made my heart ache and I was chomping at the bit to get her and bring her home. With some convincing I got my husbands blessing and brought her home. We added Hallie to our family on 5.14.13. 

When I came into the house to get her, she was locked up in a crate. Her hair was matted, dirty, and long. She handed her to me and that was it. Zero belongings. She was 3 years old at the time, and you would think she would at least come with a ratty old toy or something. Well I was anxious to get this Lil lady home, clean her up, and give her a happy home.

The two lil' monsters, eager for a treat. This was right after bathing & grooming Hallie.

She is such a happy girl and loved giving affection. Her and Tucker were instantly the best of friends. I couldn't have been more thrilled by how well they got along.

After only 2 weeks of having Hallie, we were surprised to find her in heat. I hadn't even realized she wasn't fixed. We purchased diapers for both dogs, hoping this would prevent anything happening until her heat passed and we could get her fixed. We supervised all potty breaks, and we also crate train our dogs to prevent anything happening while we were away to work.

We gradually crate trained our dogs. In the wild dogs are pack animals and like small, cozy dwellings. (think of it as a pre-teen loving their bedroom) Crate training is a process and you have to be committed in order to avoid having anxious dogs that feel trapped.

Unfortunately the tying of dogs only takes a few seconds to happen, and it happened right after coming in from a potty break. Tucker had "marked" in his diaper/belly band, I was going for a fresh liner. Hallie was in her diaper, somewhat... 8( 

Hallie screamed bloody murder and I wasn't quite sure what was going on until I got close.

  (They were bum to bum, so it doesn't look like anything naughty is going on unless you know better)

I held them still, knowing that if she moved to much she would probably hurt Tucker. I also wanted to provide some comfort for both of them, assuming they had no clue what was going on and were quite scared. When dogs mate, they become locked together to ensure the "deed" is done. You are pretty much guaranteed you're going to get puppies. So I began my research.