Caring For Newborn Puppies

Series Summary

Dogs can bring an infinite amount of joy and companionship into our lives. Coming home to a wagging tail and an eager smile creates a feeling love and happiness and can make anyone feel needed as part of an intimate family. In fact, studies have show that having a pet can reduce stress, lower blood pressure and relieve depression. Whether your favorite activity to share with your puppy is a long walk in the park or just watching television on the couch together, it's important to show your dog just as much love as they show you. In this free video series on puppy and dog care, a licensed dog trainer explains how to care for puppies. Learn how to care for a newborn puppy, how to name a puppy and how to potty train a puppy. Get tips on picking a veterinarian and find out how to crate train a dog. Introduce a dog to a cat and learn when it is okay to give a puppy a bath, all with help from these free videos.

Video Transcript

"Let's talk about caring for newborn puppies. First of all, it would be a really good thing if your dog is pregnant to work closely with a veterinarian to make sure you know what to expect and how to prepare for the birth of the puppies. And once the puppies are born, the mother usually does an extremely good job of taking care of them. And you want to make sure that the mother does clean them off when they're first born, that they're able to get to the teets to nurse, and that the mother is licking their genital area. Puppies are born with an inability to go to the bathroom on their own. And if the mother doesn't stimulate that response by cleaning that area, then you have to do so with a warm, wet cloth. You want to make sure to prepare an area for the mother to birth the puppies, that is filled with clean material that's easy to replace, like sheets or newspaper, I think, is sometimes used, which you definitely want to check up on the current trends with this. But that would be called a whelping box. And then you want to make sure it's big enough, but not too big so that it encompasses the mother on her side easily so she can nurse and the puppies. But initially, they don't need a lot of extra room. A more small space will be better at keeping in body heat and keeping the puppies warm. So those are just a couple of things to keep an eye out for. Again, I strongly recommend that you work with somebody very experienced in this or with a veterinarian."