Dolly and pups doing well and praise when its due for the KC

Twenty four hours after the birth and Dolly's pups all seem to be well and thriving. Dolly is in her element and taking having another bumper litter in her stride. We have one small black girl weighing in at five and a half ounces. She had a warm up session after birth in my bra, as if a puppy seems cold the best place to warm them is next to your body heat and once heated up then give them a bottle feed to get them going. Once they start to warm up they will start to nuzzle and want to feed. When a pup gets cold (hypothermic) the temptation is to try and feed them but they need to be warmed up first, as when cold their stomach stops digesting and you stand the big chance of forcing milk down on their lungs than into the stomach.
This little black girl was the fifth to be born and although we have the whelping box warm, about an hour after her being bornI thought she did not feel very warm and took the actions to warm her up and then give her a bottle feed. Its amazing how a seemingly lifeless pup with the care given in the right order, an hour later you would not know any thing was wrong with them. Hypothermia is one of the biggest causes of puppy mortality in the first few days and if mum is not panting when in with her pups your pups are not warm enough. Unfortunately for the first week or so mum will have to be a little warm when nursing her pups.
The last pup born last night the golden boy had pooped in his bag on the way out, which was nice for me as I sucked the fluids from his mouth and nose. It might sound digusting but I find the best method for clearing fluids from a pups nose and air ways is by placing my mouth over their nose and mouth and sucking and if puppy seems to be struggling to start breathing when resuscitating to suck in a mouth full of air and blow instead.  This little boy or should I say big boy, as he is the biggest pup born at eight ounces was a bit snuffly but seems okay today, as would be looking for signs of inhalant pneumonia which is another common cause of puppy mortality and having pooped in his bag, there could be a chance that if he inhaled any particles on his lungs this could cause pneumonia. Blondie as I'm going to call him for now, as more blonde than golden seems well and no sound of any snuffles, so hopefully he's going to be just fine.
Photo's below are of the pups around twenty four hours old. I managed to get a few hours sleep last night, not to much squeaking, so Dolly keeping her pups pretty content but its my full weekend on milking (hence saying yesterday that I would catch up with every one in person from Monday), so was up and out at 5am, which was good to get up and check all okay and all pups sucking okay. Milking is only 3 hours each end of the day, so fits in with every thing else.
Dolly is a pretty amazing Cavalier and this is her last litter. She is six years old in August and to give birth to eight pups with no problems is a testament to her health and fertility. Having been around breeding animals all the life I've lived so far, I would pretty much say, "If an animal has good fertility it tends to have more often than not very good health, the two invariably run hand in glove."  In dog breeding unfortunately  fertility has been over looked as an important factor when breeding much to the peril of many dog breeds.
Now I must not get started tonight on the ills of dog breeding and instead let you know a  positive about the Kennel Club, although at times they annoy the hell out of me I must give praise when its due and for the Kennel Club it is that they now on their website publish all health test results done on health schemes thay have for pure breeds, so you if you have the registered names of the parents and they are pure breeds registered with the Kennel Club you can go on their website and go through to mateselect and put in their name and any health tests through Kennel Club schemes, the results will be on there and tests of siblings, parents and grand parents. This is a real break through, as you can also check up on the breeder if they might not be giving you full disclosure, as some have in the past done health tests and the dog did not pass or had a poor grade and rather than disclose this to people using a stud dog or buying a puppy, either did not mentioned the dog had been tested or said the dog had not had the test. So if you do a health test with a Kennel Club scheme the result  is now  available to all. This has been long in coming but that is only because of breed clubs stalling it but its here now and can only be a big step forward in helping breeders that seriously are trying to improve health in their respective breed and for people trying to purchase a healthy puppy.
Another article I have recently been sent by the Kennel Club is the Draft Dangerous Dog (Amendment) Bill. Any one who owns a dog should take a look at this, as it concerns what control you should have of your dog when a person enters your property and home.  Link below.

KC Dog and Dog Law

Kennel Club welcomes EFRA committee report on effective dog control regulation - 16-May

The Kennel Club has welcomed the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee’s report on the Draft Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Bill, which was published today (16 May). The report highlights many of the recommendations made by the Kennel ...http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/4904

That  blog was a bit longer than anticipated, time for a bit of puppy watching.