Female Lab Questions

[koWALLEYEski]

I have a 11 month old Yellow Lab. She was in heat this Fall and 12 puppies. Is this uncommon for such a young pup? How will this affect her? We lost one puppy so far.

[LABS4ME]

Did you purposely breed her? If so why are you worried about it now? That should have been thought through prior to the breeding.

If not... I guess I wouldn't have an answer, it probably won't have to much effect on her, other than a loss of time in training. I wouldn't personally breed a dog till around 3 years old... but I want to make sure I have a sound trained dog, with hips, elbows and eyes cleared and her to be mature enough to be a good mom. Your dog in essence was "ready" to be bred due to her body allowing her to go into heat and have pups, but I equate that to a 14 year old girl getting pregnant and having a kid... bodies ready... but is the mind? Don't know.... I guess you'll have to watch and see what happpens.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Bushwacker]

Is the dam doing well? That would be my number 1 concern with such a young dog.

[koWALLEYEski]

Thats exactly it. She is out first priority right now. We are just trying to keep her healthy. We did not breed her. This is my first female dog. I didnt know she was in heat at the time and we let her out to go potty. She was gone for about six hours and then she started showing signs of pregnancy. Right now everything seems fine with her. She doesnt always want to be with her pups, but who would want to be with 12 crying pups all day.

[koWALLEYEski]

Ok, Running into more problems with nursing. My dog now has obtained lumps in her milk glands. Does anyone know what I can do for this?

[BLACKJACK]

Lumps in the udder or lumps when you squeeze milk out, like mastitis? If its mastitis, a trip to the vet is in order, quick. Lumps inside the udder shouldn't be a problem.

When the puppies are done nursing, do they seem content? Or are they still hungry?

Make sure you give the female all she can eat of a good quality dog food. I'd recommend puppy chow. Shes nursing a lot of pups. When the pups get older and start checking out her dogfood, moisten some of it in a small dish, get them to eat some as soon as possible.

How old are these pups? Have you thought of taking 4-6 of them behind the garage and wacking them? Better to have 6 healthy puppies vrs 12 runty, unhealthy pups. Remember, these are mutt puppies, not purebreds, you'll be lucky if you can give them away. Sorry to talk so frank, but you let your dog get into this mess, you need to help her out. Wack a few of them. Consider what you're going to do when they're 12 weeks old and you can't get rid of them, its impossible to wack a pup at that age.

Lastly, talk to your vet, the pups should have one round of shots before you give them away at 6-7 weeks.

[koWALLEYEski]

We have gotten rid of some. And we have ppl lined up for the rest. Yes it is mastitis or whatever and the puppies look pure bred. (we have an older black lab, that may have gotten her) But shes on antibiotics and such but now one of the hard balls burst. There is like a quarter sized hole where it ripped. The vet said theres nothing you can do about this???? That it is better if it bursts? Anyone with info or past experience?

[Griff guy]

What antibiotic is she on. Amoxicillin?

You can use warm compresses to pull out the infection of the open area. Its better to have it drain.

Also massage the lumps to maintain circulation and keep other sections from flaring up. Check the milk in the other hard spots and if it looks ok try to get pups to nurse and keep it loose. Buffered asprin can be used if your female has a temp but call your vet first.

Also ask your vet if you can use a cortisone like Dexemthasone. It reduces inflamation in the udder and makes them feel better.

Griff guy

[koWALLEYEski]

Thanks! All the info is great and she seems to be in no pain. The sore looks like it is draining well. I havent seen any fluid coming out. We still have her on meds. I belive it is called Cephalexin. When I was in high school i broke my leg and we have been using some of the bandages and stuff so. Thanks again!