The main thing is to be prepared! Have all your supplies ready before the big day arrives, preferably no less than one week prior to the due date. Formerly dogs whelped just wherever, in the barn, under the porch. Today's breeder, however, has a real vested interest in their pregnant shih tzu, one of time, money, energy and emotional investment. Breeding shih tzu is a big, big job and full of labor. If you are passionate about breeding shih tzu, however, it all boils down to labors of love!

Care involves meeting nutritional and emotional support and detailed attention to the environment you provide during whelping and later. Not only is the whelping place of utmost importance to the physical and emotional well-being of your shih tzu, but also the "layette" you assemble to assist in the whelping and care of the puppies is of equal importance.

The whelping box is by far the largest and most obvious piece of equipment you must have. Cardboard boxes just won't do. There are manufactured whelping boxes you can purchase. You "can" use plastic storage bins (these are very easily cleaned). I like using a wood box the size of a child's toy box. I have mine special made to a specific size for each of my shih tzu. I have mine painted with a durable paint I can disenfect easily. I like to put some colorful decales of some sort for decoration on outside the box. I have mostly pastel colors like baby blue, baby yellow, baby pink. The wood boxes are warmer in my opinion. I use regular heating pads in the boxes under the babies for extra warmth. These boxes can also be used as sleeping boxes of which most of my shih tzu adore. They can be made very cozy with soft blankets and homemade quilts, which my shih tzu also adore. The box should only be big enough for the mother to fully stretch out in. Bigger is not better. Most of my boxes measure outside 21 inches wide and 31 inches long. Inside the box is 18 inches wide and 29 inches long. I have a trim on the bottom that is 22 inches wide and 32 inches long. Whatever whelping box you use should be sturdy and should not rock, should allow the mother to climb in and out easily. A solution of Clorox bleach and water is a good disinfectant to use on the whelping box daily.

The whelping box should be ready for occupancy about two weeks prior to the litter's due date. Show the mother her box as her personal territory. Encourage her to sleep in it before delivery. Let her get use to getting in and out of the box. A shih tzu unacustomed to her whelping box may refuse to use it. She may try to carry her babies off somewhere else. Exterior doors to the whelping box area should remain closed for the mother and puppies privacy. The environment should be draft-free and kept a consistent temperature.

The area you make for whelping should be large enough for the box, her food and water and a place to occasionally rest away from her puppies.

Be prepared to give up a portion of your home for no less than three weeks. My moms and puppies have a permanent spot reserved especially for them until delivery of the puppies. Ideally, do not move the mother and puppies from the area where puppies are whelped. Once puppies are able to try and climb out of the box, they can be moved along with mother to another location if you desire.

Expect your life to be disrupted when you and your shih tzu mother are raising a litter. Most puppies arrive at odd hours, seldom during the day, most often in the middle of the night. You need to be present for each whelping, but especially for the whelping of a first time mom. Without you, mom may become confused or excited and scatter or neglect some of the puppies.

You will need a separate puppy box. Small vinyl shoe boxes work well for this. Have it lined with a heating pad and a soft, flannel baby blanket. After the mother has whelped her second puppy, remove the first and place in the puppy box. Sometimes this is hard to do. Shih Tzu mothers are very possessive of their babies. It is important to warm up newborn puppies as soon as possible and the mother's whelping box will most likely be cold and full of whelping fluids. It is more important now to get the babies as warm as possible. You can place another baby receiving blanket over the puppy box to make an incubator-type atmosphere and hold in the heat. If puppies settle down and do not cry, the temperature is just right. There will be plenty of time for them to be with mom after all puppies are whelped. If time in between puppies seems to be long, you can place the puppies back with mom to nurse if they will. This helps stimulate the labor pains of the mother and to deliver the next puppies. If puppies refuse to nurse, place them back in the warming box. Change the whelping box blankets or towels after the 3rd puppy is whelped. Mom will need the smell of her newly whelped puppies to wake up her instincts to continue deliveries, cutting cords and tending to her offspring.

The heating pads should be square or slightly rectangular, be waterproof, have a protective cover and be free of any strings or ribbons. Heating pads ust have a variety of temperature settings and an automatic turn-off switch for safety. Have this puppy box warmed and ready to receive the newborns. As mentioned before if puppies are sleeping quietly, the temperature is just right. If the puppies move about crying, they are either too hot or too cold. If the puppies are bobbing their heads and crying, they are hungry. Attempt to place them on the mother to nurse. As soon as all puppies are whelped, place clean linens in the whelping box and all the puppies back with mom to nurse. Place the heating pad in the box with mom and puppies.

You may also need the following items: sterile hemostats or sterilized blunt-end scissors, heavy sterile silk sewing thread, dental floss or heavy sterile silk sutures, petroleum or lubricating jelly, several pairs of sterile surgical gloves, a rubber pediatric bulb syring, surgical antiseptic scrub for your hands. Ink pen and paper.

The well-equipped "doggie midwife" will also have on hand a tube feeder and syringe, and some puppy milk replacer.

Please rate this article.