With the help of wonderful mentors, we have put together the list of must haves and should haves for breeding and whelping.
Sections
6
Potty TIME!
Pre-Breeding
Breeding
Whelping
Puppy Care
Additional Resources
Potty TIME!
Potty pad that we used with 6 Irish Wolfhound puppies for potty training. We bought 2 of these and they worked very well from when they were just starting to potty through 12 weeks old when they went to their forever homes.
Dog Grass Large Patch Potty, 35"X22.6"
Pre-Breeding
Sterile cotton tipped applicators for vaginal cytology.
So many items are needed to be as prepared as possible for the big event. Here's some of what we have on hand for our upcoming litters.
THE go-to store for animal health products and hard to find breeder support products.
Revival Animal Health
Whelping
Time for delivery of those beautiful puppies.
With our litter, we made umbilical and ID collar kits for each expected puppy. Each had it's own set of hemostats, that way everything was sterile for every pup.
14 Assorted Kelly Locking HEMOSTAT Forceps 5.5"
The classic whelping collars in 15 colors! Very soft and has vibrant colors.
Uiuix 15 Colors Puppy ID Collars, 15 Pcs
These are the best for suctioning out newborns mouth and throat right after birth. Much better than suction bulbs!! Have several on hand at minimum for upcoming litters. Each arrives in sterile packaging.
Dogzymes Delee Style Suction Catheter for Pets
Keeping things sterile is important for newborn pups and mom and this is one recommendation we have for helping with that. All visitors should wear clothes that have not been around other dogs and shoes should be left outside. Hands should be washed...
Microban Travel Disinfectant Spray, Citrus, 4ct
Diarrhea is always shocking to deal with, especially with newborn or young puppies. Kaopectate used to be a go to medication until they removed Pectin, a key ingredient for helping diarrhea, was removed. ...
Durvet Kaolin-Pectin Antidiarrheal 32 oz
This is one of our go to wormers for our littlers of puppies as well as our adult dog, although doses vary.
Panacur C Canine Dewormer Dogs 1g (5 Pack)
Vet fleece is the gold standard whelping boxes. It wicks moisture away and keeps puppies warm as well as provides traction for developing puppies.
ProFleece VetBed
Perfect for keeping everything clean and that is vital for healthy puppies and mama. This is a concentrate, so it goes a long way.
Chlorhexidine 2% for Horses & Dogs, One Gallon
A bunch of cleaning clothes for faces and dirty bums. Use, wash, repeat.
AIDEA Microfiber Cleaning Cloths-50PK, 12×12
Important to have on hand to monitor both mom and puppies.
MDF Acoustica Stethoscope, Black, MDF747XPBO
Valuable for having on hand to check puppy positions and helping delivery when needed.
Surgilube Surgical Lubricant - 4.25oz, Pack of 3
Colostrum is mother's first milk and it transfers her immunities to her puppies but puppy's gut is only able to absorb it for approximately 24 hours. This can replace and supplement that vital mother's milk. It can literally save lives!
Fresh-Frozen Plasma | Hemopet
White towels for delivery are an essential for seeing all that is going on with mama and pups. Colors of discharge, blood and placental fluids can help you understand what is going on.
Amazon Basics 100% Cotton Hand Towels - 12 Pack
25g needle and a pressure point can help revive a puppy that is not breathing.
Acupuncture point used at Park Pets to revive puppies
Important for cleaning umbilical cord stumps.
Amazon Basics 10% Povidone Iodine, 4 oz, 1-Pack
Calcium is important to have on hand for a variety of reasons during and after whelping.
Breeder's Edge® Oral Cal Plus™ Gel, 30 ml
Puppy Care
Great for lining the whelping box under the VetMed cloth or wherever the puppies wander as they get bigger. Durable and stands up to the many, MANY loads of laundry you will be doing.
XL Washable Reusable Underpads 36"x54" [3 Pack]
Another great alternative to disposable puppy pads and perfect for lining the whelping box. These stand up to the many MANY washes you will put them through as well as sharp little puppy teeth.
GREEN LIFESTYLE Washable Underpads, 30x34, 6-Pack
Our go to bottles for raising newborn giant breed puppies. We did have to adjust the flow rate with a hot needle for our more vigorous nursers. We had to bottle feed 6 Irish Wolfhound puppies from day 3 and these were perfect. Check out our link for...
Comotomo Baby Bottle, Green, 8 oz (2 Count)
2 commercial formulas made our puppies very gassy and upset, so we went straight to this homemade formula. This formula raised 6 strong, smart and beautiful puppies, one who earned his Grand Champion title just shy of 16 months old. It is work to ma...
Myra Savant Harris puppy formula - Bing
Our naturopath veterinarian recommended this for the puppies upset stomachs but said to RUB it on their bellies/groin area and it worked really well for calming gassy pups.
Bach RESCUE REMEDY PET Dropper 20mL, Stress Relief
Good gut health starts when they are puppies. This was highly recommended to us by experienced mentors and we definitely recommend it as well.
Doc Roy's GI Synbiotics Gel for Dogs & Cats, 15 ml
Puppy nail care needs to start right after birth for the health and comfort of mom as well as to get the pups used to having their nails trimmed. Not trimming their nails can end up leading to Mastitis, a dangerous infection. These are easy for you...
Safety 1st Fold-Up Nail Clipper, 2-Count
NAIL POLISH?? WHAAAAT??? After the collars would not stay on wiggly fast-growing puppies, we went with a spot of nail polish to keep track of who is who. We chose this because it is safe for kids and nontoxic.
Townley Girl Disney Minnie Mouse Nail Polish Set
These are the baby vitamin drops that we added to our homemade puppy formula and we they all turmed out to be some smarty pants puppies!
SmartyPants Baby Multi&DHA Liquid Multivitamin
Puppies get gas just like infants and we kept a couple of bottles of this on hand to sooth gassy tummies.
Mylicon Gas Relief Drops for Infants, 0.5 oz
Puppy enrichment is a very important part of raising health confident pups. A ball pit is great fun and our pups really enjoyed theirs. 1 pack of these and a plastic kiddie pool and let the fun begin.
Click N' Play Plastic Balls for Ball Pit, 200, 1000 ct
X-pens are very helpful for containing puppies as well as keeping other pack members away from the whelping area.
Amazon Basics Octagonal Foldable Pet Play Pen
This is perfect for starting puppies on solid food and few puppies can resist it. Case of 24 cans.
ROYAL CANIN Size Health Nutrition Starter Mother & Babydog Mousse In Sauce Canned Dog Food, 5.1-oz, case of 24 - Chewy.com
A vital part for encouraging good gut health and helping with upset tummies.
Bene-Bac® Plus, 1 lb Powder
Additional Resources
Great breakdown of this program for building resilient puppies starting from the beginning.
Early Neurological Stimulation | Breeding Better Dogs