Golden Retriever Giving Birth to 9 Puppies

My 4 year old Golden Retriever gives birth to 9 beautiful golden pups. 5 boys and 4 girls. This was Weeko's first and only litter. I do not recommend breeding dogs, I went through several months of preparation and accessed as much information as I could prior to breeding. I am NOT an expert, nor have I delivered many litters. If you have a dog that is pregnant, please do your research! Weeko delivered her puppies a week early. She seemed a little uncomfortable the week prior and I had read that a pregnant dog will drop its body temperature 1-3days prior to going into labor. There was a lot of varying information online about how many degrees of temperature she was supposed to drop so I just decided to start taking her temperature and writing down what the result was. I figured whatever temperature it showed consistently, anything below that would indicate she was ready to deliver. To my surprise, the first time I took her temperature it was lower than what I had read online, I just assumed it was her control temp and that my thermometer was just cheap. Turns out her temp was lower because she was ready for labor a whole week early. Avg dog body temp = 101-102 degrees F Avg dog body temp when going into labor = ~98 - 99 degrees F TIP: When taking a dog's temperature, it must be taken rectally (in the booty). Add a little Vaseline to the end of your thermometer, lift your pups tail, and insert it gently into their rectum about 1- 2 inches deep. It helps to praise your dog while doing this so they don't get too uncomfy, plus, you will probably do this twice a day as your delivery day gets closer. Write everything down! Get a journal or something to write in, you will use it a lot. The morning she went into labor, the sweet baby was waiting for me. I had been leaving her to sleep in her whelping box so she gets used to it, and the morning I came down to take her potty, she didn't get out of bed. I found it weird, but when I approached her for snuggles, she laid down and lifted her back legs to reveal she had a part of a placenta hanging out of her. I instantly went into "oh sh*t" mode and got all of the items I needed ready. The part of the placenta that was hanging out, was a little dry to the touch, I was afraid that the pup wouldn't make it. She was just waiting for me =[ Once I got in the whelping box with her, she immediately started delivering. The first puppy was very VERY quiet. I assumed the pup would make some noise but it was silent. I used a suction thing for human babies and tried to get any remaining fluid out of the pups throat or nose. Again, im not an expert at this but I had read it can help. I actually DON'T recommend everyone using these. Puppies are insanely fragile and you don't want to accidentally cause organ damage if you use too much suction or if you create a vacuum suction in the puppies throat. BE CAREFUL! TIPS: To help the puppy eliminate fluid from it's nose and throat, gently tilt the head of the pup down and support its head, then GENTLY shake the fluid out of the pups face with 1-3 shakes. Then put the puppy up to your ear and listen for soft quiet breathing. The pups are all exhausted btw, they just want to sleep and drink milk so a lot of the newborns wont wiggle as much as you would think. This is normal. Weeko has the cutest crooked front teeth, but this also didn't help with her biting off the placenta or umbilical cords. That is why I stepped in to help her break both at times. The cord is fairly fragile but soft enough to tear with your fingers. I recommend sterile scissors if you need to cut the umbilical. It is also ok if there is several inches of umbilical left over. It will naturally dry out and fall off on its own in due time. DON'T cut the umbilical too close either. MOST IMPORTANT TIPS: Newborn puppies CAN'T do 3 things: See, hear, or REGULATE THEIR OWN BODY TEMP for several days-weeks after being born. It is VITAL that you provide your litter with the proper and consistent warmth. Newborn puppies should be kept at 85-90 degrees consistently or their bodies won't be able to digest any milk and they will die. Get a thermometer for your whelping box and monitor the temp regularly. Additionally, a whelping box with a barrier is crucial. This helps prevent the mom from laying and crushing the pups. This also helps the pups who do get crushed have some wiggle room to escape under the barrier. Mom dogs arn't always as gentle as we would hope, so be attentive to where she steps. I used a baby monitor during the nights to listen for any puppy screaming in need of help or assistance. (yes it happened often) I didn't provide all of the information on what you will need, but please continue your research. There are some great websites out there with very detailed lists of needs and tips. All 9 puppies are 4yrs old now and easily over 85lbs haha Thank you for watching =] I do not own rights to the songs in the video