how much time and labor does one have to put into whelping a litter of Great Danes
Whelping and raising a litter of Great Danes is a highly time-consuming and labor-intensive process that requires significant physical work, constant monitoring, and specialized care.
Preparing the Whelping Area Because Great Danes are a giant breed, preparing a suitable and safe whelping environment requires physical labor:
• Building the Box: You must construct or modify a very large whelping box. One breeder notes their box needed to be extended to 8 feet long to accommodate normal-sized Dane litters. The walls must be at least 2 feet high to prevent the puppies from escaping.
• Waterproofing and Painting: To manage the inevitable mess of puppies stepping in their own feces, the whelping box must be painted or made with washable whiteboards. Preparing the room also involves laying down waterproof linoleum flooring and moving heavy rubber stall mats for cushioning.
• Climate Control: You will need to set up and manage heat lights or heat mats to keep the area warm for the newborns.
Pregnancy Monitoring and Isolation
• Strict Isolation: For the final three weeks of pregnancy and the first three weeks after birth, you must physically separate the mother and her puppies from all other dogs to prevent the transmission of the deadly canine herpesvirus. Strict sanitation and hand hygiene protocols must be implemented.
• Daily Temperature Checks: During the week before the mother is due, you must take her rectal temperature once or twice a day at the same time each day to monitor for the specific temperature drop that indicates labor is 12 to 24 hours away.
• Veterinary Visits: You will need to transport the dog to the vet for multiple check-ups, including ultrasounds and a crucial radiograph around day 50 to 60 to confirm the exact number of puppies.
The Labor Process The actual delivery requires hours of vigilant supervision:
• Duration: Great Danes usually have up to 10 puppies per litter, though they can have as many as 17 or 18. Because each puppy takes about 30 minutes to an hour to be delivered, you can expect to be monitoring active labor for many hours.
• Vigilance: You must carefully time the intervals between births. If more than two hours pass between puppies, or if the mother shows signs of distress or exhaustion, you must quickly intervene and contact a veterinarian.
• Reviving Puppies: If puppies are born not breathing, you may need to spend 15 to 20 minutes per puppy vigorously stimulating them, suctioning fluid from their airways, and administering oxygen.
Post-Whelping Care and Cleaning
• Constant Cleaning: Puppies will constantly track dirt and feces everywhere with their feet, requiring you to frequently wipe down the whelping boards, vacuum, and scrub the rubber mats and linoleum to maintain a hygienic environment.
• Managing Feeding Demands: A lactating Great Dane requires a massive amount of food (often two to eight times her normal caloric intake). You must closely monitor her weight and body condition while transitioning her feeding schedule. Once the puppies begin weaning, you will be responsible for preparing dry food and minced meat for the litter for up to 8 weeks.
• Handling Medical Complications: If the mother is unable to nurse, you will be responsible for the extremely time-consuming task of bottle-feeding puppy formula to the entire litter. Furthermore, if the mother develops mastitis, you will have to perform daily local therapy for 7 days, which includes manually stripping her milk with gloved hands, cleaning the glands, and applying hot compressions and ointments. You will also need to deworm the mother every 2 to 3 weeks while she is nursing, and administer worming treatments to the puppies at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of age.