Can I bathe my newly born bitch?
Has your dog just had puppies and you do not know if you can wash it or not? It is usual, especially if it is the first time you are in this situation, that you have many doubts about the care of the new mom and the newcomers. Also, if the birth has taken place at home it is not strange that you want to pick up and clean the nest a little and you want to clean your dog.
So it's normal for you to ask , can I bathe my fresh-born bitch? and, for this reason, in this article we are going to give you the answer and explain some more things that you will have to take into account to take good care of your pet in this special moment.
Characteristics of a newly born bitch
After helping our dog to give birth, it is normal that she is completely exhausted and does not want to move from the nest, or have an appetite. You will realize that you only wake up a little to care for and watch the newborns and that the rest of the hours will try to sleep the maximum . That is why we advise you to bring a bowl of water to drink a little every half hour or hour.
Generally, this extreme exhaustion due to the physical and mental effort and the stress of the whole process, lasts about 48 hours and little by little your pet will find itself better and more active, but this recovery can take even a week. In any case, she will not be able to move from the area where she has given birth and she has her little ones as these, during the first days, will be most of the day sucking .
We recommend that you give a lot of love and help her with everything possible during the first two weeks after delivery, help her eat and drink and clean everything you can around her. The towels or blankets are very dirty change them, but try to leave them the maximum of hours in a row since the smell of the mother and the puppies will be present in them and thus it is easier for the little ones to get used to their smell.
According to the character of the female and if she has already gone through this process more times or not, she may be allowed to approach you and handle the little ones within a few days or hours, but there are dogs that do not easily allow this contact. If the latter is the case of yours respect it, do not cause stress, and leave your space until little by little you get used to getting closer.
Is it bad to bathe my bitch after giving birth?
If what worries you the most in these moments is that your dog smells bad and dirty you'll ask yourself " can I bathe my dog after delivery? " The answer to this doubt is that we DO NOT advise you to bathe your newborn bitch for various reasons.
As we have said before, you can not separate from your puppies in several days, besides the natural smell of it is what children should perceive to be calm and begin to develop without problems and identify where they are safe and where they have food. Also, if you separate her shortly after having given birth it can happen that she is left bewildered and that, also if you have been touching or washing the children without her present, you can refuse them by not recognizing them. In short, if you bathe her at this important moment, you would only add more stress to her situation and several problems could arise.
How to bathe a newborn bitch correctly
However, as is understandable, hygiene should be maintained to prevent health problems or illnesses from arising, so it is best to use wet cotton cloths with lukewarm water and without soap to remove the dirt as much as possible. In fact, this is likely to help her feel better by being cleaner and cared for. It is important not to use any shampoo or soap since we can not rinse it well yet and since the puppies suck and are on top of you all day you run the risk of accidentally ingesting this product and becoming bad.
In addition, both the puppies and the mother will continue to dirty the nest for several days as the little ones will make their depositions right there and the dog will continue to have vaginal discharges until a little over a week after giving birth.
You can bathe your pet when they have spent 2 or 3 whole weeks, since the dogs can spend a while without it and this will be more rested. Of course, you should dry it perfectly and brush it before letting it come back with the little ones, but you can not put perfumes or deodorants of any kind, even if they are for dogs, since this is not good for such small puppies.
Avoid damage to your dog's breasts
There are other care more important than the bathroom at this time in the life of your pet. For example, it is vital that you do not suffer damage to your breasts, both for your health and for the health of the newborns who spend the day sucking. For this reason, we must ensure that they do not always use the same nipples, we must change them from time to time so that the one they usually use to feed can rest, produce more milk and thus not get to hurt our dog.
In addition, we must ensure that they are clean, washing them from time to time with a cloth and warm water, so that the puppies do not suffer any problems but especially so that the mother does not get to develop a mastitis in which inflammation and infection occurs of some of the breasts. This condition in addition to putting at risk the health of your pet and their offspring, is very painful so you should go to the veterinarian if you suspect that you have it.
Likewise, when the little ones start to have teeth they can damage the mother's nipples, so it is important to begin to accustom them to eating feed and weaning them, that is, to stop them from suckling to eat special food for puppies. This way, if you see that they produce wounds on your dog's nipples and that she does not move them away, you'd better do it for her and heal her possible scratches to avoid complications.
Feeding your dog after delivery
Now that you know you should not bathe your dog after the moment of delivery but you can wash it carefully and wait two weeks to bathe, it is important to know that the diet we offer our pet after birth is essential. This diet has to provide all the nutrients you need to continue producing milk and feed your young among other needs.
The most advisable thing is that, to feed a bitch after giving birth, you give her food for lactating bitches or, if you do not find it easy, you choose to give her a puppy feed that is very nutritious and has all the proteins and other components that the Mother may need in this period. Make sure the food you give has much more meat than cereals or other components.
It is vital that your drinker and feeder are always full so that they feed when they want and that is next to where they sleep with their young. You must make sure that you are eating and drinking as much as you need because if you do not you should help you, otherwise you will start to be very weak and malnourished, coming to stop producing milk and getting sick.
