Day 5: Mom is letting them Grow

Last night, she didn't want to sleep with the puppies. She was exhausted and needed her space. I presume her teets were sore because as the day progressed, she took more time to herself and went to the whelping box to clean them intermittently and feed them. She is still scratching the blankets.. This is a sign of nesting.

Day 4: Rest, and mom starts to get some space..

The babies are all stitched up.. The girl had 2 sets of dew claws, while the boys have only one set in the front.

Day 3: Tails & Dew Claws

I called throughout the week to see if I could find a veterinarian in San Francisco or nearby to dock the tails and remove the dew claws, and I found none. As a last resort, I went to a (relatively) local breeder from San Jose and asked them where did they go to have this procedure done. They recommended Adobe Animal hospital. So, I'm taking them as far as Los Altos to have their first veterinarian visit.

They are all in the car waiting for the veterinarian's assistant to let us know it is our turn. So they get a moment of feeding in between. They have started to raise their tails when the drink from mom, some of them only being able to hold them half way and the end dips down.

Day 2: Chloe Cleans, Cleans & Cleans

They are so tiny. Still with the umbilical cords attached, and drying up. They cuddle together as their mom needed a much needed break from cleaning and feeding.

Day 1: Birth & Feeding

Five healthy puppies. 1 Girl, 4 Boys.

Witnessing the birth was an amazing experience. No.1 had a slow start. He wasn't quick to get air and was just lying there. He came around after a bit of rubbing. Some had personalities right after entrance; hence a nickname 'Al Pacino' for #2. He was quite exhaustively struggling in the sac and yelped a demanding cry upon first breath of air. Chloe hadn't even cleaned the 1st one and she was taking care of the second because of his demands. He appeared to need cleaning. Number 3 was the girl.

Two of the puppies are solid black with no undertones - these were the first and the last puppies. The others have a secondary color with the black almost brown or grey.

My Minature Schnauzer: Chloe

My Miniature Schnauzer: Chloe
Female, 2 yoa
Color: Salt & Pepper


To be honest, we felt our way through this experience. A month and half after mating, we had her examined. For two reasons, 1. to make sure she was healthy and 2. to determine the number of puppies to expect when she gives birth.

At 45 days the veterinarian did an ultrasound and took some pretty cool pictures. After which, she 'guess-ta-mated" the number of puppies. It was only after this visit that I found if I would have come a few days later we could have an x-ray that would show the skeletal systems of all the puppies and the exact number to be sure.

Typically Miniature Schnauzers have puppies anywhere from 54 - 74 days. They need ample water and puppy food or the equivalent for nutrition.

From that moment on, we decided the next step was to purchase supplies for the birth - or what people call whelping kits. Looking in retrospect, there was no need. Chloe was well equipped with nature's intended "instruction booklet.." But something that has proven to be priceless is the whelping box we constructed for the birth and home for the puppies in the months ahead.

We constructed the whelping box to fit under the window under the windowsill from a single piece of particleboard. It was rather easy after I did some research. For additional information, please email me, I can share a list of instructions and suggestions. In addition, we purchased a heat lamp to keep the puppies warm when Chloe gets exhausted from the nursing.

On the 60th day at 10:30am, January 26, 2009 Chloe had a litter of 5 puppies 4 boys and 1 girl.

It took her 2 hours or less to give birth and clean up the puppies. The whelping box we constructed was perfect for her to nest and stretch out when the puppies were born. She did an incredible job!