The pups 1 week

Days 1-7

You may have a dam who has continued to 'nest' in her box, scattering her bedding or newspapers, even after the birth of the puppies.This is normal and is caused by the uterine contractions, which are causing her uterus to return to normal size following the pregnancy.The nesting urge gradually decreases over the next few more days.You have been weighing the puppies daily, and they have made a regular weight gain.The dam is used to you handling her puppies in the box.Now you must cut the nails on each puppy.This needs to be done every week, without fail. If you do not do this, the dam's teats will become scratched and very sore from the pup's pummeling action, and she will wean the pups early, strictly because of pain to her breasts. If this happens, you will have a lot of extra work to do, so you want to encourage her to keep looking after the pups as long as possible!You will need a chair in the whelping room, a good light, a bottle of 'Kwik Stop' or some other clotting agent, a towel and a small pair of scissors.After you have weighed the puppy and marked the weight in your record book, sit down and place the towel across your lap.The dam will probably worry about this new procedure and will keep close to her puppy.She will, at the very least, rest her chin on your knee.You will have to work with this added distraction. It is helpful to have a second person to keep the dam from interfering too much.Holding the puppy securely with your left hand, lift it up towards your chest and extend one front leg and foot using your thumb and index finger.Snip off the "hook" part of each of the nails.If you take off too much, you will see some blood.Put some Kwik Stop on the bleeding nail and continue clipping the nails. If you did not have the dewclaws removed on Day 3, you will have to snip off 5 nails, rather than 4 on each foot.After you have done the first front foot, reposition the pup so you can snip the nails on the second front foot.After you have done the two front feet, you will have to turn the puppy over, with its belly up, so that you can trim the hind nails on each rear foot.Again you may have 5 nails to trim if you have 'dewclaws' (or what would be a "thumb" on each hand if this was a human.)You'll notice that the pups are sleeping a little more spread out now, and are more active in the box - they are navigating around using their noses for scenting the dam if they get too far away from her.Even though they still can't see or hear, they are amazingly capable of getting what they need - food, warmth and companionship.The dam's appetite is increasing daily, as the pups grow and require more and more milk from her.Feed her as much as she wants. She won't get fat!Encourage her to stay in the room with the puppies as much as possible, coming out only for bathroom breaks and a brief hello to her human family.Her vaginal discharge is beginning to decrease now.