Whelping Kit Checklist

What the checklist is for

Most whelpings go smoothly. When one does not, things can go wrong quickly for the mother and the puppies, and the breeders who cope best are the ones who prepared weeks earlier: the vet's limits agreed and written down, the emergency clinic's number on the wall, the car ready, and the whelping area set up long enough for the mother to feel at home in it. This checklist turns that preparation into a list you can work through during the pregnancy, tick off and print.

It is written for breeders, including people raising a first litter, and for the mentors who support them. It follows lesson 4 of our free course, whelping and puppy care: safety and when to call the vet, and our guide to raising and socializing a litter.

How it works

The list has five sections:

1. Agree a plan with your vet. Confirm the pregnancy and the expected date, ask what your vet wants you to do if labor stalls, and agree when they want a call. Many vets give breeders their own limits for how long to wait at each stage. Write those limits down: they are the ones to follow.
2. Contacts, transport and help. Your vet's emergency number, the nearest emergency clinic and how long it takes to get there at night, a car, a second person, a mentor, money set aside for an emergency such as a cesarean section, and someone at home almost all the time around the birth.
3. The whelping area. Warm, quiet, clean and free of drafts, with room for the mother to move away from the heat, and set up early.
4. Supplies to have ready. Bedding and towels, scales and a record sheet for daily weights, a way to tell the puppies apart, a clock to note times for your vet, and a thermometer only if your vet has shown you how to use it.
5. Ready for the first weeks. Routines for weighing, feeding and warmth checks, and quiet for the mother.

Tick each item once it is done, not just planned. Your ticks are saved in this browser only, and "Start a new litter" clears them. Below the list, three panels stay on screen and on the printout: the signs that mean calling the vet now, where a breeder's role stops, and how to stay safe with a mother in pain.

Why there are no times or medicines

Some whelping checklists list medicines and say exactly how long to wait before calling for help. This one deliberately does not. The right limits depend on the dog, the breed and the vet's knowledge of both, and a figure copied from a website can delay a call that should have been made. A breeder should never give any medication, including anything to speed up labor or relieve pain, unless the vet has prescribed it for that dog. So wherever timing matters, the checklist points back to one thing: the limit your own vet gave you.

A worked example

A breeder is expecting her first litter from a young Labrador. At the pregnancy check, she asks her vet when they want a call during labor and writes the answers on the printed checklist, next to the "call the vet now" signs. She looks up the emergency clinic, drives the route one evening to see how long it takes, and arranges for her partner to stay home around the due date. She sets up the whelping area in a quiet spare room early, so the mother sleeps there for several nights before labor begins, and ticks off the bedding, towels, scales and record sheet as she gathers them.

During the whelping, she notes when each puppy is born. When the gap before the next puppy runs past the limit her vet gave her, she calls straight away and reads out her notes. Nothing has to be remembered under pressure, because it is all on the sheet.

When not to rely on it

• It is not a substitute for your vet. The checklist explains principles. Your vet's instructions for your dog always come first.
• It does not teach hands-on skills. Supporting a whelping is learned beside an experienced mentor, not from a list.
• It is not a guide to medical procedures. Surgery, stitching and internal procedures are for the vet. So is tube feeding, unless your vet has shown you how and asked you to.
• It does not cover the law. Rules on breeding, microchipping and procedures such as tail docking differ between countries. Check what applies where you live.

When in doubt, call. A vet would much rather take a call that turns out to be nothing than see a mother or litter too late.

Learn more

For the whole picture, read how to become a responsible dog breeder. Once the puppies are about three weeks old, the puppy socialization checklist helps you plan their first experiences and gives new owners a list to carry on with.