How early should I set up the whelping box?

Have it stocked by day 55 and move the dam in around then, so the room is hers before labor starts. A dam who whelps where she feels safe is calmer, and so are you.

What's the single most important record to keep?

Daily weights in grams. A puppy that stops gaining is telling you something 24–48 hours before it shows any other way. Same scale, same time, written down.

When do I call the vet during whelping?

Thirty-plus minutes of hard straining with no puppy, several hours between puppies when more are expected, green discharge before the first puppy arrives, a retained placenta, or a dam who seems in distress. When in doubt, call — no vet has ever been angry about a cautious breeder.

Can Expert Breeder track all this?

The free plan includes litter management and dog records, so litters, puppies, and the families waiting on them live in one place — and matching puppies to approved families stops running on memory. Weight-tracking granularity varies by how you like to work; many breeders keep the whelping-box notebook and transfer to their litter records daily.

Free tool for breeders

The whelping checklist you'll actually tape to the wall.

From stocking the box at day 55 to the go-home packet at week eight — the supplies, the countdown, the whelping-night signs, and the records that matter, in the order you'll need them at 3 a.m.

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Practical guidance from breeder practice — your vet's protocol always wins.

The checklist

Six stages, from day 55 to go-home day.

1 · The whelping box (stock it by day 55)

Whelping box with pig rails, in a quiet room the dam already knows
Heat source with a thermometer — warm corner ~85°F week one, with a cooler side she can move to
Clean towels (more than you think), puppy pads, and a laundry plan
Digital kitchen scale that reads in grams, plus a notebook or app open beside it
Bulb syringe, hemostats, blunt scissors, unwaxed dental floss for cords
Puppy-safe iodine for cord stumps, sterile gloves, lube
ID system — colored velcro whelping collars or yarn, matched to your notes
Karo syrup or Nutri-Cal, puppy milk replacer, feeding tubes or bottles for emergencies
Your vet's number AND the after-hours emergency clinic's number, on the wall, not in your phone

2 · Two weeks out

Confirm litter count with an X-ray around day 55 so you know when she's done — or when she isn't
Move the dam to the whelping room so it smells like hers before the big night
Start twice-daily temperature checks in the final week — a drop below ~99°F usually means puppies within 24 hours
Trim the belly and rear coat on coated breeds; bathe while she can still be bathed
Line up your whelping partner and warn your family: no plans for the 5-day window
Message your waitlist families with the window — anticipation is your best buyer-engagement tool

3 · Whelping day — what's normal, what's not

Stage one: restlessness, nesting, panting, refusing food — can last 6–12 hours
Active labor: hard straining should produce a puppy within about 30–60 minutes
Note the time each puppy arrives, sex, color/markings, collar color, and birth weight — in the moment, not from memory tomorrow
Count placentas; a retained one is a vet call
Call the vet: 30+ minutes of hard straining with no puppy, more than 2–4 hours between puppies with more expected, green discharge before the first puppy, or a dam in distress
Let her rest, offer water and small meals, and get every puppy nursing — first milk in the first hours matters most

4 · The first 72 hours

Weigh every puppy at the same time every day — grams, written down; steady loss is your earliest warning
Check for cleft palates and make sure every puppy latches and stays warm — a cold puppy cannot digest
Watch the dam: appetite back, no fever, discharge dark red-brown (not foul), all teats soft
Dewclaw decisions per your breed's standard practice, typically day 3–5 with your vet
Start a record per puppy now — weights, notes, and quirks — while they're identical except to you

5 · Weeks 1–8 — the record-keeping half

Daily weights week 1–2, then every 2–3 days once everyone is gaining
Deworming schedule (commonly 2, 4, 6, 8 weeks — per your vet's protocol)
First vaccines and vet check per your vet's schedule, recorded per puppy
ENS/ESI if you practice it (days 3–16), then socialization milestones — surfaces, sounds, people, car rides
Temperament notes per puppy — these become your matching notes when families pick
Photo day every week — your waitlist families are refreshing their inboxes for these
Match puppies to approved families as personalities emerge, with everyone's preferences in front of you

6 · The go-home packet

Vaccination and deworming record, microchip paperwork, registration application
Signed contract and paid balance — before the tailgate, not at it
Food sample and feeding schedule, plus your care sheet
A blanket that smells like the litter
The next appointment the buyer owes their vet, written down
Your contact info and what 'call me first' means — the door back to you stays open for the dog's whole life

The other half of the litter

While you're in the whelping box, who's watching the waitlist?

Whelping week is exactly when buyer messages pile up — "any news??" — and exactly when you have the least time to answer them. A litter that lives in the same place as its waitlist means every family, preference, and deposit conversation is one glance away, not one inbox-dig away.

Litter management, free

Planned breedings, puppies on the ground, and past litters in one record.

Families attached

Approved families sit beside the litter they're waiting on — matching runs on notes, not memory.

One waitlist

Every 'any news?' family in one list with their preferences and status.

Whelping questions

The ones that come up at 3 a.m.

Give this litter a record you'll still have in five years.

Litters, dogs, applications, and your waitlist — free forever, no credit card.

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