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• A Griffon Puppy is Born

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Griffons are fairly easy to whelp, here are some photos and videos for you to enjoy.

The wonder of birth, here with our lovely Griffonne bitch, Twig. Twig is experienced, mother of three other litters. I hope you share with us the wonder of this event. All the potential for hunting instinct, natural pointing and retrieving is there at birth. Sometimes hard to believe when you see a puppy this young. One thing that may surprise you is how white the puppies are. When they are newly born, they are pure white with liver plates and a mask. Their nose and paw pads are pink, but the pigment develops soon.

Though the Griffonne can easily give birth to her puppies on her own, we prefer to be there during whelping. We enjoy being with our bitches when they are giving birth, plus we can be there to weigh and record markings and birth times. Also, we believe that the earlier the puppies imprint on human scent, taste and touch the better. Puppies of all breeds are born helpless. Their eyes and ears are sealed shut, and they can only smell, taste, and feel things. We help Twig by drying off puppies, and keeping the whelping area heated with a infra red heating lamp. In the first few weeks of life, puppies cannot regulate temperature, and it is important the they are in a snug, draft free area.

With this litter, Twig's first puppy was dry and sucking when I came downstairs and found out that she was whelping. As an expression of the incredible bond between us, when she was ready to give birth to the second puppy, she picked up the first puppy gently in her mouth and put it into my lap, then turned around to get to work pushing out the next puppy. It was as though she wanted me to watch the little one while she was busy with the next.

This is Twig's final litter. She will now be a lady of leisure, hunting in the autumn, playing and helping around the farm in the off season. Twig was from our first litter, she has had 4 litters now, and she is 7 years old.

If you are interested in more information, e-mail us

© Shannon Ford 2009

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Whelping

A series of photographs showing the birth of a Griffon puppy

	The night before Twig is shown here on the couch with Kurt, the evening before her puppies are born. You can see how big her belly has grown.
	Labour During Labour, she will push the puppies individually into the birth canal, giving birth one at a time.
	Being Born Here Twig is pushing the little puppy out further. If you look carefully, you can see the puppy emerging from the birth canal. It is still connected to the placenta through the umbilical cord.
	And Further The first puppy to be born is still nursing through all of this, making contraction causing hormones release into Twig's bloodstream which help his littermates to be born more quickly.
	Cleaning Twig sits up and turns to begin cleaning the puppy. First she licks the fluid away from the face and nose, so the puppy can breath.
	Severing the cord Next Twig severs the umbilical cord by carefully chewing it with her teeth. She will eat the placenta, then lick the puppy dry.
	First Two The puppy with the dark markings was born about an hour before the puppy on the right. Both are born eager to suck and having an instinct to be close to the warmth and smell of their mother.
	Weigh-In A quick weigh-in for each puppy. Weight, time of birth and markings are recorded individually for each puppy.
	Resting after Two Twig still has lots of energy, and she is having an easy time whelping her puppies. There is usually a wait between each puppy, though sometimes two will be born within minutes of each other.
	Finished After hours of whelping, Twig and her new family relax. She will stay with her puppies, snuggling, cleaning, feeding and keeping them warm. She is an excellent mother.