When can you safely stop using heat lamp for puppies?

[lissadi]

I am keeping the whelping box the puppies are in at 80'. Is there a X when you can safely get rid of the lamp, my poor Momma Dog hates it!!

TX!

[BrittaniaKennel]

from my own esperiance the first two weeks are the most inportant,but i keep the heat lamp on till the 4 week

[Country-Side Br]

Until they are about 2 weeks old, they can't regulate their body temps. I leave it in there for that long and then if it gets chilly again, I just turn it on. You'll know if they get cold because they'll huddle together and if they get too hot, they'll do a lot of squealing. If they're just right (it sounds like the 3 pigs here, doesn't it ), they'll lay nearby each other...not too far, but not too close. Trigger might seem hot because of her milk supply increasing...that makes them warmer than usual...her body is working over time to get that supply up for them. How is she coming along from her surgery? Did you take the pups in for their dews yet or did you do that yourself?

[eXile]

Good info BR

[BabyElephant]

Patty - why do you get their dew claws done? I'm just curious as it's no longer common practice to do that in the UK.

[Country-Side Br]

We do it here for hunting purposes so that they don't tear them while hunting through the thick/tall grasses. It's usually done at 3-4 days of age. I don't mind having them done, it's the tails that I really hate doing to them! I wish they'd outlaw it here too! If they were meant to have docked tails, they'd be born that way!!!

[BabyElephant]

Mmm, docked tails, I've seen quite a few different dogs recently with tails that traditionally have docked tails... a doberman, cocker spaniel and an old english sheepdog... of all of them the doberman looked the "strangest". It's funny how you get used to seeing breeds look a certain way and then when they are left "natural" it looks weird. I thought that tail docking had been outlawed over here but people are still doing it, perhaps it has to be done by vets to be legal... something for me to find out I think (I am a curious person )

As for dew claws some breeders still do it over here I think but most vets won't do it unless the dog has an accident with them. Our vets reckon they might get 5 or 6 dogs a year with dew claw injuries.

[mara]

When Boxers tails oren't cropped they all have a white tip. Doesn't matter if they're brindle or fawn. I think they are cute. My friend had a Boxer who the breeder chopped the tail off with an AXE!!! The tail was about 6 inches long so definately not "Standard. He never grew hair for about the last 2 inches of the docked tail!! It must have been horrible for him.

[Country-Side Br]

Originally Posted by mara

My friend had a Boxer who the breeder chopped the tail off with an AXE!!!

That breeder should NOT be allowed to breed anymore! How inhumane! I don't know what I would do, being the buyer...do you buy the pup because you feel so terrible for it and then support the breeder, or do you go somewhere else because the breeder isn't very ethical, but then the pup suffers?

[BrittaniaKennel]

please tell me were your friend lives so i can go there and chop off hes tail with a axe,,my dogs are tails get cropped when they are 3 to 4 days old , i personley dont belive in it myself , but it is the breed standard, unless the tail is scruetail, plus my local thet does them for me