Articles Index/Whelping
Posted 12/18/97
It is unusual for a Norfolk bitch to pick up and mouth a whole litter -- although in my experience quite usual if she has a singleton which she becomes over possessive with.
This behavior (of mouthing a litter) is surely a form of eclampsia and can be cured, first by sedation and calcium injections and then by administering calcium -- I never give calcium to an in-whelp bitch, but rely on something like Sterggyl given the day of mating, once halfway through the gestation period and again two days before whelping.
Nanfan Noctis used to mouth puppies but since following this plan we have always reared her puppies -- we never lost any before but her rearing methods were hair tearing -- even though she has never shown any signs of a calcium shortage.
Joy Taylor from 1967 Norwich Terrier News
ANTIC Summer 1986
Back to Articles Index
Back to Home Page