Many years ago, I whelped my first Elkhound litter (but had whelped quite a few GSD litters). I keep the room warm & the first few days, keep the whelping box quite warm. The elkie pups were very restless, enough so that I became a little worried. I called the Elkie breeder from whom I had purchased the bitch. She told me that even new-born elkies like to be somewhat cool. Her suggestion was a cold pack (frozen) wrapped in a towel be placed in the whelping box. Within a few minutes of placing it in the box, I had two newborn (1 day old) pups crawling on top of it. I kept the box relatively warm but always provided the ice pack. The pups used the pack quite often & were perfectly contented after that! Sandy >I have told the story before, and Tedi Cringes every time I do. > >I was on the road selling jewelry, out of town, and Tedi was home with our >first litter of puppies. They were about ten days old by then. She called me >stressed out as it seems the gas company shut off the gas in the middle of >winter, due to a leak. We had radiant heat, pipes though the floor, and >it was >the middle of winter in Michigan. The house turned to a freezing zone, and >Tedi was afraid the puppies would not survive. > >I suggested she build a fire in the fireplace and bring the puppies close to >the heat and keep them warm, and I would be home that night. > >The puppies would not stop screaming, and Tedi had built a fire in the >fireplace, kept it roaring and moved the whelping box into the >heat. The more >they screamed the more she threw wood on the fire, and they would not >calm down. >The room seemed warm enough, but the puppies just ran around yelling and >barking. > >I got home, took one look, and pulled the whelping box away from the flames. >The pups looked at me and immediately settled down, looked at each other, >curled up and went to sleep. > >It gave new meaning to hot dog. > >You can get too much of a good thing. > >Evan (http://www.asgardgsd.com/) Sandra Kozub KcK Kennels http://iweb.tntech.edu/rkozub/kennel.htm ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2005. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://www.showgsd.org ============================================================================