Before you breed from your bitch she should be in tip-top condition, she should have been wormed, up to date with her inoculations and she should have been heart-tested. It is unwise to breed from your bitch if she hasn’t had all these things done, also we recommend that your bitch should be at least 18 months old before she has been mated.

You could be risking heart-problems for your future litter as it is more likely if you breed from a bitch that has a serious heart-murmur that she will produce that problem in her puppies, it is much better to be safe then sorry. If you have decided to go ahead with breeding your bitch your next task is finding a suitable stud dog, firstly one that has been heart-tested clear. The stud dog must have good examples of what your bitch lacks, if your bitch is short in the foreleg then it is unwise to put her to a dog that is also lacking in this area as you will get the same in your puppies. Most importantly is the dogs temperament, you don’t want a stud-dog that is bad tempered or aggressive.

The next step is to wait for your bitch to come into season, boxers vary tremendously, some come in to season every 6 months whilst others come in at yearly intervals or longer. Once she has started to show colour (a bright red bleeding from her vulva) then this should be noted as her 1st day in season. You should of chosen the stud dog you want to use in plenty of time and at this stage you must contact the owner of the stud dog and book her in to be mated, we usually breed on 9th to 12th day of the beaches heat period and have always had much success. Some bitches however ovulate at different times.

Whelping Chart
This Chart is based on 63 day whelping 

 

 

Matting
Once you arrive the stud-dog owner will usually put your bitch in a kennel next to the stud-dog for a few minutes, this way the stud dog and the bitch can get quickly acquainted before the actual courtship. After this period they are introduced by putting them in one kennel and letting them have a play, you usually find that if your bitch is ready she will stand firmly with her tail to one side and her vulva raised up, the stud dog then mounts her by wrapping his legs around the bitches waist and thrusting, sometimes stud dogs jump on and off and continue the court-ship for a short while before actual penetration begins. at this point he has already ejaculated and his penis is swelling inside her, some bitches find this a bit distressing and need holding firmly so that they don’t turn around and bite the stud-dog. The stud-dog will be on the bitches back and it is up to the owner of the stud to ensure that he is turned around so as the dog and bitch are back to back, this is called a ‘tie’, it is the bitch that holds on to the dog as her muscles are contracting and keeping a firm hold on him. This can last for 10 minutes or sometimes even an hour, average time is about 20 minutes.
There is nothing much to do for the first 4 weeks your bitch won’t be showing many noticeable signs until she is about 5 and a half weeks in whelp, then her nipples should be redder in colour and much more protruding, her vulva may still be swollen and she may be sicking a frothy yellow discharge any time during the day, she might start going off her food for a few days, this is normal signs and is nothing to worry about. At the 6 weeks stage start increasing her meals by 25% her normal diet, on the 7th week 50% and by the 8th weeks she should be on double her normal food intake. This amount should be given in about 4 meals a day although we feed by demand if she seems to be hungry, she might even pick at the food for most of the day. Your bitch should also be wormed at 5 weeks in to pregnancy and then again at 7 weeks.
Your bitch will be carrying her litter for 63 days from the time of her mating, she may not go to the exact day but you can assume that it will be around that time, it may be a few days before or after her due date.

The Birth
The first sign of birth is usually the appearance of a black fluid bag seen at the vulva this is called the ‘water bag’ once this breaks you can be fairly certain that a puppy will soon follow. Your bitch will be looking more towards her rear and may be getting a bit frantic at this point, you should start to see her push down and her contractions starting, a puppy should start to appear at her vulva and with another contraction the puppy should slide out. You should try and help your bitch by tearing the bag that it is in and cutting the umbilical cord (this is what attaches the puppy to the placenta), do this about an inch and a half from the naval, keep tight hold of it where it has been cut just for a few second then the bleeding should of stopped. We give our newborns a brisk rub over with a warm towel and also we clear the air ways to help them breath, you can do this by putting a finger in the puppies mouth and clearing any mucus that is there, they will soon give out their first cry and at this point the mother should take over and the licking process begins. She is usually that shocked by the puppy been born that her maternal instincts kick in and is very overwhelmed. After the puppy has been born you must also check that the placenta (afterbirth) has also come away, there should be one delivered with every puppy born, we always let our bitches eat this as it is full of protein and believe it or not is very good for the bitch, full of nutrition. If the placenta has not come away yet then just make a note of it, some do take a while to appear after the puppy. If there is a retained placenta (afterbirth) and it has been left then it can cause an infection so it is wise to keep a close eye on the bitch.

You should start getting the puppy to feed just as soon as you can, squeeze one of your bitches nipples to express a bit of milk and rub the puppies nose around it, he will soon get the idea and start suckling. The milk at this stage is very important (the colostrum), it contains all the antibodies to all the diseases which the bitch has encountered also those which she has been vaccinated against so the first 12-36 hours is critical to get them feeding.

 
Please note the time of each puppies arrival and NEVER let your bitch go more than 2 hours between births, if she does go longer than 2 hours contact your vet immediately, there could be a puppy stuck or your bitches contractions may have stopped due to exhaustion.