Pregnant pit bull bully

Question
I have a female pitbull bully I just got her from my sister in law about month ago, She is pregnant although I am not sure how far along she is. my sister in law said that maybe somewhere around March 15th of 2015 she should have the puppies. When I brought her to live with me we got her dog house and all her belongings and set her up in a kennel with her things...sshe just won't seem to go inside her dog house no matter what.If I it's cold she won't get in the dog house, if it's raining ect.she has cedar chips in her dog house because it around 40 degrees where I live and I would like to know why she won't get in her dog house and what I can do to help her want to get into her house. Please helpeople I have tried everything to get her in there.Tthere.Thank you

Answer
Firstly, it's going to be very hard to put any dog into a dog house that has cedar chips in it. Hamsters have those in their cages but I don't know anyone that uses them for dogs.

Secondly, her skin is tender where her teats are so she isn't going to want to lie of poking pieces of wood.

She might not be used to a dog house, and so she is scared of it. Also, when a dog is getting ready to whelp, they want to nest and hide in soft sheets and blankets.

She shouldn't even BE outside if she is pregnant and close to whelping, especially when it's that cold. She needs to be inside and given an area where she will feel safe to have these pups.

Whelping a litter of puppies is hard work and she needs to be warm, dry and safe. Being outside doesn't fit any of those descriptions and is considered inhumane to have her out in that kind of cold.

Hopefully she is vaccinated against distemper and Parvo, as Pit bulls are very susceptible to getting parvo. It's probably too late to get her vaccinated now so I hope your sister-in-law got it done.

Also you should ask your vet about getting her wormed before she has the pups to help cut down on the worms that the pups get from her. It's very, very common but again, it might be too late in her pregnancy to get that done. I would call your vet and ask.

She should be eating a HIGH quality Puppy food as well, meal fed for now then free fed while she is nursing. By high quality I mean NOT Purina puppy chow- which has milk in it that causes diarrhea in dogs. I mean high quality like Science Diet Large Breed Puppy Growth.

You can then wean the puppies onto that food at 5-6 weeks and then put Mom on Science Diet Large Breed adult once she is not nursing and is spayed. That will help her heal much faster as well.

If this is your and her first litter you need to read up on whelping pups. Many things can go wrong so you want to be ready for anything. Having her looked over at the vets between now and her due date and that can go a long way to helping her have an easy birth. The vet can check for any problems now before they become emergencies.

Cesarian births are very common and can be very expensive! Try to head off the potential problems by taking her in for a wellness exam now.

I hope it all goes well. Get her inside and then things will be much better for her.