chihuahua pregnant

Question
I was given a beautiful male Chihuahua in September.  He was 6 weeks old when I acquired him.  He is the love of our lives.  About the first of February I rescued a lovely 1 year old female.  We were not aware she was in heat when we brought her home. Little did we know,my husband and I did not believe that our little boy being 7 months old could get her pregnant. We were wrong and now she is about 2 weeks out from having puppies.  The little boy is about 2 pounds and she is about 3 pounds.    I have made her a bed to have the puppies.  We have been feeding her cooked chicken and rice along with puppy chow to get her vitamins.  What do I have to do to help her?  Do I need to be concerned about her having any problems?  The little boy has since been fixed and she will go as soon as she is able to go.  I love both of these babies and would be sadden by anything I could have done and did not...Thank you for any advice you could give me.

Answer
Hi. Normally, I don't suggest feeding a puppy food to a pregnant dog. It can make mom and puppies too fat. I would also make sure that she gets plenty of exercise, a fat dog has problems during whelping. Did you have an x-ray done? If not, i would think of doing that. This way you'll know how many pups to expect, and will know if there are any really big ones in there that may cause problems. When she starts labor, i would call your vet and let him know just in case she needs help he'll be ready. Your breed is known for c-sections, so I would take to your vet about that just in case. Make her a whelping box, and get your supplies together. The thing about newborns, is that they have to be kept warm. Cold will kill them fast. Never feed a cold puppy, warm it first. I'm going to give you a web site, and I hope that you look around on it. It has a ton of great info and pictures of an actual whelping. Have a look around, and let me know if you have any more questions.

www.debbiejensen.com