cutting my puppies cord

Question
hello,
my staffordshire bull terrier is due her litter in 3 weeks,and i am after advice about cutting the cords on the puppies,i have been told to cut them about 10 mm from the bellies,would you recommend this and do i need to use some powder to stop the bleeding,,
its the first time weve mated her,so its a learning stage for us,
i am very confident that i can now deliver the litter on my own, but these little things help
thanks very much
nick

Answer
Hi Nick

I've been breeding for 25 years and have never had to cut a cord.  I'm always ready too but with a pair of clean surgical scissors used just for that occasion but my scissors have never come out of their sleeve.

Once a pup is born  we do give it a vigorous rub down with a towel to pink it up and to get the blood flowing. I hold the pup and the tip of the placenta and the mom eats the bag and chews off the cord.

Some mom's are energetic about chewing the cord so you may have to supervise but if you want to take care of the cord yourself you should have surgical scissors, dental floss and Betadine solution at the ready.

Hold the placenta up off the pup and use a milking kind of action to strip the blood in the cord down towards the pup.  The blood contains the stem cells that are very beneficial.  Tie off the cord with dental floss pretty close to the body and then cut it with the scissors.  Leave a stump about a inch long.  Use a q-tip to dab the Betadine on the stump. The remainder of the stump that you leave on will fall off very quickly, within a day or so.   

Remember that Betadine (or whatever you are going to use) kills germs while it drys so it's important to leave the pup in a hot box after you administer it.  If the dam licks it off, it won't work. Because the stump is an open area, it acts as a welcome sign for germs and organisms so keep an eye out until it's completely dry.

Mother Nature is a wonderful lady and she knows what she's doing. Most of the time she doesn't need any help from us other than the occasional hand.

Good luck