How to coordinate moving Dad & any Boy pups out

[t1gg3er]

Our babies are now a little over 3 weeks old & I'm wondering what's the best way to coordinate things in terms of moving Dad & any boys out.

I've read some people wait until Mum swells before moving Dad out.  Bearing in mind we've never done this before, will it be fairly obvious when she swells or could an untrained eye miss the signs?  We didn't notice anything this time but then we thought we had 2 boys so weren't looking out for anything like this.

Also, I'm guessing we'll need to move Dad out before the current litter can be accurately sexed.  So if we do that, what age should we let the pups get to before separating any boys?  And then will Dad simply accept them or will we need to do a split to re-introduce them?

Thanks for any help

[betty]

If you wait until the mum starts to swell up or anything around 4 weeks - you can usually sex the pups much better. However, if you took out the obvious boys and then found a late developer in with the mum a few days later, just pop him across to the dad and all should be fine.

You should be able to spot her swelling up if you are looking for it - with the best way being have her reach up to something with you looking from the side. If you start doing this now you will get an idea of what a flat tummy looks like so when she starts to swell, you will spot it straight away.

[t1gg3er]

Thanks Betty. I'll get her to stretch up to take a treat from me a couple of times each day so I'll see when there's any difference.

[betty]

It definitely won't be for 3 weeks, but could be more than 4 weeks before you see the signs, make a note somewhere so you can start to pay more attention.

Once you see the swelling, you will usually have at least 5 days before the pups as well, so plenty of time to sort out the pups and dad.