Serious dog breeders know the story all too well. A champion female is bred to a champion male, and when the puppies are due to arrive, complications arise.
The female has difficulty whelping the puppies, and a veterinarian has to deliver them by cesarean section. Often it is too late and the puppies are dead on arrival. Or, she delivers seemingly healthy puppies and in a day or two they start dying.
Enter the dog doula/midwife. In dogs, as in humans, the roles of a doula and a midwife are different, but they overlap.
In human terms, a doula is someone who supports a pregnant woman physically and emotionally throughout childbirth. After the birth, they help with feeding and adjusting to life with the newborn. A midwife is a trained health professional who helps women during labor, delivery and after the birth.
Pam Burrows, who lives near Spartanburg, has been the go-to person for delivering puppies for traditional brace beagle field trial enthusiasts in the Carolinas and beyond for the past three decades.
Spartanburg physician Chris Caston grew up going to field trials with his Dad and campaigning their beagles to championships. About 30 years ago he lost an anticipated litter of puppies when the female had to have a Caesarian Section and the puppies were born dead. He lamented losing the puppies to a lady who worked in his medical practice, and said he needed somebody to help raise puppies.
“She introduced me to Pam, and during the next planned litter, I gave her the pregnant female. She did a fantastic job raising the puppies,” Caston said.
Pam has handled whelping and puppy raising for Dr. Caston ever since. When word got around about how successful she was in saving valuable litters, top beaglers in the Carolinas began sending their pregnant females to her.
Her innate ability to help ease the females through potentially difficult birthing, and to keep puppies healthy, started when she was 11-years-old and got her first puppy, a Cocker Spaniel.
Pam trained the Cocker and worked with a local veterinarian who had a Cocker Spaniel kennel. That led to handling Cockers in the show ring. She thought about going to veterinary school, but dropped that idea after observing her vet working long hours and dealing with pet owners who did not take proper care of their animals.
She also developed a love of horses, and after graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in chemical engineering, she moved to Spartanburg County and bought a farm to work with horses and board dogs.
Since the 1990s, she has delivered puppies for more than a dozen beaglers — more than 1,200 puppies in more than 210 litters. Her client list reads like a Who’s Who of brace beaglers in the Carolinas, includng Brace Beagling Hall of Fame members Pete Proctor of Vale, N.C.; John Edwards of Inman, S.C.; John Kiser of Huntersville, N.C.; and the late J.W. Kidd of Huntersville.
“Pam has been very instrumental in brace beagling in our area. We would not have had near as many puppies if not for her,” said Proctor.
“J.W. Kidd told me that one bitch can make a big difference in your beagling career. So it’s really important to save all the puppies because one of them can be the successful dog,” said John Edwards. “She has been a life saver for our sport. She devotes a lot of time to it and I hope she stays at it.”
Having a successful birth and healthy litter begins with the owner, Pam Burrows said.
“First, they need to make sure the bitch is current on all her vaccinations, before she is bred. They need to be well de-wormed and fed the right amount of quality food. And they need to be free of ticks and fleas.”
She said she wants to get the pregnant female about 10 days to two weeks before the anticipated whelping date.
“I want to learn their personality and get them comfortable with me,” she said. She regularly checks the female’s vaginal area and mammary glands to make sure she is ready for whelping. And she monitors the female’s temperature.
“When she starts nesting, I take her temperature twice a day for several days. When it drops below 99 degrees, the puppies are coming in the next 12 to 24 hours,” she said. “When her temperature drops, I don’t leave the farm, don’t even go to buy groceries. As soon as the water breaks I stay close.”
And she makes sure a veterinarian is ready to take over if complications arise that she can’t handle.
If any of the puppies are weak or the mother’s milk is bad, they have to be fed by hand every couple of hours. She may have to provide constant care for the puppies for three days or more before they can survive on their own.
While her work has primarily been with brace beagle field trialers, she is open to working with beaglers in other arenas like gun dog field trialers, rabbit hunters, and even other breeds.
Burrows Training Center and Kennel is located in the Pauline/Roebuck area of Spartanburg County, SC. You can reach Pam at (864) 573-6900 or email: pburdog2@bellsouth.net.
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