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BreedTrackerUser Guide

Log temperatures before whelping

3 minute readFree planUpdated September 2026

Log each temperature from your phone. BreedTracker keeps the dam's average and tells you when a reading comes in well below it.

In this stage

Expecting a litter

  1. Create a litter from a recorded heat
  2. Identify your puppies
  3. Record whelping and puppy birth details
  4. Log temperatures before whelping
  5. Record puppy weights and read the growth chart
  6. Understand puppy weight alerts
  7. Track litter care with the checklist
  8. Share a public litter page with buyers
  9. Understand the free plan litter limit

On this page

Why it matters

  • A temperature drop often comes before labor.
  • BreedTracker keeps each reading with the dam's own average, so they are easy to compare over time.
  • Some dams never show a drop.

Where the whelping watch appears

  • On a pending litter, Whelping watch appears on Overview starting 14 days before the expected whelp date.
  • If you have not created the litter yet, the card appears on the dam's own Overview instead. It starts on day 49 after the first breeding.
  • Readings logged before the litter existed appear on it without any linking step.
  • While a watch is open, Log temp is also in the Quick add menu.

Log a reading

  1. Select Log temp, the button at the bottom right on a phone.
  2. Type the temperature. The time is already set to now; select Change to use a different time.
  3. Tap any signs you see, then select Save reading.
    The Log temperature sheet: a large temperature field reading 98.6 with °F selected, the time set to now, and Off food and Restless selected under Signs.

Log another clears the sheet and starts the next reading. °F or °C is a kennel setting, and switching it in the sheet changes it for the whole kennel.

A reading outside the usual range shows a warning. Select Save anyway to keep it.

How the drop is described

  • The dam's average uses readings from more than a day and a half earlier, once there are four of them.
  • When a reading comes in 1°F or more below that average, the card shows Temperature drop.
  • The same notice shows in Needs Attention as Temperature drop · due soon.
    The Whelping watch card: the latest reading 99.1°F, 1.3° below the dam's average, a Temperature drop notice, the chart and the three newest readings.
    The Needs Attention row: Whelping imminent, Temperature drop · due soon, with a Log temp button.
  • Not every dam shows this drop, and the app never predicts when whelping will start.
  • The Merck Veterinary Manual (opens in a new tab) advises calling your vet if no whelping follows a drop within 24 to 36 hours.

After whelping

For 14 days, the card becomes the dam's temperature card. A reading above 102.5°F shows a notice and a Fever after whelping row in Needs Attention.

Fix or delete a reading

Use ⋮ on the row, then select Edit or Delete.

Next

Next in this journeyRecord whelping and puppy birth detailsRelatedCreate a litter from a recorded heat

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