The whelping box needs to be in the house, not the garage. They need to be in a temperature-controlled environment.
A heat lamp can cause overheating and even blistering because their fur is very, very thin when they're first born, and since they're blind and deaf, they can't simply "move away" when they're too hot (unlike chicks, for example.)
The lining of the whelping box needs to be towels ONLY or the pups will get respiratory infections. They're going to be small and very frail, so they need extra attention and care to make sure their environment won't affect them negatively.
Also, DO NOT let the male anywhere near the puppies or he may kill them. His age means his hormones aren't fully in control yet, so he may be aggressive with puppies, even if they're his own. Don't let him interact with the puppies at all until they're walking and acting like actual puppies instead of newborns.
How far away is your vet? Since this is her first birth, there's a good chance the first puppy may be a breach birth -- aka a "backwards birth." If the vet is too far away (20+ minutes) you're going to have to hand-deliver the pup, or it and the other puppies will die. Dogs use their muscles to push the butt of the puppy toward the end of the birth canal so that the head parts the way and emerges first. If the puppy is born tail-first, mom won't be able to get the leverage to deliver it, so you'll have to birth the puppy yourself. The times I've done it, I've muzzled the mother and someone else held her while I used a towel to carefully grasp the tail, which should be sticking out of her vulva by that point. You need to pull with a side-to-side motion. This will "wedge" the pup out. Mom will whine and scream and likely bleed a bit, but it won't kill her. If she's bleeding readily then she needs to be taken to the vet immediately. Most of the time there's a little blood, but it's more spotting, and stops after about 10-15 minutes. The other puppies should be born just fine after the first pup is pushed through and opens the birth canal.
The puppies will be born in an amniotic sac. They'll take their first breath when that sac tears. If mom doesn't break the sac after the pup is born, you'll have to do it, or they'll inhale amniotic fluid.
Have a little nose syringe like this to suck out any fluid that might be stuck in the pup's mouth/throat should they inhale fluid. If there's a breach birth, this will be the difference between life and death for that puppy.
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58-68 days for a dog pregnancyyou should prob find that out soon too. it takes about 2-3 months for a dog pregnacy to takeplace i think so. how long has she been pregnet for??
