Has anyone had any experience of a very late arriving pup?  Was confident that my girl was not in whelp at 6/7/8 weeks, but kept an extra watch on her at week 9, just in case, and, as expected no pups.  She went on for another 9 days, and then, Monday morning, there was a puppy in with Mum, no idea who was more shocked, me or my girl!  I have never been wrong about a bitch not being in whelp before, and whilst I am so proud she managed to deliver alone I feel awful I was not there to help.  I have no experience of pups born so late, and we do have some problems.  Has anyone had a pup born this late, and how did everything go?  My vets are confident that everything will be OK, but we did have  panic on Tuesday evening when I was very unhappy with her, and felt she was becomeing a little dehydrated so put her on re-hydration fluids.  By Yesterday she was fine, and taking big feeds, although having to bottle feed as she gets frantic when feeding from Mum, bobs about but does not latch on properly before getting too tired to finish feed.  Any info from others who have experiecne of this much appreciated.

i carnt say anything reguaring this but just want to say wow :) congrats to your girl for doing it herself ...:) i hope she goes from strength to strength ..or he :) xxxx

Gwen, the only thing I would try to do would be to hold her/him close to the Dam when she's/he's feeding? Gives less opportunity for it to duck and dive about so much. Obviously if they both object too much you will have to supplement until the pups nervous system develops a bit!!! It is funny watching them develop though isn't it! Well done for your bitch being a good Mom and coping alone...she won't know you didn't believe her so don't worry!! ;-) just relax and enjoy the miracle of new life!

Thanks for the kind words and advice, but sadly she died last night at 10pm.  I had resolved the feeding thing by just using the bottle, with a few little feeds from Mum to keep her milk and keep them close.  She was feeding brilliantly, was gaining about half and ounce a day for the last 3 days, after a glitch on day 1/2. I was very concerned because she felt "hard" (don't know how else to describe it) around her rib cage, but vet said not to worry about it.   However, at her last feed, although she took the milk well, after doing the regular top and tail clean up and settling down for a little cuddle time, she started wobbling her head a little, but quickly recovered.  She settled straight down to sleep, but after a little while had a little fit, and simply went away.  No idea if she had a problem which caused hte late arrival (but have never head of such a thing) or the extra time in the womb casued some problems.I do wonder if treating Mum wiht Stronghold could have had anything ot do with it, as, being poisitive she WAS NOT in whelp, she had an aplplication along wiht the rest of the bunch.

I'm very sorry, Gwen :-( 

So sad :-(  so sorry Gwen..

Gwen I'm so sorry...you can't fault her or the mum for trying hun. To be honest I wouldn't use stronghold if I thought there was an inckling of pregnancy...but then that's easy for me to say!!? Don't beat yourself up Gwen, morn the little life gone and then try to move on. If you don't you'll be beating yourself up for no reason honestly! I don't think anyone can say why it happened, for goodness sake even the Vet was fooled! I hope you and mum are ok and try to look to the future eh?

so sorry to hear this news.

these bitch do surprise us at time,

take care

terri

So so sorry to read this today. RIP sweet puppy.

im so sorry to hear this ,its heart breaking !! RIP little puppy xx

Sorry to hear the news, but someone in my breed said that his bitch was 9 days after her due date, I've had some 6 days but never 9.

that intesting

the one that was 9 days later how many in that litter
and your was 6 days late how many in that litter.

tangle put an inch on around her wasit from last week but the scann read no puppies

Mine that have been later were the Pom's, my Spanish have usually been early or right on time.  Though the other person I was talking about was a Spanish think he had a medium sized litter, will find out.

Keep an eye on Tangle.  Rosita's owners with Anton were told that she wasn't pregnant she ended up with 5, though to be truthful she was big at 5 weeks when I saw the photo's.  I'd be surprised looking at Tangle last week, but you never know.  Fingers crossed that there may be one or two there for you!

Im so sorry Gwen, how horrible for this to happen to you.  Thinking of you. 

Thank's for all the sympathy.  This was a situation completely outside of my experience, I have had lot's of early pups, and some up to 4 or 5 days late without problem.  Have had bitches who I was not sure if in whelp, and scans said no but I still wondered, and sure enough a pup or 2 arrived.  In this case there was no sign at all she had taken, no thickening around the middle, no increased appetite, no change in behaviour, her nipples did not enlarge either.  This is how she came to be strongholded!  I would never dream of doing it if I had not been positive she was not carrying, which goes to show how wrong we can be.  However, I am now going to try to do more research on this, just in case it happens again with another bitch, as I am upset that I was not at all prepared from an problems that a late arrival could encounter, if any special measures should be taken, anything unusual to watch for etc.

Gwen, as I understand it chemicals are likely to cause damage in the very early stages when the nervous system is first being developed so, giving the Stronghold outwith that period, I do not think you need feel any guilt, not that you were in the know anyway. 

So sorry to here of your loss Gwen. :(

What a shame, really sad news :-(

oh bless you, im so sorry to hear about the baby, i was reading the first post and i was so amazed and when i red your second post my heart sunk for you,

<3<3<3

oh gwen, i'm so sorry :(

Gwen i am so sorry for your loss.....after the surprise it must have been a great loss to lose the little one :0(

Thanks for all the  sympathy, everyone.  Am at vets tomorrow, so going to ask for their opinion.  Want as much info as possible, just in case a similar thing happens in future.