My girl is 58 days from first mating, and her temperature went down a degree yesterday, but on trying to take it this morning it has gone up a bit, i have come down to her this morning, and she is panting loads and shivering, i have taken her outside and she was a bit sick, she goes into her box, then out of it, sort of like she isnt sure what to do with herself!   This is hers and mine first litter. From everything i have read it could be very soon or up to 24 hours.  Getting very nervous, but trying to keep everything normal for her.  She hasn't indicated that she wants my other dog out of the way yet.  If i keep an eye on them both, will she let me know when its time for him to disappear?  Just needing some general backup really.....aarrgghh......thanks

I think that it is time for you to take the other dog away from her - it sounds like birth will be soon, and they need peace and quiet and not stressed by another dog in the vicinity.

Will look in later to see how you are getting on.

And I would also be sleeping with her for a week before her due date - she might have started last night and been on her own........

yes sounds like its not to long away now :) like dogsdinner has siad remove other dogs and stay clam around her and stay with her put leave her to it ,at this stag i dont talk to them inless they come to me ,il sit and read or wacth tv , do everything as mormal as possible and then i find my girls dont get to stressed out and get on with it! have some water for her to dink ,my girl this time didnt want to get in her box at all me and hubby had to pick her up or she would of had them on the sofa :-O ,good luck andil keep checking in :) x

I did have a baby monitor in her room last night and all was quiet....not until this morning did she start......she has now been panting and shivering for about 3 or more hours.....i just took her out to the toilet, she did a couple of wees and a runny poo......she goes into her box them comes to stand with me....i am pottering around in the kitchen next to where she is, we have a utility room attached, door is open, so she can come and go.....should i stop pottering now and just stay in the room with her......

I would stay with her, take your laptop or a good book, you may have a while to do yet.

Good luck Mikandras :)

yes stay with her now ,this is the boring bit LOL :) xx

i hope all is going well ,any pups yet? x

Good luck!

nothing happening yet, she is still doing a lot of panting....she told my other dog to 'disappear' earlier this afternoon!! Knowing my luck she will start at some unearthly hour! but i am very excited and nervous, cant wait to see them, :-)

if u anything like me i feel very sick at this stag LOL but it goes the min 1st pup comes :) not be long im sure !!

she has now decided she would like to come and sit with me on the floor in the lounge with the rest of the family and the other dog!, still panting but sitting at my lap....oh well.....assume we are going to go on for a while.....:-) x

thanks just how my girl was :) the day she had pups ,good luck x

Thanks white lilly for keeping me company! Safi is now lying at my feet having a sleep, I need to stop sitting on the floor with her, seriously numb bum!!

had another panting session, now sleeping again and less heavy breathing, gonna take her and her whelping box up to bed and see how the night goes. x

We tried to go to bed, but i didnt last long, with her making all sorts of sounds.  Back downstairs, where we should be. She is now panting less, but I have seen some very visible contractions ( thats what I assume, they are). x

just had her first puppy.....it didnt come with sac round it and umbilical cord was detached as it came out....is this ok....he is eding, and am trying to encourage her to lick him.....not too natural a mum yet

Sometimes they do not come with the sac, just make sure that she expells the placenta, most probably later, and try to keep count of the placentas passed, some she may eat, and counting becomes difficult.   I dry newborn pups in a towel which helps to stimulate breathing. Busy time ahead of you!!

thanks dogsdinner.....still waiting for anything else to happen.....no placenta and no more pups yet.......she is attending to the pup she has well, plenty of licking and he is getting to her teat..

anymore pups yet ? x

I'd keep an eye on the 1st pup. The cord being detatched doesn't sound good. My neighbour lost a pup like that...vet said it was lack of oxygen getting to the brain while in birth canal. I'm not trying to scare you, but you have to be prepared. Any more pups yet?

the same happend to me with a litter 6months ago ,she was tiny too she just slid out, but shes as big as the others now :) ,but like littlegreen has said just keep an eye on pup ,i hope all is ok ? xx

I note it is now 5 hours since the birth of the first whelp and still no more, how long do you experienced people leave it before taking action?

We do not know that there have not been any more pups born as the original poster has not come back onto CD to tell us, perhaps she is busy delivering puppies.

Accept that DD but wondered how long you would wait between the delivery of the first and second whelp before considering intervention.

Nova every bitch is different.  My girl last time had 4 pups in twenty mins this time she had 2 in 5 mins and then slept for 2 hours then she had the other 2 again in 5 mins.

Sometimes it pays to wait and watch before jumping to soon. But as everyone advises best to have your vets advice.  I have in the past waited 5 hours for a 2nd pup, but only becuase I knew the bitch and was satisfied that she nor the pups were in any distress.  But then I had a very good mentor who taught me well and I will always be thankful to her for every pup I have sucessfully whelped and reared.

It depends, if the bitch is resting and is not having any contractions then we do not panic, if the bitch is having the huge pushing out contractions I personally would not wait longer than an 1 hour some will wait longer or shorter times.   If the birth is normal and the puppy is in the correct position I do not panic unduly.   It is something that I would never give advice on to an inexperienced breeder, my advice is always to call your vet as they are the professionals, and should be on hand anyway waiting for your call.

I always let my vet know when a bitch has begun whelping, and they always call in to see how we or rather how the bitch is getting along, after all these years of breeding 30 plus, I always err on the side of safety, costs a little more, but well worth it for peace of mind.

i would and did wait for just under 2 hrs with my girl this week, then elected for a c-section but only because i could see that things were not going to progress and the birth was going to be problematic. Was offered oxy and declined it after past experience. Some girls just take their time but i wouldnt expect a gap of 2 hrs after just one pup, sometimes after a few have been born they take a break, this wasnt the case with my girl.

Thank you folks, I too would not be surprise at a break after a few were born but as you suggest if there are strong contractions or nothing I would be concerned after about two hours, wondered if I was unduly cautious, pleased to have your answers.

well this time round she had a pup and went 2h then another and went 2h again then 1h for 3rd pup ,but a friend of mine had pups day after mine and her girl had 7 with in 3h and then went 6h to have 1 more pup ,like most have said if the girl is in no stress and just resting, i had a girl afew years sgo that had 9pups in 14h gosh i still remember it well LOL was long stressful labour for me and her.

> how long do you experienced people leave it before taking action?

This really depends. I have had 4 hour intervals, and even longer with a surprise last puppy, but on Wednesday the bitches behaviour and distress meant after 2 hours after first puppy was born, I wasn't happy and went to vets after 3 hours for Oxytocin, which I was warned if it didn't work a C section would be needed very soon if no contractions or further pups within half an hour (Oxytocin will cause the placentas to detach), that a C section would be needed.

The result was one pup born at home and 4 - 5 hours later the other 4 by C section.

The experience (your won or that of a mentor) is needed at whelping to tell if things are slow, but fine or not going right.

> if there are strong contractions or nothing I would be concerned after about two hours,

Me too!

Not unduly cautious.  Sensible is all.  :-)

We all know our own bitches, and recently I had a bitch whipped off to the vet after just one hour.  Knowing that she is an easy whelper, I knew she needed help.  And it is knowing our bitches that saves lives.  Novice breeders really do need a damn good mentor.  I have had first timers phone me to give me a running commentary and advised them that I wouldn't be on the phone, I would be at the vets!

It is knowing when to leave be, and when to get help that is the most important thing.  I would rather my vet say - Jean you're wasting my time, than risk one of my precious dogs.

Hi everyone, thankyou for all your interest.  At long last, it has  been a bit or a traumatic day, the first puppy was absolutely fine, and my vet was not worried about the broken umbilical cord...but after five more hours of nothing happening but quite strong contractions on and off he asked me to take her to see him, took little pup and mum to vet practice, vet tried oxytocin, but she wasnt getting any better. Nothing stuck in birth canal, but nothing was pushing those left in the right direction.  Had to have a C-Sec.....we now have 3 boys.  Finally managed to get mum to lie down and rest. she hasnt laid down until I kind of insisted she did....puppies are all having a good feed and she is now having a bit of a sleep as long as I keep my hand on her shoulder!.  Could be a long night....once again, thankyou to everyone.... x x

Glad all ok..with mum and pups.
Fingers crossed...well done:)

Pleased to hear mum and pups are okay.

Pleased to hear of the successful outcome.

Snap, exactly what happened to us on Wednesday, even though Mum had previously whelped like shelling peas.

Be very aware that the anaesthetic can make pups sleepy,a and they need to be suckling almost non stop for the first 3 days to bring Mum's milk in.  Keep an eye on weight to ensure they a re gaining, though no gain the first day, or even a minimal loss isn't unusual, as long as by second day they have regained or gained a little and started gaining noticeably by third day then things will go OK.

Don't worry about the books saying they gain birth weight in a week, I am happy with 5 ounces on in first week (medium breed), after that I expect them to gain more than an ounce a day.

so pleased to hear all is now ok, good luck with the NO SLEEP :( ,but its worth it in the end x

a big congratulations sorry it was so traumatic hun, xxx

must be something in the water, same senario for me too resulting in a c-section also on wednesday, only mum had no milk and we had 13 babies!
Its been a long 5 days...and nights!

It so scary when it goes wrong, glad mum and pups are all doing ok

Lordy, 13, I am more than happy with 5, gaining weight now nicely.

Congratulations! I'm glad it all turned out ok. Congrats to Mandy & Brainless too :) All these new babies!!!