hiya everyone. well after a quite tramatic few days everything seems to be going ok. we layed the little boy to rest the other night, was a very difficult thing to do. but i chose not to see him, my partner kept him away from me, and this is why ive chosen not to breed again in the future ive found it to heatbreaking,
mums doing well with the pups there putting on weight fine, but im dieing to get her in the bath, and give her a good freshen up. the puppies are 5 days old now. so is it still to soon to give her a bath and a proper brush her tail had got quite knotty slightley matted and behind her ears too. any advice ??

If she's happy to come away from them I can't see the harm. I did my girl after 2 days, she hates being dirty x

yeah my girls the same, but i was worried about taking away her natural sent if you understand what i mean to me she just stinks lol but is this what the puppies are drawn too, well ive put the hot water on ready for bathing cant wait xx

My girls are usually bathed 2 or 3 days after whelping, some need it more than others.    Mine are coated so they can be away for 30 or 40 mins or so for there bath and blow dried.  Never had any bother with pups not finding Mum.  Enjoy your fresh smelling girl :-)

I'd just wipe down the dirty areas with a damp cloth and very diluted hibiscrub. I certainly wouldn't risk stressing her out with a full bath and total drying before she could return to her pups.

I would not bath a  bitch of my breed (double coated) as it would take longer than she would be happy away from pups, and even longer to get her thoroughly enough dry  to go back to them.

I use unscented wet wipes, the thick cloth type, and for any heavy staining I put some baby bath liquid in a bowl and use a flannel. 

The Baby bath liquid should not irritate as it is designed to not need rinsing from a baby's skin, so a little residue on the coat is unlikely to be an issue.

well i was so eager to bath her i took the first answer i got lol. but thanks for you replies. its a 10 minute job to bath my dog shes very tiny, shes all fresh and clean, and after she was fully dried  she went back to the pups and they found her fine worry over phew!!
and i think she feels alot better for it too..
xx

My toy breed has pantaloons, and some get quite bloody in this area.

As they usually get distressed when removed from pups, I normally leave it until around day 3, and just put their bum end in the shower.  I only shampoo the dirty parts, and make it as quick as possible.

i could never bath mine LOL would take about 4h to do and to dry ,but i wish i could she is abit messy ,ive been washing her but shes hating the mess.

hi jean im not to sure what you mean by pantaloons? lol  and my breeds the same as yours.  she had muck every where even behind her ears and all knotty shes never had knots in her life. she seems a lot happier, all fluffy and fresh. amazing what a bath can do.
lol white lilly and thats exactley why i dont have large breeds :)

We had so much 'gunk' with our first litter & my girl (long haired) got in a right mess :( I used to take a bucket of soapy water into the room next to the whelping box & give her rear end a good shampoo & rinse & towel dry, but I ended up cutting away a lot from her tail. Next time I'll use hair bobbles to tie up any long hair. :P

I did a sneaky trim on my girls 'trousers' (the hair down the back of their back legs Myboo) when she was due, then just rinsed the yucky bits and dried thoroughly. I think I may have done that a day or two after the pups were born as she was pretty disgusting back there! :-D whitelilly is your breed something where you could just trim off the dirty bits or will it take years to grow it back?

im thinking about trimimg around that area ,she is looseing alot of her coat already down there so it not matter ,i dont want to touch her tail tho ,that will take years to grow lol

I just wiped my girl down until about 2 weeks. Then I bathed her because she was quite willing to leave the pups for a while. Didn't take too long because the dreaded post whelp moult was starting.

> hi jean im not to sure what you mean by pantaloons? lol  and my breeds the same as yours.

I have Long Coats!  Perhaps you have Smooths?

The pantaloons are the long coat on the back of the legs, and some have quite a bit of it!  :-)

hi jean, i know what you mean now lol.. yes i have long coats too, i never really thought of that, but then again i was horrified when the vet shaved her belly to do the scan!
but its about convience not cosmetic i surpose
little green you really made me laugh with the bobbles thing, i dont think i could look at her without laughing lol.. but needs must and all that :)