Hi I wondered what everyone did re sleeping pre whelping. I read an old thread that said someone set their alarm every 20 mins to wake up. I still have a little while to go but just planning. If my girl is in her whelping box at the side of my bed am I ok to go to sleep as normal? Last few nights I hear her if she has a drink or moves around. What do you think? She is in a snowsilk cube so can't get out to come to me.

This takes me back.   I always found that if I went to bed, it was very difficult to wake up, even with an alarm, one gets too comfortable.   So now I either sleep on the settee, not so comfy, or a mattress on the floor (very uncomfortable) impossible to sleep properly, therefore, you hear every sound from your bitch, and do not miss anything.

I just assumed I would wake up but now I have had the thought what if not?

Well, I used to wake for the first couple of nights, then.............one's mind says, 'oh, it's a false alarm again', so you switch off and go back to sleep, you may be different, and wake at every sound, when are the pups due?

Sleep on the settee and never have slept through any pups being born, saying that my girls always start about 11.30 at night and so I don't really get a chance to sleep LOL!"

I think sleeping on the settee is best, do not disturb the rest of the house either, have only ever had one litter born during the day, usually first pup arrives at about midnight.

Not due till a week on Monday, although my manual count makes them due two days before the whelping charts say.
She was mated 26,27 and 28 April and is small toy breed. I have had her in the bedroom for the last week

the moment mine start showing whelping signs I dont sleep until all are safely born.

You've got a long wait - do not have experience with toy breeds, but think I read somewhere on here that they can whelp early.

You're right dogsdinner.   Having frequently whelped bitches at day 56, I make sure that everything is well in place before the due date.

I take a bitch up to bed with me when she is within 10 days of due date (not that I've ever had one go to day 63!)  I realise that you probably wouldn't do it with a large breed, so folks, this is what works for me (before someone shouts me down!)

My girls are never kept in a whelping crate, they only get moved to one after pups are born.  I put a load of bath towels on the bed next to me, and bitches have always woken me by panting and scratching at me.  Which is when I move downstairs.  I have had one girl that whelped her first pup in my bed, she had woken me, and I thought she had a way to go, so didn't go down fast enough.

This always works to ensure that I don't sleep through.  I suppose it's a time when you are not sleeping deep, and you're on alert anyway.

My dogs sleep in my bedroom, so I thought that I would stay awake for my bitch whelping, or at least wake up if she started. I didn't and she got a pup stuck and needed an emergency caesar. I lost 4 of the pups, and nearly lost my bitch. I now don't stay in my bedroom, but on a mattress on the whelping room floor. Learnt my lesson.

I think it's a bit different having them in your bedroom, as opposed to having them in your bed.

They move about and you feel every wriggle!

minw was mated 25th, 26th and 28th of april so mine will be due on sunday,  i will be sleeping on a fold out couch in whelping room floor,  ill be so excited i dont think ill sleep though :)

> I take a bitch up to bed with me when she is within 10 days of due date (not that I've ever had one go to day 63!)  I realise that you probably wouldn't do it with a large breed, so folks, this is what works for me (before someone shouts me down!)
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Wouldn't dream of shouting you down :) much easier to have a small breed on the bed rather than a large breed - think my girls would have the whole bed and I would be relegated to the floor!! tried once a sleeping bag for myself on the floor, not very successful I am afraid, the bitch ended up in the sleeping bag, and I had the armchair!!    Another time I had taken a conservatory bamboo chair into the whelping room, for myself I thought, popped out to make a coffee, came back to find that the bitch had esconced herself on the chair, but had ripped the cushion to shreds, the whole room was covered in tiny bits of foam.

Also a lot of mess with a large breed so it has to be a whelping box with loads of newspapers and bathtowels to mop up with, especially if it is a large litter 10 plus.

Yes I show and breed my breed and she has been in the bedroom since day 50 from first mating, 47 from last. She is following her mother's pattern so far with temp and behaviours. It's great to have all the notes from last time to compare. Her mum delivered on day 62 although had me frantic by digging every night for a week before! She is very relaxed and content but soooo fat right out at the sides. It's always nerve wracking. May follow your lead Jean and just let her on the bed- hubby won't mind. I never understand people who say they enjoy breeding- I am a bag of nerves right from mating. I love the planning etc just so aware of all that can go wrong. Have my mothering kits and feeding tubes at the ready just in case- even have an incubator on standby!!! Still a while to go yet though I hope...

Powderpuff are you already sleeping on the floor or waiting till nearer her official due date?

I always wake up at the slightest noise when the time is approaching. I take a single mattress and put it on the floor (more comfy than the sofa) and sleep next to the whelping box.
Normally I sleep like a log but at this time every single movement of the bitch wakes me, so I would never sleep through it.

i will be going out there friday night,  which will be day 61, i will start taking her temp twice a day starting tuesday (day 58) and if it drops before friday i will start sleeping in the whelping room with her then.
also if she wont eat a meal, is generally a sign with my breed and you can expect babies that day so if she stops eating before friday ill be out there earlier aswell.

> i will be going out there friday night,  which will be day 61

That would be really, really pushing it with my breed, as it's unusual for them to go to day 61.  If I left it that late to sleep with her, I would be taking too big a risk.

It's true to say that no 2 whelpings are alike.  Just because a bitch stops eating with one whelping, doesn't say that it will be the same with the next.  I once had a bitch go straight into labour with no outward signs whatsoever, so I never take things for granted.

I would be having a nervous breakdown if I left it to day 61!  :-)

We always sleep with them from a week before, as both my breeds have been known to have pups a week early.

> Her mum delivered on day 62 although had me frantic by digging every night for a week before!

  For a whole week?  Bet you looked like a zombie!!  :-)

I did have one girl that panted for 48 hours solid.  I daren't go to sleep, and sat up in bed reading. To be honest, it made things more comfortable for me, being warm and snug.  I know I couldn't do it with a Great Dane!  But it meant that, when she actually started properly, I wasn't as shattered as if I had been sleeping on the floor.

Mind you, I don't have a hubby to keep awake by having the light on all night.

that is true, it will depend on the breed, and each individual bitch is different ofcourse,  i may start sleeping out there earlier but for my girl i doubt it will be necesarry,   

what day would you suggest to be out there at?  day 58?59?

Well before day 56 with my breed.

About ten years ago I invested in a CCTV camera and monitor and it's served me very well since. A wonderful investment and definite life saver for puppies. It's totally versatile and can be used in a wide range of situations.

My wooden whelping boxes are custom made so the wide angle camera can be screwed onto the side or into the top to give the required view of a whelping bitch or bitch and puppies. Even if the whelping box is in the bedroom it means the monitor can be put by the bed and with the camera in the top of the box a first contraction by the bitch can be seen. Also volume can be set to suit and OH can also be given monitoring duties as well! Plus it means I get to sleep a few extra nights in my own bed.

Another advantage is that a bitch who becomes aggitated by the owner keep going to look every time she moves can be relaxed. The camera can also be screwed at any angle onto a room wall or in a kennel to watch a large breed dog who is into the stage of urinating frequently and trashing everything in sight.

So as long as the monitor is carried around the bitch and litter can be viewed very close up, even when peeling spuds at the kitchen sink! When OH is watching the telly I put the monitor next to TV while I go to walk the dogs. So at no time will the bitch have our eyes off of her for more than a couple of seconds.

dogsbody-  that is a great idea, well worth getting if your planning frequent litters

We have a puppycam so I can check on her without disturbing her - she gets so bouncy and happy to see me it would be impossible to know if she was restless or had been sleeping peacefully! I am a poor sleeper and always wake several times in the night so I check on her each time. If she was at all restless in the evening I would sleep on the sofa in case things were starting, but so far it seems to be safe to go to bed! I also have some handy puppy-obsessed friends in America who are watching the cam closely up to about 4am our time!

> what day would you suggest to be out there at?  day 58?59?

At least a week before the due date from first mating.

>   For a whole week?  Bet you looked like a zombie!!  :-)

I did and it's funny reading back now- I was convinced that every night would be the night!
Tuppence was digging last night- 3 times during the night about ten mins each time then back to sleep- same thing her mum did.
Her vulva though is nice and tight, plug intact and pups not moved nearer birth canal yet. She is eating well and temp 37.5 so I don't think at this stage she will be too early. Everything is ready though in case she does.