Hi all
Just wanted to follow up some of my previous posts and say a big thank you to everyone on this board (including all those who've posted in the past & don't know how much help they've been) for helping me through the last couple of weeks. I hate to say it, but when it comes down to it, TBOTB & other books are not what sticks in your mind so much as what real people have said or done.
Anyway, the great news is that my girl went into hard labour at 4am last Saturday (D60). I had gone back to bed at half two as had been up since half three the previous morning when she went into early labour and warned my husband that he was to let me know as soon as she even looked like she was thinking about having a contraction.  So, he came and fetched me, I asked him how long she had been like this (panting, contracting) and he said 'About 20 minutes' (grrrr!). Even in my tired state, I did realise that he would still be of more help alive than dead so said nothing and got on with helping her. A friend of mine said that someone must have been looking out for us that night...
First puppy couldn't be born. He had lost his water sac and was breach, with one hind leg forward and one back. Since we are at least half an hour from the vet's I just got stuck in with the obstetric gel and worked around him. Finally, I managed to cling on to a foot, worried that I would break his leg at the very least, then remembered the phrase 'You can't kill a dead pup' and just got him out. Not only was he alive, but after a lick from his mum, he was headed straight for the teat. 9.6oz.
2nd puppy arrived a bit later, perfectly fine. 9.1oz
3rd puppy we had to wait for. The mum seemed to be straining a lot and nothing much was happening, so for the second time I 'went in'. Visions of James Herriot in miniature... I had to laugh when my husband asked if I needed more light, bless him. Did actually point out that I would have had to have eyes on stalks to see anything! The puppy was stuck in the birth canal, head first. I did a bit of feathering to help strengthen her contractions and get the puppy to where I could hook around her, being careful only to go with contractions and finally delivered a very alive 11.6 oz girl! Don't think she would have made it on her own, so was very grateful that I'm not squeamish!
4th puppy arrived VERY quickly after the 3rd one (within about 5 minutes), so think they were starting to queue up. He had lost his sac too, but came out pretty easily and weighed in at 9.3oz.
Finally, puppy no. 5 arrived about 20 minutes later. Luckily she was long and thin and pretty much slipped out with the first decent contraction!
So, our first litter has given us 5 very healthy, bouncing puppies who were all able to breathe for themselves and all suckled well.

Saturday morning about 9ish, we were concerned about her panting, which was very heavy. Rang the vet, who said to bring her in at 2, which we did (along with a box of puppies). VERY unhappy about the receptionist, who seemed to think it was ok for new mother and box of puppies to sit in reception for ages, but luckily the vet on duty was brilliant. She clocked us as soon as we came in and raced through the two 'emergencies' before us (in a matter of about 3 minutes) to get us seen to. She was fairly sure there were no more puppies but gave her a shot of Oxytocin just in case & said any more worries, bring her in. The puppies were all checked too and declared fit and healthy.

Since then, I have had less sleep than I did in my college days and am still sleeping in with my girl and her puppies. She's a pretty good mum and is cleaning them and feeding them, but likes to stretch out and sleep outside the whelping box, which I can understand. Unfortunately for me, when they start squeaking, she just looks at me like 'What are you going to do?' so I end up sorting them out for her, especially when they've managed to bury themselves under the bedding. She does get some time on her own with the puppies as they're getting a bit older, but I don't like to leave her for more than 20 minutes. Tomorrow, I'll be buying a webcam so I can sit downstairs for a bit and my husband can remember what I look like!

The only problem we have at the moment is that the mum isn't eating well. In fact, she's eating less than she was before she had the puppies. Initially I wasn't too worried, as she didn't lose her appetite until the evening before she went into labour, so she stayed in good condition.
Now, though, I'm starting to panic slightly as she's getting slimmer by the day. She adores goats milk with egg yolks in it and will drink two bowls of that a day, plus water with calcium supplement (just in case). She will eat cooked chicken, but not a lot of it, maybe a few handfuls a day, won't touch cottage cheese or plain yoghurt, and is very reluctant to eat her special 'nursing' dog food (Burns) that she adored till 10 days ago. I am obviously soaking it for her, in chicken broth or milk, but she's really not bothered by it.
Am I being an overanxious mother? Will she eat when she is hungry enough? I'd really appreciate some advice.

Actually, thinking about it, we are also a bit concerned with how stiff she appears when she's going up and down the stairs and wondered if this was just natural soreness after giving birth? She seems very well in herself and always enjoys a trip to the garden and the chance to catch up with our other dogs.

wow good on you ,you did so very well!!

i know how you are feeling ,my last litter was 5 months ago ,our girl only had 3 pups large breed ,but she wouldnt eat! she drank plenty tho like your girl i tried EVERYTHING for her to eat and she just sniffed at it and walked away! she went off to nothing and i was worried sick about her ,we ended up having to force feed her it broke my heart to do it but i know she would of starved to death! any1 that can say a dog wouldnt didnt see my girl she had nothing wrong with her but wouldnt eat she became weak in her movment but was the best mum ever to her babies ,once she was away from her babies she would eat but the min she was back with them (after her milk dried up) she stopped eating again ,the only thing we could come up with was she was to rapped up in her babies and wanted them to eat it .....try what ever you can ,give her time ,when pups get to about 3weeks old mums milk is at its most ,she should eat plenty then, my girl wouldnt even eat what the pups left!
but a massive congratulations and good luck with your babies and mums eating x

> Finally, I managed to cling on to a foot, worried that I would break his leg at the very least, then remembered the phrase 'You can't kill a dead pup' and just got him out. Not only was he alive, but after a lick from his mum, he was headed straight for the teat. 9.6oz.
>

Awwww!!  Don't you just love these happy endings?  :-)  :-)

My girls are loathe to even get out of the whelping box to have a wee.  They just won't move out from the pups.  I hand feed while they are at this stage, and always feed the bitch while they are feeding the pups.

By the time that milk production is great, around 3 weeks, they are usually eating for england. 

A friend of mine had this problem with her bitch who didn't seem to want to eat anything She had 7 big puppies and masses of milk with an udder like a cow so the puppies were growing really well but the mum just wouldn't eat. My friend had to give her liquid with a syringe as she wouldn't drink either. Milk gave her the runs so she gave her water and chicken stock to keep the fluids up.

The not eating did cause big problems as she got thinner and thinner and after a few days she collapsed with calcium deficiency (milk fever in cows). She nearly died and had to be rushed to the vets and was given intravenous calcium.
My friend had tried everything she could to get her to eat. Offering her dried food tinned food, raw food, cat food, people food etc. There is not much she didn't try. We even resorted to force feeding her with small balls of mince. She looked like an RSPCA cruelty case. My friend had to give her calcium tablets 4 times a day which helped but one day she was sick just after she had the tablet and then collapsed again so had to go back to the vets for more  calcium.

If your bitch is really not eating enough I would ask your vet for some calcium tablets to giver to make sure she doesn't get deficient. Symptoms seem to come on fairly quickly and start with the dog staggering round with a slightly strange gait. Their temperature rises Poppy's got to nearly 40 Deg C and she was panting heavily. Then they fall over and lose consciousness and can die so if you are in any doubt at all get to the vets. It was really scary for my friend. Luckily she was at home with the puppies. If she had been out then her bitch would probably have died.

The vet was a bit surprised that Poppy had low calcium as it usually affects bitches soon after whelping but Poppy was nearly 2 weeks afterwards.

>My friend had to give her calcium tablets 4 times a day which helped but one day she was sick just after she had the tablet and then collapsed again so had to go back to the vets for more  calcium.

Just out of interest, did your friend give the bitch calcium supplements during pregnancy?

Well done on the birth, sounds like you had fun!

I'd try just about anything you think she might eat.  Have you tried soup or sloppy potato with shredded meat.  Will she eat fruity yoghurt?

I don't know much about calcium but maybe have her checked at the vet for it with you being worried about her stiffness.  From what was said above it could be a sign.

Again well done.  I think you did fantastically.  Hope I can be as level headed if faced with your situation.

>Just out of interest, did your friend give the bitch calcium supplements during pregnancy?

no. She didn't give any supplements.  She did as often recommended on here and swapped over to puppy food during the pregnancy. The problem was purely down to the fact that the bitch would not eat. She had a good appetite when pregnant but once the pups arrived she stopped and hardly ate anything. She did produce lots of milk and the puppies grew fantastically but she was eating less after the pups were born than her normal non pregnant diet.

One of my breeders dogs did this, she was really worried like yourself.  She made her a very tasty casorole and did have to make her take the first few mouthfuls after that her apptite did come back slowly.  She felt a little better as she had managed to get some nurishment in her, she used best steak and plenty of veggies and lot of gravy.

I'd forgot about this.  It might help.

Thanks for all the replies. To be honest, I'm just getting back to normal sleep patterns and not worrying constantly about mum and puppies, so it's taken me a while to get back on here. It was a worry, especially as she didn't seem to want anything 'sloppy' such as broth or stew and refused red meat entirely, but then I remembered that she loved raw chicken wings, which she used to get when she was younger, so I tried her on those and she ate 7 in a row! I had already been adding calcium supplements (with the vet's blessing) to her water, along with glucose, once she whelped, plus putting her on goat's milk and raw egg yolk, which she loves. She will also eat sausages and her complete food (if it's soaked in goat's milk and raw egg yolk, obviously) and although she's lost some weight she's still at about her fighting weight (when she looks good in the show ring), so I'm not too worried.

sounds like your girl is doning very well on what shes been eating :) how old are pups now ? xx

Just wanted to say - that with an impending litter/mating this was just the tonic to read - thank you! a real life account is just wonderfull.Well done you x