hiya all just thought i would share my devestating experience.

i'm the owner of a beautiful chihuahua, and as id been asked by family and close friends if/when i breed her they would want a puppy, i took the dicision to breed.
she is 21months old and she had no obvious health problems.
after checking out my list of 5 stud dogs i made my decision on the obvious one that was true to the breed, and all matings went very well.
my chihuahua (shanty) went to day 61 and sat 9th october she showed contracting signs and within 1 1/2 hours she had 3 beautiful baby girls, all born within sacks, and cords etc all in tact, and after some help with all 3 from myself they began nursing within 10 mins of birth. after first nursing i inspected all 3 for cleft pallets etc and although the last born was 1/2 the size of the other 2 i was not concerned about this because its a commen thing in this breed. Shanty was showing all the signs of being a fantastic mom, and she tended to their every need.
now on day 12 the smallest puppy was showing no interest in nursing and as it was early morning it was obvious that this little one could have gone all night with no feed. after checking the puppy there was a very slight tenting on her skin so i gave her a few drops of fluid that i made up consisting of a pinch of salt and 2 spoons of sugar and 2 spoons of honey mixed up in a cup of water, and i took the little one to the vet, who after checking her over explaind that she was a little de-hydrated and gave her some fluids under her skin and some anibiotics, i took her home and isolated her from the other 2, and after 2 days of feeding every 2hours and maitaining heat she fell asleep!
for the next 4 days all was fine, until day 17 when the second puppy born was showing the same symptoms, so i followed exactly the same path, and after the visit to the vets she showed signs of improvement, on day 20 her breething became very irratic and then very laboured she feel asleep.
now the fisrt puppy born was a thriving and pilling on the weight and up and about play fighting with mom, until day 23 when i noticed her walking away from mom and crying then sleeping and not nursing. mom was also crying and doing her best to confort the puppy. approx 2 hours later i found the puppy on the newpaper area of the whelping box and lying in a small pool of dark brown sick, i genuinly thought that either the puppy had got into moms dish of food, or mom had started to try and feed  her, i cleaned her up and phoned my vet who asked me to take her within the hour, i got myself ready and when i went to get the puppy she was again in a pool of sick(dark brown), as i was in the process of cleaning her up i noticed she was very limp and hardly breathing, she fell asleep in my hands.
now i don't claim to be a breeder at all but i think ive read every book that i could get my hands on about breeding and taking care of puppies etc, and my cleanliness was second to none! but i cannot help thinking that this was my fault?
could it have been this dreaded ''fading puppy sydrome'' , and could the infections have been under lying, waiting for something to trigger them?
is it possible that shanty had an infection prior to mating or the stud dog?
i'm devistated!!
kindest regards
mark

I'm so sorry to read about your terrible experience.

This link is a most informative read on the canine herpes virus and I hope it might help you understand what might have happened to your litter.
http://www.collieclubofnsw.com/CanineHerpesVirusSeminar.pdf

So very sorry to hear of your dreadful experience.  I really feel for you and also the poor mum who much be wondering where her babies have gone.  I understand that there is a vaccine that is given to bitches in whelp one injection a week to 10 days after mating and another 3 weeks before they are due to whelp - but please everyone check that with your own vet as I have read different dates for injecting.  The injection helps with fading puppy syndrome cause by the herpes virus.  When I took my two bitches for scanning to see if they were in whelp I was told about the vaccine but unfortunately they were both too far into their pregnancy to have the injection but in future I shall make sure any bitch I have mated has the injection.  At that early stage you will not know if your bitch is not in whelp and may think this is a waste of money but when you read of situations like this surely it is worth the cost not to have to go through the heartbreak of losing puppies.

canine herpes  can help fading puppies , but there is also another option but it has to be done relatively quickly , its called plasma transfusion  if you search under fading puppies on champ dogs you will find an article  by a lady called anne-marie and her partner .this is what i did when a friends puppies were dying all you need is a good vet a donor dog (up to date with jabs) blood is taken from the donor dog and spun to seperate the plasma , the plasma is then injected into each puppy (for giant breeds we only  needed 2ml per pup) if it cant go IV its injected into the jugular , its not always 100% but it saved 7 out of 8 pups , the donor doesnt have to be a relative or the same breed, we only took 40mls of blood  to produce enough plasma  for all the pups , i know its too late for you but something for us all to bear in mind , i am so sorry for you and your girl , and i wish you all the best XX

I have nothing to add medically, but my heart goes out to you, it is hard enough when breeders loose any of a much wanted litter within the first week of birth, but to loose pups at 21 and 23 days is so heartbreaking. So very sorry.

Life is sometimes so unfair.

but unfortunately they were both too far into their pregnancy to have the injection

Someone I know 'forgot' to have the first injection but was advised by studs owner just to have the 2nd  7 - 10 days prior to whelping.

How awful for you, luckily I have not lost any yet from my 2 litters experience, but it must be devastating particularly when you'd got them through the first couple of weeks. :-(

thankyou to everyone for the reply's--very valued info!!!!!!
kindest regards
mark