My 2 year old bitch has just had her first litter and nothing went to plan, my friend who was my breeding mentor got rushed into hospital on Friday, dog went into labour on Saturday evening I sat with her all night she was obviously in first stage and was uncomfortable and a little restless, at 7.15am she stood up from laying down and I noticed a tiny pair of paws and the end of a tail hanging out of her,there was no developemtn for about 20 minutes so following a phone call to emergency vets I was told there was nothing to worry about let her walk about outside which I then did. 15 minutes later I was in the car on the way to the vets they managed to manipulate puppy out after about 15 minutes of tugging and twisting which tore my poor dog. I was told to leave her whelp the rest of the litter at the vets which I did and she had a further 5 healthy pups.
My concern is that pups are 3 days old and all doing really well but the bitch has been panting on and off ever since having them and when I checked with vet they told me to turn of the heat pad as not needed this time of year which I have done but she still pants alot (although never when she's asleep). She is also today wanting to come into the rest of the house with us which I thought was strange although she is feeding her pups and straight back to them if they cry. She just seems a little restless when in the whelping room and I thought she may be a little hot although there is no heating on in there at the moment it is still 23c (about 80ishf I think).She is eating and drinking really well and going outside to the toilet fine.
So do I have any reason to be worried or I am just over reacting? Oh my friend the breeding mentor is now out of the picture as it's her gall bladder and she's in waiting for op this week.

See I did warn you that nothing went as per plan lol.

Thanks for reading

> She is also today wanting to come into the rest of the house with us

You need to be in the whelping room with her 24/7 at the present time.  I would not be leaving her alone at all, particularly with her being so restless, the danger of her stepping on or overlying the pups is too great.  Many bitches do pant for several days as the uterus contracts into place but the fact she had a tear (if I have got that part of your story right) then I suppose she is at risk of infection.  Have you checked her temperature?  The fact that she is eating and drinking well is very encouraging so I think it is just that she needs more of your attention and reassurance.

has she had an oxytocin jab? This helps the uterus contract and most vets administer it after all the pups are whelped down.
I agree she needs sat with.

I recently had a very similar experience with my lab. She just didn't seem to want to settle for a few days..I would check her temperature as mine had a very slighly raised temp and was given a course of antibiotics.
I think the my girl was just a bit over awed in general and wanted to be with both the pups and the rest of the household. Needless to say she really settled down after about day 5 so it may just be a case of hanging in there. If she is eating, drinking and feeding normally and you haven't got any constantly crying pups then things should be ok.
I found that by letting her out at regular intervals but not going too far helped a lot...she would tell me when she was ready to go back to her babies. She will have the sensation of needing to wee a lot at the moment as everything gets back into its rightful place.
I would also strongly advise staying with her as much as possible as we did lose a pup to her being a bit heavy handed in her restlessness and squashing one when my back was turned.
Hope all goes well and rest assured it will get less stressful!

I would not turn off the heat pad as the pups need to be extra warm at this early stage in their lives, the room temperature doesn't reflect on what is going on at puppy level

I found if pups or Mum were too hot then they moved off the pad for a while

Many mention the restless panting which seems to settle when she gets used to her new role in life,lots of praise and reassurance is needed

Panting is quite common my bitches pant a lot for the first week or so, a combination of contractions maybe and thye fact the whelping box and room are hot. I would not turn the heat pad off yet, the pups and the mother will move away if they are too hot and move towards it if they cool too much. You say she wants to be in the rest of the house with you? Who is with her and the pups? We never, ever leave the pupps at that age and the mother stays with the puppies also. I would amke sure there is someone in the whelping room as much as possible with mum and pups at this arly stage :-)

Sorry I didn't explain perfectly there is someone in the whelping room with her all the time but she seems to want to be in her usual place own bedroom with her litter sister and roaming the rest of the house with the rest of the family. Thanks for the advice on panting and yes she did tear but they gave her a long lasting antibiotic injection which is apparently just about to run out according to the vet. She had 3 oxy injections during labour as her labour kept stopping. I am so releived to read replies that people have experienced similar it is really reassuring! Thanks again

if you can cover the whelp box with a table and a blanket over the top making it dark and den like this can give mum more confidence that her puppies are safe and make her stay with them . Sometimes they want to look around the house because they want to move the litter to a 'in thier eyes'  more secure place.
A themometer inside the whelp box at this stage will give you more idea of the temp of the box not the room. If puppies noses and feet are nice and pink and they sleep seperated from each other then they are nice and comfortable ..when they bunch up they are feeling cool this can tend to happen during the  night.
Also it may be a little early but take care that she isnt showing signs of eclampsia .. keep an eye on her temperature and isnt wobbly on her legs or disorientated.
Plenty of fluids and make sure someone is sleeping with them 24/7 if you are alone and have to leave the room ..take mum with you.

Good luck

Thanks so much for the advice. I think we've cracked it! I let her go out in the garden with her litter sister (from whom she has never been seperated before) for a 5 minute run and she came back in a settled beautifuly last night so I think she may have just needed a little exercise and to see her sister? not really sure but whatever it was it did the trick although she is slighty restless again today so is now off in the garden again with Poppy. Thanks again guys it really was comforting to know that I wasn't doing anything too wrong!