This is my first litter of puppies--- and I'm just looking for some information to put my mind at ease, I'm concerned about my dog.
She whelped 12 healthy puppies, all are thriving and doing well. This is her first litter.
Other than being overwhelmed at first, she's been a fantastic mum.
The pups are two and a half weeks old.
My questions are... Is any of this normal??

- there is still a small amount of clear opaque discharge coming from her vulva.

- she is lethargic if she goes out to play, she tires quickly and needs to come inside and sleep after

- she has been hiding outside? Digging holes under the porch etc.

Any information is greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks

Hello, the discharge is normal and can carry on for as long as 6 weeks.
Lactation is an extremly metabolically demanding time so again being tired sooner that before is expected.
In regards to the hiding outside and digging holes, as she is only 2 and a half weeks post partrum her uterus COULD stll be involving so it could be due to the pain furthermore some dogs dig holes so they can lay in them to cool them selves down.

Keep a close eye on her for any shivering, loss of appetite, sore mouth and of course her teats.

Thank you very much for the information. I tried to do as much research as possible before breeding and before the pups were born--- but as per usual, its never enough and there are still points where I am left scratching my head!

> - she has been hiding outside? Digging holes under the porch etc.

My girl has done this on both her litters and also on her phantoms. I beleive it is an instinct to make a den for the puppies outside. If left to her own devices I am sure she would have moved her babies into her dens. Hers were under a big bush at the bottom of the garden.

With 12 pups she's bound to tire out quickly too.  As has been said they can lose the discharge for quite a few weeks after having the pups

Again all seems normal to me.Feeding 12 puppies is naturally tiring,and digging dens is a natural instinct.All dogs differ and its rare to find a text book whelp and post delivery/post natal period.
My girl had discharge for 4 weeks,tries to bury bones/chicken carcesses in the sofa cushions and is very windy on movement.She has come upstairs to see what I am up to and has bottom trumpeted all the way up.
As long as she is eating,not drinking excessively,bleeding excessively, no temp,lost all interest in her pups etc then I would not worry.

The digging is a hormonal thing and doesnt usually mean they want to actually move their pups. Its just an evolutionary throwback to when they would have whelped in the wild - an escape route so to speak.

If I have a frantic digger I put a large cardboard box full of newspapers next to their whelping box for them to dig whilst being closely supervised. It soon wears off.

As for the tiredness thing...well wouldnt you be - with all that milk production and cleaning?

We made the mistake of being too involved and hands-on with our first litter many years ago and the bitch decided she had to get the pups away from us.  She dug out the centre of a pull-out sofa which was in a spare room and took all her pups there and even closed the door behind her.  We moved the pups back to the whelping box and covered it over and left mum alone for the next few days till she told us that it was OK to help.  If you have too many visitors or prying eyes, mum will panic and some have even been known to kill the pups if they get too stressed this way.

She is drinking a lot--- is this bad? I figured she was just needing more to stay hydrated... She's eating a lot more too?
What does excessive drinking indicate? (I don't know if I'd call her drinking "excessive..." But she does drink a lot. But I've been watching her for signs of urinary tract distress and doesn't seem to be a problem for her?)

Bitches with pups do drink a lot more than usual, and of course they need a LOT more food -6 meals a day I give mine. It's all because of the milk production.

They will drink more than usually,and you would want this as this encourages productiom of milk for the pups.For the first couple of weeks I actively encouraged extra fluid intake by giving drimks of goats milk and whisking in a raw eggg.Also the weather has been warm and humid- another reason for encouraging extra fluids.The large water bowl was replenished at least twive daily.
You would know if your girl was excessively drinking as she would not be satisfied and will continuously go to the water bowl.
It is normal for the dietary intake to be on the up,again it takes many more calories to produce and feed pups.My girl went from eating once daily in her pre preganant state to 4 times a day.Again monitor weight gain as they will not be exercising as much,but balance this with the extra required to maintain healthy pups and healthy Mum.