my bitch is on day 55 today (monday) and she is panting quite heavily, ears back and eyes almost closed, her genitals have swollen and she has milk and also a bit of clear/cloudy discharge. could she be going into early labour? would pups be viable at this time? she is only 52 days from the last mating :( im hoping she hold on till her due date (8th) but do you think she could be starting early?

Hi, how is she now? Unfortunately I can't help you with your question, Im new at this myself, but I hope someone can come along soon to put your mind at rest.
My bitch is a day ahead of you, day 56 today, she has been panting alot of a night time, we are having to freeze with the heating off and windows open so she can have a good nights sleep, she's been a little restless and will sometimes dig in her whelping room and lost some clear egg white like discharge today but none of this concerns me. If you are worried about your bitch maybe a call to your vet or mentor will help with some answers? It can be quite nerve racking can't it.

With a bit of luck she will be in the early stages like this for a while.  My girls regularly only carry the pups for 8 weeks.  Very toy breed.  I have never had a problem with pups at day 56, it's happened quite a few times.  Pups have been totally viable.

I suppose I don't even consider it early labour any more, as I'm so used to it.

How is she now? My bitch has been panting quite a bit today, even heavily breathing whilst asleep but she's so big now and it's been a fairly warm day. She's lost more mucus and has now taken herself into her whelping room, her foof's suddenly ballooned also. Hope your girly is ok

well we are day 56 today and she is still holding on, she is getting very restless and fed up though, she keeps laying down but then jumping and looking at her bum or behind her, no panting or contractions or anything though, for some reason i dont think she looks as big today, i have bought a puppy pen and put her in there to sleep last night and she managed to jump out in the night :s im hoping she will have the pups in there and then stay in there with them, its the same as the crufts puppy pens, 4x4ft with barn type door

Similar but different here, she is digging every now and then for a few seconds and panting quite a bit, but it's a warm night and she is long coated and she has always been a bit of a panter. But she's not looking at her rear or belly yet. But our girl also doesn't look quite so round in the tummy either?

Perhaps they're kicking - Ellie did a bit of that, as I recall.

My girl panted and paced for 7 days before going into proper labour on the 8th night. Longest week of my life so I feel for you!
I also would not shut her in the pen at all, give her free access to it, but dont shut it. My girl was in and out of her box which is behind puppy panels, it was a pain to keep her in there when labour properly started (i sat with her in there when her water bag came) as I knew she wanted to get on the sofa, but now she is happily settled in there with her pups, even with free access to the rest of the house.

Hope she holds off for you a little longer.  Maybe the babies are moving down and its worrying her a little or painful.  If she doesn't look as big, from what i remember, the babies have dropped down getting ready to come out.  Soemone will correct me if i'l not quite right.

Sounds like Marie could be similar.

she has started heavy panting tonight, not sure if she is in early labour or if it is because the house is too warm for her being a double coated breed :s feel a long few nights coming on and should be going training in the morning with the rest of the dogs and a few more people :s

Iv too been up through the night, was so sure we'd have pups by now but no, she decided to sleep all through the night. Had a few nights like this now, and it would just be typical that I have been up all week with her whilst Hubby takes it in his stride that I would fall asleep miss it all whilst he is by her side! Lol! Good luck :)

iv got very heavy panting, restlessness and had afew cries so far, i think she is close, she is just trying to rest atm but she is still breathing very fast while trying to sleep, i may take her for a short walk up an down the street to see if i can get her going

I was thinking the same but have been told horror stories about infections. We have pretty much the same going on here now, she seems to know when Im tired its time to start the panting! She has been digging her whelp bed, dug up the vet bed and paper to lay on the lino underneath! Maybe we will both have our little surprises today :) She does this for a while then rests then repeats. We have had a teeny loose bowel movement and lots of wee's. I was predicting yesterday or this morning.

>I was predicting yesterday or this morning.

Sounds pretty close now!  :-)  :-)  :-)

Very close now I think Jean :D She is very restless pacing a bit in the whelp room, getting up laying down, licking herself a little etc. She has strained for a toilet but there is nothing left to come out, she is urinating a dribble as often as she can. She takes a minutes rest every now and then. Fingers crossed wont be too long, feel for her now. Hope its going ok with the other expectant litter :)

Oooooh exciting!

My bitch strained to pee too; someone told me it was because the pups press on the bladder and she thinsk she's full, but she isn't.

I'm so excited for you; please update!

sounds like we are at the same stage marie, my bitch is doing the same, im noping for the litter to come tonight so i can have bonfire names for the pups :D

We don't have any contractions yet, still toileting but she's very happy, especially now we've given in and put a quilt on the sofa for her, she definitely wants them there. Hope things are going well with you cb.

Didn't know where to post this but seeing as we are all updating on this one

19.50 little girly :) :) :)

Needed a little help as she was a bit wheezy, Mum didn't quite care to start with until she made a noise. Now happily suckling :)

congrats, my bitch has now gone to sleep, the first time in 2 days, she is still toileting and eating and drinking, was hoping she would have them tonight but its not looking very hopeful now :(

she is now eating the newspaper that is in her pen, is it safe for her to do this?

I wouldn't let her eat the paper personally. Our bitch would lick the paper after she wee'd on it, does that sound similar?

no she hasnt wee'd in the house, i took her for a short walk and she had another clear out, not runny though, she keeps panting then sleeping then panting again

have you had any more pups yet?

>19.50 little girly

Any further news on new arrivals?

Another little girl, I wasn't too concerned in time as her 1st litter she had 1 1/2 to 2 hours between every pup and she was very happily staring at her new arrival. Although one push and this 2nd one came out like a cannon! Both feeding :) :)

oh congrats, how many are you expecting?

So pleased that your girl has delivered safely.

Thank you :) The delivery is the most terrifying thing I think! We now have a little boy too :) He was a slow starter but with a bit of help he's doing good now. From the scan we are expecting 5 possibly 6. Truth be told I quite like the time between pups, enough time to try stretch my back! This whelping isn't just painful for them.

Good Luck for the rest of the night!  (This was me one week ago!)

It is very hard work isn't it, and I don't expect any day after this is going to be easy, but will sure be full of fun!

She had a rest period after the first boy and has since had another boy. Came out strong :)

Anything happening your end cb?

nothing, she is trying to sleep but still breathing heavy, dont think anything is going to happen tonight :( cant sleep though :(

We had panting and digging here for the past few nights and during day too you can't help but want to stay awake just incase.  Try putting some lavender oil under your pillow/cushion. It will help you get some sleep but you won't have to worry about not waking up if needed. Hope you get some rest

i dont have any :( we have just been for a short walk and a quick 100 yard run back home to see if she would get a move on, very runny poos now so it cant be long now i hope lol

Congrats on the pups.  Hope they're all ok now. xx

cb87 fingers she's not long now for you. xx

We now have a total of 2 boys and 6 girls, scanner was spot on :) :D

She had last 2 girls at vets, after the 4th pup she rested for quite some time. She was very happy though and even ate a little, then she tried to push and nothing, done this for a short while so phoned vets and went in.

He done an internal there was pup in canal, he said it wouldn't be likely pup would survive, gave oxytocin and out pup came alive and well :) :)

He felt again after a while, another pup she wasn't pushing so another oxytocin. He said he was happy for us to go home for her to have the last pup here so put on her lead and plonk!! Pup came out with a lot of placenta gunk. Vet said it would probably be dead from drowning in gunk so grabbed pup and started rubbing and another live girl, she's the loudest so far!! :) :)

Had an x ray to check and no more, phew! So now we are home with our 6 new bundles and couldn't be happier, or more tired!! Mum's completely settled.

I really can't stop looking at them, I love them so much already, and I really was expecting more boys tbh.

Thanks everyone for your time and interest :) Good Luck cb, I really hope its not too much longer for you, will be following :)

Congrats on all the new pups.

The next few weeks will fly by,take lots of pics to look back at compare the newborn shape etc. with the ones which turn out show/breed quality

They are all the same colour and have same markings, so far, would you put the whelp collars on at this age or leave it a while? I know who is who right now but wont for long. The next few weeks will go far too quick :(

Sorry in my message earlier, 2 boys and 4 girls NOT 6, there is 6 in total!! My goodness I need some sleep! Lol!

How big are the pups, I toyed with marking mine but as there has only been 3's and small at 7-8ozs the collars were too big and stiff so they were, male,big bitch and little bitch.

I have heard of pups been marked with different colours of nail varnish,permanent marker, strands of wool, even snipping bits from their coat in different parts of the body

I weighed in grams and they were all between 400-500. Its hard to mark them as they are all mainly black unless I use tipex. Would that be safe?

I put wool collars on mine (leaving about an inch and a half to two inches of the tied ends) the moment they are born so I know who is who and what order they were born etc. 

In my breed apart from the odd white toe and chest spots they are all alike at birth.

>I weighed in grams and they were all between 400-500.

      OMG!

Mine are not usually 500gm until around 10 - 12 weeks!   They would look humungous to me.  :-)  Congratulations on your litter.

nothing yet :( still panting and pacing grrr lol

They would look humungous to me,

They look teeny to us! I have seen videos of our breed of 6 weeks playing with an adult of your breed, makes the pups look huge! Lol.
Thank you Brainless will try that.

Should I leave heat pad on 24/7?? We have had to turn heating off as it's just so hot! We have had it on low all day but it's too much. Puppies are lovely and warm, what should temperature in whelping room be? Iv heard between 25-29 degrees.

Cb it seems like you wait forever for them to arrive, they will be here soon enough, try to get some rest, easier said than done, I know that!

i have been in bed for about 5 hours while my partner was on dog watch, im up now and ready for the night shift but not looking like they are coming tonight, she has settled down now and is still eating and drinking, still clearing out with afew runny poos, she is just getting her self stuck into some dried liver and has had some hooves stuffed with frozen chicken and tripe

Is 500grams a 1lb to us oldies? Yes it would take mine a while to reach that weight too, adult weight 8-11lbs ideally.

cb 87 I hope she doesn't keep you waiting too much longer. What day is she today?

her due date is tuesday 8th so that makes her 61 days?

She has decided they need to cook for a bit longer.

How many pups are you expecting?

dont know how many she is having, thinking between 6 and 8