Hi
my bitch is due on the 11th of jan and is showing signs of welping early. Shes been sick, nesting, sleeping alot etc. Has any one else had this happen. I've contacted the vet and as usuall were not very helpfull.

It could just be that the pups are moving into position, thus making her very uncomfortable. Pups can be born early and survive, but the closer she gets to her due date the better. Pups can be viable from day 54 after mating (according to the Book of the Bitch) so you should be ok now. Just stay close to her and keep a very close eye on her.

She seems very uncomfortable today and is holding the pups really low. Ive disinfected all the whelping equipment and everything is ready and waiting but i hope she can hold off for another week.

One of my girls had a litter of 13 on day 55 last year and all were fine and healthy. She might show signs of whelping for a couple of days yet. Fingers crossed all goes well for you, keep us posted.

Well she is day 55 today and was scanned at just over four weeks with 2-3 pups but does seem quite large for such a small number of pups. We have not yet had a scan be right so who knows. She is quite restless so i have just put the whelping box down for her and she seems to be doing a bit of nesting and i have felt her belly and the pups seem quite active & she has been sick a coulple more times.

I breed my 1st ever litter in may of springers. I had my dog scanned (i wasnt sure there was any as she stayed quite slim) our vet said 2/3 she had 7! At 55 days our springer started pacing up and down, was going to the loo lots and started to nest. The puppies we could feel were moving lots and we had started taking our bitches temp morning and eve. The day after she had milk and a clear stringy discharge from her vulva but same temp. on day 59 she didnt eat a thing not even fresh cooked meat (her favorite), her temp had changed (biggest indicator for us), she was up and down like a yo yo and the nesting was crazy! In the early hrs of day 60 she had all her beautiful pups starting at 2.50 am to 10.55am one was a little small and needed top up feeds but they all did really well and now have fantastic homes. Vets know nothing of breeding unless they have done so at home best advice i got was on here and from the stud dogs owners. I also kept a diary with all these notes in so i can look bk at it next time. Good luck with your pups hope all goes well

With my first litter and my bitches second she started showing signs of going into labour on day 56 from second mating, by day 61 still no pups so my mentor told me to take her to the vets, she was examined and I asked for a scan to make sure the pups were alive and everything was OK, her cervix hadn't started to dilate yet so we went home to wait some more, she went into labour properly on day 62 at 8am and had the pups in the early hours of day 63( Xmas Day) from her second mating and had a text book whelping of 3 pups which was the same number as she had in her first litter.

If she becomes distressed or has a green discharge then you need to get her to the vet ASAP as she may have primary inertia where labour fails to start, isn't adequate to expel the pups or there is a pup which is malpresented and blocking the birth canal and a green discharge before any pups means a placenta has seperated early and that pup will die from lack of oxygen.

Hopefully she is just one of those who has a long drawn out period of preperation and gets down to business soon.

Here's to a safe and healthy whelping.

My first litter was born day 58 from first mating so 5 days early, very little preparation from my girl until 12 hours before then had them all easily and was a fabulous mum, very instinctive including regurgitating food for them at weaning.  One of her daughters litters she started preparing 7 days from due date but had them 3 days early in the end so they are all different but I wouldn't worry too much at the moment.

She seems bright enough just a little quiet, the main worry is she has been sick 7-8 times today, undigested biscuits and water. Im not sure if its just the pups pressing on her stomach, there has been no discharge from her vulva and she has settled a bit now and stoped nesting.

Mine usually have a clear/opaque discharge in the day or so before giving birth (mucous plug coming away).  They often empty themselves 24 hours or so before too (ie being sick/diarrhea).  Have you taken her temperature?  That has always helped me, once it drops mine usually give birth within 24 hours or so.

I have taken her temp and it was 37.8, strangely when she is sick she digs at the blanket just before and a couple of times when there has been biscuits in it she has nosed them in to a pile.

Sounds like she is hiding food.  You need to take her temp several times per day as you are looking for a prolonged drop from her usual temperature.  Temperatures often bob up and down in the days leading up to birth so the prolonged drop is what you are looking for.  Most stuff you read will say you are looking for a temperature drop to around 37 degrees though my girls seem to go to below that to 36 ish before it would be their drop.  As we said before they are all slightly different.  I chart mine and when they have stayed consistently at their lowest for 3 times in a row then I take that as their drop and although their temp may come back up very slightly just before birth, I still have the drop to go by.  It works for me but I know it doesn't work for everyone and their bitches.

I have just re taken it and its now 37.5. it just concerning as she is bringing up allot of water and we have not had it with our other bitches.

The nosing into a pile or covering it up is their way of hiding the evidence as they would have done in the wild, my Girls have always covered any uneaten food whether pregnant or not, one would very neatly wrap her dish in the non slip mat it was sat on, fascinating to watch their determination at getting the job done.

During labour all other systems slow down to concentrate on the whelping so that includes the digestive tract so it is not unusual for them to vomit as kibble will swell when gastric fluid and water mix with it in the stomach and then it doesn't leave the stomach making them feel very full and uncomfortable and vomiting gets rid of this feeling. I would concentrate on her keeping fluids down and give Nutro/vet drops for energy as they are a small quantity which is easily absorbed and keeps her energy up as it can't be pleasant for her vomiting so often in a short space of time. Vanilla icecream goes down well at times like these too.

Well after a night down stairs with her she has woken up back to her usal self. All signs of whelping have stoped and she has just had a light breakfast of minced chicken breast, she has not been sick since last night so im hopeing that it will be plain sailing for the final week. Thank you all for your advice i will keep you posted when the pups arrive.

How's your girl today?

She is back to her nomal self, eating & drinking fine. We have felt the pups moving so we have relaxed for the moment, just pleased as each day goes by and they are still inside her, day 57 today so not long now.

>day 57 today so not long now.

At least you have got her past the date that problems could be expected.  The pups are now totally viable, no worries over under developed lungs etc.

So, even if she goes into labour tonight, all should be fine.  :-)

Well she has reached day 60 so out of the worry zone, Only three days left and she has started a bit of nesting again in between naps.

Hi Paul, my girl is due on the same day as yours too!
She had a bit of a clear mucous discharge earlier today, so keeping a very close eye on her, would prefer she also goes to 63 days.
Good luck with your girl. Keep us all posted.

Hi
good luck with your bitch too. Dolly has had the clear mucous for a while now its not uncommon to have it for most of the pregnancy.
Please keep us all up to date.
Charlotte and Paul

Can I join the puppy-in-waiting group?

My girl is on day 57 - due Saturday.  Think I am more nervous than when I was pregnant myself lol.

No reason to think she will go early but she has certainly started to test out every single bed (both dog and human) in the house.....apart from her whelping box.   In between naps and eating - of course!

Me too lol. My girl is due her second litter tomorrow or Tuesday. She hasn't been showing much whelping signs and stressing me a bit as her first litter was born early. She has some mucus today but only seen because I checked her so keeping clean. She has been up the lat two nights at 3am barking so out of character here's hoping it's soon

We can all be nervous wrecks together lol :-)

Well Dolly has just had a disagreement with her Tina who we have had in to keep her company so shes on her own from now on.

Oooh, exciting times for all of us.
I too am probably more nervous than I was when having my own kids:-)
Good luck everyone, I hope we all get some sleep tonight, and things start moving for all of us when it is supposed to happen,
and at a decent hour!!

Will be watching with bated breath... I do so love the whelping threads on CD!

>, so keeping a very close eye on her, would prefer she also goes to 63 days

ok kids - I just have to ask this.  WHY????   I don't ever worry about early whelps.  It's the overdues that get me having a seizure.  :-(

I have whelped bitches on day 56 more times than I can remember.  Totally, totally viable.  Would someone please tell me what they think will be wrong with pups whelped early? 

I HAVE to know!!  :-)

I guess its nice if it all goes by the book i know it rarely does when breeding any animal but i think it makes you feel that its a better start if they whelp day63.

>but i think it makes you feel that its a better start if they whelp day63.

I can only say that it makes not one bit of difference!

:-)  :-)
And I say that after having many 56 day litters since my first litter back in the 1970's.  :-)

Hi Jean

I don't think there is anything wrong with early or late pups.  Obviously, things can go awry at either end of the spectrum but most pups arrive when THEY are meant to arrive (not counting inertia or other dramas).

For me it all boils down to what is actually early or what is late.  If we are going by dates on the calendar then some litters are going to surprise us by arriving before we expect them or later than we anticipate.

If we are counting days off a calendar i.e. due date 63 days (this is just an average!) from mating and pups arrive early then OK, but for me early pups are ones that have less fur, skinny, low birth weight, have breathing difficulties etc. These are the pups I would worry about.  If they are early by the calendar but are fully clothed, plump & appropriate birth weight and breathe well then I don't count them as early despite the calendar. For me these are full term pups.

Likewise, having had a girl go nine whole days past her due date (from one mating only) & several that have gone to 67 days I've come to accept some variation in "lateness".  Naturally with the 9 day late girl, I was on alert and she had constant vet checks including progesterone assays and scans.  When her progesterone dropped away, she went into labour and delivered healthy pups naturally.  She obviously ovulated well after mating and for her the pups due date was 9 days after their expected date. 

Now, if a bitch goes a couple of days past her due date (provided nothing worries me beforehand in which case I'd take appropriate and speedy action) I will have an Idexx progesterone test. If it shows negligent progesterone levels i.e. she should be in labour (but obviously isn't - query inertia) then I would act fast, however it progesterone is still high I've learned to be patient and watch, wait and take more progesterone tests if needed.

If 56 day gestation litters are born thriving I personally would consider them full term and viable and technically not early.  It's the non viable looking pups that are the true early ones, i.e. need more time to "cook".

In my second litter (naïve) I had a bitch loose her plug - it was olive green (said with the benefit of hindsight).  I panicked and rang the vet, he said it was a danger sign and as she was almost at her due date, we should do an emergency section to save the pups.  She was day 60 from one mating.  We did the section.  8 babies, not a shred of fur on any of them, difficult to revive, we kept going with CPR (a team of us) for about 1 hour.  When we stopped each one never took a natural breath and passed away.  It was heartbreaking for me and the Mum.  These were EARLY pups by gestation but not by the calendar.

> ok kids - I just have to ask this. WHY???? I don't ever worry about early whelps. It's the overdues that get me having a seizure. :-(

And so you should.... Many years ago now I knew of more than one cat breeder having litters go over time, born dead or dying, or not being born at all & needing very late emergency C-sections; even from unrelated cats. It persuaded more than one breeder to give up, including my late mentor.

Later it was found that infection by chlamydia was causing uterine inertia in cats (or it did then, as it was a new pathogen)... That wasn't known at the time, and so many people suffered - so much heartbreak, so much loss, and also loss of valuable bloodlines as well.

About 10 years ago, breeders of fancy rats suddenly experienced similar birthing issues (with much more devastating results as the dams often didn't survive the C-sections, never mind the 10-14 babies they were carrying) and that was eventually traced to a new virus.

Not saying there is anything present in dogs that could have the same effect, but any litter that goes over, with uterine intertia especially, needs to be noted... forewarned is forearmed.

I have to admit I hate it if they go to 63 days as then I start to worry if they are over.

Luckily the vast majority of my litters are born by day 63 most often days 61 - 62.

Has there been any developments with the litters due?

My girl is on day 62, no changes in temperature, still refusing to use whelping box *sigh* and showing every intent of wanting to use my bed (not going to happen, no matter how much I love her lol!).....although she didn't want her breakfast this morning, which is so unlike her :-)

Have to admit, I've said all along I suspected it would be a Friday 12th litter.  Eek!

>Have to admit, I've said all along I suspected it would be a Friday 12th litter.  Eek!

13th, surely? ;-)

>13th, surely? <

lol...you can tell the nerves are getting to me :-)

Yes, Friday the 13th.

What a brilliant post by Chris. I think as long as they have gotten to a stage for viable whelps im happy and as others have said, if they go over i'd be worrying a lot.

Friday 13th, wonder what KC names you could come up with :-)

Mine arrived! Wednesday, exactly the date and the number of pup's the scanner predicted.
We had five, 2 black boys, 2 black girls, and a brown girl, all with a white star on their chest.
First one arrived at 9pm, last at 11.25pm.
All are really well, just me that is a bit tired.
Good luck for the others stilll waiting, it won't be long now.

Congratulations :) xx

Congratulations to both mum and yourself!

Any signs of the OP's pups due on the 11th?

Still no pups, she is now on day 66 from the first mating, but she is still eating and and fine in herself pups are still very active dolly's just quite sleepy now, no discharge either.
We are waiting to speak to the vet this morning to see what their view is but we would welcome imput from you guys. I know she is only slightly overdue and their is a window of 7 days before we should really worry.

My bitch was the same for her last litter - I was worried sick, but she eventually had them naturally on day 68. I was in daily contact with the vet, but was told that as long as the pups were still active and the bitch well in herself then there was nothing to worry about.

We spoke to the vet and they said as long as we can feel the puppies moving its fine at the mo, Dolly is now very quite still eating but spending most of the time in the box. She has started to produce some more discharge.

Well we could not wait any longer, so we took her to the vets for a check yesterday evening and we are so pleased we did, the vet checked her and said her cervix was fully open and he gave her a shot of oxytocin to try and get things moving after 45 min it had brought on some more nesting and she was sick a couple of times but that was it. So it was off to the vets again for a c-section, which found the two bitch pups wedged together blocking everything, the vet said we had caught it just in time, there was three pups in total two dapple bitches and a choc & tan boy. Both mum and pups are both doing well and she is proving to be a very good mum.

Good to hear all's well. :-)

Thank goodness it all turned out well in the end.  So, that was on day 66?

Well she had three matings a day apart, so it was day 66 from the first mating.

Congratulations. You must be relieved.
Any news on the third litter?

Relieved is an under statement, after starting this thread thinking they might be comming early, we did not think for a second that she would go overdue.