hi i am new on here and am hoping for a little support. princess is on day 60 of her pregnancy and not sure of what is going on. she has been to the vets and after having a scan we were told she will be having 4 puppies and that she should be able to deliver the puppies with out help, which we were really worried about as if we were told that she would be at a great risk we would not have allowed her to stay pregnant and our male has now been done so this wont happen again.
i was hoping for soe advice as for the past few days she has not really eaten anything but is nor refusing to go anywhere near her whelping box and is sleeping alot more and wants to sit on my knee or at my feet all the time. i am now sleepin downstairs with her, but am not sure if these are the first signs that the puppies will be here soon. i have not taken her temp as she gets very distresed by this.

Sounds like you're worried about your little girl, but try to stay calm for her so she knows mum is ok and has less to worry about. :)
I'm in no way an expert and have only had one litter myself, but my bitch was very clingy at this stage too and slept a lot, she was also off her food almost all through her pregnancy.

What are her poos like? Is she loosing any stringy mucus whilst she's peeing? Loose poos and stringy mucus are a signs that she's getting close, as is digging, nesting, burying her food, panting, etc. Have you got Book of the Bitch? It's a great book and it would be a huge help to you if you ordered it before she gives birth, as it gives a lot of help on recognising if things go wrong.

Do you know of any breeders near you that can come out to you? Lots of help to have someone who knows what they're doing. xx

hi dawn ,i take it this is a breed that dont whelp easy?? im going to write this as it may be ,if this is then she could be getting ready to whelp, has she done any shakeing? kepping trying to wee/poo and strain??? has she been sick?? do you feel that her sleeping alot is the calm before the storm?? many bitches eaither want to be in their whelping box or very close to their owner/s....you need to know when shes in trouble!! and when they are they have that look in their face pus their eyes look very blood shot, many small breeds dont go to 63 days but i think it depends on the breed ,jean is 1 thats very good with advise with small breeds ,im sure she will be here soon!

we do have the book of the bitch and i have read it from cover to cover and back again. there has been no shaking or being sick and not noticed any mucus, she is still weeing and is pooing more than usual. not to worried about her wanting to be with me all the time as this is usual and i have a feeling i could end up with princess delivering the puppies on my knee. i have had a litter before about 8 years ago but that was a bigger dog. ithink i am a little more worried this time as she is still jumping off the sofa when my back is turned and i dont want her to harm herself or the puppies. i know that princess and eddie should be seperated now too but this also causes both of them to get all stressed, do you think it will be ok to allow them to be together until princess shows signs of not wanting him near anymore? thank you for such quick responses.

>ithink i am a little more worried this time as she is still jumping off the sofa when my back is turned and i dont want her to harm herself or the puppies.

Puppies are very well protected while in the womb. :-)

>i know that princess and eddie should be seperated now too

Definitely!  Once she starts in labour, it will cause her great distress to have ANY dog around.  It is cerainly not the norm for other dogs to be present while a bitch is giving birth.   Mine only want me in the room.  So do keep an eye on them so that you don't miss the signs.

Is this a VERY small breed?  If so I must warn you that in an emergency, she will do her utmost to have any problems OUT OF HOURS!  Which could mean a vet bill in excess of £1,000.  Not trying to put the dampeners on, just advising what you need to know.  If it is a very small breed - will you recognise inertia?

fingers crossed they havnt got back because her girl is having pups right now and all is going well x

sory took so long to reply was getting the children to bed. princess is a small utility breed. we know there is a possibility of her needing help to have the puppies and the vet is on stand by.

morning dawn hope all is well...how much does your girl weigh? my mum-in-laws (same breed as yours) girl had a litter 2years ago and is small, she had 5 pups and whelped easy. the pup they kept is even smaller but not been breed from she has been spayed.

morning. normaly she weighs just over 3kg and is only 9 inches tall, so when we realised we had happened i was really worried about her and was willing to take the vets advice about what was best for her. if he had said that there was a big risk of us losing her we would have had her spayed right then but after checking her over he said her pelvis is bigger than he thought and that he felt she would be ok to have the puppies without much help. we do plan on keeking a puppy and if the vet was right and we get 4 puppies they will all go to family members. we will not be having another litter after this one.

are you sure on the day/days she mated? mum-in-laws girl wasnt much bigger, but just make sure you watch her its so importent to get her stight to vets if you think she could be in labour but no pups are coming dont leave it to long x

unfortunatly i am very sure of the day they mated as i had gone to an emergancy app at the drs and had forgotten to seperate the two of them and when i got back found them tied. i couldnt believe i had been that stupid, we had only got eddie a few days before andhad been seperating them when not with them till eddie had app at vets.
princess has had someone with her at all times since the weekend so if we think there is a need for her to see the vet it can happen straight away and i have taken the next 2 weeks off work.

Don't worry about her not taking to going in the whelping area maiden dams often do not know what is happening or how to act, she may be a natural and work on instinct or she may be afraid and not have a clue what to do straight away, be prepared for both scenarios, the first pup can be born absolutely anywhere so on a night time have that torch ready to check her in the garden, watch her every move she may whelp on the sofa or behind it anywhere but in the whelping area. :-D

She may open the sac of the first whelp or she may not, she may walk away and leave it, so please watch her every move, follow her everywhere and above all else stay calm, she may be brave whilst having her contractions or she may have a low pain threshold, just be there....... calm.

As already said hopefully you will know what to look out for if there are any problems, if not read up (best you can do I suppose) on signs etc to look out for, glad that you have your vet ready too.

Just curious you say you will have 2 weeks with her and the pups, what will happen after that, is there someone home besides yourself to feed, clean, socialise and look after the dam and pups?

when i go back to work after 2 weeks with them they will only be alone for upto 2 hours on a thursday from me leaving for work and my daughters getting back from school. i wouldnt have this type of dogs if i was to work full time as i know they need lots of attention and cuddles.

princess is a small breed and she loves to walk along the canal near where we live. she doesnt mind a long walk as long as she gets lots of attention from any passers by, the only problem with that is unlike eddie she doesnt really liked to be groomed so we keep her coat quite short. eddie on the other hand loves to be groomedand we hope to be able to grow him a full coat.
i have always had dogs and they were always bigger dogs my last dog before princess was achow that i got because he was being bullied by a chihuahua. i always said i woulnt have a small dog, but now i have them even sharing my bed and my husband says i love the dogs more than him.

last dog before princess was achow that i got because he was being bullied by a chihuahua.

Can't help but laugh, but yes many small dogs have very large personalities. :-D

Just a niggling thought as none of us have actually asked, hopefully your vet did as your vet has encouraged you to continue with the litter your other dog the sire is also a small/toy breed too? (Hoping to exhale at your reply :-) )

Anyhow, wishing you all much luck, difficult when thrown in at the deep end and hopefully your girl will be fine, not long to go now until she whelps. :-)

yes the sire is also the same breed. we took eddie to the vets with us when he was confirming pregnancy so he would be fully aware of the situation as eddie is a little bigger than princess.

would just like to update you we now have 4 beautiful puppies 3 girls and a little boy. i am so proud of princess as she is being a brilliant mummy. thank you for being so nice while i was being a worry wort.

Congratulations :-)

Phew, well done and I'm glad it all went smoothly. :-)

:-)  :-)  :-)

wonderfull news well done :)

thank you for all the gongratulations.