Hi, my bitch (big breed) is now 8 weeks into her pregnancy and everything is going well, this is our first litter.  I've got the Book of the Bitch which has been read from cover to cover several times!  I have also done research on the internet and have come across conflicting advice with regard to the umbilical cord and was hoping someone with experience could give me some advice please?  If the bitch does not chew the cord do you have to clamp the cord before you cut it, where should you cut it, do you have to tie it with anything (cotton, dental floss) or just leave it?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to be prepared - thanks in advance x

I've never known a bitch not to dal with the cords herself, but I was told that, if for some reason she doesn't, you should first carefully squeeze the cord towards the puppy to get the blood into its circulation, then crush the cord between your thumbnails and, keeping one hand still, pull the cord towards the puppy to break it. This makes all the blood vessels contract and prevents bleeding.

I have clamps/forceps on hand as sometimes they do deal with the cord or if it has been a difficult delivery and  need to deal with the pup I leave one clamp attached to the placenta and one on the pup[not dangling as this could cause a hernia], the cords are only thin so don't take long to seal off and breaking it with my thumbnail was better than cutting it.

I tried dental floss but Mum removed it

The one thing it didn't tell me was that if you ask me, it doesn't look much like a cord! It was more of a flat stringy membrane. My girl dealt with it herself, but I've also heard that you should squeeze the blood out of it, then crush it before cutting.

ok thats great, thanks for your replies x

I have never used clamps, or tied off with floss.  Any that a bitch doesn't deal with, I do exactly as already mentioned.  Squeeze blood toward pup, and tear carefully, not pulling the side nearest pup. 

Most bitches deal with this themselves, but, with it being a big bitch, you may find, if pups come too fast, she may need help.  I've had a bitch be far too vigorous, and bite too short.  I had to stem the blood flow with styptic.  But the pup ended up with a hernia where she had been too rough.

I personally try not to interfere with mum to much and let her get on with. Usually if she does need assistance it's with the first pup because she doesn't know what's going on, I just lift the pup to them and they soon start cleaning and licking the pup and then their instinct kicks in.

With Boston's had to cut every cord- I just used scissors never clamped- then I pinched the end with clean towels.
Worry was due to flat faces biting into the pups tummy while biting the cord.This did happen to my breeder with one pup-
so very sad :-(

>I personally try not to interfere with mum to much and let her get on with

???
I didn't advocate "interfering", I was pointing out that sometimes you need to just give a hand, rather than losing a pup.  And this differs from breed to breed.

I always intervene and sort out the cord and then rub pups with a towel. I learned from my first litter when we lost 4 out of 6 pups cos mum was more interested in cleaning herself. It also stops mum biting cord too short.

I have bred four litters, and with every single puppy mother licked puppies clean but wasn't interested in the sack or biting through the cord. Although it can be tricky on tiny puppies - i tied string tight to cord and then cut the otherside. If you do choose to do this method i left at least a fingers width of cord in order to avoid cutting too close. The Cords then drop off along with the string within a day or too. Good luck with your litter x