I hope this is the right place to post this--at 9 weeks and 3 days after whelping my bitch has lost her undercoat and when I bathed her last night she looked as though she is balding along her back. She's lost all her bib and most of her tail feathering. I wondered whether there is there anything you recommend to help a bitch's coat back into condition and how long has it taken your bitch to come back into condition (coat-wise)?

Time!
Only thing I've found in 35 years.
I don't aim to get my long coated bitches back in full show coat for 6 months.
My boxers were much quicker, their 'fuzz' was sufficient to cover the bald spots in around 3 months.

Good diet and time.

Agree with my double coated breed they are not even remotely showable until about 5 months after a litter and then not in full coat until just about the time they come back in season again, so probably not truly showable until 6 - 7 months after the litter.

They may not reach peak fitness until after that.

My boxers were much quicker, their 'fuzz' was sufficient to cover the bald spots in around 3 months.

I feel a bit more relieved now you've mentioned the B word! Poor girl, her coat looks shiny and healthy, but she is very thin on her back--it doesn't show till you go over her, but I guess she won't be entering Crufts this year :-(

My lab takes her post litter hair loss very seriously! She's almost bald between both sets of legs, her chest is bald in a heart shape and her stomach completely bald to about two inches above the 'hanging milk bar'.  As she's a short haired breed it will look pretty much normal within a month of the pups leaving at 8ish weeks but she won't be completely back to normal until the summer.

Normal and natural part of the process but still looks terrible while it's gone....I go by her body condition which is fabulous and by the condition of the remainder of the coat which is great too. She certainly springs back to pre pregnancy coat glory quicker than my hair recovered after babies!

Take heart that you don't need a long, well plumed tail. My girls have a rats tail after weaning and this takes the longest...the whole six months!

There's no doubt that over the years and despite every effort to have them on top quality feed etc., we had bitches who would give 'their all' to their puppies and come off the litter looking decidedly moth-eaten - and carrying less weight than normal.   Just at the time when prospective owners are viewing too!!    Although you might check with your vet, who might manage to sell you some vitamins (lol), I'm afraid it's just time, and again keeping her on her normal top quality diet and exercise. 

I can't remember the exact time it took, but for sure, for the most part something like Crufts (or any other show) is off the agenda.   I have gone back into the ring occasionally, for a more important show (like Crufts, or the Breed Club shows) but for the most part, my brood bitches were retired from the ring before taking up their new careers.

I remember showing my girl once when the puppies were 12 weeks old or so (just a local open show) and her coat was so thin in places you could see the skin bless her - but she didn't care, showed her socks off, was thrilled to get out and about again, and got a good 3rd place. :-)

After my bitch had her litter in the summer she lost a lot of her coat, she was virtually bald, I took her to my vets as I was concerned that her coat loss was extreme when she was about 12 weeks post birth and our vet basically said to give it time. A month later I took her back as if anything she had lost most of what little coat she had left and was just not bouncing back to her pre pregnancy self (she tends to become more sedate and laid back) and our vet said he thought the time had come to do some tests. The outcome was that she had become hypothyroid and is now on medication and her coat is finally starting to grow back. I very much doubt that your girl will be the same, but it may be something to bear in mind if the hair loss continues or there is no sign of regrowth after 3 months of so post whelping.

When we went to view my pup last year the breeder explained that mum wasn't looking her best. I said I didn't think I would be if I had just had 5 babies. It didn't matter to me I had seen photos of her pre- pregnancy and by the time we left I was smitten with the mum, that's why I went for this pup. We brought some treats for the mum as well which the breeder let us give her.

Jelli had her pups in July last year, she dropped all her coat and looked awful. Now, nearly 6 months later she's finally looking her normal self. Looking at her today you'd never know she'd had 12 puppies. It does make you wonder what those poor puppy farm bitches go through when you see them with huge, dangly underneaths. (can't think of another way to describe it )

Don't lose hope with shows!  We took one of our girls to Crufts with no expectations at all as she had a litter late Dec, she just came along to keep the others company really.  I even gave her to someone else to handle mid class as I was needed with our main breed in another hall.  Bless her she only went and got a good placing and then won the GC class!  She was literally bald at the time.

Bless her she only went and got a good placing and then won the GC class!  She was literally bald at the time.

LOL donnabl! Not a xolo or chinese crested by any chance?

No LOL, but a hairy gundog breed (or in her case not very hairy).

My Chihuahua Long Coats take a good 6 months.  They need a plume for a tail (not a piece of string!)