I have a litter due in the next few days and am usually quite hands on with deliveries, breaking the sac, making sure the umbilical cord is broken not too close, moving pups to keep them warm during the other deliveries etc...

I know there are another school of breeders who leave the bitch to take care of everything themselves but it worries me that Mum will nibble the cord too close.

I'm unsure whether to let Mum do more this time or carry on as I've always done?

Wait.   If possible, let mum get on with it but if she isn't too clever with this, you'll just have to get in and take over as you have done in the past.   Good luck!

Nurturing the natural birthing abilities of a bitch is paramount for me, I'd sooner only step in if there proves to be a risk, I'd never do it routinely. Too many breeds are being highlighted as bad mums.... They aren't necessarily bad mums, but have little chance for the oxytocin to do the work before the breeder steps in and takes over. It goes without saying that the breeder should always be there for the entire whelping and a few days after, but intervention should be kept to a minimum until full milk flow has taken over.

I always like to break sac around the head, fi Mum not done it as pups emerges, to ensure pup is breathing quickly and hubby likes to do cords, after we had one chew so close she caused a wound, but Mum is given the pup back to finish up. 

I never move pups away from Mum between deliveries getting them hooked up suckling asap, which helps move delivery of next ones on.  when the next pups is on it's way I just move them out of the way on heat pad so they don't get soaked.

Since I use shredded paper, it's easy to keep pusp dry and remove soaked shreddies.

I tried moving the first pup into a little box next to the whelping box with heat pad etc when the next one seemed imminent, but she immediately stopped the contractions and insisted on seeing where he had gone, and in the end I had to put him back before she relaxed and got on with it. Luckily she only had three and didn't make much mess so it worked out ok having the previous ones still in there!

Well......although I've always been there watching like a hawk, never interfered unless there is a problem, every dam should get to do what nature intended, if they fail, then we step in....... my foundation breeder would have been slapping your hands if you'd gone charging in to open sacs and do the cords, and then moving them around during whelping, could cause untold stress to the dam

I know there are another school of breeders who leave the bitch to take care of everything themselves

Gosh, that's not old school, that's normal!!! Where has this new wave of thinking (not met any breeders who take control like this yet) come from?.......... you may expect from a veterinary doing a c-section I guess.

Ce la vie, I guess, but would never deny a dam from looking after her own pups like this.

I did read somewhere about holding the cord at the base whilst mum chomps around your fingers - to prevent bitch chewing it too short.  Does anyone do that??

"Gosh, that's not old school, that's normal!!! Where has this new wave of thinking (not met any breeders who take control like this yet) come from?..........

Carrington, I didn't say "Old school" I said "Another school" ...my mentor is very hands on and very experienced and I've obviously followed their guidance.

I've heard of Mums being over eager with the cord and taking it so close pups have been lost, I'd hate for this to happen and wondered if it was fairly common?

I clamp the cord, clear the airways and give to mum...then they get on and mother them from then on.
I like mine breathing!

That's what I do too:  clamp the cord with a haemostat and then as long as the airways are clear, I let Mum have a go at the placenta and the cord.  I leave the newborns right in there in the birthing bed with her, learning how to suckle, while we wait for the next pup.  I just keep changing the bedding, trying to keep everyone as dry as possible.

Oh, how I wish this had been the scene on Saturday night.  I love births, and I detest c-sections.  But in this case (as in most c-sections) lives were saved.

Hi , I normally the clamp the cord and then let the bitch take it to a reasonable length, but you do have to be careful as they can get over enthusiastic. Also keep a careful eye on mum if she does tend to take them too close, don't leave them unattended even to nip to the loo until the cord is dry and less palatable as we had one who in less than a minute managed to take it so close as to cause a reasonable bleed, re-clamped and puppy was perfectly fine but learnt to cross my legs until somebody could take over!

>I did read somewhere about holding the cord at the base whilst mum chomps around your fingers - to prevent bitch chewing it too short.  Does anyone do that??

I sort of did that with the first one as Hetty went from fast asleep to producing puppy 1 in 1 hour flat, so although everything was out and almost ready, I hadn't quite got brain in gear yet and the forceps were still in the box of stuff. Clamped the other two. Had to wait for hubby to get home before I could get the microwave heat pad out of the microwave, I put it in to warm and never got the chance to get it out. I do have an under vetbed mat too which covers part of the box so there was no danger of them getting cold. :-)

I think there was some research recently which suggested that it's important to let mum gnaw the cord so it takes longer to be severed, and not to clamp it suddenly.  This was into human birth, but the same reasoning applies to puppies too.  See:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/not-cutting-umbilical-cord-immediately-may-boost-babys-health/

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jul/11/hospitals-nhs-umbilical-cords-babies-delay-cutting

I think, because new mums can be so slow, the difference is between very experienced and relatively novice breeders with only a few litters under their belt (like me!).

I'll be panicking, wanting to get pup breathing the second it comes out. My experienced grandmother (my breeding mentor) is much more chilled out. She knows the new mummy should get there before anything untoward happens. Gradually I am learning to relax a little and trust my bitches :)