Just wanted to share that my and my girl's first litter were born yesterday morning on day 59/61! From contractions starting at 8.30am the last puppy was born at 12.45pm and on a Saturday morning to boot! She did everything herself and is proving to be an excellent mum, despite being torn between puppies and normal life. She's even sleeping in the box with them even though she's too hot and she whelped on my bed! The puppies were all latched on within an hour of their birth!
My other dogs have been fantastic, they've stayed in the living room without complaint but  now the pups are a day old, I need to return normality to the others as soon as I can. She is in the bedroom with the puppies and the others have been in the living room. How soon should I start to let mum come and go at will from the bedroom? Propping the door open means the others have access to it too... I don't want to stress her!
Thoughts?

The puppies are still my number 1 priority and if that means the others having limited access for a few weeks that's fine!

Congratulations on safe arrival of puppies.... I'm sure experienced breeders will give you advice...

My dogs display a sort of inborn respect for whomever has a new litter.  I even allow them to be present at the birth.  Here too, they behave as respectful onlookers.  Since I am VERY careful when we have puppies about where I walk them (an area where basically no dogs go at all!) and wash their feet and undersides thoroughly after we get home, carrying them from the car to the sink and only putting them down once they are washed, I am not too concerned about contagion.  I let Mum come and go as she pleases, which of course for the first couple of weeks, is not very often since she prefers not to leave her babies.  I have Mum and babes in a completely closed box which is UK-made especially for Mums and litters.  I have used it for 20 years!  It's just great for the first three weeks.  Mum does warn the others (the "aunts and uncles"), should they encroach beyond certain limits.  And I keep the box covered so that she has complete privacy.  I feed her in it as well.  The puppies are in one half, and Mum can go lie down in the other half (cooler, with no vetbed blanket) when she wants to.  Water is there for her at all times. But when she does go out into the garden to relieve herself, she says hi to all the others, who are totally ga-ga to see her!

We used babygates so the door to the 'whelping room' could be left ajar for me to hear if I was urgently needed.   When having other dogs in the family, life does have to continue so nobody can be there 24/7 really.   But 'back to normal'.   Hahaha!!   Not until the last puppy who we weren't going to keep, had gone home, did that happen.  

ps    We had a box that came in two halves - initially we'd use one 4 X 4 section which had a low front so mum could get out and away from her puppies if she wanted to.   Once the puppies were up and moving around lots, we'd move the original section into the kitchen and add the second 4 X 4 section, removing the low front of the original section.   The full 8 X 4 box had a hinged door and by that time, mum wasn't really in there 24/7 which did make for more work, letting her in and out, but it had to be done.

Haha, yes I should have said back to normal as much as is possible with puppies! I did take her for a little walk this morning, as a dog used to using her brain and body a lot, she will go stir crazy if not allowed out at all but the second she turned towards home we went back. Turned out she was pulling home for food! I fed her in her whelping box but she really wanted to come with me even though the girls were feeding at the time, poor things! I think if I give her access to leave the room, she would be wherever I am... Another day of laying on the bed for me then!
Oh, I did wash her teats and feet with alcohol wipes when we got in!
I didn't take the others for a walk at all yesterday either as I live on my own and didn't want to leave the pups. The sound of the others going out this morning resulted in all hell breaking loose upstairs as she wanted to come too...

Just out of curiosity - did you post a picture on social media of your girl on the bed in a pink(?) sheet with 3 pups?

If that was you....I spent ages just fawning over the cute wee ones!

Congratulations - enjoy the quiet while it lasts :)

I did, though I don't know if it's the same one! The only group I posted it on is a raw feeding group!

That's the one :)

Lol, how funny is that?!

The power of social media and forums like this one make the world so much smaller don't they? :)

I saw it too and wondered if it was you :)