Hi everyone, I have been reading the forum through my bitches pregnancy and I got some great advice from that but I have decided to sign up for an account as I need to get advice and you all seem non judgemental enough for me to do so. So here goes.

My girl gave birth on the 3rd to her first litter, a litter of three. She's been a fab mum from the get go, I can't fault her.

I started noticing strange behaviour in her last night where she was digging under furniture, pacing and staring at the pups and whining and also panting. I placed her back in the whelping box in the X pen and she calmed down and was fine there all night (I sleep next to the pen). She has woken up this morning and has started the same behaviour. What on earth could be going on?

This all started when my mum cleaned out the pups on my behalf. She has a close bond with my mum and has been happy for her and myself to clean them out and handle them when necessary until this happened.

Can anyone shed any light on this and tell me what I can do to help her calm down?

Thank you everyone for your help

Was she checked by a vet when you felt she'd finished whelping?   How long ago did she whelp?   Could be retained birthing material or even a dead puppy.    Have you checked her teats - perhaps she has a touch of mastitis setting in.    Eclampsia?   Is she running a fever?

If this continues, I think you need to have your vet check her out.

I have this in mine for the first week or slightly longer. The uterus contracting back down can cause then a lot of discomfort and they will often dig frantically and whine. Excessive panting is normal in lactating bitches.
As for calming them down I have to stay with mine until this stage passes pretty much all the time to ensure no pups get trapped under bedding when she has a digging fit.
Keep an eye on her General demenour,appetite ( although that can be lower if she has eaten a lot of placentas to keep her going) and even though a greeny black discharge is normal just watch it doesn't get smelly....

Hi thanks for replying so quickly. She was checked by a vet an hour after the birth of her last pup where she was given an X-ray following an internal examination and was given the all clear. Her temperature is sitting at 37.6 which is normal for her. I check her teats multiple times a day and wipe them down everytime she goes outside and so far no signs of mastitis but I'll definitely keep an eye out. I can't tell if it's eclampsia but if the panting continues or becomes a constant thing rather than in bursts as it is at the moment then she will be straight to the vet.

Thank you for your help, has given me some possibilities of cause when I was completely freaking out

Panting is completely normal and will usually carry on all the time she is nursing.... Mine do it a lot until 3 weeks

Thank you so much, you've no idea how worried I've been about her! it's comforting to know you've had the same experience.

She's still happy enough, if seemingly a little uncomfortable and as always is eating like a horse. She vomited the placentas back up and so far we've had no discharge to speak of.

Thanks again

Well all sounds perfectly normal at this stage. :)

*Not scaremongering* ......If you get strange shivering/ staring / vagueness get to the vet asap. Eclampsia ( a metabolic condition) is a rapid onset, life threatening condition which can occur any time within lactation. Something all breeders must be vigilant about.
If her pupils/ muscle tone are normal...and it's just unease/ restlessness....it is likely to be uterine contractions.

Vet may advise calcium supplementation.

You sound like such a caring person and breeder.  I'm glad you opened an account here.  We'll want to know how it is going.  I can only say that my females go out into the garden for at least a week after giving birth and act as if they think they might find a puppy somewhere under a bush or two.  And most of them scratch and scrabble around in their box so that I have to "rescue" the pups from under the vetbed time and again during the day.

She sounds quite normal, as others have said keep an eye on any discharge and her temperature, I think eclampsia is more likely with a large litter where mum is producing a lot of milk quickly, my mentor, whose breed has large litters commonly, keeps a packet of supermarket ant-acid tablets which are almost pure calcium and gives one as a temporary measure if she suspects this is happening.  Try not to worry, you are doing a good job