My large breed bitch is a first time mum to 6 (almost 7 :[ ) pups that are currently 5 and 6 days old (spread across a long labour). This is my first time breeding and let's just say I'm glad the first 36 hours are over. Leah, my bitch needed a C section as she was still carrying two more pups and time was getting on, she was given a shot but then the decision was made to intervene... how stressful. Anyway.

All pup are doing well, putting on weight and Leah has taken to motherhood very naturally as I suspected she would. Our first mishap today, when Leah was licking up mess in their box, she slipped a crushed a pup, it was so quick and being a big dog she was f***ing hard to get up. Luckily my screaming, clapping and finally one mammoth push freed the pup. He is one of out strongest pups which probably saved him... when I pulled him from under her I noticed that he had pooped, is this something I should worry about or is this most likely the weight of her making him release his bowel? What are the symptoms of the pup potentially having internal damage from this incident?

Or am I just worrying needlessly, the fact that nothing has changed with the pup since is most probably my answer.

Ouch.   Could be the weight on him, but it could be this happened because he was 'sh*t scared'!!   I suppose at this age, unless you do get your vet to check him (for your own peace of mind?), if he's nursing okay and you don't see blood from either end, you should be okay to let him be.   Going to the vet could be extra stress for him that he doesn't need right now.    Hope he'll be okay.

Thank you! Yeah that's what I thought. Such a close call. I keep thinking that if I was in the bathroom or something he would have been squashed. Scary times. I am checking on pups every hour and have baby monitors to. When does the chance of being squashed go down?

It should be less likely to happen once their eyes open.   And once they are bigger, they'll shout louder so mum should move IF this happens again.   But fact is one of us stayed with our litters pretty much 24/7 until mum was off them - only going in to feed and back out again.   When my sig.other had to go to work, and I had to sort out the others and household chorse,  I'd leave the door adjar so I could hear if anything dire was going on and get in there fast.   Bassets, being low-slung, can be clumsy which is why we had 'pig rails' round the edge of the box but it was still possible for them to have an accident and plonk down on the litter .... which is why I was there when she was moving around, ready to sweep them all out from under!  I'm afraid you'll have to cancel pretty much everything to be able to concentrate on rearing these babies safely.   And people think we breeders charge too much for our puppies!!

Yeah that's pretty much what we are doing. Someone is in the house listening/watching 24 hours a day. The sleepless nights are taking their toll and also finding out I'm expecting myself adds to the fatigue -.- This is absolutely not for the faint heated. I always wanted the experience and now I've got it I will not be rushing to do it again. Watching the relationship between the pups and mum is beautiful and I wouldn't change them but the time where I don't have to worry about squashed pups can't come quicker.
She is already leaving the room to sit with us and heading back up to check and for feeds and they are one week old now, and that happened sooner than I thought. So now I'm doing constant hot water bottles to make sure they don't get cold when she does leave. Strooth.

>She is already leaving the room to sit with us and heading back up to check and for feeds and they are one week old now, and that happened sooner than I thought.

I would be setting up camp in the room where the whelping box is, if your bitch is used to sitting with you she will now be torn between staying with you and staying with her puppies. I set myself up with chair, book, laptop etc right by the box, so my girl could be with her puppies or right by the box and still be with me.

> <br />I would be setting up camp in the room where the whelping box is, if your bitch is used to sitting with you she will now be torn between staying with you and staying with her puppies

Agreed.   If she's heading back and then back with you especially.   Many bitches find it hard to stop being a pet, and becoming a mum.

Is it not normal for them to distance themselves a little after a week? She is still doing her duties as soon as any noise comes from the pup room. I will not allow her to follow me away and set up camp. Last thing I want is the pups using up calories to stay warm.

In the first weeks of life puppies can't regulate their temperature, so if they get chilled they won't be able to use any calories to warm up. That is why puppy room should have constant warmth temperature, whether their mom is in or out, to keep their bodies warm.

I understand that they cannot regulate their temperature and heating arrangements have been made to facilitate that when mum does want a break. I have read that they use up calories in an attempt to stay warm. My daily weigh in's are spot on, all pups are putting on 5-10% of body weight (average 7%) so we must be doing something right. Mum is getting used to a new routine that involves us eating in the puppy room which definitely settles her.
Thank you for all input my questions have been answered and everyone is doing very well :)

Little bit of reassurance needed please that we are doing ok.

Our medium breed bitch has a litter of 6 puppies who are 3 weeks and 2 days. All growing well and were feeding well from mum until yesterday when we noticed she was reluctant to settle. Last night she wanted to sleep on our bed with us and not be with the puppies at all. Their teeth are coming through now and a few days ago mum regurgitated her dinner into the whelping box so we wondered whether she was trying to start weaning them off.

Today, very little interest in them so we introduced them to some puppy porridge. We have blended Hills Puppy with some puppy formula and it seemed to go down well.

We just have a couple of questions as just need to check we are doing ok.

1. We didn't start to wean her first litter until 4 weeks and so were expecting this litter to be the same. Mum has had a bit of a runny tummy but otherwise well and no temp so maybe it's best she stays away from them anyway but we should we be worried that she wants this litter to wean sooner then her first? We're only talking 5 days mind you .... and the average weights for these puppies is slightly higher than first litter.

2. I know that we should be providing them with fresh water now that they have been weaned but really can't see them managing to sip from a dish just yet. We have been adding plenty of water to their porridge so that it's thick soup consistency but should we be trying to get extra water into them in addition to this until their are strong enough to drink from a bowl? I did a little test earlier with 1ml syringe and they each managed a couple of mls. I'm sure they would take more but it is necessary? Their stools have been a bit lose today so we have introduced prokolin too, so should we carry on with syringes or just make porridge extra sloppy?

3. Is it too soon to leave them overnight? If mum no longer wants to feed them then will they be ok overnight? Should we be feeding them overnight ourselves or just stick to day time now? Should I offer them water in night?

We are taking them to vets tomorrow for quick check due to loose stools but not all vets are breeders so thought would ask you guys too :)

Thanks everyone, sorry, quite a few questions!

Bitches often don't want to be with the litter at night by 3wks old, but this isn't necessarily a reason to wean them.  They will often pop in, feed, then come back to your bed (for eg.)  Many people do wean at 3wks without probs, though - I prefer to wait longer if possible and all is going well.  You definitely don't want mum to 'stay away' from them for a few days(!) - the bitch should continue to have access to the puppies daily. 

You would also be risking mastitis in the bitch, to wean suddenly.  You say 'now that they have been weaned'... er - they haven't been!  Weaning is a gradual process of less of mum and more of food, it's not a sudden thing you do once....

The best way to wean, is by feeding the pups their gruel first then allowing mum in to lick the bowls and give them a top up milk dessert.  That way, she will have the edge taken off her full mammary glands, so the risk of mastitis is lower, the pups will still get some comfort feeding from her and she will begin to make less milk because their demand has reduced.

There is no need to add extra fluids if they are still getting regular top up feeds from mum like this (as they should be).

Overnight, you need to leave it up to the bitch - she should be able to get in to see them if necessary and if she wants to feed them.  Often she will without you even knowing about it.  You can't shut her out of access to the pups overnight, no... And no, you don't need to feed them overnight! 

Personally, I would not take young pups to the vets due to the risk of infection - the vets is where all sick dogs get taken... I would call the vet out and ask for a house visit if they needed vet attention.  But if they are gaining weight and are well in all other ways, I wouldn't seek vet attention unless the loose stools went on for 3-4 days - certainly not after one day of it.  Loose stools can easily be caused by the introduction of solids and adjustment to them...