I'm.starting to think so also. She is just so restless and keeps getting up and scraping then laying back down and letting out a few fast breaths then sort of falls asleep then 10 minutes later she repeats the cycle.

Any news?

Just a few things - when the pups arrive, turn the fan off.  Draughts kill puppies, even in this weather.  Wipe mum's head down with some water to cool her, but don't use a fan. 

And don't offer any ice-cream or anything containing calcium until you have at least one puppy out.  Then give all the calcium containing things you want to...

Nothing yet, she settled down about 4am, but I don't know if he's waters have broke or she just did a pee cos about 10 minutes ago she stood up and there was the tiniest puddle of yellow tinged fluid and she started licking herself a lot but it was only the smallest amount but there's little drips coming out now and then since. She still hasnt eaten, and she hasn't drank from around 2am. She's refusing to go outside also. I turned the fan off earlier as my room seems a lot cooler than yesterday. Oh I didn't know that about the calcium, I was just trying to get her to eat something and cool down. Thanks for the advice on that.

I've also just called the vet to let them know what's been happening so they know what's what and they've said if nothing happened from now until 1pm theu want me to call back and make an appointment to have her in for a check up just to make sure everything is going as it should and to make sure there's no pups laying a way that could stop labour progressing or something along those lines.

I'd say she is definitely in labour, and if she is digging give her some newspaper to shred, this is in response t the pain of contractions.

I used shredded paper in my whelping box as it soaks up the wet and is easier to dispose of than sheets of paper.

If you have a shredder in the house you can shred up lots of stuff.  It is a good insulator will keep pups dry.

I did actually buy in some newspapers yesterday to have for when the pups were born so I'll give her some of it now.

You'll need TONS of newspaper.  When we did litters, I scoured the neighbourhood months before the due date because we got through a lot - and I was choosy about what I collected (place and newspaper as some use ink that comes off on white puppy legs more than others!!)

I would also phone my vet when labour started so they were ready for us, if needed.

Actually something that will keep you occupied during labour if you want is tearing newspaper into strip, first along the spine then in half lengthways and then into strips about inch wide short way.  a breeder friend told me this years ago when I used newspaper, now it's all the junk mail and latters and envelopes etc through the shredder.

Thanks for the tip, I'll phone around and see if any of my family or friends have any newspapers laying around also.. Still no other signs, she's let me take her out for a pee but apart from that she's slept most of the day, she's still not eaten either. The vet has said they don't want me to take her in and them mess about with her as that can sometimes cause more harm than good. And as long as she isn't physically showing signs of pain or green or red discharge then it could just take a bit longer for the 1st stage of labour to progress and I've to call them in the morning if there's still no progress and they will have her in for a thorough check and decide on a plan of action from there.

Samjam, I would not take her to the vet in the morning unless there is reason to believe she's in inertia.  Trips to the vet carry disease risk (since vets are after all where all sick dogs get taken), and are stressful - whether or not anything is done.

In addition, many vets are interventionist in terms of wanting to DO THINGS just because they can.  Many vets have never even seen a puppy whelped naturally through the vagina - all they are trained to do, is c-sections.  You might need a c-section.  But you most definitely don't want one unless it's necessary.  Going to the vet increases the chances of a c-section outcome.

How long has it been since you first saw panting, digging, signs of labour like this?  You want to see something happening for sure within 48hrs of that.

Last night was when she first started the digging, she's been breathing faster on and off for nearly 2 days and she's not ate anything for 2 days now either. I don't want to be taking her to the vet and stressing her out but I'm just worried incase something is wrong and the longer I wait the worse the outcome will be. I'm at hospital right now with my 2 year old as she's suffered a head injury so my brother is with her and he's said she's slept the whole time so far.

Oh dear thats all u need .hope your daughter  is ok  .

I know. It's just the luck we have right now..  we're back home now though with some stitches in place,  she had been playing with her older brothers and tried running away from them and feel onto the back door step and burst her head open.

My fur baby has found some energy as she tried jumping about and wagging her tail when I came back in the house, my brother said she still hasnt eaten but has been crying but he doesn't know if it was cos I wasn't with her. She hasn't cried since I got home though so I really don't know what to think.

Right, well in that case it might be time for a check-up if nothing happens in the night.  Where are you in terms of due dates??  What is the earliest and latest due date, going by when she was bred?

The earliest she would be due would be 8th July so that puts her at 57 days and the latest would be 10th July and that would put her at 55 days.
I'm starting to get more concerned now that she was showing signs of labour starting and now nothing at all. I'll give the vet a call when they open at 10am tomorrow if nothing happens before then.

I think something could be happening, she's going nuts with the digging and each time she stops doing it she looks.at me, and I can't describe it but the look she's giving me is as if she knows it's happening if that makes sense ? She then lays down for not more than 5 minutes and she's back up doing it again. That's been about 20 minutes now she's been doing it. Plus I don't know if this is related but her nose had a few drops of snot/water/fluid clear about 5 minutes ago.
The pups are going mad in her stomach, I've never seen them this active either but they're a lot further down than any other time.

The "look" is pain.

> The pups are going mad in her stomach, I've never seen them this active

I hate to tell you but some 24 hours or so before whelping our puppies have ALWAYS gone quiet - which the first time freaked me out but in fact they were just getting in line to come into the world, building up their strength for the journey!!

She settled back down around 6am this morning but she's now panting really fast tongue out and crying and just now she's started pushing

Sounds like you are in business

Hoping so, called vet to let them know and they've said if no pups by 11:45 I've to take her straight in. She's not pushing constantly, every 5 or 10 minutes.

That's a pup coming out

Excellent

First pup born and healthy, mum is currently cleaning it and biting through the cord. The pup doesn't have much fur on his legs and paws though compared to the rest of the body.

Great, how are things going??

For every pup, note the time you see a visible contraction.  You want to see a pup within 2 hours of that.  If the contractions are coming rapidly and it's very active pushing, you want to see a pup within 45 minutes.

If she has a break between pups and all goes quiet for little bit, that's fine.

I said his cord I meant her lol.
She's started pushing again and the other pup is suckling already.

That's good, she's getting colostrum.  Colostrum isn't very filling so sometimes they get a bit frustrated and upset there isn't more milk there in the first few hours, but it will come in.

Puppy number 2 born

Puppy number 3 born. Had to work a little to get him to breath as he came him first but he's doing well now. 2 girls And a boy. She's stopped pushing but I'm sure I can feel another in there.

Giving her calcium will help stimulate contractions now she has has some puppies.  Give her ice-cream, if you have any.  Keeping the pups already born nursing on her will also stimulate more contractions if there are any...

A bitch may pause up to 4 hours between pups, and may even take a nap - but if you see a contraction happen, then you start that clock again - 2 hours if it's not very often a contraction, 45 minutes if it's hard labour...

Just tried her with come ice cream but she won't touch it, I've rubbed some onto her gums though.. She's not shown any signs of pushing or contractions and she's letting the 3 suckle away fine but her stomach does feel like there's a hard ball in there. I'm going to leave her a while and then try get her out for a pee and see if that helps. If not I'll give the vet a call back just to be on the safe side.

You are doing really well!

(Again!) I wouldn't call the vet at this point.  It hasn't been long enough for you to even worry yet.  Many bitches take a whelping pause of an hour or more between some pups.  Give her time to recover a bit, try to get her to eat something if you can.  I boil up liver and then give the water it was boiled in, to them, to get them to drink.

And just because she still feels firm, may not mean there's another - there is all kinds of gubbins left in there which you will find coming out in the whelping box and when she wees for weeks after this.  So she could just have some of that in there.  You can try to take her for a little sniff around the garden, getting her moving sometimes hurries pups up.  Otherwise, let the others nurse on her....

She was allowing the pups to feed but now she's moved away from them and started digging and pushing again.

I'm Sorry for constantly posting. It's just all so worrying.

Another puppy coming then....its nice to have the updates, so keep posting if it helps

Wow 3 pups possibly 4 big litter for a wee dog. She's doing really well

Number 4 is out.

Surely she can't have anymore left. She wasn't even that big so would never have thought 4 was in there.

No wonder she was having toilet accidents in the house and couldn't hold her pee!!

I had a friend whose BC bitch was due & he thought she had missed(pre scan days)she was her usual slim self. She whelped 8 pups(all dogs) in a couple of hours. Bitches can hide puppies up under their ribs

Hope that is all the pups she has enough to cope with. Don't worry too much about her eating straight away just getting her drinking, which she should do

She's just had a big drink of water and now laying content with the pups all suckling. I'm so relieved she managed on her own and seems fine in herself. Just can't believe there was 4 pups in there. Thanks everyone.

Now your work starts lol

I can't believe this. She's moved away from the pups and pushing again. Everywhere i read online said between 1 and 3 pups for small breeds and first litters. My poor baby is exhausted.. I've sent it husband out to get some calcium tablets and some chicken and stuff that I can give her after this is done.

We now have 5 puppies. 4 girls and 1 boy. All suckling away fine and mum now looks content. Number 5 is a bit on the smaller side compared to the others but seems to be the one suckling the hardest.

Well done, both of you!

Have you weighed them ? It's worth keeping an eye on their weights every couple of days. I'm sure JeanSW & Goldmali who are experienced with toy breed puppies will be along with some sound advice. Seems like your girl is a natural mother. Well done to you both

Brilliant news and well done. Stat in touch with the exexperienced  breeders here should u have any more question

> I'm so relieved she managed on her own and seems fine in herself.

It's a good thing it was a big litter as they are then smaller and more likely to pass through the pelvis, you may have been in real trouble with just the one the vet thought she was having when they scanned.

So from now on, don't leave her unattended, make sure each puppy is plugged in, they need to be suckling almost constantly to bring the milk in, which like with us takes about three days, as it works on Demand and supply.

You will probably need to put a lead on her for the first few days to get her to go out for toilet every few hours.

It is vitally important that the box is protected from draughts, and the temperature should be around 75 - 80'F. Newborn puppies cannot regulate thir own body temperature ubntil they are about three weeks old.

After three days you may find she will like to lie outside the box for short periods.  If she shows signs of not wanting to stay with the pups because of her attachment to you, then someone will need to encourage her to.

Fluids at this point are very important, I assume she ate the afterbirths, so her toilets will be runny and dark, perfectly normal.

Food should be palatable and easy to eat and offered every few hours in her bed.  Some glucose in water with a little milk added to get her to drink.  Live natural yogurt goes down well, something like Onken set one I use.

Thanks everyone.. I haven't weighed them as the vet is wanting to see her at 4pm to be sure all is ok and they said they will check weights and such. But she's defo done now, shes really content but seems quite lethargic but that could be cos she's been at it all day.