Yet another post from me :) I just wanted to find out from those who have breed before what kind of signs you found to point to "tonights the night" sort of thing. I know there are signals, such as temp change, bed shredding, panting etc, but have also read that these do not apply to all bitches. She has been sick twice, once last night and once this morning, but only after haveiing scraps (chicken bits and bacon rind) which is tradition for us! She has kept all regular meals down. My concern is that i have heard froma couple of breeders that their bitch showed no signs at all except for the waters breaking, etc. What happens if this is at night? I am planning on sleeping in the living room with her a few days before she is due (from tomorrow) as the vet thought they may be early. What can i do so that i don'ty miss anything? - shall i set my alarm clock every 90 mins to check on her? What definate signs are their to look for? Please, let me know you're experiences, and help me decide what best to do.
Also, i was advised by another staff breeder not to increase her food too much until after whelping as this tends to create over-large pups, but how quickly should i increase it after she has whelped?

wispa temp did go down 24 hours before,but no other sign untill her waters broke,then 10 pup in 4hours,there must something about her and me i had no contraction with my human boys and only 1 hour in labour with both,i was very fit and muscle up beacuse of swimming,and wispa is a very fit dog ,weather that as anything to do with it.

I am checking her temp twice a day and so far its absolutely stable. Cleo is also very fit, and still really active even though she is supposed to drop in a few days, she keeps wanting me to throw her ball for her, and goes flying after squirrels. Did wispa go during the day? If at night did you stay up with her because her temp had gone down?

wispa had her puppies at 1pm in the afternoon.did not stay up with her in the night beacuse there was non other signs,she did had a string of yellow murcus i think before the water broke,it was so quick,i did not had time to worry.when is she due and what breed is she.i be going to bed in a min got to be up early start in the morning with 3 dogs to crufts.hope all gos well.

She is due on wednesday, though vet said thought might be earlier. She is SBT, hence the worry of over-sized pups. Thanks for the info, Good luck tomorrow! Will keep everyone informed

my borther breeds sbt,if you want to i can give you his tel number if you like,to have a talk.

That would be really helpful, have spoken to a few SBT breeders, and it does help to hear many different experiences with the whelping, etc. I do worry as its her first litter and i dont want to miss anything, for me or for her. Told one story where the breeder was woken up by a maiden bitch with a dead pup in her mouth, enough to scare anybody!
Am trying nt to be too anxious around her but it is hard. Oh well, what we take on! Guess i'll be aqainting myself with the sofa from now on in!!

My first bitch started becoming restless on saturday morning{due day} and dint have her first puppy till sunday afternoon!!!!!!!!!!! I stayed up all night and was shattered.
Her 2nd litter she started late in the evening and I kept her in my bedroom{where the whelping box is} so I thought It would be hours as she wasn't doing much I put my head down for an hour and woke to hear the crying of a pupy she had on the carpet!!!!!!{puppy was fine}Her temperature didnt change with either litters.
Another bitch showed no signs at all popped next door to have a coffee came back and she was pushing under the patio table!!!!!!!!!!! she had just had her dinner too!!!!!!
Try not to worry and just keep a causious eye on her and potter around cleaning ect............
my house has never been so clean when pups are due or a bitch in labour!!!!!!!!
The most obvoius sign will probably be her a little unsettled and to leave her dinner some also have an upset tummy when they are close to labour too OH and digging in the garden!!!!!!!
good luck with the litter

Our bitch had 7 pups last night, she was shaking and panting very heavily, she was looking for her quiet spot in the house which in our case was her bed.
As she sleeps in our bedroom she didnt get there till the evening and as soon as she did her waters broke and they came every half an hour from then.

Did the shaking, etc happen quite quickly, or go on for a while? I ask mainly because it is my sisters wedding tomorrow and i am chief bridesmaid! She is not due until wednesday, but i am still slightly worried! I have a friend who cleo knows dog-sitting, adn i only HAVE to be away for an hour. At the moment she is absolutely fine, a bit stroppy but whats new?! I am just worried that it will all happen really quickly. Did your bitches temperature drop at all?

our bitch was due on wednesday also,which she had friday night.she started shaking at half past seven in the morning and it lasted basically for fourteen hours because her waters broke at nine thirty and had seven puppies,delivered every half an hour.also because we were concerned of her behaviour we took her to the vet for a check to make sure she was ok and they said it could of been two things,first labour starting and the second lacking calcium due to producing so much milk.but they gave her a calcium injection,and also calcium fluid to give her daily,which the vet said would help keep her strength up whilst nursing the pups.we found the vet to be a great help so if your concern i would phone the vet just for some advice really.No her temperature stayed the same

good luck and keep us informed

Wedding over and still no signs to speak off. Still very happy and reolaxed, guess she'll let me know when shes ready, will defunately sleep on the sofa to save my partners sleep patterns, and just keep an eye on her. She will sleep under the duvet anyway, so i should know immediately if anything is going on. I'm not worried yet because she not due for a couple of days, and my vet has always said to just let things go as naturelly as possible, she hates the vet anyway - gets very stressed so avoid as much as possible. I will be here constantly for the next 8 weeks or so anyway, so i shall just have to sit it out really.
Thanks for all the help and advice anyway, i will let you know as soon as anything actually happens!

She has been a little uneasy, especially at night for the last couple of days, though this is not that unusual for cleo, she can be very tempramental, which is why i think she will be sneaky and whelp while i'm asleep!!!!!! Thinki'm going to have to make serious use of my alarm clock, as well as the sofabed to make sure we're all happy!!!! Also worried as i know that she will try and whelp on the sofa as its her very favouritist place, big squishy sofa, so don't want to run the risk of smothering.

find aload of sheets and cover the sofa totally if your worried,also bit of advice dont use blankets cos the fluff off them can end up in the puppies throats.

I have vet bedding and a fleecy type thing - do you think that the latter will be alright, don't want smothered pups obviously!

hi
vet bedding is the best thing i think for mum and pups when born,one more sign she will change shape just before whelping you will see that her belly drops and pups have moved back,also she will start to push her bottom upagaist things as she starts early stages of whelping temp will then drop to 36.6,A descharge of cream jelly and also on examination you will notice her startting to open ready for the pups and she will be enlarge to look at down there and around there it will be soft,she will also stop drinking in most cases as the whelpping starts and not want to leave her bed,good luck my little staff girl happly delivered 8 other day will be keeping 1 to run on as hope for showing .

Update on the situation. She seems very uncomfortable today, and is not interested in her breakfast. Everything allright on the toilet front (so to speak!) but there are some very strange noises coming from her insides. They sound like human stomach do when VERY VERY hungry, really loud grumbling and groaning, she keeps looking at her tummy and then at me as if to say, make it stop. She has gone back to bed now, so we shall just have to wait and see. Has anyone else experienced these kind of symptoms? Temp is up a bit at 38c, has been 37.7 for the last week.

hi
Dont know if this might help cokes tem went up to 38 the day before she started whelping is she looking at belly?
As i find that when in fist stages as well as pushing up agaist things there turn and look at that end,coke was aqgain doing this day before.

she has calmed down a lot agin, just sleeping in the bedroom (away from us!), she has had increased mucus that is a little more watery and seem sto have taken on a very very faint yellowish tinge. She has shown no interest in her whelping box at all, no tearing of paper, no digging, no panting, no shivering, nothing! She ahd this gurgly belly, though has eaten both breakie and dinner after a little wait. Really doesn't want to go out at all though. She doesn't push up against things, though seems to find lying down too uncomfortable and falls asleep sitting down! She cant really turn round to look, so she just rolls her eyes. Body has dropped, looks very wobbly :D. Am sleeping in the living room tonight so i won't miss anything, can't see that its imminent, though i know that it can happen with very little warning. We shall see

I find that if a birth is progressing slowly or there is too large a gap between the production of pups then I will put the bitch on a lead and take her for a few turns around the garden. This has the effect of letting the pups arrange themselves, especially if she is packed full.

I do not think it is healthy for the bitch to lay down from the start of the whelping process to the end. People who need to rush a dog to the vets for a caesar find that the movement of being placed in the car etc usually produces a pup on the back seat.

Ian

Thanks for all your help everyone! Had to say this morning i thought today was the day - she didn't eat her breakfast, was a little sick (white frothy liquid) and we had a very very short bout of bed scratching (about 30 secs!!!) She wasn't getting out of her bed for anyone, and was breathing quite heavily though no panting. However, now she is absolutely fine - eaten her food, tail wagging and even came over for a long "love me" session :D So another night on the sofa for me and my alarm clock tonight, though i am thinking it may not happen until tomorrow now, who knows - feel like a kid on christmas eve almost constantly now, just want them to come out and play ;)
Anything other help still greatly appreciated :)

I put lots of newspaper in my whelping box. I give the bitch free access to this area for around 10 days prior to whelping. I find that the closer to whelping she is the more paper she will tear up. Apparently they do this to cope with the pain. Yes they will stare at the backend, pant, shiver etc.

I also find that as a precursor to all this the bitch may well go off her food a day of two before whelping and also develop loose bowels to empty herself before the birth.

Still nothing happening though her temp has dropped today. She still has no milk at all, and i wondered if this is normal? I read that maiden bitches will sometimes only start lactating when whelping starts. Anybody had experience with this? Just wonderign whether i'm going to have to be prepared to hand-rear!

Cyan my Border Collie has recently raised 8 healthy pups and didnt show much signs of having alot of milk before she actually whelped.Gillian

Hi,
don't worry. My cocker bitch did not produce milk until the moment the pups were born. On the other hand i have a Malinois litter due on Friday and she has been producing gallons for aout 2 weeks :)

Ian

Yes, my bitches sometimes don't have milk until after whelp. I also give them a shot of oxitocin near the end of whelping to ensure everything is expelled from her uterus and it also helps her milk come in. It is important to not give this shot until the bitch has at least whelped one puppy thogh, because it can rupture her uterus.

right, she has been in her whelping box all day, and i just went in to see her produce a gush of liquid, this was not clear but quite brown in colour, it continue to trickle for a while. Now she is very stressed, and won't stay in her box, instead going into a little basket that i have prepared for the pups. She is not straining but is very anxious. She has also seemed to have adopted one of her toys as a pup, carrying it around and licking it alot. Does this sound normal? Advice please

Cleo

I don't think you can wait to see if someone comes on who can answer your question - you need to ring your vet to see if this is all OK. I have never seen a bitch whelp so cannot say if it is normal, but if you are worried and it is her waters that have broken and she is distressed she needs help now.

Go phone ...

Pam n the boys

PS when you can - let us know what happens

I agree. In humans stained fluid is an indicator the baby is in distress - I don't know anythign about whelping bitches but I'd have thought it was similar.

PLEASE phone your vet now.

Fiona

have already phoned vet, said normal in some bitches, told to phone again in 1/2 hour so in bout 5 mins. just wanted to know if anyone had experience with this really.

What a relief. I told you I didn't know anything about whelping bitches!! :D

Good luck and I hope it all goes well for you and your girl.

Fiona

So we have just come back from the vets, as i was worried, though he said fine, and - guess what - he was right. Said all completley normal, checked pups on scan and all healthy and breathing, just quite big. He also gave me an oxitocin injection to give to her if she hasn't started straining or anything by about 8ish, so thats something else to look forward to, not! So right now i have a poor unhappy little girl, for goes between being quite clam to then satrt shaking, panting and srabbling around in her box, and to think i thought i mightn't be able to tell!!!!!
Oh, just in case i have to , does anyone have any tips on how to give injections. Have done it before, but not for a while and never on a dog, though horses may be quite similiar

Good luck with the whelping tonight hope all goes well.
If it is any consolation my last litter the bitch WOULD NOT lay in her beautiful clean new warm whelping box and stopped pushing whenever I tried to get her in it, she had them all on a settee in the end but it was the only way she would settle.
PS Don't let her go out in the garden on her own{she ca still go out but follow her with a torch and towel just in case!!!!!!! I had one born on the grass before!!!!!!!!!!! :)

All sounds quite normal to me.
relax and just keep an eye on her.
She will probabaly deliver first pup soon.
If pup is large she may strain for a while don"t panic.
Good Luck

Oh one more thing.
Make sure the room is really warm. and prepare some milk just incase
hers dosnt come in.

her milk has come through, and has just started to strain, think it might be a while coming/
. Thanks everyone, got to get back now, let you all konw later on

Good luck - hope all goes well :)

Pam n the boys

Good Luck Alex and Cleo :D

Do let us all know how it goes :)

Best wishes

Derryn

Too bad Kay's daughter isn't there to post updates while you're busy catching puppies. Hope the silence means your still catching :D
Best of luck

Poor Bee by the time you come on we are all gone to bed what time is it over there. . night Bee Mari