My bitch was due to whelp last saturday (14/2/04) - hoever she's showing absoloutly no signs - I have spoken to the owner of her mother who says that her bitches will try and delay the onset of labour if other bitches are  in close proximity to them - has anyone else experienced this ?. Lola lives with two other bitches and a young male - usually they all get on very well but I have noticed that just recently she has become much more dominant with the other bitches ( although they do still snugggle up on the sofa together given the chance !). Should I be trying to keep her away from the other dogs ?. The pups are still very active and she's eating very well and seems in good health. her temperature in 99 degrees which is slightly ,lower than normal.

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I would have imagined that you have her whelping room ready now - put her in it - let her settle on her own - although I've never heard of this before, if her breeder has experienced it in her lines, that may well be enough to let her relax.

Have you got the book of the bitch?   It was my bedside reading every time I had a pregnant bitch :D !  You can get it almost by return on Amazon. 

Keep monitoring her temperature - when there is a significant drop, it usually means that she will go into labour within 12 hours. 

Good luck = and let us know how you get on.

Regards
Margot

Can you give her some quiet time away from the others?
Some bitches (but not all) like some privacy around the time they are due. Are they all together overnight? Do you have a whelping bed / whelping area set up for her? If so can you put Lola on her own in her whelping quarters overnight so she can feel secure/settled/relaxed & then maybe a bit more likely to think about whelping.
You might find though when you try & seperate them, that she doesn't like it & wants to be with the others. If that's the case - I'd put her back with them. Just try & do whatever she seems more comfortable with.
One things for sure ~ it won't be long. :)
Good luck & keep us all posted.  :)

Thanks for your advice - yes we do have the whelping box all ready in  a separate room but she won't stay in there on her own - she wants to be with everyone else. She's sleeping in our room at night time whilst were waiting for the pups. I was thinking of taking her up to the vets to have a check that all is well if she hasn't whelped by Wednesday ( this will be 4 days overdue )- or do you think I'm just being over anxious ?. Her scan showed 6 maybe 7 pups BUT she's huge and I'm sure she's having more. This is only our 2nd litter in 19 years of owning and showing the breed, our last one was 7 years ago - so these pups are very special to us !

Morning!
Don't push her to go in her whelping bed if she's not keen, she will go in there when she's whelping (trust me :)) 
How many matings did she have?
Is she happy & seem ok in herself?
I think a trip to the vets for a check up at 4/5 days overdue is the very best thing to do - but depends on how many matings she had.

Hi
Thanks for your reply - I've just taken her temperature and it's down to 98.3 so i'm hoping things will start to happen soon !. I have got a copy of the book of the bitch and as you say it's become our 'bible'. Lola was mated twice with a gap of 4 days between - I've taken the due date from the estimation given when we had her scanned.Will let you know if anything happens !

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My bitch wasn't very keen to get into her whelping box until 24 hrs before she gave birth.  She showed no signs of first stages till 3 hours before they were born and every sign seemed to have just appeared at once, she started panting, her temperature droped dramatically and she was very restless.  She did try and jump out of her box but I put her straight back in and good job too as just 15 minutes later she gave birth to the first pup.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Hi i have no experince in breeding but just wanted to say what a lovley dog Lola is and all your others, you must be very proud. I hope all goes well with your babies and give Lola a big {{{hug}}} from us, Emma.