My bitch went into labour last night and after she had been pushing for an hour I rang the vet and was told to give it another hour (even though she had lost some dark yellow fluid?). She went on to present a breech which appeared stuck, we had to help get it out, it was stillborn and we couldn't resuscitate it. I'm a bit upset at the vet because I felt she wasn't progressing properly and they told me to give her another hour - would you have insisted on taking her to the vets?. And I'm desperate to prevent this happening if I breed from her again - any ideas why she had a singleton and got into trouble? Any ideas gratefully received! I'm desperate for a puppy from this bitch and am heartbroken :(

I'm so sorry, I can imagine how upset you must be.

A similar thing happened with a friend whose bitch was in whelp to one of our dogs; she had a gut instinct at midnight that the bitch should have produced after straining for some time - the vet on call told her to wait until the morning, when she produced a dead puppy.   Hoever, with her, she did have more live pups to follow, but it doesn't instill confidence, does it?

The only thing I can suggest is to make sure that if/when you mate her again, you have a good person to scan her, so that you can be prepared for a singleton, and if necessary for a caesarian before you lose the pup.

Anyhow, hope all goes well for you next time - feel for you now

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Thank you.

As I under stand it, a singleton puppy doesn't always promote the production of enough hormone to trigger strong contractions - hence there are often problems with labour - often a cesaerian has to be performed - were you/your vet aware there was possibly only one pup?

Unfortunately, Vets are very good at "unzipping" bitches, but many have little experience in mating, whelping etc.  Those with experience tend to be the "old timers" in your breed.  If you bought your bitch from such a person, then to have them mentor you through pregnancy and whelping (either in person or on the telephone) would be a good idea.
I'm very sorry to read about your situation, but hope that your post will be also be read by those who want  'just one litter' or the 'I have a dog and a bitch - why shouldn't I?' puppy producers.

I did have a friend who has bred many litters on the other end of the phone but she said it was ok for them to take an hour or two before the first arrival (she's more familiar with GSD and labs though). We didn't know it was a singleton - I just knew her contractions weren't strong enough. It's not my first litter but I've never been through a difficult whelp before - they've all been straightforward - if it ever happens again I won't take no for an answer from the vet - my gut feeling was to take her and I wish I had insisted. I think another time I'll go for a scan and if it's a singleton perhaps consider a c-section, I didn't have one this time becasue I didn't want to stress her, now I feel guilty for not having one. I hope anyone considering breeding for the first time reads this and realises what heartbreak it can cause. I'm just so glad my bitch is OK - I could have lost her as well if we hadn't been able to get the pup out.

Sorrry to hear about your loss.

That is the thing with vets sometimes. You have to put your foot down sadly with them at times.  I really like mine but at whelping time we have had cross words for sure. He thinks breeders interfere too much well I couldn't care what he thinks at whelping time as long as I am 100% satisfied. 

This I guess is where scanning and stethoscopes etc all come in handy for breeders in identifying singletons or small litters.

If I mate her again and she is carrying a singleton (I'll definately have a scan another time) do you think I should ask the vet to do a c-section? I'm worried that if she has a trial of labour the same thing will happen again. When I mentioned a section to the vet she said the risks of anaesthetic was greater than the risk of loosing the pup - or did they not want to do a section because it was out of hours (although you'd think they'd be rubbing their hands together at the thought of the bill)? I guess I'm feeling rather cynical at the minute :)

If one of my bitches were carrying a singleton, my vet plans a c section in advance.  I personally always have my girls scanned, just to make sure there are more than one pup.  You say your vet thought the risks of anaesthetic was greater than the risk of losing the pup isn't completely true, you could have lost both mum and pup with this difficult delivery and I would want to know why she refused to do it!

I too had a disaster with my last litter, my girl is in season again and I am really worried about the whole process repeating itself, but I will try one last time and keep everything crossed.

Good luck for next time and I'm sorry about your loss this time :-(

So sorry to hear of your experience, but I just thought I should point out to others who might read this that not all singleton births end in disaster. I have had 2 & both ended with normal (if slightly protracted births), one a very big dog pup who came out back feet first, the other a bitch. These were the 2nd & 3rd litters for the same bitch, her 1st having produced 4 pups. Don't know if it was the fact that the singletons weren't a first litter made any difference. Also, my breed isn't known for whelping problems. Having said that, if I thought there was a problem I would expect my vet to listen to me!