Dear All,

We are now on day 52/55 and I have been trying for days to take her temp and she will not no way let me!! Any ideas??

I have more or less decided not to bother I really don't want to upset her, but I am worried I should keep a record - what do you all think??

Regards
Lilly

Hello Lilly
This may sound daft, but once an old gentleman Black Country Staffie breeder told me that a good indicator of temp drop near to whelping was that the ears of the bitch were noticably cooler than the body. !!

Jill

I stand them put my left hand under neath to stop her sitting down. Hold the tail with same hand :-) and in you pop

If necessary, you could use her lead to tie her to a door handle, then sit on the floor and follow Blue's instructions!  It's just a matter of training, as with everything else.

Dear All,

Thanks for the advice I will try again, but she usually is no problem have taken it loads in the past, but this time no way!!!

I would be tempted to let well alone if it is upsetting her a lot. The first stage of Labour goes on for hours, sometimes as long as 24 hours+ and as long as you get up in the night from about day 58 to check her, say 4 hours after you go to bed, and then are up 4 again 3-4 hours after that, you are very unlikely to miss anything. Sometimes labour will stop and start but usually once they are scrabbling their bed and panting hard, looking distracted and unsettled  they are on their way. Often their tails go droopy and barely wag.

The majority of bitches refuse their supper if they are going to start labour before morning, though a very few will eat during the whelping! If she does refuse food dont encourage her do eat as she may well just bring it up later. I really advise you not to stay up all night unecesarily. I used to with my first few litters and once missed 3 whole nights sleep without a sign of a puppy. Then on the 4th night when she did whelp I was so tired I was almost hallucinating and unable to make quick/good decisions. In the end, she went for a C-section at 4am and I should not really have been driving to the local shop let alone on main roads to the vets. At least the roads were empty and all were delivered safely in the end.

Some bitches also prefer not to be constantly watched, it can delay labour sometimes imo. Be discreet about it unless she is trying to get on your lap and obviously wants you there - crying after you when you leave the room.  I have sat with a bitch - only to find that eventually when I just HAD to go to the loo, I came back to a safely delivered puppy. It really did seem they were waiting for some privacy.

Try not too worry too much,  most litters of "normal doggy shaped" breeds are delivered safely with very little or no intervention ( ie not short faced or high waisted or toys) though of course you should be on hand and it is  much better to be on hand. I am sure lots of people will disagree with me -  its just my opinion after delivering about 50 litters in 30 years. 
A baby monitor is handy too,  place near her bed and you can listen to it when you are in yours. If all is quiet for 10 minutes the I go back to sleep.

50 litters in 30 years.

I'm assuming you helped out at an awful lot of whelpings for other people?

Christine, breeding practices have changed a lot over the years, years ago it was quite common for breeders to produce rather more litters than hobby breeders tend to these days but there was generally a lot less breeders and indeed a lot less pedigree dogs about and consequently there did not seem to be the rescue problems there are these days.

30 years ago only makes it 1975 onwards, which isn't that long ago.   I know that in the pre & post WWII large kennels were kept and a lot of wealthy people could afford to employ full time staff to run the kennels and manage their dogs.   However breeding practices have changed a lot since then.

:D My memory does not go back quite to the war.  I bought my first dog about 25 years ago and the sort of kennels that kept double figures of dogs were certainly around then.  In fact, in my breed at least, there are still old school types who like to have at least one litter a year to ensure young stock for the show ring and rehome their breed bitches after a couple of litters.  It's not what I would choose to do as I get too attached but of the kennels I am thinking of good quality puppies are produced and are in much demand for pet homes and other hobby breeders keen to avail themselves of the level of experience that sort of breeding can bring.  It is not really the number of litters necessarily but the ethics behind them that count.

My girl was the same, so I let her be. It will soon be very apparent when she is in labour, there are lots of other signs to look out for that are much more reliable, so I would question its usefulness anyway :)

Hi Shiftingsands,

Yes having thought about it its not worth upsetting her. I have moved into the spare room with her at night, she has a large whelping box and I have a real bed. I will bear in mind the privacy thing though.

Thanks agin

Lilly