my first litter is due just after christmas will it upset my dog if we get too many people calling round.she will have her own room to be in to yelp her pups but will she want to leave her pups to see who is visiting our house.

She needs a pretty stress free time, some bitches can react very badly to a lot of coming and goings and it is not always the ones you would have predicted!  So if I was having a litter at this time, personally, it would be a very quiet one with any visiting being done by myself or hubbie elsewhere whilst the other stayed and watched over her.  There will be plenty more Christmases for you, God willing :)

we have told everyone no visitors but what happens when people call unexpected.she may want to leave her pups to see who the visitor is.will the pups be ok if she does.

I think you need to put the word out that you would prefer people not to call and why.  Even outside the festive season when people know you have cute puppies they will often think it a good idea to drop round.....and bring the kids!.......so its a good idea to let them know from the outset, that unlike humans, animals don't all appreciate their babes being admired at a very young age and are likely to react in adverse ways.

She doesn't have to be chained to her pups, so I wouldn't worry about her leaving them for short periods unless she starts to neglect them. I would be far more concerned that she might become aggressive towards your visitors, to the point where if she feels her litter is threatened there is a possibility that she might get very distressed and harm the puppies. She really does need peace and quiet in the first couple of weeks, if she is at all protective of your home she is likely to be very protective towards her puppies. Why not invite your visitors to come back later once the puppies are up and about and she is happy to show them off?
Jane.

I would agree.

My bitches are always happy to show off their pups, but they do spend teir first two weks upstairs in a bedroom where they cannot be disturbed especially by the other dogs.

I do allow visitors a quick peak dependant on the bitch (mine love the attention), and encourage as many visitors as I can drag through the door from the time their eyes are open (down in kitchen by then), and once they are on teir feet the more visitors the betterm, especially men that are in short supply in my day to day doing and visitors.

i too plan to keep the pups upstairs out of veiw for the first 2 weeks but was worried about mother leaving them to see visitors.will she want to be with us if we go downstairs.

been reading messages about things going wrong during labour starting to get very nervous now.

hi me too its my first litter and she is due just after christmas ive read loads of info but i imagine all the reading in the world is not going to be much help when it finally comes, ive read loads of post on here about there dogs in labour etc good luck