Mabel has started labour. She has been having what appear to me to be good contractions for over an hour. How long shall I leave it before I take her to the vet? He doesn't do house calls in these situations - I would have to take Mabel in. She seems fairly relaxed beteween contractions and cries out when they happen. Any advice or moral support out there?! She has just produced the mucus plug , no sign of water bag or pup when she pushes.

Hi,

You should try to leave it no longer than 2 hours of her pushing before you phone your vet-it's always best to go to the surgery anyway. Vets have more facilities at their disposal to help a bitch in-whelp rather than your home and sometimes a car journey can bring a pup on too, I have had 2 born in my car!

Keep me posted with how it goes.......fingers crossed for you and Mabel.....It's exciting but a bit scary not knowing how many etc......

All the best,

Christine

good luck, and let us all know how it goes

Great excitement! One big beautiful black puppy - don't know what sex yet.

Congratulations :D Do you think there are any more?

Fiona
x x x

Goodluck with the pups.
My last litter the bitch was pushing on and off for 2 hours so I phoned the vet who after asking her condition, any discharge ect told me to phone him back 90 minutes later.
It turns out somehow she was delaying the labour as she hatted the whelping box and once confortable on a nice dirty doggy armchair{clean bedding shuvved under her behind though} and surrounded by the other dogs {which is what she wanted as she followed them if they walked away!she happily produced a pup 10 minutes before I was due to phone the vet!!!!!
I would still phone the vet after around 2 hours to be on the safe side

congratulations, any sign of more yet,sorry but I must have missed your other threads (not been on here for long) but what breed of dog is mable. keep us informed off how things are going. I think it is going to be a long night for you

Have you turned that puppy over to see what it is yet?

That's the first thing I do when they come out....flip them up to see what they are....last litter, it went dog, dog, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch,bitch, bitch, bitch, dog, bitch, dog, dog. If Mabel's started now I'd keep the kettle hot and get lots of tea/coffee in you......

Christine

Good luck with the pups, hope all goes well. Get the kettle on
and have plenty of cups of tea. You may be there all night long.
When you get a few minutes tell me what breed you have.
Nutkin

Hi nutkin,

From a previous thread I gather Mabel is a Lhasa Apso. That's if my eyes can focus...only had one glass of wine and I feel like a half shut knife now.....

Christine

Yes, Mabel is a lhasa apso and this is her first litter. She didn't look particularly big all the way through her pregnancy and I was not expecting more than one or two. I think I'll have to settle for one though as she is happily feeding him (yes, its a boy) and there are no signs of any more activity. Thanks for your interest everybody - it really helps when youre worried, to hear from people who have been there and done that. I'll keep you informed of Stumpys early days. It's going to be so hard to sell him. That was the plan but I really hoped for a black and white one even though both parents were brindle and the last black one was about 7 generations ago!
I haven't got any extra heating for him. Its hot for the time of year and Mabel is feeling the heat. Do you think Stumpy needs any extra?

If you are further South that me (Scotland), I should leave the heating off. When I had my litter in April, I had the heating on minimum as it was quite warm around then. She my be settled now but she could be lulling you into a false sense of security, Miranda did this, and still went on to have 2 more overnight! Just keep your eyes and ears trained....

Good luck, let us know how you little boy does...

Christine

i have a heat lamp offset so its away from the bitch but if the bitch decided for whatever reason to leave the pup for a while, the fact its got no others to snuggle up with it can go under a lamp if it needs too, remember if the pup loses heat very young it has no way of helping itself-normally theyd snuggle up to each other, so the only heat its getting at the minute is from its dam

There's so much to worry about. Especially as I only have the one pup its like all my eggs are in one basket!
Mabel is cleaning and feeding the puppy well but in between times she wants to be downstairs with me and leaves the pup on its own - is this OK.? Shouldn't she want to be with the pup more or less all the time? When she does come downstairs she is restless and doesn't seem to know what she should be doing. I cant really bring the whelping box downstairs because the other dogs and cats and kids are all here. Any suggestions?

I would put her upstairs with a radio or TV on, and spend time up there with her so she settles. Normally the first 3 days you have to prize them out from their babies.

she is torn between her maternal instincts and wanting to be with you. with only one pup she perhaps isn't as well bonded as with a larger more demanding litter.

As mine are very much family dogs, and by the second week I get the same problem, I bring mine down once their eyes are open. I then find they are more attentive to the pups as they are wary of the others getting too curious :D They are then happy as they arn't left out of things, but can keep a careful eye on their pups. They gradually allow the other dogs to go in with the pups as they become more mobile!

Hope everything continues well for you.
Does this breed normally have just one
pup or do they have more?
If so and she is restless get her checked
over by the vet to make sure no others
are inside. As for the heat lamp, be
careful. They do need heat, perhaps
late at night but its totally boiling here in
Norfolk and pups can dehydrate quick. I dont
know exactly where you are, but take care to
get it just right.
Some mothers can take longer to bond than others
so keep with her or put the box where she can see
you during the day. I had a bitch reject a whole
litter once after a litter, it took an hour or two of
her getting used to the idea. Then she was brilliant,
however I fed the pups Whelpi to get them over the
first few hours, plus I made her lay down so they
could suckle off the mother to get the colostrum milk.
Also she may be restless due to the heat.
Anyway hope all goes well.
Nutkin

Jude can I ask? why is she upstairs? just may be best if she was downstairs in a quiet room with you,also theres a danger she may fall off the chair.
Just a suggestion. Good luck :)

Mattie, Mabel is upstairs because she is one of three dogs, 6 cats and 5 children who mainly occupy the downstairs of my house. My bedroom is the quietest place for her. She is the only one allowed upstairs as she sleeps on my bed. I didn't know how the other dogs would react to her puppies so I started to have her upstairs at night for that reason. Actually, she has stayed upstairs with Stumpy for the last 2 or three hours this time so maybe the bond is starting to grow. She is feeding and cleaning really well though and Stumpy has gone from 8 to 9 oz already so Ive decided not to worry. All the books say the bitch will want privacy but Mabel is much happier if I or one of the children are up there with her. My children are well trained!

I had a heat lamp for my first litter as it was a winter one, but I won't use them again.

Had it set up near the box, Asti (mum) stood up and had a shake. With all the usual discharge etc. they experience with whelping and after, the liquid flew round the room, some hit the bulb and it exploded. Luckily no glass hit her or the pups. Now I have one of those underbed heating plates, perfectly safe and it transmits a very low heat, perfect for Spring/Summer/Autumn pups.

Christine

PS, I would take the dog to the vet too, she may have a dead pup in her that needs oxytocin to clear her, that's why she may be restless.

The answer to that lilly is a dull emitter its a heat bulb doesnt blind the puppies with the light and doesnt shatter either.

also the heat pads are good.

Hi Judy, I like to go by the book and keep the temperature in the whelping box at 85 degrees plus for the first week. Murder for the humans, but no worry about chilled pups and I'd imagine that the risk of chilling is higher with a single pup than with a snuggling litter. It isn't that warm here today (I'm in Scotland too) and has sometimes been quite chilly at night, so even if you don't add heating by day, think about turning it on at night. If you do turn on the heat, remember about humidity. One reason I'm not wild about overhead heating lamps is their tendency to 'dry out' the pups and the fact that you can't drape a wet towel over a lamp the way you can with a radiator :-).

I agree with the Christine that you need to let the vet see Mabel asap, especially if she seems a bit unsettled and is following you around. Don't know about lhasas but big breed bitches can easily have a retained pup that is impossible to feel.

Snap, my Rough Collie bitch kept me 'on the boil' for 24 hours, although she appeared quite settled in her whelping box. As soon as I gave in and went into the lounge for a cuppa, she jumped onto the sofa and had a puppy within approx 30 seconds!! - then another 2 within 10 minutes, and carried on to a total of 8. Once she'd had them, she settled perfectly in her whelping box and did a grand job with all of them - they were 6 months old this week.

Many thanks to everyone who suggested I should take Mabel to the vets.
She's been diagnosed with a uterine infection, and is on antibiotics. Fingers crossed for her!