Hello everyone, I know its early but I really need some advice. My beautiful girl Mabel has whelped 7 puppies overnight. There was no sign that they were on their way and very sadly she had 1 on the sitting room floor and 5 under a bed upstairs. Luckily I realised something wasn't right and got up to investigate. The little one on the floor was very cold but is ok. She had the 7th puppy with me but the 8th still hasn't appeared and I can feel a hard lump in her tummy. I have phoned the vet who says not to worry! She is exhausted and I have never done this before and am worried! She had a scan which said she was carrying 8 so I am sure there is one still inside. The placents was also retained on the 7th puppy...no sign of the other placentas so I'm assuming she ate them all (not great I know!). I would be so grateful if anyone has any advice for me. My usual vet opens at 9 so will phone then. Thank you!!

8th puppy just born!! It didn't come out in its sack and she pulled at the cord to pull the placenta out but I was expecting 2 placentas. Also, one of the puppies is half the size of all the others...do I need to do anything special??

Call your vet if you are concerned obviously LOL The on call phone person should be able to advise :)

Just make sure the small pup gets a good supply of milk and make sure they are warm. As for Mum I would pop her down to the Vets for a good check up anyway. If the placenta hasn't come away they will give her an Oxytocin jab to clear it.  Good luck with ther babes.

personally  wouldnt dream of taking bitch to vet as suggested, but would have vet call in.

Hope that everything is ok with mum and the pups, congratulations and just make sure that the pups are nice and warm,in their whelping area now, (especially the one left on the sitting room floor, lucky that you got up!)  she did a really good job all on her own and it looks as though she has taken care of everything herself, what a shock you must have had, a nice one at that though.

As already said try to pop the little one on the back teats whenever possible, and don't worry if she stays smaller.

Good luck! :-)

Hi Mabel

Congratulations on your new arrivals!  As has already been advised, the best thing you can do for a small one is to give access to the rear teats when it wants to feed, and to make sure it's warm the rest of the time.  I have spent time down on my knees in the whelping box, shielding the little one with my hands to make sure it doesn't get pushed off. When I've had a big litter, I've had the odd little one - they've all made it and the most recent one grew to be the biggest of the lot, just needed the time to get there. 

Good luck

Hi, thank you all! Mabel is doing really well now and I am a lot calmer!! The vet is coming this afternoon to check that all is as it should be, he did however say that I should let nature takes its course with the little one. She is very tiny and skinny (not to mention utterly adorable) and I have done exactly as you have all said...they are warm and I have spent much of the morning getting her to feed and sheilding her from the others as I have no intention of letting nature take its course! She is however quite reluctant to feed and when she does its a bit of a half hearted attempt....I will try my best.

Try and persevere with the little one as everyone says. I had one in my last litter which was 3oz lighter than all the rest and I spent the first 48+ hours giving her top priority at the milk bar. She was always a bit smaller than all the rest but was perfectly fine.

likewise. i have had a little 1 or 2 out of 9 on each of my litters and like others spend the extra time trying to get them the first feeds before the others . all have ccome through fine and been really lively little things once they got there. i did top ups for a little bit on the couple as one seemd to be content just opening his mouth like a gold fish and not sucking- so watch out for that they have latched on properly.
after a few days of doing a bit extra then i was de;ighted to find how strong he was at sucking. he had swallowed fluid during the whelp and had developed pneumonia and was very ill. lots of people telling me to give up- but mum was looking at me as if to say please do something and he was a real fighter !!! looking at this little really floppy pup who was struggling  and even stopped feeding off her altogether- hence i had to feed him but when he recovered he went back on her like he was top dog!!! and became a real little character with this little scrap of a thing being named Bruiser by his new owners who knew all the facts of his early weeks. be encouraged. i have  alittle one this time that i am having to watch as he is a bit of a goldfish too - although once latched on he's fine- just seems to be content to snuggle up to mum and go through the motions!! a boy!! first one born.hope all goes well.

Mabel hasn't feed them now for nearly an hour, each time they get close she moves to the other side of the whelping box....is this ok? She has had something to eat and drink and otherwise seems relaxed. The little one I found cold on the floor this morning is the biggest and greediest by far!!

Have you taken her out to the garden for a wee and poo?

Just like human babies, they don't feed continually, but sleep after feeding and being cleaned. It's a very busy time for a new mum, and Mabel's probably feeling somewhat overwhelmed!

Yes, shes been out. They are all feeding again...other than the little tiny one, will keep trying!

The little one I found cold on the floor this morning is the biggest and greediest by far!!

Well, he?? :-D will have been the first born, and I have always found the first and second born in all of my litters to be the biggest pups without fail, and the greediest too.

Though contradictory the last born pup has never been the smallest.

Its a girl and yes she must have been the first born as Mabel left her and went 2 floors up to have the next 5!!!

Also remember the little one will have a very tiny tummy, much smaller than the other pups so will fill up twice as quickly, it will take a few days of tiny, frequent feeding to expand her tum and allow her to take in much more.  ;-)

Should I intervene with some puppy milk which I have from the vet if she just won't feed from mum. Shes really only had one feed today and that was this morning. This afternoon I have managed to put the nipple in her mouth but she does nothing.

No, mum's milk is far better for her than replacement milk. Better to express some milk from mum and spoon that into her rather than formula, which has no antibodies. If she won't suck she'd need tubing.

Are you sure she has only had the one feed all day??? Not had a few little suckles whilst you have not been around.

To be honest the best thing in the world for her right now is her mum's Cholostrum it will help her to fight off infection and build up her antibodies and will be especially good for her if she is a little one.

But, if you are absolutely sure that she has not had anything at all since this morning, then yes, feed her with the vets milk, (she probably won't suck from a teat and may need an eye dropper or shyringe) pups can fade so very fast, be sure though, it would be an awful shame to fill her up with substitute milk if she is taking in her mum's cholostrum.

When all the pups move over to their mum for the next feed, just watch and see whether she will attept to suckle and feed from mum first though, it is far, far, better for her.

You beat me to it JG ;-)

Thank you. She was really sleepy/drowsy earlier this afternoon and I am positive that she hadn't fed since this morning and I was extremely worried so syringed 2mls of puppy milk into her mouth, I then put her straight back on mum and I think it gave her the energy and will to latch on...she has been there now for a good length of time! I'm so sorry if I sound a little lacking in common sense, 20 years of nursing and a bit of midwifery seem to have gone straight out of the window...I'm just desperate to do the right thing and I would be bereft if this little one fades away! Thank you again, I will heed all advice.

It's not lacking in common sense :-) most of us already know the answers to our questions but when you have something living and breathing next to you, you need the back up from others not to make the wrong decisions and just to ok what you are thinking yourself, the breeders that taught me all I know often will call if something is not right and vice versa, none of us know everything and we all help each other out, better to ask than worry. :-) and this board is wonderful for all those little and big worries.

This board is great...i've been reading it for a while now and have learnt so much! The little one seems to be feeding well this evening which is a great relief and I will sleep downstairs with them tonight. Mabel looks great, its actualy me that looks like I've given birth to 8 puppies!

I would sleep with them for the next few days, especially for the sake of the little one. I think it varies how long people stay with Mum and puppies depending on how they are all doing. Also depends on how tired Mum is and if your sure she isn't going to lie on them ;-) I know my bitch went into really deep sleeps for the first few days and I would have easily had a squashed puppy if I hadn't been there through the night.

I don't leave them night or day until they open their eyes - about 2 weeks.

I'm not sure she isn't going to lie on them....I've done quite a bit of rescuing today already! Will stay with them night and day. Am still a little worried that Mabel may have retained a placenta...the vet did come to the house but didn't seem concerned. He gave me a course of antibiotics for Mabel in case I thought she needed them? When would it become obvious if this is the case?

Val I was the same as you 24 hours a day for 2 weeks ;-) when I wasn't there I had someone else on "counting" watch.

My friend always stays with them day and night for the first couple of weeks, I plan to do the same if / when I breed. :-)

Just like to add, put the little one on when the others are sucking.  Don't wait until the milk bar is free or it will be very difficult for it to get milk.  The action of them all pulling in unison will make the milk flow.  When I have a little one, I put a strong one on the best teat and let it pull and paddle at mum for a few seconds until the milk starts to flow, then I whip it off and put the small one on in its place.  That way it gets a full tum with minimum effort.

Make sure the whelping box is very warm for the first week.
Good luck
pja

We had a good night....my little one seems to be getting stronger and is much more interested in feeding, I haven't had to give her any more formula but am making sure she gets fed. The whelping box is warm and quiet...mum is more tired today than yesterday. All puppies just beautiful!!

Congratulations to you, I am glad you are sounding a whole lot more reaxed now.
I love watching these posts, certainly tells me there is something I wont be doing....breeding puppies!
Although I still think in a yearish I would like a bitch. Purely as a second dog no other intentions. Action will be taken.
Karen