My bitch has had puppies .  I desperately want to bath her as her skin has gone very dry and I feel she could do with a good 'freshen up'.  How long would you leave it before resuming bathing after whelping?

In many breeds the pups will have all left, so certainly treat the bitch as being back to normal. :) A bath will do no harm - it's not as if she's going to be soaking for hours with bubblebath! After all even new human mothers are encouraged to bath asap after delivery. :)

To be honest I give my bitch a nice shower approx 1-2 weeks after the pups are born to help remove any congealed blood and bits on her coat and I usually snip her feathering at her back end.

She then has a nice bath when the pups are about 7 weeks, to freshen her up again and boy does she love it. :-D

I just washed mine with water- but one time I did use dog shampoo (she smelt) and the vet told me to dilute vinigar with water and wash down the nipples just to make sure all the soap residue was diffenitly gone so the pups would not get sick...

Rather then that just a warm water bath and a soap one once the pups were no longer nursing and gone :)

I put baby bath liquid (which doesn't need rinsing ) into a bowl and stand the bitches hind end in and sponge down and dry throughly.

I continue to use this solution on a flannel for rubbing sown the legs or any other grotty bits.

This helps remove quite a bit of that awful green stain and keeps them nice and fresh.

Mine don't get a real bath until they start their post partum moult, and that is more for my benefit to try and get as much out as possible in one go.