My bitch has just had her first litter. All went smoothly, all fine when vet checked, today(day4) she is panting heavily (drinking goats milk, won't touch her water bowl but will go out in the garden and drink from the rain bowl, is this normal?  She is also returning to the hole she started digging under the shed any opportunity the pups give her, digging and very excited about her hole! She digs for 2 mins or so and then runs back in to the pups. Is this that she is not happy in the whelping box ? too hot?

Maybe she doesn't like the goats milk.  To be honestly warm water with a splash of goats milk should be fine not whole bowls of it.   I find  too much of these things make them sick.

She may well be too hot. Check the temp not just in the room but in the box also.

its normal to continue digging and panting for a week after delivery, digging as before under sheds/beds is normal. i wouldnt give milk either.

My bitch panted for several weeks after whelping more so when she was feeding the toxins from the pups e.g poo that she digests is the cause of it, the panting that is I used to think her chest was gonna pop.She dug holes aswell i was told to watch she didnt bury the pups.
She never did move them infact i do not know anyones bitch that has.

>She never did move them infact i do not know anyones bitch that has.

Mine did! :D

Yes, in total agreement it is perfectly normal. Bit of a pain actually when they do it in the winter as you have to keep washing their paws before they go back into their nice clean whelping area. :-D And panting can go on for one or two weeks depending on the bitch, so again not to worry.

My girl always gets pasturised goats milk after whelping, (it is very good for them) but only in the mornings, along with scrambled egg and then the rest of her meals are soaked complete dry food for extra liquid, rice and minced meat or chicken and rice.

I Leave a bowl of water down next to her whelping area so that she can just pop her head out for a drink for the rest of the day and night ;-) make sure she is taking in plenty of liquid.

Good luck! :-)

Is she stressed out in any other way? Eclampsia is the first thing on my mind, but I don't know where I've put the Book of the Bitch just now so can't check out what it says.

It may be that she feels that you are too close to her pups and would like to hide them.

I'd get her checked out again by the vet, just in case she may need something.

I am not that experienced, but I would say that the panting and digging are probably a reaction to 'after pains' caused by the uterus returning to it's normal size. There is quite a lot or reasearch to suggest that pre-whelping digging and nesting could be as much down to pain as actual nesting. She is probably running back to the whelping box because she doesn't want to be away from her pups.

Is her temperature normal? If so, it is less likely to be an infection, but obviously if in any doubt, speak to your vet.

Congratulations on your litter!

Think I would agree with Jackson.  For some days after whelping the uterus continues to contract as it slowly starts to return to its original size.  This is probably why she is digging as she probably thinks that she is coming into labour again.  It can take many many weeks - actually in some cases a few months for the uterus to return to its original size, but in thefirst few days it continues also to do this as it is also pushing out any debris etc which was left there after whelping.  Unless she is stressed and running a high temperature, I wouldn't worry too much.  Remember every day to check her discharge.  A bloddly odourless discharge is normal.  If it starts to seem a foul smell then take her to the vet.

To be honest with you I tend to give my bitches a 5 day course of antibiotics after whelping.  Thsi helps also to avoid any infections.  If you are worried about her, pop her off to the vets to get her checked just to rest your mind. 

Congratulations on your litter.

In all likeliehood as others have suggested this is simply because of post birthing pains etc but I have quite recently heard of two cases where things were a little different - in one the bitch produced a further puppy 3 days after the litter was born and in another (following a section ) the bitch produced a dead puppy 48 hours later ..... mistakes happen.

Keep a close eye on her :)  Certainly ensure she has plenty of fluids available (and taken in) and is always accompanied in the garden when she needs to relieve herself.

regards, Teri 

Did she have oxytocin just in case of any surprise puppies further up? It's probably just the uterus coming back to normal, my girl did a lot of panting and digging for the first couple of weeks after the birth, luckily the digging was in the corner of the lounge and not somewhere muddy! My friend says the panting is because producing milk makes them very hot.