Said I would be asking things didn't I?

First, Pippa is very whingy at times, my breeder friend says it is normal and due to afterpains. What are people's thoughts on this and is there anything I can do to help her. Vet is coming this afternoon so I will ask him to check her again but wondered if everyone experiences this. I think Pippa is quite vocal when she is in pain as she was howling just before the pups started arriving.

Secondly, with a big litter (12) should I just leave them to get on with feeding...they seem to be contented but I wondered if I should split them to make sure they all get time. If I did how long would I give one lot to feed before changing them over and should there be a gap?

I didn't feel the need to split my pups into groups. Mum managed quite well. The only thing is to keep an eye on the smallest ones, just to make sure that the bigger, greedier ones don't push them out of the way ;-) If any weren't doing as well as I would have liked I would pop them on to mum when the others were asleep, but apart from that, unless they were really hungry, I would leave alone.

As to mum. I can tell you from experience that giving birth is painful :-) It can hurt for some time afterwards so why should it be different for dogs ;-) If you can get some arnica for her that should help with bruising, but she'll be fine in a day or two.

Thanks Lindylou, oh yes, I remember all to well the afterpains and I only had one baby at a time!!
I will get her some arnica, that's a brill idea, thanks.
I am glad you have written that re splitting them as I didn't really want to and they do seem content. I already do what you suggested with the littlest ones.