Hi

It's day 61. Having been taking her temperature to find out what her average is which is 100.2 Last night day 60 she started to drop to 99.6 then this morning 8.15AM 99.0 Now 3.30PM she is 98.7. She has done some panting and a little digging outside. Still eating and drinking.

But I am confused I thought once a temperature dropped below 99.0 she is going to whelp within 24-48hours or so I have picked up on reading throw the breeding section here. But I was expecting her at this stage with her temperature being so low to show other signs like a more heavier relentless panting and alot more digging behaviour and to refuse food, but that really would be a first. Can anybody tell me if they have had this, that a dog doesnt show much other signs and then just gives birth becuase at the moment that's what I'm expecting. Oh and I think she has had some like clearish mucous come away but I wasnt really sure if it was mucos becuase she was outside and not on my kitchen floor and this was a few hours ago. Been licking her vulva tho all the way through pregnancy.

hi,
it does sound as if she is in the first stages of labour, so she should deliver in the next 24 hours or so.   one of my bitches continued eating all the way through giving birth so they dont always stop eating.
do you have a whelping box for here ?  at this stage i would rather the bitch be digging and srabbing in the box,  if she insists on going out side make sure you go with her and dont let her dig under a shed or something where you cant get to her, also take a towel with you just in case she decides to have a pup outside.

good luck and keep us posted.

Yes we have had her whelping box in place now for the last 2 weeks she wouldnt have anything to do with it to begin with but she does go in it a bit now, but I dont think its a big hit with her still. Could she really just go outside like that & have one without showing me anymore convincing signs.

Sorry I have got my days mixed up she is day 59 today. Day 61 is not till Wednesday. I really dont think she will get to Friday 63 days with her temperature being low now.

What does anybody think?

Yes absolutely - the only signs Ellie gave all day was popping in and out to the toilet frequently. At 4.30 I saw a contraction, and at 5.25 the first puppy was born. NO digging, panting, restlessness etc until after the birth. :-)

My bitch had her puppies on day 60.  Her temperature dropped to 97.5 at its lowest and she had the puppies about 18 hours later.  Her temperature did rise again to 98.6 after this but she had been 97.5 for quite a few hours so it was a distinctive drop for me to see. I asked the same question as you at the time.  She had a clear mucous discharge in the few hours before she had the puppies.  She did go off her food but drank goats milk, glucose and raw egg readily throughout the whole thing.  I wouldn't say she dug manically until her contractions started at 8.25am, the first puppy was born at 9am.

Sounds like you are in for a busy night, good luck!!!

Hows it going any news?

Still waiting. She has been having episodes of panting & turning round looking at her belly a little since last night. She is refusing her normal dog food but ate crusts off toast and had a bit of tea this morning but not all. She keeps going outside to what I think I have identified her nesting site. But obviously we call her straight back out of there and she comes out. But does anybody know if they can hold back birthing at this stage becuase they really want to do it outside and not in the whelping box which she has had for a couple of weeks now. She will go in it but you can tell it's the best thing in the world to her.

mine never get in the whelping box until they actually start to give birth, then i move them in and they stay there once they get going, after the birth they have always settled down with their babies in the box, so i am sure she will settle in there when she has her puppies with her. Good luck :)

Good luck :)

Any news ?

Hi Yes she started giving birth at 5pm tonight she just had her last one which has taken it's time coming out, but was still born bitch + we had 2 other still born bitches as well in between everything. She would have had a litter of 11. We are left with 5 boys & 3 girls. But we are completely bewildered why we had 3 still born bitches in amongst all the other healthy live ones. Does anybody know or can shed any light on this?? We just want to know why or what could have caused this?

well done on delivering 8 healthy puppies, these are the ones you need to consentrate on now, i know its hard losing babies but i expect there was something wrong with them that you could'nt see and it is natures way of dealing with it.  is mum ok ?
you will be in for a few sleepless nights now but it will be worth it.
take care and good luck.

did you say what breed she is, i cant remember

Hi & Thanks. Yes mum is doing fine 2 vets checked her over and she is doing well. managed to get her out for a walk for 10 minutes down the lane and she had a spring in her step strutting her stuff feeling very chuft with herself anybody could see that it was written all over you didnt need to understand dogs anybody could tell.

She is a very fine (breed name removed) one of the very best we have ever had which is why we bred from her instead of buying one in like we normaly do when we are ready for one. Had the breed for 35 years & she is absolutely fantastic. Hence I had 9 other people waiting for pups off her, so 2 people are unfortunatley very dissapointed. The stud dog equally fantastic I should keep them all really.

Many congratulations on your babies!!!

congratulations on your babies but one thing i must say no way do i take mum out while feeding pups because you never know if they can bring back any infections

Thanks for that, I appreciate you bringing this to my attention I didnt think about that. How old do you think they should be before Mum can go out for a walk in the fields at the back of our house. It is a dog walking place and there are also sheep and horses grazed close by.

You will meet mixed opinions as to whether it is safe to walk your bitch while she has puppies.

I did walk my bitch, short walks, abut 2 mins from our house at the football field we often walked on. I did wash her down with hibiscrub when we got back, but I doubt it made that much difference. I decided to walk her as she chose not to toilet in the garden and would have made herself ill. She also got extremely restless and wouldn't settle or feed the pups until I walked her (about 3 hours after she had had the last one, at 4am!!!)

I did discuss it with my vet, who felt the risk was minimal. However, unless my bitch instigated it (if we even breed from her again) then I probably wouldn't walk her in future while her litter was young.

Remember that you and your family are just as likely to bring back infection as she is ...

Thats why I took her up the lane becuase she wasnt using the garden when I gave her the oppotunity. So though she is more likely to releive herself if she went up the lane. She is very obedient and I took her off the lead, she went a little further to the corner where there was some grass did a wee that's all then grabbed the lead that I was holding in my hand and pulled me back home all the way. She has done this on both occasions now.

Me and my partner have discussed it this morning and decided that not to take her out anymore for at least another week they really are to small and to vunerable at the moment.

But all 8 are all doing very well and seem to be very content & satisfied and Jade is happy enough.

I used parvovirucide from Animal Health Company.  The other dogs had their feet sprayed when returning to the house and the mum, when she started going out (pups about 2 weeks old), was lightly sprayed all over.  Chica wouldn't have left the puppies before about 2 weeks old but after that would've gone mad if I'd not taken her out as she has a very busy life normally (I work her in obedience).  The parvovirucide just gave me a bit of confidence.  It covers far more diseases than just parvo.

I use parvoviroside too , I have a mat outside the front door and soak it every morning/afternoon with a bucket full mixed with water I rinse a cloth in it and wipe down all the door handles too .We have wooden floors so I add a bit to the water when cleaning the floors just to be safe.
Having other dogs I swill the dog area with it and let it soak over night . I also have hand gel for anyone who enters the puppy whelp room they have to wear clean clothes it they have been in contact with other dogs and remove thier shoes.
Bit obsessive you may think but my puppies come first.
When the Mum wants to go out when puppies are around 2-3 weeks she gets wiped down with a cloth that has been soaked in Parvoviroside and rung out , she is also wiped down after toileting in the dog area.

My girl will decide when she wants to go for a walk if she sees the other ready to go out and gets excited I take her with me she usually only has 5-10 minutes then a light seems to switch on and she wants to get home so I usually have someone else with me so that I can take her, by the time they are 5-6 wks she does her usual walk but cleaned off on her return.

R~