My golden retriever gave birth one week ago today. She had 12 pups. At 16 hours old the one of the little bitches died. It was what you would call a fader, it was upsetting. The rest of the little have been thriving.At 6oclock tonight I was with Meg while she was feeding the pups. I then took her down stairs with me. At 6.30 we checked the puppys and all was well. At 7 oclock we found the biggest bitch had died. It was still warm so had not been dead for long. It had milk coming out of its nose. I am so upset I can not understand why this has happend, are the rest of the pups going to be ok. I telephoned our vet and he said he will check the pup tomorrow but could not throw any light on why it has happend. Can anybody help me to understand why this might have happend. I will be up all night just watching the rest of them breathing.

I am so sorry that you have had such an upset.It is quite possible that some of the milk went down th wrong way, and the pup choked. Where the pups checked at birth for cleft palettes? If not, it would be a good idea to get the vet to check them all. This could be the reason why the pup choked on the milk. If the vet checks the others and they are OK, then all should be well with the rest of the litter. Best of luck x

Thanks for replying so fast. I have checked the dead pup for a cleve palat and it does not look like it had one, there are no holes in the roof of its mouth, but then I am no expert and could have missed it. I keep going in in to check the rest of them they do seem ok at the moment.

she may have been crushed Sue it happens. especialy at that age when mom is moving around and pups have grown without her noticing it.
Is her belly blue ? A sure sign of crushing in a healthy pup.
Iam sorry I do not wish to upset but it is best to cover all possibilites.
I had to remove my babs from the whelping box and just leave her on the floor [wood] as she crushed two puppies also the biggest bitch.
I then had to get crush bar against the wall so as a pup could not be trapped behind her .
However it happened it is gutting . I am very sorry for you and pup . Mari

Hi mari, I read the post that mum was downstairs at the time:(

Hi Phillipa , but one of the pups Babs crushed did not die right away . that is why I replied to it , the poor little thing died after feeding . I did not know she was crushed till then . I think that is the worst way for them to die as there is no reason for it . . Mari

hi mari, I agree with you totally, its so sad to loose babies, especially when you dont really know why :(

Hi
thanks for replying, mum had been down stairs for at least an hour before the pup dies, I also have crush bars on my welping box so I dont think that it was crushed. Another breeder has told me that it could have just died because it is so hot but it is not as hot today as it was yesterday. The thing I dont understand is it had milk coming from its nose yet it was fed at least an hour before it died.

one of my stud dog pup,which was breeded by a vet,this happen to them the big bitch die the same way with milk coming out of her nose,he said she drink alot of milk which went to the lung not to the stomach,beacuse she was drink the milk to quick,so it was like drowning,hope you do not mind me writing this to you when you are very upset with losting two pups,hope all go;s well,

Sue

I'm afraid I can't offer any advice...apart from maybe you should take all the pups to your vet to make sure they are all ok at the minute....just wanted to say sorry about your two other pups....

Natasha

Hi Sue,
I agree with Briedog on this one. My vet said to me if milk comes from the nose it means that milk has gone into the lung. If it is just a little it makes them cough but in sufficient quantities I suppose they could drown at such a young age. As to crushing, it may have been crushed with the pig rails in. Our bitch lay on a pup right in the middle of the box. They were so little she didn't even feel it. It was only the fact that I did a quick head count that I realised one was missing. It was OK thank God but a few seconds more :-( But my guess is that too much milk went down the wrong way. Feel so sad for your lost ones.

Hi Sue

If you feel up to it and really want to know then ask your vet to post mortem the pup - I did this with a healthy looking pup that appeared to be having fits (and died during one) and it had a crush injury to its liver (I think) which caused blood clots which travelled to its brain.

It is always sad to lose a pup and with milk coming from its nose I agree with the others, either crush or aspiration although with the latter I would expect muck in its mouth as well.

What position was the dead pup in? Sleeping position or with legs and head stretched out as though standing ?

Christine

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. The vet did a post mortem on the pup this morning. It had drank a lot of milk then been sick and choked filling the lungs with milk, the vet seemed to think that the other pups were lay on top of it and it could not get up quick enough. Although I am very upset I am glad that was the problem, there was nothing I could have done, the vet said it was just unlucky. I spent a very long night watching the other pups, they are all very fit and healthly at the moment, lets hope they stay like that.

Hi Sue

Sorry you lost your pup but relieved for your (and the other pups) sake that it was nothing genrtic or congenital

Christine

Sorry to hear about your loss Sue.
I have a 4 week old boy here now who could have done the same!! He's such a piggy when he feeds from his Mum that the milk comes down his nose. Now he's onto weaning food, I feed him on his own and he's more controlled and has no problems with eating. But I never leave pups unattended until they are at least 12 days old and big enough to shout loudly if Mum sits on them and big enough for her to feel them if she does. At that sort of age they are also strong enough to push their way through their litter mates too. I stay with pups night and day and have a baby monitor to alarm me of any noises when I'm in the bathroom or making a sandwich - which is just about my staple diet when pups are small!! Experience (whether your own or from other more experienced breeders) is the only thing that can help you be aware of the many things that can go wrong. But it's a hard lesson to learn, isn't it? :(
Good luck with the rest, and keep watching like you did last night.

I sleep with the Mum and Pups until eues are Open, and keep baby monitor on too!

I am surprised the doggie Traders haven't cottoned onto the usefulness of a baby monitor.

On a more serious note they are also excellent when looking after an elderly relative with Altsheimers or memory loss! A friend of mine was at her wits end with her Old Mum falling, as when she went in the garden while she was asleep, she would wake and panic!

I told her about a baby monitor, but by her attitude I new she would do nothing about it, so I went and bought one. Itwas a model that allowed her to carry the receiving unit on her person while she went about her 5 acre property, and was able to hear Mum the instant she woke or called out! Sadly my friend only outlived her Mum by six weeks. The old lady was a month shy of 101, and my friend had been battling Cancer, and once Mum died it seems she was willing to let go!

Hi all, i to have just lost a pup at 24hrs. Its so distressing to everyone, especially the mum!. I dont know what went wrong?. He was fine at birth, a really good weight, but didnt seem interested in suckling, i tried and tried all day yesterday with him but know luck and ended up crying and crying untill i let nature take place. I think sometimes theres not a reason its just natures way?

I had one go like this at 5 days, it is hard, but best accepted as one of those things. It may be that he had some unseen internal problem, or if he had survived, may have been an unthrifty pup, so better lost at this stage than later. Still sad tho :(
:(