Earlier Tiegan came running back to me with a very proud look on her face covered in what I think is fox poo! It smells lovely and is right down her chest, shoulders and ribs. She was due a bath anyway but was wondering if any of you breeders are against bathing a bitch in whelp, for any reason? She is 7 weeks tomorrow and is very big so my hubby and I would have to carefully lift her in but is there anything else I need to consider?
Is it not worthdoing? I suppose I could just wash the smelly areas but would rather give her a proper bath if at all possible

Thanks
Amy

7 weeks is when I would have my regular clients in for their maternity clip, so I have no problem if they are used to the routine.
I would just suggest that you lift holding the chest and behind the hind legs rather than under the tummy.

And use diluted tomato ketchup as a final rinse (then rinse with plain water) to get rid of the smell of fox poo! :)

Great thanks WC. Another question....last time I didnt bother trimming her when she had her pups. It took me quite a lot of washing down to get rid of the discharge, blood etc. out of her coat. This time Im wondering if I should trim her trousers and tail. I'll be honest, the only thing putting me off is her looking a mess lol...she usually looks lovely and Im just very reluctant to do it lol. I suppose she wont be going anywhere for a while anyway. She's a long coated large gundog breed, with a light coat.
What would you do?

I would certainly trim around the nipples to give the pups easier access and you can either remove the trousers or (as I used to do) put them in pony tail bunches while they are whelping, which greatly reduces the mess. 
If you choose not to trim, them I'd either sponge down or wetwipe the trousers twice a day and use talc (well brushed out) to help dry and smell nice. :)

Thankyou...she has already lost a considerable amount of fur from around her nipples already and when brushing her it seems that her tummy feathering is dropping out now too, she was also shaved for scan so mainly only her chest and top half of under ribs that has hair on. Good idea about the pony tails lol. I think I might trim this time as long as I can try and make it look reasonably tidy...Im starting to remember all the hassle with washing her down now, took a fair few washes and because she wouldnt be parted from her babies at first it had chance to dry and all her coat was stuck together it was a bit of a nightmare. Trim it is, I think. Will sponge down twice a day anyway and good tip about the talc.
Lookslike she's gonna be in for a right pampering session tomorrow lol :-)

as long as I can try and make it look reasonably tidy
Don't cut across - cut downwards with thinning scissors if you have them. :)

Last year my Golden Retriever bitch had her second litter. We trimmed her feathering back there a couple of days after whelping and it helped no end in keeping her clean. If your girl isn't going to be shown soonish after the litter then I think it's a good idea to trim before whelping.

Don't forget that they drop their coat anyway after the litter, although my girl didn't moult quite as excessively the second time round!

I guess it's a difficult one if the bitch is a showgirl, as the breeder wouldn't want to trim off too much in case it didn't grow back in time.

Hi WC, yes I have thinning scissors. Had to go to work today so tommorrow is her pamper day now. Itsadogslife, Tiegan is the same breed as yours, she did drop her coat to the point where she was pretty much bald in places after her last litter so yes you'r right its going to come out anyway...if it helps keep her cleaner than last time its definately worth doing. Last timewas a nightmare. She is a show girl but we can wait if we need to if it doesnt come back, as long as it makes her more comfortable after whelping thats all that matters :-)

Thanks everyone
Amy

Glad I found this post - was wondering the same thing.Mine too is almost 7 weeks (6 1/2) and we wanted to clean her up.She is a large breed - so no lifting into a bath,we use a hose ( Hot and cold ) so might freshen her up on Saturday!

we have a large breed and bathed her fine well i didnt hubby did was funny seeing him pick up 40 plus kg and but her in the bath LOL
xxxx

I have Cavaliers and I used thinning scissors to trim my girl's trousers both times she had puppies - got it short and manageable but it still looked fairly natural so we could get back in the ring once she was ready.

We were 60kg's before pregnancy - dread to think what she is now ! lol

well my girl is usually 29kg, went to vets last night for last CHV vaccine and she was 38.3kg. She's gained almost 10kg since she was 3 weeks pregnant and hurt her foot!!!

Is this average for a dog that usually weighs 29kg? I know it will depend on litter size etc. but would be interested to find out what other bitches have put on in pregnancy...she has 9 days to go

Amy

My girl hardly put anything on this time but it was a singleton, and she only put a few pounds on last time, but that was only 2 puppies (large toy breed).

my girl put 10kg on and had 9 pups :)
xxxx

and how much was your bitch normally WL?

around 34kg at time of mateing
xxxx

I am expecting mine to put on around 10kg and go up to 70k.
She must have read this post,because this morning on her walk ( which now is really a saunter ) she rolled n fox pooh and wreaked! - shower a day early ! lol

Do you folk with large breeds also lift your heavily pregnant mums in and out of the car at this stage, or is it safer to let them jump in?  Or do you provide some sort of step for them?!

Well yesterday when we went to the vet my girl was so excited that I couldnt hold her back and she jumped in herself.
Getting her out she refused to even stand up so my hubby had to put our 15 month old son in the boot while we lifted her out...it wasnt easy trying not to press on her belly. On way back she was happy to jump back in but we lifted her back out. Dont know which is safest tbh. It really was quite unavoidable to press on her tummy even just a little bit and she is so used to jumping. I just let her decide and made sure I was there to help if she needed it.
A step or ramp but be a much better idea though, would have been my first choice had I had one or even thought of it lol.

Amy

lol piratebear my girl didthe same the other day...when is your girl due?