My Bella has had a temperature drop she's been at 98 for 24hours no physical signs of puppies yet! She grunts every time she moves or every time I pet her she struggles pooing and was constipated yesterday but today she has struggled doing little sloppy ones and grunts a lot. You think she's going to wait a few more days she's nesting a lot but still has an appetite like a starved dog she's caned off 4 feeds!!

> she's caned off 4 feeds

Sorry, but I have no clue what that means.  As far as temps go, in 45 plus years I've never bothered with it. I know where we're at just by looking at a bitch.  But what day is she on?  And would you recognise inertia?  Do you have an experienced mentor?

it’s definitely not inertia as whelping has not began yet. Her temperature went back up slightly and she’s still eating her last litter she went unexpectedly no signs, no licking, no discharge she went straight to pushing. This time I was advised to take her temperature not sure why but it’s seems to be irrelevant she’s still nesting today and her stomach is solid her due date is tomorrow so still time yet.

> her due date is tomorrow so still time yet.

This is irrelevant!  Bitches can whelp at day 56 - all perfectly normal with viable pups.

Last night her temperature dropped to 36.1 and now we are mid whelp so far 5 healthy puppies the ultrasound showed 7 so weee waiting for more

What's the total count?!  Congrats.

8 pups, 4 male, 4 female. The last was the runt weighing only 112g the pick was 232g and the rest was 202-217g. 3 Merle pups 3 light brown and 2 Black and Tan

Congratulations. I am curious about the phrase "the pick" . Are you confident in picking the " best" of the litter at this early stage?
I know of one breeder who sadly recently died but she always liked to make her pick while they were still wet. She had multiple show champions so clearly knew what she was doing.
I wonder, what about movement etc? That can't be assessed yet. How do people make their choices?

For now I’m just going by the weight he was the heaviest but as far as movement goes the runt is the most active and got the strongest head and body movements for how little he is otherwise they are all around the same as of yet. I’m sure the pick will change as the weeks commence as the other pups have very large appetites. She whelped a stunning litter and she’s doing great she’s very proud of her pups I wish I knew how to upload a photo onto here to show you how beautiful the litter is.

They sound lovely. I don’t think you can upload photos to the forum . I kept the “runt” of our last litter. He was much smaller than the rest and a fussy eater but now at one and a half he is the same size as his litter mates

We’re keeping him I’ve already made that deduction he’s so lovely. we’re having to feed him puppy formula to help him along he’s so small he gets knocked off the tit and only gets the feed for a few minutes until the others are asleep or full. He’s so much smaller than them and is struggling to gain the weight as quickly as his brothers and sisters are but moms still feeding him and cleaning him so he should be thriving in a few weeks with his litter mates

Charleejane99, please don't feed puppy formula!!!  Puppies need colostrum, which is only produced by the bitch for the first 24-ish hours after whelping.  Colostrum gives them antibodies to all diseases the bitch has been vaccinated against, as well as further antibodies which will result in a strong immune system throughout the life time of the puppy.

Feeding anything else will cause the gut wall to close and prevent the puppy from absorbing colostrum.

Instead, if you are concerned about a small puppy at this stage, give him private nursing sessions by removing the others from mum for 15mins a couple times a day and letting him nurse as much as he needs. 

I cannot believe the number of times on this board I see breeders leaping in to supplement with formula at the drop of a hat - it is horrifying.  Formula milk also contains BHA, BHT and other preservatives which are known carcinogens and which most people attempt to avoid even in their adult dog's food - let alone giving it to a newborn puppy...   It's like people can't just sit back and watch the bitch raise her litter, they want to be DOING something, and if they can't see something to do, will do unnecessary (and potentially harmful) things.

THE BEST NUTRITION YOU CAN GIVE A NEWBORN PUPPY, IS ITS OWN MOTHERS MILK AND ONLY IN EMERGENCIES SHOULD YOU GIVE ANYTHING ELSE!!!!

I'd totally agree re not supplementing this puppy UNLESS it becomes absolutely necessary.  He needs the colostrum (first milk) for sure, and if push comes to shove, you may need to hold the other puppies back while, latching him onto one of the less heavy middle-teats so he gets a good innings before the rest push him off.    Of course most breeders prefer to see an even size litter, weight-wise, but how often has a runt caught up eventually with extra care on the part of the breeder through the first days.   Nice to have 4 of each gender.

He’s been suckling for 24 hours he’s got the colostrum he needs but he’s now not getting enough milk the other puppies are twice his size and he gets knocked off he was very dehydrated this morning when I woke up and he drank the formula he needed he’s now back on with mom and had the strength to compete for a tit. I don’t have to be doing anything she’s doing very well on her own but that particular puppy was struggling she has only 9 nipples two of which aren’t producing milk so he tends to get left hopefully the other two tots will fill with milk and she will start producing enough for all 8 of them I couldn’t sit back and watch the puppy dehydrated to it’s death I tried to get him suckling the tut but as I said he didn’t have the strength to suckle this morning.

Charlee, you need to support him to get milk from her rather than from the bottle - it's much better for him and "designed" for him by his mum...

If he can't compete, then remove the other puppies to a warm box and put him on the biggest producing teat (usually one of the back ones) and let him suckle till he's had his fill - do that twice a day till he can compete...

You need to be with the litter overnight at least, even if you have other things to get done during the day.   He needs to be helped to the 'milk bar' AHEAD of all the other puppies, every 2 hours round the clock and rather than using one of the often bigger rear teats, latch him onto one of the middle smaller teats.   As suggested, if necessary remove the other puppies while he gets a good innings.   This will result in broken sleep for you, but to avoid any situation where any of them becomes that dehydrated, it has to be done.   All part of rearing a litter I'm afraid.    If he drank the formula, he should have been able to drink from the teat, I'd have thought.