Good morning! First time breeder alert!
Our dog started searching, digging, ripping an old refuse sack in the garden day 2 post giving birth. She is also moving the veterinary fleece around in the whelping box which I worry will suffocate a puppy / leave them on cold floor areas.
I think it's behavioural, she is showing no signs of retained placenta / dead puppy, no temperature,  normal discharge (I'm a nurse so have checked her temp regularly & no smell at all to her discharge which is becoming lighter & clearer).
I've given her 1 Rennie tablet ground down today in case it's eclampsia. I can't find any information on what sort of dose she needs & reading the posts on here it seems putting her through the stress of a blood test at the vet is pointless! She is lactose intolerant so milk / dairy are not an option,  she is fed on Acana puppy food with salmon oil as extra.
The periods of unsettled behaviour are getting longer & we have to tell her to go to the whelping box & stay there before she settles to start feeding.
We dont really have anywhere else in the house which would fit the whelping pen, it's 1m X 1m, it's in the kitchen & it's cosy.
Advice please!!!

I'm no expert but it sounds to me like she needs more Calcium. Hopefully someone will come along and give you more info on dosage soon.

Are you giving calcium?

Check back for 123 posts on giving calcium and how much

https://forum.champdogs.co.uk/topic_show.pl?pid=1484339

Furriefriends is referring to this post

Thanks I lost it

My bitch went like that, I gave calcium tablets and she settled right down.

What is the pre-pregnancy weight of your bitch?

Hi, she was 11.5kg
She had 9 puppies,  which is immense for her size!

Thank you,  I've ground up some rennies & given her some puppy replacement milk & moved the whole whelping set up from the kitchen into the living room,  so far so good!!!

Wow, thank you!

Thank you!

She needs 2302mg of elemental calcium per day. (Divided over 2 doses.)

This is 8x Tums tablets (extra strength 750). I'm not sure what the calcium in Rennies is, so go get some Tums extra strength if different.

This was me last week. Received amazing advice on here.

I’m giving my bitch calcium carbonate and using
the amount as mentioned in here. It has been miraculous!!!

Tums etc are not a brilliant source of calcium, ideally use something with vitamin d in it (several calcium supplements available have it) as it aids in calcium absorption.

But the antacids will be ok if you can’t get it. Just be aware and keep an eye on your bitch. Hope she’s settled now!