my bitch seemed to start her first stage of whelping on boxing night,panting,tiny amounts of digging,and standing still as if to cope with them moving down,she has been off her food completely,i have stayed up with her both nights but she has been verry.very quiet and has just slept since,she seems lethargic,i have the book of the bitch and several others,how long would be advisable to let her keep on with the first stage,before calling in the vet,she is expecting 8 +,i'mfeeling inclined to phaps get him round today for a check,she was scanned a week or so ago.

If you are inexperienced and not happy, call your Vet.  Better a wasted visit than problems with the pups or putting your bitch at risk!

If your bitch started labour boxing day then I would say you should  go to the vet without hesitation, if there is a large pup stuck she may need a c-section.   Don't waste any more time, get to the vet now before you lose both mum and litter, like Val says better a wasted visit than major problems later.

My bitch stopped after delivering 6 pups recently, we took her to the vet 6 hours after she had finished only to find there was still one dead pup inside, which had to be manually removed.  My vet said there was no way she would have delivered this pup herself, as it was dead, the labour had stopped.

Good luck let us know how you get on!

It really depends on your bitches behaviour etc. & there is no way of knowing what she is doing without actually seeing her.
Early stages of labour can last a long time, but once in established labour things should move fairly quickly. To define the difference of early stages & established labour is impossible on a public forum.

Have her waters broke? Any contractions? Loosing any vaginal discharge? Has she had a temperature drop?These are all clues as to what her body is doing!
You don't say how many days she is post mating & how many matings she had, this info is vital.

It wouldn't hurt to get the vet check her today.- Good luck, hope she's ok.  :)

edit to add ~ just wondering why she was scanned a week ago? Most people would scan at 28-35 days. If your bitch is now near her due date, she must have been scanned at 8 weeks?