When Your Bitch Whelps

[Baileys mum]

Hi everyone, I am expecting my first litter in about 3 weeks time & am now starting to think about the actual whelping.

I recently purchased a DVD called "How to raise a litter of puppies" by Jane Harvey. I don't know if anyone's heard of it or know of her, but she lives here in Vic & use to breed Airedale terriers. Anyway all of the filming was done in the mid 80's, & even though the picture quality isn't the best, I still found it to be an excellent DVD for novice breeders like myself as she runs you through everything from stage 1 labour, to the actual whelping of 9 puppies, to puppies first weeks, weaning , early training & going to the new home.

One thing I did notice about the actual whelping is that Jane pretty much completely assists the bitch. She opens the sacs, cuts the umbilical cords, rubs & drys each puppy down with a towel,cleans the mucous out of the mouth & nose, & only after she has done all this will she present the puppy to the bitch.

She also does not allow the bitch to consume any of the placentas as she believes they can cause digestive upsets.

Now I also have alot of dog breeding books , & alot of them say that it is best to let the bitch have the opportunity to whelp naturally & do everything herself, & for the breeder to just observe closely, but be ready to step in if the bitch is in trouble or if she fails to do her job properly, or if an actual puppy looks like it is in trouble.

Most of the books I have all say that it is a good idea to let the bitch consume atleast one or two of the placentas.

So the purpose of this thread is to just get an idea of what DOL breeders do. Do you let the bitch do everything & only assist her if she needs you? Or do you completely assist her like Jane?

Do you let the bitch eat any placentas? Or do you dispose of all of them?

I'm still working out how much I plan to get involved when it comes to my bitch's whelping. I've spoken to my dogs breeder about this, & he says that for the most part , Aussie terriers are free whelpers, & he pretty much lets the bitch do everything , & only gets involved if he has to. He also lets the bitch eat atleast 1 placenta, & has never had a problem with this.

My bitch is a maiden, so I will have to see how she copes, but so far I've been thinking that I might atleast cut the cords, & let her eat atleast 1 placenta. Of course if it comes to a worst case scenario & she needs a c- section, then we won't get the opportunity to assist her at all.

So just out of curiousity, it will be great to know what all the DoL breeders do.

Thanks everyone

Nicole

Edited April 9, 2010 by Baileys mum

[oakeydoak1]

Hi Bailey's mum I started a similar topic a while ago.

You can find it here

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...mp;hl=Interfere

[Baileys mum]

Thanks oakeydoak1 for the link

So it seems going by your thread, that the majority of Dol breeders like to completely assist their bitch during whelping.

I'll see how my bitch copes, but after reading everyone's replies, I'm now leaning more to totally assisting her. I think I'd rather play it safe than be sorry.

I would still like to know what everyone's opinion is about allowing your bitch to eat the placentas though.

Edited April 9, 2010 by Baileys mum

[Ashanali]

I closely observe what the mum does with the first pup. If she's slow or looks as though she's going to chomp the cord too close then I will take over for all pups.

If she's doing a good job and the pups are strong, the only thing I will do is remove the sack from the pup's face. I've only ever had to tie off two cords caused by overzealous mothers.

I let them eat the first 2 or three placentas as they help to stimulate more contractions and bring in richer milk for pups in those vital first hours. I sometimes let mum eat a couple more if she's calm but has had a bit of a break in the whelping.

[Firestone]

I closely observe what the mum does with the first pup. If she's slow or looks as though she's going to chomp the cord too close then I will take over for all pups.

If she's doing a good job and the pups are strong, the only thing I will do is remove the sack from the pup's face. I've only ever had to tie off two cords caused by overzealous mothers.

I let them eat the first 2 or three placentas as they help to stimulate more contractions and bring in richer milk for pups in those vital first hours. I sometimes let mum eat a couple more if she's calm but has had a bit of a break in the whelping.

Same here.

[dancinbcs]

I interfere as little as possible. If the bitch is coping on her own I just observe. Only moving the babies already born to the side as each new one is born. My bitches eat all the placentas, usually as they come out, so I never even see them and I have never had a problem. I find the more you interfere the more likely the bitch is to be a bad mother. They seem to figure, why bother to look after the babies if they have staff to do it for them.

In my breed, Border Collies, a very natural breed, they should be able to mate whelp and mother with minimal help. I would not continue to breed from a bitch that could not. Once the litter is born BCs are left with their puppies 24/7 and the only thing we need to do in the first two or three weeks is to feed mum several times a day, clean the box out once or twice a day and weigh the puppies daily to make sure everone is gaining, and sit and admire them. After that the work starts but for those first two weeks or so the bitch copes quite well on her own.

[Ozstar]

I think it depends on the breed that you have. I have noticed that more breeds in group 3 and 5 whelp easier by themselves with little assistance.

I am very hands on, take the pup, break the sack, cut the cord, flick and rub down, weigh the pup and then give it to mum.

I also pup the pups in a basket when she starts pushing out the next pup.

Leanne

[kemulvak]

I interfere as little as possible. If the bitch is coping on her own I just observe. Only moving the babies already born to the side as each new one is born. My bitches eat all the placentas, usually as they come out, so I never even see them and I have never had a problem. I find the more you interfere the more likely the bitch is to be a bad mother. They seem to figure, why bother to look after the babies if they have staff to do it for them.

In my breed, Border Collies, a very natural breed, they should be able to mate whelp and mother with minimal help. I would not continue to breed from a bitch that could not. Once the litter is born BCs are left with their puppies 24/7 and the only thing we need to do in the first two or three weeks is to feed mum several times a day, clean the box out once or twice a day and weigh the puppies daily to make sure everone is gaining, and sit and admire them. After that the work starts but for those first two weeks or so the bitch copes quite well on her own.

This sounds like exactly what I do. I interfere only if required, like you I move puppies out of the way when the next one is coming along, so they don't get stepped on or get wet all over again. I'll pop them in a clothes basket, then when the newest puppy is clean they all go back to mum again.

She eats all the placentas, ( and i have had some pretty big litters over the years, one was 15!) and I have never had any problems

My puppies are with their mum 24/7 until the day they leave us.

It's nature, and it's amazing.

Rhonda

[Christina]

I think too much assistance, unless needed does not help the bonding process, which is so important.

I resented the bloody not needed assistance with my 1st experience of childbirth & have never forgotten it.

Unless there is a problem I feel it is best to let the bitch get on with it. I remove sacs & cut cords if the bitch does not do it fairly quickly but I do give her a minute. I also move the other babies to one side as they can get squashed as the next one comes along. I find it distresses them to remove the pup elsewhere outside the box.

If mum is cleaning & licking the pups I leave her to it. After she has had an hour to settle after the last one & they are all feeding well then I change bedding & weigh & check sexes. I try not to mess with or handle them too much.

I also let them eat the placentas if they want to, it is what they would do in the wild. If they don't eat them about 10 minutes after the pup comes out then I remove it.

Each to their own way I guess. My girls are good & whelp easy.

[SoL]

I'm a bit of both I think. I have everything on hand and I am there from teh word go but will only interfere if I don't think the mum is coping or if she is getting stressed, if a pup is stuck or is coming out breech - basically anything apart from a perfect whelp . With the whelp my girl has just had, she whelped every single pup standing up, so basically I was catching pups in a towel and break the mucous around the muzzle but she took over everything else. I had one in breech and one born where the sack had burst inside, she expelled the pup but the sack was still caught inside so pup was dangling by umbilical cord. Not interfering in that situation would have led to a hernia or worse a ripped stomach. Some breeds whelp better than others, but it also gets down to the individual bitch. Does she come from a line of good whelpers?

Do you have a mentor or another breeder or DOLer nearby who can be on call for you?

[Baileys mum]

I think too much assistance, unless needed does not help the bonding process, which is so important.

I resented the bloody not needed assistance with my 1st experience of childbirth & have never forgotten it.

Unless there is a problem I feel it is best to let the bitch get on with it. I remove sacs & cut cords if the bitch does not do it fairly quickly but I do give her a minute. I also move the other babies to one side as they can get squashed as the next one comes along. I find it distresses them to remove the pup elsewhere outside the box.

If mum is cleaning & licking the pups I leave her to it. After she has had an hour to settle after the last one & they are all feeding well then I change bedding & weigh & check sexes. I try not to mess with or handle them too much.

I also let them eat the placentas if they want to, it is what they would do in the wild. If they don't eat them about 10 minutes after the pup comes out then I remove it.

Each to their own way I guess. My girls are good & whelp easy.

Christina this is exactly the reasons why I initially would like to see if my bitch can cope on her own first. I worry that if I interfere too much it will upset the bonding process.

Like Ashananali, I would probablly like to observe closely how she responds to the first pup, & then take it from there.

[Cockerlover]

A lot depends on the bitch in Question,If she has whelped b4 & copes ok I leave her to it ,but with all whelps I tear the sack from babies face ,once it is fully delivered & mum has severed cord ,(if she dosnt then i do )whilst she is busy cleaning her self & eating after birth ,which I ALWAYS watch for ) I stimulate the baby ,wipe mucus from nose & mouth ,check for cleft pallet ,hen return bub to mum ,my bubs stay in the whelping box with mum (but in a separate area ) as each new bub arrives ,in between deliverys all bubs r sucking on mum, which helps with contraction as does eating after births .

[Baileys mum]

I'm a bit of both I think. I have everything on hand and I am there from teh word go but will only interfere if I don't think the mum is coping or if she is getting stressed, if a pup is stuck or is coming out breech - basically anything apart from a perfect whelp . With the whelp my girl has just had, she whelped every single pup standing up, so basically I was catching pups in a towel and break the mucous around the muzzle but she took over everything else. I had one in breech and one born where the sack had burst inside, she expelled the pup but the sack was still caught inside so pup was dangling by umbilical cord. Not interfering in that situation would have led to a hernia or worse a ripped stomach. Some breeds whelp better than others, but it also gets down to the individual bitch. Does she come from a line of good whelpers?

Do you have a mentor or another breeder or DOLer nearby who can be on call for you?

My dogs breeder (mentor ) lives 3 hours away, but will be available to help via ph,& my vet is 5 minutes drive away. My neighbour across the rd breeds Aust Silky terriers , & has also offered to help if I need it.

My bitches dam has always been a free whelper & from what my dogs breeder tells me, so was her mother before her.

[Bilbo Baggins]

Each mum and bub is different.

Problems encountered.

1. Breech stuck and mum not pushing. I did not know how to get out. Pup died.

2. Cord right length. mum kept chewing when I thought she was just cleaning. Cord off down to abdomen and bleeding like a stuck pig. off to Lort Smith for Suture. Pup saved.

3. Maiden mum screamed the house down when first pup born not pushing tried to bite me when I helped. Got pup out and survived.

4. Meconium liquor flat pup. Needs resuscitating. Some survive some not.

IMO the wee bubs are too precious to let the mum have total control. I would rather assist and have live pups. I do not believe the assisting prevents bonding with mum. Caesar's do but not vaginal births.

[Ozstar]

I have been breeding for 16 years now and also help out with many other breeders litters.

I have assisted in all of them (done everything for the pups) and have never had a problem with mum bonding with her pups.

IMO the wee bubs are too precious to let the mum have total control. I would rather assist and have live pups. I do not believe the assisting prevents bonding with mum. Caesar's do but not vaginal births.

I fully agree with this. I have heard of to many litters/pups lost by just standing back.

With a c-section I have found if the bitch goes into labour first it helps better with the bonding.

As said each to their own and different breeds whelp a lot easier than some.

What works best for you and your bitch is what you do

Leanne

[Wilderblu]

I like to be a close observer. If the first pup is taking a little too long I make her walk around which speeds things up alot.

I normally let the mother do everything and I just make sure other pups are out her way and that she clear the sack from their heads. My bc's have always been great mums and easy whelpers and they look at me very concerned if I handle a pup when they are trying to clean it up etc.....

I also rarely see a placenta as they are gone as the are coming out.

[jacobite]

I too like to interfer as little as possible. We whelped a litter on Saturday night and basically I just sat and kept an eye on things. Near the end I did have to break a couple of sacks as the last 3 pups came out very quickly, but apart from this she did it all on her own and it is her first litter. Deerhounds are generally a very easy breed to whelp and usually know what to do.

Having said that looking back over the years to our first litter, it was a lot more scary when we didn't know what was hpppening, I gues it's the same with most things the first time is always the worst.

Good luck with your litter, Pam