Whelping: signs of labour and when to call the vet

In the last week

• Ask your vet what a normal birth looks like for her, and when they want you to call. In Tasmania, getting your vet’s advice on what a normal birth looks like is required.
• Take her temperature twice a day. Most bitches drop to about 37°C (normal is 37.8 to 39.2°C) some 8 to 24 hours before labour. The dip can be short and is easy to miss, so one reading tells you little.
• Find out how many puppies to expect if you can. An X-ray in the last week or so gives you the count.
• Have the whelping box warm and ready, plus towels, puppy scales that read in grams, and your vet’s number.

Stage 1: getting ready

She becomes restless, pants, digs and nests, and often goes off her food. This usually lasts somewhere between 6 and 24 hours, and can be longer in a first-time mother.

Stage 2: the puppies arrive

She strains with contractions you can see, and the puppies are born. Puppies usually come 30 to 60 minutes apart, though anything from a few minutes to about 1½ hours can be normal. Most bitches have the whole litter within about 6 to 12 hours, and it should never take more than 24.

Stage 3: the afterbirths

Each puppy has its own placenta (afterbirth). It usually comes out with the puppy or soon after, but not always. Count them if you can, and tell your vet if you think one has stayed behind.

Call your vet now if

• She strains hard for 20 to 30 minutes and no puppy comes.
• She strains for 8 to 10 minutes with a puppy or a fluid bubble stuck in the birth canal.
• She has weak or occasional straining for 2 hours with no first puppy.
• More than 2 hours pass between puppies and you think more are still to come, or you’re not sure.
• There’s a green or black discharge and no puppy follows within about 15 minutes. (A green tinge after a puppy is born is normal.)
• There’s a bloody discharge before the first puppy is born.
• Her temperature dropped more than 24 hours ago and labour hasn’t started.
• She’s about 70 days from mating with no sign of labour, or past her due date if your vet timed ovulation or expects only one or two puppies.
• There’s fresh bleeding for more than 10 minutes, a fever over 39.5°C, or she seems exhausted, in pain or unwell.
• Whelping has gone on for more than 24 hours.

Some states make the 2-hour rule law. In Tasmania you must contact a vet if there’s no progress within 2 hours of straining, and check a whelping bitch at least every 2 hours. NSW’s breeding code says a vet must examine her if labour makes no progress within 2 hours.

After the birth

• Book a vet check for the mother and puppies about 24 hours after the last puppy, including a check that no puppy is left inside.
• Call your vet if her discharge turns bloody or smelly a day or two after whelping, or she seems unwell. Some discharge for a few weeks is normal.
• Watch for eclampsia (milk fever), caused by low blood calcium. It usually happens when the puppies are 1 to 4 weeks old, mostly in small breeds. Early signs are restlessness, panting and a stiff walk, and it can lead to muscle spasms and seizures. It’s an emergency: take the puppies off her and ring your vet immediately.

Recording the litter in WhelpHQ

1. 1When she’s finished, go to Breeding → Litters → Log Litter, or tick off her Birth due reminder in Reminders.
2. 2Enter the Birth Date, Total Born (alive and stillborn together), Born Alive and Stillborn.
3. 3Tap Log Litter, then add each pup’s sex and colour in Add the pups.

WhelpHQ then sets up the puppy care reminders from the birth date, her next heat, and a check when the litter turns 12 weeks old.