My dog is having puppies. How do I help her and keep them safe?

You may have to keep the puppies in a warm box next to her that she can't fit into and give them to her a few at a time every few hours to nurse. Once they get a little bigger, they should have no trouble staying out of her way. I'd be more worried that these puppies are sick or not nursing enough or not thriving in some way, and not actually getting squashed by mom. (This is common in pigs, not dogs). Make sure the pups are gaining a few ounces every day in weight and they should be ok.

Once labor starts it can be up to 4 hours in between puppies. If there are heavy contractions and pushing after 30 minutes with no puppy then you need to seek help for her. If there is a black or brown discharge, you need to seek help. She is very young to have puppies but most have good maternal instincts and their bodies take over when it all starts. once the puppies come, make sure she cleans them and nurses. They need to stay warm. If she is not sitting with and nursing then you will need to bottle feed. it is best to start preparing a place for her to deliver that way she gets used to it. You can set up a small bed with blankets in a quiet spot that way she can have privacy when it starts.

Congrats on the puppies! Usually the bitch will do all of the work. Just supervise and make sure she is allowing all of them to nurse and she isn't sitting on any of them. If she isn't nursing them then you will need to buy some dog formula (KMR) and bottle/syringe feed them every 3 hours and use warm water and a cloth to gently rub their genitals to help stimulate them to pee and poop (this mimicks the bitch licking them). I hope this helps.

Hi. So dogs are really good at handling this very well on their own, but do sometimes need our assistance. The pregnancy lasts 63 days on average. The main points I would make are... 1: get her deformed and a fecal checked 2: no vaccines while pregnant 3. Get x-rays to get a rough number of babies. They show up on x-rays at approx 45 days 4. When it comes time, if she ACTIVELY pushes for more then 20-30 min without any progress, she needs to go to ER for c-section or assistance. There may be breaks between puppies for awhile, and that's OK as long as there isn't active pushing without progress. 5- bring her and babies on for example after born 6- babies get first shots at 6-8weeks old 7- she can be spayed after the babies are weaned. Good luck.

Congratulations on the litter! It sounds like Minnie is still trying to figure this whole thing out! Not all dogs have good maternal instincts. Some dogs must learn these skills and some dogs never learn great skills. Make sure you are assisting her and making sure to keep the pups safe and warm. Puppies require a lot of care and some mothers are not good about staying with the puppies enough to allow them to nurse well so you must also monitor the situation to make sure she is providing for the puppies. Many breeders will spay females or no longer breed females who do not seem to have an interest in motherhood so you may take this into consideration if Minnie does not seem to be the mothering type. Best of luck!

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! The first thing is to be sure that Soska is up to date on all her vaccinations, is heartworm negative, in on heartworm prevention and has been dewormed. You can discuss monitoring her progesterone levels and vaginal cytology to optimize the correct breeding dates with your Vet. I will attach a handout on stages of pregnancy and when to worry during labor. Be sure to have a bulb syringe, hemostat, thread to tie umbilical chords and scissors. Here is a good website for whelping boxes:https://gordonsetterexpert.org/2015/10/29/design-yourself-the-perfect-whelping-box-set-up/ Whelping and When to be Concerned Stages of Labor: -Stage 1 tends to start 10-24 hours after temperature drop (usually below 99 F). -Stage 1: nesting. Can persist for 3-24 hours before abdominal contractions begin -Stage 2: Visible abdominal contractions. FIRST PUPPY SHOULD ARRIVE WITH IN 1-2 HOURS. -Stage 3: passage of placenta. Usually occurs within 15 mins of passing puppy. If it does not happen, don’t worry. When to worry/Call: -Strong contractions > 45-60 mins without birth of a puppy -Weak and infrequent contractions >4-6 hours without birth of puppy ->4-5 hours between puppies (after birth of first puppy without birth of the next puppy). On average a puppy is born every 45-60 mins. HOWEVER, the mother can often rest for several hours between puppies. This rest period is NOT associated with contractions and usually doesn’t exceed 4-6 hours. -If one puppy is born and she is having VISIBLE contractions for >2 hours without 2nd puppy. Recommend calling around 1 hour mark to talk to someone. -Failure to enter active labor (contractions) 24-36 hours after rectal temp falls below 99 F -Mother is in obvious pain: biting at vulva, crying) -No puppy within 2 hours of seeing green vaginal discharge -No puppy within 1 hour of seeing clear fluid from vulva (rupture of allantochorion) -No puppy within 1 hour of seeing a clear/water filled balloon at vulvar lips (puppy is in birth canal) I hope this helps and I wish you the best!

If it is early pregnancy, she can be spayed. Some vets may also carry medication to abort the pregnancy. Having a litter prior to physical maturity can permanently stunt the growth. He may also see issues with the bitch being too immature to care for the puppies. If he decides to move forward with this litter, here is a link which may help: https://www.petcoach.co/article/pregnancy-diagnosis-caring-for-the-pregnant-dog/ I hope this helps.