My protocol if the water sac has broken and there is no hard labor my vet assures me the pups are fine for up to 10 hours ( I have yet to experience such a delay but thought it worth mentioning). Once hard labor is evident, if no pup presents itself within the first half hour to hour its off to the vet, (again I've not experienced this either but is what I expect). Knock on wood!! Ive had all free whelpers, never had a c-section nor the need for oxitocin (until the next day for clean out).
This thread is vital for all new breeders, how to determine the difference in hard labor or destress and how long you should wait before contacting your vet.
It has been my experience, if your little gal is in hard labor often times she will throw her head back on each contaction, and or extend her body or legs almost rigid like. If a puppy doesnt show itself within a half hour an inexperienced person should contact the vet asap.
The moms will often do hard labor, present a pup, clean the pup, contractions tend to stop or slow down, she will rest in between. If you see no resting usually means another pup is on the way.
If your little gal is grunting and pushing for a long period of time (more than a half hour) without presenting a pup it will usually exhaust her making her too weak to whelp or may mean a pup is blocking the canal or is too large to pass. This is when you don't delay in getting her to your vet.
examples; my Hattie (last litter) had 5 within and hour and a half once her water broke, rested very little in between, where as, Trina once her water broke she didnt start hard labor for another 5 hours and presented her first pup, then another 3 hours to whelp another 2 pups, but contractions stopped in between allowing her to rest. Resting is vital!!
__________________ Kimberly |