[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by rjwalt

Some dogs of every breed need help, especially for the first birth, however, follow the dog's lead and know the signs of distress, otherwise its best to back off. just be prepared to take the dog to the animal hospital in an emergency and be sure to have an after hours back-up plan with an emergency 24hrs animal clinic if feasible(be warned, they are sometimes more expensive then your regular vet)


As far as the eating of the placentas goes, Dogs don't always deliver a placenta directly after every birth, sometimes thy deliver several all at once after the birth or two or three in globs sporadically so you may not be able to catch them in time. The dog may also bite you if you try to take them way. or the most part, the worse that will happen is diarrhea for a day or so after but in all honesty, Many females will develop loose tools before birth and keep them for a while after from cleaning up after the pups.


Good mothers generally clean up after the pups and keep the whelping area as clean as possible for about 3 weeks. Early on, pups have to be physically stimulated to do #'s 1&2, the mom will lick their tummies and nether regions to do that and eat what comes out.


***Also, hopefully you can catch the birth, from my experience, dogs tend to give birth in he wee hours for some reason. Its important that the moms temp is monitored regularly toward the end of the gestation, look for a temp drop to I think below 100 degrees, "nesting" (piling up clothes, hiding in closets, etc) an sometimes he will whine and be a bit clingy immediately before birth. The vulva will often swell ad there may b a discharge.****

Never heard from the breeders on here talk about the mother dogs biting them........ A person should not just sit back because the dog shoukd not be left to take care of the umbilical cords. It's also important to get weights of the pups.