I do have oxytocin here at home, but I also know how dangerous it can be if administered at the wrong time.. That is what makes this thread that Irene has started about labor a VERY important issue! To be a good breeder (not that issues cannot still arise) you have to know your dogs, their personalities and behavior! I have always gotten very depressed and sad when I think of the puppy mills that just let their poor mamas whelp entirely on their own! :(

Melanie

Sorry Irene...I didn't read the most recent posts before submitting this one on c-sections...I will repost under your new thread on that topic. :)

Bump!

BUMP

Breeders please share your experiences with hard labor for those that have bitches due to whelp.

Thanks!

Have Had Two Litters With Same Female And She Does Great
 

[B]Have Had Two Litters With Same Female And She Has Always Done Great!

I have had two litters with Lil'Bit and as I have posted before with her first litter it was hard but quick..She delivered 4 pups in 10 minutes :eek: ...Some say I am lying...but I am not...It was strange to me too! There was very little of a mess to clean up and she did great through it all...NOW...

With this second litter it was a whole different story...She had her pups the 3rd. of January. She started labor about 9:05 a.m. and by 10:15 she had had all her pups...(2) girls and (1) boy. As she was contracted I gently helped her push down a little..this because it looked like she was having a hard time pushing...and then out came the little one each time. She only rested a little in between each birth...but she never looked distressed at all.
Since as I posted before we weren't sure of how many she was going to have because the sonogram showed two heart beats but the xray showed one...It was very confusing...but..I knew she had three in there. After the second one I felt around on the outside of her and did feel a third one so I helped her with that.
The mess this time was alot more..don't know why but it just was.

The furbabies were alot smaller than her first litter although she herself was larger this time...most likely just because the way the babies were laying I quess. These little ones are so small..(1) girl is tiny (1)girl is medium as I call it and the little boy is tiny.
Last time all the boys were pretty big...at 10 weeks the boys were 3.3 and 3.4 pounds but the little girl stayed pretty small. I think this litter all of them are going to stay small.

My Bitty (as I call her) is such a good mother :aimeeyork ..but..I have a hard time getting her to go outside to potty. :confused: ..she just doesn't want to leave her babies for anything! She was like that last time. She lets people look at them and hold them with no objection but her mate Pismo ..she won't allow him near them till they have their eyes open and hobbling around some. He just looks in the door and she starts growing at him :eek: ...she is very protective of them.

Well that's it...I hope I helped someone on the way to having a litter!
I have to say in conclusion...Don't take having litters lightly...They are a resonsibility...You need to be responsible...For Mom, Dad and of course The Little Ones.

Sandie

Thanks for taking the time to post your experience Sandie! Congrats on the new litter by the way :thumbup:

I have used oxytocin to continue labor. THE BIG ISSUE WITH USING IT IS-YOU HAVE TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURE THE CERVIX IS OPEN!! You can rupture a mom's uterus and kill her and the puppies if you do not know how to do internal exams and determine what part, if any, of the puppy you feel. If it is nec to manipulate a puppy who is down butt or side breech, I do it without a contraction or at the very beginning of one.

My friends laugh when they see my hands when I have uppies due. I wear acrylic nalis and within a week before due dates, I have them taken off so I can dointernals or handle puppies without the worry of poking one of them or hurting the mom's insides.
We all have some things we do and will continue to do simply because it works for us..and our vets agree. Knowledgeable is essential but change cause someone or something says to, is not smart in my book.

To answer the question originally posted, 1 1/2 hours TOPS is what I would do...but, I've not had to worry about this...Gracie has delivered wonderfully.

The reason a spay is dangerous after a c-section is the uterus is engored with blood. Removing it also takes a great deal of blood away from the bitch at a time when she needs all of her energies to attend to the puppies.

sections
 

My vets always spayed at the time of the section. I have not had a problem with the dam rejecting pups...but I do know it is more dangerous to spay at the time of the section from what I read. My vet disagrees with me. He feels there is more risk with anthesthia the blood loss.
I lost one bitch after a section many years ago..but she was not spayed at the same time.