Understanding the Stages of Dog Labor

If you have bred your dog and all is proceeding well, you should be anxiously expecting puppies within 60 to 63 days on average. As the whelping day nears, it's very normal to feel a bit on edge, and the best way to put your mind at ease is by learning as much as possible about what to expect. It's imperative, therefore, to familiarize yourself as much as you can with the canine birthing process and acknowledge the number of things that may go wrong.

By recognizing potential problems early, you will be able to be better prepared to face them, heightening your chances for a safe delivery. Learn more about the whole birthing time frame for your dog from the first stages of labor up to delivery, and learn how to recognize the potential complications. Because each breed of dog is prone to different complications, and each dog is ultimately unique in the birthing and whelping process, it's best to expect the unexpected, and preparedness is the ultimate key for the successful upbringing of litters of healthy puppies.

As whelping day nears, you want to start getting ready for the big event. Make sure your veterinarian is aware of the estimated date your dam will be whelping. You want to ensure he will be available in case of need. You should have a back-up plan in case the big day happens to be on a Sunday or in the late evening or early morning hours. Make sure you know of an animal emergency center open when all veterinarian offices are closed. You don't want to be frantically searching for an open veterinarian office open in the middle of the night losing precious minutes when every second counts! Keep all those numbers handy in your phone book or attach them to your fridge with a magnet.

One Week Prior

A week prior to the estimated big birthday, it's a good idea to clip your dog's hair around the belly and rear, literally from tail to ankles. This will help prevent getting her coat stained with birth fluids which are known for being almost impossible to remove, especially in light-colored dogs. If you are unable to, or unwilling to clip the whole tail, the next best option would be to wrap the tail using vet wrap right when the whelping process starts.

On Day 57

At day 57 you want to start taking your dam's temperature. Invest in a good digital thermometer and take the temperature rectally twice a day, morning and evening. A normal reading in dogs is a temperature ranging between 101 to 102 degrees. Generally, a few days prior to giving birth, a dog's temperature will drop and be around the 100-degree mark, fluctuating but generally not going below 99 or above 101. A good indication that whelping day is less than 24 hours away is a rectal temperature recording below 99. You need good timing on catching this temperature since the temperature will resume to 101 degrees just before whelping. Keeping a graph of any fluctuations may be helpful. Call your vet immediately if your dog registers a temperature above 102 degrees, or as low as three degrees lower than your dam's normal temperature.

First Stage of Labor

Your dog may suffer from loss of appetite on whelping day. Some dams will regurgitate their earlier meal and act lethargic, often sleeping deeply more than usual. The whelping mother will then go through occasional minor contractions for several hours, before active labor with intense contractions take place. You will notice your dog panting rapidly, moving restlessly, whining and sleeping deeply during the first stage of labor. Veterinarian Kris Nelson claims that some dams will have small contractions that are mostly not visible and will look at their sides as if saying: ''What is happening to me?'' At this moment you may be wondering ''How long should a dog be in labor for?" Generally, you should contact your vet if stage one of labor goes on for eight hours or longer without progressing to stage two.

Second Stage of Labor

Your dog will likely start panting heavily and appear highly alert at this stage. The contractions will be visible when she enters the second stage of labor. Usually, at this stage, a puppy should be delivered within fifteen minutes of active straining. At this point, a grayish-blue slimy looking sac should emerge from the dam's birth canal. This sac contains the puppy and should be expelled within a second or third contraction. Following the puppy, the mother will expel the placenta, which is commonly known as the ''afterbirth''. Your dam may eat the placenta and then eat the sac, tearing it from around the puppy. If this is the case, you must intervene and help the mother by manually tearing the sac from the puppy's head to allow the puppy to breath. Do this within 30 seconds after birth, keeping the puppy always near mom.

Eating the placenta is instinctual, since it removes evidence of birth to prevent attracting predators. However, the placenta also contains nutrients that turn out helpful during a time of strenuous and costly effort. Among the nutrients are some that help maintain strong contractions, explains breeder, exhibitor and trainer Beth J. Finder in her book ''Breeding a Litter''. Eating the placenta, however, remains a controversial topic. Some breeders highly recommend it, while some veterinarians claim they may cause intestinal obstructions or diarrhea. Whichever choice you make, ensure your dog has expelled one placenta per puppy.

The dam should then gnaw on the umbilical cord. It may help to keep one or two fingers between the puppy's abdomen and your dam's mouth, to prevent her from cutting it too short. If this does not happen, you can clamp the umbilical cord with sterilized hemostats just two inches from the abdomen. You should have time to clamp the umbilical cords as needed, since puppies generally arrive anywhere from a few minutes to an hour apart.

Often puppies are born with amniotic fluids in their lungs which causes them to inhale the fluids. To help these pups, hold them at a head-down angle and using a pediatric syringe insert the tube in the pup's mouth and withdraw the fluids so the puppy can breathe. Shaking the puppy down to clear its airways may be necessary.

Don't forget about mom! Being in labor for 6 to 10 hours can be quite strenuous, Angie Meroshnekoff suggests keeping a tub of vanilla ice cream handy, to feed to her when she is halfway through giving birth. The sugar supplementation should give her an energy burst to keep her going!

Third Stage of Labor

In giant breeds, it may be difficult to tell when the whelping process has finished. The puppies are small compared to the dam's deep chest and heavy abdomen, explains veterinarian Dan Rice, in the book ''The Complete Book of Dog Breeding''. During stage three of labor, any retained placentas are delivered. This is why it is important to have a veterinarian perform x-rays or ultrasound imaging to ensure no puppy or placenta is retained. If not, a retained puppy or placenta may result in a serious potentially fatal infection.

The puppies should be nursing as soon as possible after delivery. They need the colostrum, which is rich of maternal immune system boosters, only produced for a short period of time. If a puppy is not nursing, directing it to the source of milk may be helpful. However, a puppy can go one or two hours without nursing and still be healthy, adds Beth J. Finder. Once nursing and receiving the nurturing colostrum, puppies should grow pretty fast and weighing them may be the best way to track their growth.

Of course, the above whelping depicts a pretty normal uneventful delivery with a happy ending. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, and here are several things that may go wrong in your dam's birthing process. The following are warning signs of trouble that will require prompt veterinary intervention.

See your vet if your dog is:

• Not whelping within 24 hours of the temperature drop
• Expelling a greenish or brown fluid without a puppy born within fifteen minutes.
• In stage one of labor for eight hours without progressing to stage two
• In active labor contracting, but not producing a puppy in over two hours
• Not straining in between puppies for over one hour and you know there are more puppies to be born
• Past due the 63rd day from the last breeding and has yet not gone into labor

But most importantly, if you feel something is wrong, do not hesitate to call or see your vet, better be safe than sorry! As much as nature runs its course during delivery and dog owners are told to minimize their interventions and just relax, things do not always go as planned.

Catherine de la Cruz, who has been breeding Great Pyrenees for several years, claims that all sorts of problems have occurred to her at some time during the past 30 years of breeding dogs. So better resort to awareness and advanced planning in order to whelp a healthy litter of puppies and succeed!

Above all else, please keep your vet's phone number handy and don't hesitate to call him if anything appears to be abnormal. All new moms and pups should see a veterinarian for a wellness exam within 48 hours post-whelping.

References

Catherine de la Cruz, White Fire Great Pyrenees: What Can Possibly Go Wrong?

Dan Rice, The Complete Book of Dog Breeding

Dr. Kris Nelson, Normal Stages of Whelping in Dogs

Dr. Kris Nelson, Canine Labor, When to Call the Vet