How To Deliver Puppies

How to deliver puppies. Well, you shouldn't. The bitch should and nature should take really good care of this and everything will run smoothly.

Occasionally, it doesn't. So, there are things you need to sort of look out for. Second stage of labor when the puppies are being produced happens when you see the water burst for the first time and the bitch is starting to really strain.

You see real abdominal contractions and if you're taking her temperature, the body temperature will come back up to normal, 38 to 38 and a half degrees. Hopefully, the first pup will appear within an hour. Sometimes, for a bitch that's never had a litter before, it may be two hours.

But at this stage, it's worth getting advice from your veterinary surgeon whether they're happy for you to continue and they'll ask you questions just to make sure that everything is running smoothly. Once that puppy is born, the bitch will lick it vigorously and this will empty any of the amniotic fluid and get rid of the membranes that the puppy's born within and as a result, the puppy will be able to breathe. Often, the bitch will have a rest between pups.

It can be as much as an hour, sometimes less, and then the whole process will happen again. Often, after every pup, the placenta or the afterbirth will be also given birth to but not always after every pup. Sometimes, it's after every other and even after every third.

The bitch will often want to eat the afterbirth and that's absolutely fine and normal but don't let it eat more than 2 or 3. If so, she is more than likely to get a very upset tummy so you should start cleaning those away. Once all of the pups have been born, she'll visibly relax and actually allow them to start suckling and that's really the most fantastic time.

Sometimes though, she won't produce any pups for 2 or 3 hours which will still look like she's sort of uncomfortable. Good time, speak to the vet, they may need to see her. Sometimes, this whole period, the second stage of labor, will last up to 12 hours - anything longer than that, time to get in touch with your vet.

Also, if she's just getting exhausted or more fretful and the puppies aren't coming or you're seeing a water bag stuck in her vulva and it's not being born after 30 minutes, these are the sorts of signs that you need to get in touch with your vet and be prepared to go and take the bitch down there because if there's a problem, she may need to have a caesarean section. Hopefully, nature normally takes care of everything and you'll end up with the most wonderful healthy litter of pups and a wonderful mom.