My dog just a few minutes ago started having puppies! But, Im nervous, what should I do to help? should i shut off the lights and leave her be? how often will the pups be born after each other? if a pup stops breathing , what can i do to help it breath? Im so nervous!! Please help!
Answers:
(1) Call the vet
(2) Alert your bank manager that you will need to remortgage your house to pay the vet's bill
(3) Make sure you find good homes for the puppies and make the new owners sign neutering contracts
(4) Have your dog neutered so this sad situation never happens again. Don't be a backyard breeder while shelter dogs are dying!
don't shut off the lights but yes leave her be
call the vet now! and get some advice!
Research BEFORE breeding and certainly before whelping would have been the responsible thing to do. Here are a few websites with lots of info:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/whelping...
http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/wh...
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dogs-faq/medica...
http://www.learntobreed.com/
Do not shut off the light, get comfortable somewhere close to her to make sure all is going OK and do not plan on sleeping tonight.
Keep her quiet.
Don't allow anyone to interfere with her. Shut the door and give her some privacy, she needs to be kept calm
You can sit with her and stroke her head to comfort/encourage her if you like. But don't overcrowd her and keep children out of the room, they will get exicted and shriek and run about and cause distress to mum dog.
She will clean the puppies up as they come out and bite the unbilical cord and lick them until they start breathing, so you don't need to do anything. The pups will be covered with a membrane when they come out and she will need to remove this within a few minutes. If she doesn't then you need to do it because the pup will die otherwise. Give her a few seconds and if she shows no sign of removing the membrane, do it yourself and show her the pup - she should then start cleaning it.
Have some clean towels ready - if a puppy seems to be having trouble, pick it up in a towel and rub it vigourously to stimulate it. You could also use some cotton wool/Q-tip and cooled boiled water to gently clean around the nose and mouth in case there is any "gunk" blocking it. This should clean the airways and get the pup breathing, then you can place them next to their mum.
There is a way to clean a pup's lungs if they are filled with fluid that involves vigourously swinging the pup back and forth but I wouldn't advise this unless you know what you are doing. I've seen vet do it but wouldn't do it myself!
Have some clean blankets so that when the birth is over you can scoop up mum and babies and put them on some clean dry bedding. Keep mum and babies warm - don't leave windows open etc. Make sure mum has some water to drink after the birth and food if she wants it.
Call you vet and ask for their advice that would be the safest thing to do. Tell them your dog's having pups and is there anything you need to do or be aware of.
Good luck! Tell us how many she's had!!
EDIT: I agree with the last poster and I forgot to say that if she is having trouble passing one puppy (ie pushing for more than 15 mins) please call your vet, she may need help.
If she is licking and cleaning them, then just leave her alone. Don't allow a bunch of noisy, nosy little kids to be around her. If she actively pushes for one puppy to be born for more than 90 minutes or so, then go to the vet. Puppies are usually born over a day's period and can take four hours between sometimes. There is no problem unless she actively pushes for one puppy for more than an hour and a half or so.
It's a good idea to have a sonogram done the next day, Tuesday, just to make sure everything passed. You don't want any retained tissue left in there. If she isn't having a lot of icky, green discharge though, it is probably all out.
Number 1. CALM DOWN! you could scare the mother.
#2., Did you prepare a nest box for her? If not, you may want to get some safe, quiet area and layer it with shredded newspapers or old towels or both because puppy births are fairly messy.
3. Keep low lights and stay in the next room or at a distance in the birthing room.
4., Usually one pup every 1/2 hour to 1 -1/2 hour. Much longer than that WITH straining may need a vet visit.
5., You could wipe the nose and rub the pup in a towel if it isn't breathing but the more I know dogs, the more I start to think that the pups that people interfere with and force life into when it seems like they may not make it seems like they are the ones that grow up with strange habits or phobias or are sickly all their lives and have allegies and immunity problems and finally end up dying young anyway because they just 'weren't right' to begin with. I think maybe mother nature kind of knows what she is doing afterall...
dont worry, dogs usually can deal with these things on their own, by their instinct. but i suggest that you just leave her, and then check on her. if you see odd behaviors then call your vet, and if not, then dont worry.. =)
I think you should have your phone in hand so if you need to call the vet and ask a question or direction on how to do something best of luck and congrats on your new puppies, and make sure you have the mom and puppies check out next day to make sure mom and puppies are fine.
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