Whelping and Puppy Care: Safety and When to Call the Vet

The riskiest weeks in a breeder's year are the days around whelping and the first weeks of the puppies' lives. Most whelpings go smoothly, but when something goes wrong it can go wrong quickly, for the mother and for the puppies. A responsible breeder knows the warning signs and knows exactly where their role stops and the vet's begins.

In this lesson you will learn how to prepare so that you can act fast, the signs that mean you call the vet straight away, how to keep yourself safe with a stressed mother, and what a breeder should never try to do alone. It explains principles for breeders; it does not replace your vet's advice or hands-on guidance from an experienced mentor.

Prepare before the due date

Most of what keeps a whelping safe happens before it starts:

• Talk to your vet during the pregnancy. Ask them to confirm the pregnancy and the expected date, and ask what they want you to do if labor stalls. Agree when they want a call: many vets give breeders their own limits for how long to wait at each stage, and those are the limits to follow.
• Know who to call out of hours. Write down the number of your vet's emergency service or the nearest emergency clinic, and check how long it takes to get there.
• Set up the whelping area early, somewhere warm, quiet and clean, so the mother is settled in it before labor.
• Arrange transport. If you need to go in during the night, you need a car and, ideally, a second person.

Signs that mean you call the vet straight away

Call your vet immediately, and describe exactly what you see, if you notice any of these:

• Strong, frequent straining with no puppy born, for longer than your vet told you to wait.
• A long gap between puppies while you know more are still to come, beyond the limit your vet gave you.
• A puppy visibly stuck in the birth canal. Do not pull hard on it.
• Dark green or black discharge before the first puppy, or heavy bleeding at any stage.
• The mother is weak, collapsing, in obvious distress or not responding to you normally.
• The due date has passed with no sign of labor.

After whelping, keep watching the mother. Call the vet the same day if she has a foul-smelling discharge, a high temperature (if your vet has shown you how to take it), stops eating, or has mammary glands that are hot, hard or painful. Call immediately if a nursing mother becomes restless, trembles, walks stiffly or has a seizure. These can be signs of a dangerous drop in blood calcium that is most common in the first weeks of nursing. If she seizes, keep the area safe, move the puppies away, do not restrain her or put anything in her mouth, time the seizure and contact the vet.

Watching the puppies

Newborn puppies cannot control their own body temperature well in the first weeks and depend on their mother and a warm environment. They can go downhill fast, so the breeder's job is to spot a problem early:

• Weigh every puppy daily and write it down. A puppy that stops gaining or loses weight needs a call to the vet, not a wait-and-see.
• Watch feeding. Each puppy should latch and feed. A puppy that is pushed off, will not suckle or cries constantly is a concern.
• Check warmth. A puppy that feels cold, is limp or lies apart from the litter needs warming gently and a call to the vet straight away.
• Keep the mother able to move away from any heat source, so neither she nor the puppies overheat.

Your own safety

A devoted, easygoing dog can behave differently when she is in labor or guarding a new litter. Move slowly, speak quietly, and avoid reaching over her to the puppies when she is tense. Keep visitors, children and other dogs away. If she growls or stiffens, give her space, and if you must move her or handle her while she is in pain, have a second person help and use a towel if there is any risk of a bite. Never put your hands near her mouth unless you can do so without being bitten.

Where the breeder's role stops

A breeder supports the mother, watches, records and calls for help. A breeder does not:

• give any medication, including anything to speed up labor or relieve pain, unless the vet has prescribed it for this dog;
• attempt surgery, stitching or any internal procedure;
• diagnose a sick puppy or mother, or decide alone that a problem can wait;
• tube-feed a puppy unless the vet has shown you how and asked you to;
• carry out any procedure (tail docking is one example) that the law where you live bans or reserves for vets. These rules differ between countries, so check your local rules.

When in doubt, call. A vet would much rather take a call that turns out to be nothing than see a mother or litter too late. Every emergency in whelping ends the same way: with the vet.

For a week-by-week picture of the calmer weeks that follow, see raising and socializing a litter.