How do I really know if my dog is in labor?

I have a black lab....I thought for sure that we would find her with puppies this morning from the way she was acting last night....panting, would not lie down for anything...burping, puking when she drank and refusing all food, and now this morning...ate a half a bowl of her food, drank 3 bowls of water and is happy as a clam.......grrrrrrr!! Any suggestion would be great!!


Lisa

 

Hi is your dog drinking more than usual?
What are the dates on which she had her matings.
What makes you sure that she is indeed pregnant?
Has she been scanned or palpated by a vet?
How old is she?
Before the matings took place has the dam and sire been hip,eye,heart checked and ll other checks done to make sure that both dogs are in full perfect health?
Are they both vaccinated and wormed and are these upto date?

Before ever breeding this should be one of the questions you know the answer to.

Restlessness and panting can last upto 48hours.
The dogs temperature will drop from the normal 101.5 down to 99. sometimes as low as 97. but can not be truly relied on due to the fact there temp drops like this 1-2 weeks before whelping.

Signs of stage one are panting wandering and searching for a place to nest.
Some dogs go off there food some still eat right upto the time they whelp.
Some dogs also vomit.

Stage 2 the dog will stop panting and will be seen activly bearing down towards her hind legs. Also you will find her digging up blankets carpets and anything else this is normal for her.

Do you have everything you need incase you need to intervine and help the puppies if its needed.
Do you have a whelping box already set up for her away from people?

Mike

 

Okay here I go for your answers to your questions........I really dont know when she got pregnant....we are pretty sure the first few days in September, she had her annual vet check the 2nd week in September and is in perfect health. We didnt know she was pregnant at that time, but I did call him and tell him. I am also not sure who got her pregnant, we are thinking that the lab the next farm over did, he had been lurking around that time..lol. She is not eating well the last couple days, drinking about the same amount of water, sometimes alot at one sitting. She will not lie down, it seems like it is way to uncomfortable for her. She puked last night and was seeming so very anxious and acting a bit odd, but at around 2:00am she slept standing up and almost fell so I put her in her kennel. Yes I am very sure she is pregnant....she is huge, has milk coming out if her nipples and i can sometimes feel a babe kicking or moving. Also she has been burping quite a bit and has some vaginal discharge since yesterday A.M. As for the other lab that we are quite sure that bred her, he is a lab in very good health, our neighbors have stated. I do hope that I have answered all your questions, I am just a worried lab mommy, this is Cole's first litter and I think she is kinda anxious as i am...lol

Lisa

 

My question to you - why was your dog loose, and available to the dog on the next farm? Don't you keep her confined to a fenced-in area? Its bad enough to let her roam, but there is no excuse to let her loose for ANY LENGTH of time when she's in season! Not even for five minutes. Don't you think this is irresponsible pet ownership on your part? You certainly didn't answer all of Mike's questions. What about having the eyes checked, hips, heart, etc. before breeding? Did you tell the vet she could be pregnant when he checked her in September? Is she caught up on all her vaccines and been checked for parasites? What about the male she bred with? If the answer was no to ANY of these questions, she should never have been bred, not to even mention my serious question of if she is worthy of being bred. There are millions of dogs put to sleep (many purebreds) in shelters every week. Why would you allow this to happen, and not get her spayed before sexual maturity? This really irks me to no end. Only show quality, breeding quality dogs with something substantial to offer to the breed should ever be bred. Also, the dogs must have superior temperaments.

All that aside, the way you describe her behavior is very disturbing. You said she would not even lie down to sleep, and is acting anxious and odd, almost fell down. Has a vaginal discharge. Wake up call! All these signs could very well indicate a serious problem, and she could even die if not taken to a vet IMMEDIATELY! Something is very wrong with the pregnancy, or she is not able to deliver the pups for some reason (there are lots and lots of things that can go terribly wrong with a pregnancy) and she would very well need a C-section. You've already waited way too long. You don't want to lose her, do you? I hope its not already too late.

 

Okay now I feel as though you are being rude...I just had some questions..yes I live on a farm...and YES its fenced, my dog is a hunting dog and has an outdoor kennel and sleeps indoors......how the neighbors dog got in is a mystery..but where there is a will there is a way. My dog is very very healthy.....and we had no clue that she was pregnant when she went to the vet...she had ALL her shots. I had no clue she was pregnant until she looked pregnant, and YES i did take her to the vet, could not tell how many pups she was having as I opted not to have and x-ray done. There is nothing wrong with my dog, I just got off the phone with our vet...do you think i am stupid AND that i didnt call????? she is fine ........she is the the early part of labor......I feel your comments were very harsh.....the reason she is not laying down is cuz she is contracting and it hurts.......she was very tired and did go to sleep...lying down last night. Forget me asking another question on here to have people like you demeaning me...that is just WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

 

I seriously think you need to change your vet dogs will lay down even while contracting for her to be falling asleep on her feet there is some underlying problem.

Things that can hold up whelping is over sized pups. Dead pups, Narrowing of the birth canal.

Vaginal discharge should be clear and not foul smelling.
Here is some infor for you to read.....

First stage....
It is the whelps not the dam that triggers the labour, during this stage the dam will be restless usually refusing food for as much as 18-24hours and she may vomint.
she will drift in to very heavy panting which can last 24hours during which time the dam may curl into a ball and sleep intermittenly, she will aslo start shredding her bed this behaviour can last for 48hours or it maybe over quickly.
Average length of stage 1 is 12-18hours but has been known to last aslong as 48hours.

First signs of stage 2 the panting will have stopped and she will be lay on her side or her tummy pushing most dams find it easier lay on there side
You should then notice a black fluid filled sack which is the amniotic sac also known as the water bag.
This may rupture high up or may appear as a huge gush of water dont worry as there is no whelp held in this sac.
The first pup could appear within a few minutes but it could take a couple of hours if after 1-2hours of active pushing or the dam seems to be unable to push anymore then the emergancy vet should be called ASAP as there could be a problem.

Stage 3 is the delivering of the placenta.

A bitch will deliver her whelps crouching laying or even while out have a pee or poop so extra care should be taken.

Since you do not know if it is for sure the lab over in the other farm you dont know the size these whelps are and you also dont know roughly how many to expect so you will not know when to worry or if all the whelps have been delivered.

When any dam is in heat she should never be allowed out unsupervised as it has been known for dogs to mate through a fence so risks should never be taken.

Your dam maybe in perfect health now but are you sure she will still be once the whelping is over are you aware that her or the whelps or even both could die during the whelping process....

I would have to say get this dog spayed once she is able to be done to stop this happening again.
Make sure the whelping room is kept to a constant temperature as a drop can cause a chill in the litter and cause death.
You will need to find out all of the other labs health tests history of disease illnesses parental health problems.

As if there is any problems with the pups when you give them to there new owners you are held responsible to make sure the pups are healthy and if anything should happen to the litter once in there new homes it is your responsibility to replace or give a full refund for the pup should the worst happen.
You have the responsibility to take this pup back even if its after 1year if the owner can no longer look after it.

Hope all goes well for your girl but please have her spayed when its over for her sake aswell as your own....

Mike

 

I'm sure everything is fine. But I would take her in if she does not proceed with the whelping in a few more hours.

Charllotte did the same things as you descirbed. She wouldn't lay down, or would, then would get up right away, refuse to eat, then drink alot, then would eat and refuse to drink. It was VERY agitating!!! and very nerve wrecking.

You can make her a little more comfortable by putting her in a quiet place. Perhaps your bathroom. Put some blankets in the tub and let her get used to it in there. She'll probably have them in the tub. That way you can insure her peice of mind.
Some times too much activity will make her too nervous and she will retain the puppies. Until she feels comfortable.

I would give her another 2-3 hours, and if nothings progressed by then, I would go ahead and take her into the vets to get things checked on.

 

I hope your dog is doing better and she delivers healthy pups. Please get her spayed as soon as the vet says it is safe. This should have been done before she went into her first heat. So many things can go wrong - wouldn't you hate to lose her?

 

Stupidity in this forum

I came across this site by a search and after reading the post back to this person about her dog, I can assure u I will never post a question here. Isnt it funny those who write such stuff usually are the DUMBEST pple on earth. I must say you people are the rudest bunch of A$$ holes ever to be on a dog forum. What difference does it make HOW the dog got bred, no-one can undo that at this point(no one on here that is!) A simple question about labor was asked no sermon on how to prevent this was needed. I've seen dogs behind electric wire breed with a dog outside the wire. Have seen them climb a wall to get to the female. This is HER dog not yours or anyone else's dog. Sure spay is a way to prevent this but this is HER choice not to spay or too spay this dog. I just wonder how many of you that YELLED SPAY SPAY SPAY actually has a dog that is spayed?? Anyway you all can continue this little "Holyer than THOU" Forum and hopefully you can all meet up one day where ever you are and fuck yourselves in forum fashion. Bring that sarcastic crap to Alabama and see where you end up!

 

There was no sarcasim, Just for the record it is common sence not to leave an in heat bitch unattened even for 1minute.

Everyone on these forums have the animals interests at heart wether the owner is offended by what is said or not is not really an issue.

I have bred dogs for years as so have alot of people on this forum.I have some veterinary training, aswell as animal care and welfare.
Everyone asks questions to get a full picture of the situation as not having all the facts can stop people from give the best answer they can on the matter....

The questions i asked this owner are only some of the questions that should have been thought about and asked.
Since the neighbours dog go into the bitch she would not have known if the sire was strong healthy and breed worthy.

Yes the breeder of the male said he is in good health but anyone could say that.

Here is an example... Say i had a crossbreed male dog with loads of health problems, Yet someone wanted to use him and they asked whats his health like i could then say oh he is fit as a fiddle not problems at all he has sired loads of litters and the pups turned out lovely.

This is a reason that asking to see health check papers off the owner which they would have recieved from the vet when the tests where completed.

Yes this dog is not ours so its upyo the owner if she gets her dog spayed once she is able to be spayed, All we can do is put it across how much safer it is if they are spayed.

Also for your information my girls are now spayed, But before they were i never once left them unattended while in heat,

1. Because i have males aswell.
2. My girls can clear an 8ft fence to get out.

I do hope all went well for the woman and her dog and the litter is fine.

But please do not come onthis forum and start shouting the odds.
The people on these boards are the most caring of people alot more caring the people on the other animal websites.

Mike

 

Re: Stupidity in this forum

If you bother to read the rest of the fourum you'll realise just what a great, helpful and concerned bunch of people there are on here.
I think you'll find that everyone who isn't breeding their animals has them spayed or neutered. We realise, through good people and their research that it's healthier for all concerned to get our pets spayed/neutured.

You should realise that alot of what people say is to help the person asking the questions... which is what they came here for.

There's alot of anger with irresponsible people. Yes, accidents happen, and no, sometimes it can't be hepled. But, most of the time these people leave it till something is happening (like being in labour) to find answers. This specific person had known well before her dog went into labour that it was going to happen.
Had she have come on last week saying her dog 'accidently' got pregnant and how does she know, blah, blah, blah? then she would have found some very helpful friendly people quing up to offer advice.

I hope everything goes well with this labour and we see pics of some happy, healthy pups very soon.

 

Re: Stupidity in this forum

You'll be sadly missed!! :roll:

For the record Ive spent my life taking in homeless, abandoned and unwanted and abused pets as well as some genetically mutated through BAD breeding (and yes every one of them has been spayed or neutered), and if you spend more than a minute reading through some of the posts here you'll see there are plenty of people here that are the ones that 'pick up the pieces' of the irresponsible back yard breeders, puppy mills 'and those little accidents' that occasionally happen.

Im always yelling spay, spay, spay along with neuter, neuter, neuter.....I think its something to do with seeing barrels full of dead pets at shelters.....over 9,000,000 a year put to death and the majority are because they have no home and thats just in the US, kind of gets peoples backs up a little dont you think.