My dog has aprox 2 weeks till she has her puppies! What should I expect?

Question

Shes a labrador and 7weeks pregnant. Shes showing signs.. big stomach and little nipples are hanging down noticably. Shes not running around like she used to and she just relaxes alot. The vet said that she'll have up to 10 puppies. What should I be expecting?
Thank-you.. I'm kinda new at this!
x x x

lol... ok i no to expect puppies!! haha but how will I know when she is going into labour? What are the signs etc?
x x x

shes a pure bred and so are the pups!

we didnt intend to breed her but my sis got a lab male and we didnt get him spayed so she got pregnant. They are both getting spayed as soon as we can!

Answer 1

Promise me you'll spay her after this pregnancy.

OK, 63 days after breeding puppies are due, but may be early or late, just like people. You need to have a whelping (birthing) area for her she should be comfortable with now. It should be large and have a "bumper running around the sides that will keep her from rolling onto a puppy...think of it as an escape for the little ones. The bottom should have a first layer of plastic and then plenty of newspapers!! Start collecting now as you'll be changing the paper ever few hours for the 10 weeks. Inbetween you can have towels, rage, mattress pads or carpeting for softness. The box should be large enough for her to stretch out, walk around (escape the pups while still in the box) and easy for her to get out, but not the pups. Keep it in a warm area.......80 degrees. No drafts.

Within 2-3 days of due date was her belly and vaginal area with pet sampoo and warm water, rise often to eliminate soap.

Her nipples may ooze milk up to 2 weeks before delivery, don't worry...some never drip. Take her temperature twice a day and write it down so you can tell when it is changing. Her temp will drop to 98-100 within 24 hours of whelp. THIS IS IMPORTANT, if she has not whelped within 24 hours of this temperature drop, call the vet, something could be going wrong.

She will be restless, making a next, scratching, etc days before. As the time approaches, she'll be up and down, obviously nervous up to 2 days before the event. When she lies down during contractions and begins bushing with her abdominal muscles, expect a pup within 2 hours. It will be awhile between #1 and #2, intervals for the rest will be shorter. If it's more than 3 hours between pups, call the vet!!

Pups appear either head or tail first, doesn't matter. Normally the ***** doesn't need help, but if you think it necessary, use a towel (clean of course) and gently pull with the contractions. If the mother doesn't want to tear open the membrane immediately, do so for her, but let her lick the pup after that. Licking stimulates breathing, you may need to help near the end as she will be tired. Cutting the cord is the bitches job. You may have to help. Also you may need to help clear out the mouth......I sure hope you find something to read about all this as this is already pretty long answer.

Don't freak if she eats the placenta, this is normal, it's a good laxative for her and may help the milk start. Birthing is messy, especially 10 pups.

Get yourself a book or find some sites on the web. You shouldn't be doing this without knowing what to do in case of emergency as you could lose the pups and the *****.

Answer 2

you should have spayed her unless you show her or she is at least show quality. If you didn't/don't know what to expect then you should have never bred her. If you didn't know what you where getting into well I geuss you are just going to make your poor dog pay the price. Delivering a litter 5-6 is hard enough on them and yours may have 10! Poor dog. You need do do your research!!! I bet the sire and dam of the puppies where never tested for STDs either! you are a BYB

EDIT- Her and the pups being purebred is worth nothing! do you know how many purebred dogs are in shelters?!?!?! Here are quesitons you should have asked your self BEFORE breeding:

1. are they AKC?
2. Are they Champion sired?
3. Do they have there OFAs (OFA good or better)
4. Are they tested for STDs?
5. How many Champions are in the pedigrees?
6. Are these dogs related in anyway?
7. Why should I breed them?
8. Is my dog and the stud shown?
9. Do they have any titles?
10. Would they make a good pair genenticly?
11. Are they both Stursurely and Mentaly sound?
12. Do they fall with in the AKC breed standards?

Then awnserd them honostly!

I feal bad for the dam and the pups as well oh and incase you don't know what the breeding terms are:

Dam- Mother of the litter
Sire- Dad of the litter
Dog- boy- male
*****- girl- female

Spayed is for B I T C H E S and Neuterd is for Dogs

you should take resposibility for not keeping your ***** away from her dog when she was in heat!

Answer 3

OK so instead of making assumptions based on NOTHING like some idiot people on here...
Well, obviously, as others have said, you should expect puppies :P I don't know the signs for sure myself, but you really might want to call your vet about that - not go in or anything, but call to ask them, since they know your dog (I'm actually surprised they didn't tell you what to expect yet).
However, I DO caution against people who breed their dogs just for fun or for cute puppies. I hope this isn't why you did it. I notice you said they're all purebred so that's good. Just because you're new doesn't make you a "BYB". I hope you've done all your research to know what to expect when the puppies arrive though - and just how much it'll cost! Be a good "breeder" (even if you don't intend to do this again) and hold on to the puppies for at least 10-12 weeks, and make sure they're going to good homes!
Also, please don't let your dog have too many litters, because it really IS unhealthy for her to do so. Most bigtime breeders only let their dogs have around 3-4 litters if that in their lives.
Good luck with your puppies! Take good care of them and mamma!

Answer 4

Licking / pulling around nipples. they are getting full of milk and uncomfortable and grooming them. getting up and turned and laying back down and doing this again and again as she tries to get comfortable. piling up her blanket and such for more comfort. let her have her pups on the blanket and than once they are ALL born and she has cleaned the sak off of them lay down a fresh blanket and try gently to get her to a fresh blanket. wash the other one and lay it back down. If she does not have a blanket get her an old one. There is a mess when giving birth and it is better on a blanket than on your nice carpet. put it in her regular spot and make sure she knows she is a good dog to be on it.
She will pant alot. It is labor just like a human. From one pup to the next it could be a minute or more. My vet said not to worry unless it is more than an hour and she seems to be really staining. One dog I had had a large pup and she could not deliver it and she had a C-Section to get the last pup. So as I said they are just like humans. Just remember they do come out in a sak and they are not the cute puppies most people see and hour after birth so if there are young kids it may not be a thing for them to see.

Answer 5

Definitely dominant behavior. By the way, desexing will only make him unable to reproduce, it will not change his behavior. Desexed dogs, both males and females, will display mounting behavior if they have not been corrected. Hopefully, you have done some obedience training with the Lab so he is amenable to correction. When he attempts to mount, or when you notice he is standing stiffly with his tail and head raised high, tell him NO or make a negative sound (such as AACK) and immediately demand he turn toward you and SIT. Then command him to DOWN. The Sit is to focus his attention on you (and away from the other dog or puppy) and the Down is to remind him that he is subordinate to you. You need to get control of this situation before the little girl grows up and fights back.

Answer 6

You should make a bed for her, line it with old towels and newspaper. Put this in a quiet secluded corner so she will have peace when the puppies get here.
Also, when a dog is about to give birth, she will stop eating her food and go to her birth spot.

For your question, I suggest that you go to the website below. It has all that you need to know about Labradors having puppies.

Answer 7

i was new too.my dog had puppies in august. We arent breeders but we decided to breed her one and experience it. I recommend a little baby pool set up as her whelping box, filled with clean/old blankets and towels. you want to encourage her to go in there to sleep or chill. sleep in the same room as her so you can keep an eye out. my golden had 9 puppies. i recommend having another person help we had 3 people on the job my mother, me and my sister. my mom helped her deliver i cleaned them off and me sister put them ona heating pad and made sure they were warm. the puppies can go hours without their mothers milk..so you can get your lab to nurse them after they're all born or after she calms down ( my golden was walknig around and having them) they'll become a handfull by 4 weeks of age. I really recommend the babypool because they couldnt jump out until they were 5 weeks. good luck!!! sleep by the babypool for the first two weeks because the puppies like to go behind their mom to get warm and alot of times they suffocate, thats how we lost one.. we left them alone for 15 minutes!



to everyone that is saying rude comments, i dont think she asked for them.. so just answer her question.

Answer 8

Haha well you're going to get an earful from the people on here. Two weeks until pups and you don't know anything about it? RESEARCH you have the internet!

Answer 9

You'll know when the pups are coming when your little girl goes off her food for the day and just wants to sit around looking fat ha ha ha. Her waters will break and it'll look like she's had a massive wee but she hasn't! Straight after that happens she'll want to sit down or lie down as she'll be in labour and it'll hurt like hell ( being in labour usually does!!). Make up her bed now actually, so's that she'll get used to it and she'll know its safe. Get her a very large shallow cardboard box or man made dog bed ( i'd go for the card board, its cheaper but does the job just as well plus its disposable! ) and lay a load of newspapers on the bottom. Lay some clean, old sheets, towels and blankets ( not too fluffy! ) on top and encourage her to use it now, she'll be glad of it when she's in labour! Right, back to the waters breaking - she's now in labour and will start ripping those sheets and towels to alleviate the pain, let her do this in her own way. By all means stay with her and help her if needed but if you have young children - keep them well away, however well they all get on - she will not want youngsters around her whilst she's in labour and she could snap at them if they get over excited!!! She'll get up and start walking around during labour and if she crouches down as if to wee, bend down and have a look! You will probably see a bubble coming out, a milky, fluid filled bubble that she'll want to burst. If she can't manage it because she's fat from pregnancy, you'll have to help her! Don't panic though or she'll pick up on it! Just take a towel and gently wipe it across the bubble to burst it. Once that bubble has burst, the first pup will follow ( ooh exciting ain't it ha ha ha ). She'll go rigid with the contraction and will appreciate some gentle rubbing of her stomach! Or a back massage will go down a treat! The pup will come out head first and it'll be in a milky white sac of mucus, allow mum to push this baby out on her own but if its there too long ( if mum is very tired etc ) then gently hold the pup in the palm of your hand and very very gently, pull it towards you being very carefull not to damage its head in any way and mindful of the fact that its still attached to mum!!! You will only ever have to do that in an emergency, dogs are naturally great at birthing and rarely have problems! Mum will clean the baby as soon as its out and this can look quite brutal, as if she's hurting it or gonna eat it ha ha ha but she won't, its just their way! She'll eat the umbilical cord ( proper lady, never leaves any mess!!! ) and lick that baby until it shines! The 2nd baby will come soon after but be mindful of the fact that they can have up to and just over an hour between pups! Offer mum a drink if she's panting a lot, which she will do of course but don't worry if she doesn't want it. Massage her back and stomach for her, it'll help a lot with the pain and will make her feel ok. You'll know when a pup is coming when her stomach contracts and goes all tense and stiff, just be on hand to help if she gets into trouble delivering it. I doubt that she'll have ten though, especially as its her first litter, it'll probably be between three / five or six ( labs carry heavy ). Give her plenty of nutritious meals after their born, she'll need it badly. Rice puddings made with baby milk, plenty of freshly cooked meat and veg ( boiled chicken with no bones in it is excellent ) and plain boiled rice with the meat is brilliant for her. Ahh i bet you cant bloody wait ha ha, i'd be following her around waiting for the pups to come ha ha ha. Congratulations and i hope everything goes well for you all x

Answer 10

Research FIRST &2nd &3rd & 4th

Breed LAST

I feel sorry for your dog and the pups. You are risking all their lives not knowing what you're doing!