Help! Bitch whelping unexpectedly!

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nicnag

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My post further down tells the story about how my little collie bitch was found to be in pup last friday. I scanned her myself and found 4 pups, scanner measurements estimated due date as 8th August. dot comes to work this morning for an easy day in the office, we go out to gather the hill sheep in and she comes too but only to watch. at 12 we come back to the office, she goes straight to bed and at 12.10 we have a puppy - breach but otherwise ok. It's very loud and active so looks like my scanning has been off!
I have NO experience of whelping bitches, how long can I expect before she has them all? How can I be sure she has had them alll if my scannning isn't too reliable! How soon should I be making sure they have suckled? She hasn't got a huge amount of milk on her at the moment but I'm guessing it should come on her as the hormones kick in!
How the hell am I going to get her, pups and 3 other dogs home in a short wheel based Nissan terrano?
 
8th August? Do you mean October. Anyway sounds as if she is going to hopefully whelp easily so to some extent I would leave her to it. She may well rest between pups but I never like them to go more than 2 hours between each one, obviously if she is straining for a long time and nothing happening then she may need help. Presumably she isn't very big or you would have suspected sooner so may well only have 4, most bitches do seem to settle down once they have finished, and her abdomen should feel empty. As long as she has cleaned pup up and it is warm I wouldn't worry about it feeding until she has finished. I don't think I would try and transport them all home together, can you take bitch and pups first then go back for others? Put pups in a cardboard box or similar so they are confined for the journey, they should be fine.
Just covered the basics here, I will probably think of other things in a bit. As your bitch is obviously very fit should be fine, good luck with the babies
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sorry all a fluster - should def have been Oct! Not big at all! Only caught her out as she wouldn't jump in the Land rover on Friday morning and I spotted the tummy when I lifted her up. 2nd one has just arrived breach too, had to give it a wee pull. she's doing a grand job of cleaning them up. They are beautifully marked pups, just very unexpected!
 
Sounds like she is popping them out really easily, and coping well. Forgot to say, don't worry if she eats afterbirth, I usually let my bitches have a couple then try and take the rest away. If she has had 3 this quickly she may have a bit of a rest now. Perhaps offer a drink of water (if you can put a bit of glucose in so much the better but don't suppose you have any to hand.
 
Ha that is where being sheep farmers comes in handy! Yes glucose to hand and she has water in front of her all the time , she's putting them in for a sook although don't know how succesful it's being, noisy little critters!
thanks for all the advice!
 
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The advantage of a bitch being fit going into whelping eh
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When did you become Splotchy again, I can't keep up
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Sorry, only changed today, the TT joke was a good one but thought I would revert to "normal"
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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The advantage of a bitch being fit going into whelping eh
smile.gif

When did you become Splotchy again, I can't keep up
tongue.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, only changed today, the TT joke was a good one but thought I would revert to "normal"
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

**ROFL at 'normal'
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**

I am finding this very exciting, having a busy yet boring day today! Push girl, PUSH!
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Glad it's all going well, fingers crossed for no boss visits
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I'm back! We swiped the work landrover so other dogs went home in that and Dot and pups in my car. she had the 4th one just as we were getting set to leave, was a bit blue so we took our time and made sure they were ok before heading off. Swung by vets on way home and scanned her to find one more who made his appearance at 6.30pm. Now all in a makeshift whelping box with a heat lamp.Mum tired but doing a great job of them. Photos to follow !
Thanks for all the reassuring words!
ETA 4 girls 1 boy!
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Actually I really like the name Dot - can you imagine a greyhound called Dot? Remind me of that when I get my next one if Nicnag doesnt mind me stealing her choice of name
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