As they say breeding is not for the faint of heart…and my first experience whelping a litter proved that old adage to a “T.” It was a weekend full of ups and downs and every emotion in between.
Throughout the week we monitored her body temperature and watched for behaviors that signaled whelping. Her temperature fluctuated between 100.1 and 98.5 degrees, but never really stayed below 99.0 degrees. Snapshot really never showed any of the behavioral changes expected when a bitch goes into labor—at most she would stand up occasionally, paw once or twice at her bedding or pant, nothing more than that.
As the big day approached we got prepared–whelping box set up, whelping supplies placed within reach and caffeine ready on hand for those long hours. By Wednesday, December 15th we had everything ready and started the long wait. As someone commented waiting for a bitch to whelp is worse than watching paint dry or a pot of water to boil. The anxiety of not knowing and the lack of sleep definitely made the waiting worse.
Since this was our first litter, we chose to work with the monitoring service, Whelpwise to help keep an eye on how things were progressing before and during the big event. Each day we monitored Snapshot’s contractions and the fetal heart beats (it was pretty cool to hear the heart beats). By Thursday night, we were seeing 5 contractions an hour. Over the next 24 hours Snap’s contractions increased, then decreased as she headed into the first stage of labor, then backed out before finally picking up again. By Saturday morning, the contractions were becoming more regular and frequent. Yet, once again they slowed and weakened.
Finally, Saturday evening—after more than 36 hours—Snap was having regular, organized contractions. At 8:30, her water broke.
It was not until after 11:35, however, that we saw any pushing and that was after she’d had a Calcium shot twenty minutes prior. Unfortunately, Snapshot spent almost two more hours pushing before we saw a “sack”. We broke the sack to find just liquid. After examining her with the guidance of Whelpwise, we found a puppy in its sack “stuck” and unable to move forward even after trying to coax it forward in the birth canal. At this time it was decided to take Snapshot to a local emergency vet about 15 minutes away. As we pulled up to the front doors of the emergency vet hospital, I noticed a lump next to Snapshot’s back legs. It was a PUPPY! Yahoo!
Snapshot and her first puppy (a boy, Mr Black) were wheeled into emergency where the doctors checked her over, gave her IV fluids and did a blood test to check her calcium levels—which were normal. Then, over the next hour to hour in a half, two more puppies where born – a girl (Miss Pink) and then a boy (Mr Blue). The vet felt Snapshot was progressing well and since she had delivered her last two puppies with no further problems, they sent us home to finishing whelping the remaining puppies.
Unfortunately, once home things did not progress as easily as expected. Snapshot spent the next hour pushing—again with no sign of a puppy. We monitored her again only to find that both the strength/intensity of the contractions and Snapshot’s pushing had decreased. We then gave her another shot of calcium and several Oxytocin shots to assist her with the contractions. Within a short period of time we did see the arrival of the next puppy. Sadly, the puppy had its umbilical cord wrapped around her waist and she was not breathing.
The next puppy, another girl, came in fairly short order, but this puppy was born breech (feet first, no sack) and her umbilical cord had already broken. By the time the puppy was delivered, she was oxygen deprived and didn’t survive. With these two setbacks it was again decided that for the remaining puppies we could be hear on the fetal heart monitor, it was best to return to the emergency vet. So, we bundled up all the puppies, and Snapshot then got them back into the car and heading off back to the ER Vet.
Just like the prior car trip to the vet another puppy was delivered in the minivan. Again it was another little boy, Mister Green.
Snapshot was wheeled into the ER while I dried off the newest arrival and waited for the vet to arrive after assessing Snapshot’s condition. This time they took an X-ray to see how many puppies remained. The x-ray showed what the vets believed to be four more puppies, but the ultrasound was not very promising. Next step was a C-section to remove the remaining puppies.
While Snapshot was in surgery we decided to go home with the puppies and wait there until she was ready to come home. I did not have much hope at this point that the remaining puppies would make it considering everything that had happened. So, it was a HUGE surprise when I called to check on Snapshot and the first thing the vet tech said was “the puppies are doing fine!” Of course, Snapshot was doing great too—but it was a big happy surprise to have two more puppies alive. The surgeon who performed the C-section said that there were actually only more three puppies with two of them way up in the uterine horns and the third one in breech position blocking the exit. They also commented on how the last two puppies were the largest they’d ever seen for a dog Snapshot’s size.
In the end Snapshot had 6 surviving puppies—5 boys and 1 girl.
- Black Ribbon, boy born in the car, 18.5 oz
- Pink Ribbon, girl born at ER Vet, 17.5 oz
- Light Blue Ribbon, boy born at ER vet, 18.5 oz
- Lime Green Ribbon, boy born in the car, 18.5 oz
- Orange Ribbon, boy born via C-section, 20 oz
- Red Ribbon, boy born via C-section, 18 oz
We weighed Snapshot before she left the ER vet’s and she had already lost the entire 18 pounds she had gained during the pregnancy.
Unfortunately, the surgeon decided that because of the cuts they had to do to remove the puppies, it was necessary to spay Snapshot. This is her first—and last—litter.
The one funny thing from this entire event is that although Snapshot’s due date was Dec 17th, she waited an extra 2 days and gave birth on the same day her litter mate, Beach, did in 2009. Kind of cosmic!
All the pups are doing well and appear to be thriving.
Again, breeding is not for the faint of heart…