Rowan's Puppy Delivery

As you know, Rowan's temp was down to 99 yesterday, and when I got home from work it was down again to 98 degrees. She was very busy panting, nesting and looking for a safe place for her pups.

Knowing she was going to likely deliver that night, I methodically closed off all the "good spots" she kept choosing in the house for her pups: the bedroom, the study, the dogbed in the living room. Finally there was no place except the whelping box in the kitchen. I coaxed her into the box a few times and finally she settled down to wait in there. She was carrying a toy around in her mouth all night, acting as if it were her baby. She would alternately carry the toy around the house whining that noplace was suitable, and then settle down and clean and nudge the toy as if it was a puppy.

Around 11PM, Rowan was clearly getting uncomfortable, shifting around in the box and panting heavily and then napping. She would get up and dig frantically in the newspaper, then settle down, pant for a while, then fall asleep. Clearly the digging preceded each wave of labor contractions, followed by panting and then a rest. Occasionally she would whine and look around in some confusion. I told her she was doing a great job but mostly left her to her work. She often had a very faraway look in her eyes as she bore the discomfort.

Around 11:30, Rowan let out a low grunting moan and her hard labor began. The contractions came in waves of three and you could see her entire abdomen contract, her tail lifting away from her vulva with each push. She was mostly quiet now, working hard. After a few of these, I began to see a good sized bulge beneath her tail with each push as the puppy's head cleared her pelvis and started down the birth canal. After about 15 minutes, a bubble of clear liquid appeared, the vulva stretched tight around it. I could see a little face thru the abdominal fluid around the puppy. The head was large, and it took her several pushes to clear his head. She let out quite a yell as the puppy came free, and began frantically licking and cleaning the puppy, the sac, and herself. I reached over and tore the sac off the puppy's head and made sure the puppy was breathing, then left her to clean it off. I never saw the placenta, which she likely slurped right down.

The placenta is a large purple and green jelly-like mass which is normally delivered with or shortly after each puppy. It is the go between in teh uterus for nutrition and oxygen from the dam. The dam is often more concerned with taking care of this than her puppy at first. As she always seems so eager to dispose of it, and it likely contains lots of great nutrition, I just let her have it.

The puppy was wet, streaked with fluids and he lay gasping occasionally and waving his little legs. It was an orange or lemon male. It's difficult to tell orange from lemon in newborn pups. Often the inside of the ears will be smudged with gray, or there is a smudge of pigment on the nose - these pups are orange. Very pink pups with no gray inside the ears are usually lemon, but sometimes you cannot tell for several days.

When Rowan began cleaning herself and had left the puppy alone to recover, I quickly scooped him out to weigh him. He was 15 ounces. I took a towel and dried him, giving him a few shakes upside down (gripping him FIRMLY behind his head with the towel) to clear any fluid from his airway. He squeaked loudly in protest and I looked up to see a very outraged face looking at me. I quickly returned the puppy to Rowan who began licking him all over, gnawing and pulling at the umbilical cord. Dams will frequently spend a lot of time chewing and pulling at the cord, dragging the puppy around by it and even lifting them off the ground. They will fuss at the cords until they are chewed down the way they want them. It seems to be good stimulus for the puppy.

It can take a few minutes for each puppy to recover form the delivery. Once they are breathing, there is no need to hurry for them to nurse. They need some time to get used to breathing and take in all the stimuli they are getting in contrast to their warm, wet intrauterine world. For a few minutes, the puppy crawled around the box, heading for mom and nosing at her belly which is the warmest area of the box. After about 15 minutes he began seriously looking for a nipple and soon was nursing, kneading her with his tiny paws. She continued to lick the puppy, herself, and clean up the box.

About 20 minutes after the first puppy was born, Rowan began panting again. Her labor was starting up once more. She didn't do any more digging or nesting, and after a few pups had arrived I took out the newspaper and gave her a clean blanket. Blankets give much better traction than slippery newspaper for the little newborn pups and while they will get wet and smeared with fluids, they can be laundered.

It took about 5 minutes for her to push out the next puppy, a black and white male about 13 ounces. He was a bit easier than the first - she was well lubricated with fluids and he was smaller than the first boy.

I do not remove the pups as each successive puppy is born. Nursing stimulates further contractions and is helpful for keeping the delivery moving along. The dam will even lick herself to stimulate the hormones produced by nursing. I did keep the puppies away from her rear to make room for the next puppy and its fluids, but still, the puppies often crawled thru the fluids and became soiled as each puppy was born. Not to worry - Rowan carefully kept cleaning them off.

The next puppy born was a tiny orange girl - only 9 ounces. She looks very like Rowan did as a newborn. To my surprise this little bug was quite strong and squeaked indignantly thru her first bath and was soon crawling quickly across the box towards mom. She wormed her way between her two bigger brothers and settled down to rest against mom. I took a quick trip to get another cup of coffee and hush the older dogs who were peering interestedly over the gate into the kitchen. When I came back the little girl was nursing and Rowan was resting quietly.

The rest of the pups came without incident. There was a slightly longer interval between the pups as the delivery progressed. Naturally the pups closer to the birth canal come first, so the later pups have a further distance to travel and will take a bit longer to reach the outside. Rowan was very calm now, quiet and working hard. There was less panting between contractions now, and her grunts with each contraction were lower and less noticeable. She was very occupied cleaning and tending to the existing pups, and they recovered quickly from each delivery.

Soon they were alternately sleeping, nursing and pulling themselves with little jerks around the box. Puppies are blind and deaf at birth. Their eyes are tightly closed and their ears are as well. The only senses they have at this point are smell and touch. They can feel pain and cold, and they can smell mom. If the pups got too far from Rowan, they would let out little indignant squeaks of protest. Rowan would lean out and touch them with her nose. You could see them lifting their heads, questing with their noses to find her again.

By 4Am we had our litter. Seven puppies. One orange or lemon boy, three black boys, two orange girls and one black girl. The largest was 16 ounces, the smallest the little orange girl who was 9 ounces. All were VERY active and nursing well. By the time the last puppy was born, the first couple had been nursing enough that their little bellies were taut and rounded.

Having looked at the x-ray, I knew that we should have at least seven pups. I wanted to check whether I could feel another puppy inside, so I took Rowan outside to potty and check her over. I had to put a lead on her and FORCE her out of the box. She was horrified that I might think she should leave them. We went outside and after a few minutes she did finally go to the bathroom. I very gently felt her abdomen and wasn't quite sure if there was another puppy or not. I didn't feel anything hard enough to be a puppy's skull, but at this point her uterus was still quite large and soft so it was difficult to be sure.

Rowan RACED back inside to the box and CAREFULLY stepped over the edge and stood over the pups, who were making puppy grunts and squeaks of outrage that their heater had departed. Rowan seemed at a loss how to settle in without stepping on the pups, so I helped her out and moved them all into a pile to one side and told her to lie down. Once she was down I put the pups beside her and they swarmed up to her, looking for warmth and more breakfast. She carefully checked each puppy and heaved a big sigh of contentment. Soon they were all nursing and she was resting quietly.

By now the sun was up and the other dogs were wanting to go outside. I put them out and gave Rowan some breakfast which she quickly dispatched. Then I let some of the older dogs into the kitchen, a few at a time, so they could see what had gone all all night. Z and Scarlett peered and smelled interestedly at the pups and the box, craning their necks to take in the whole scene. When Scarlett leaned too far over the box, a short, low growl came from Rowan and Scarlett backed off, looking sheepish, and peered from a more respectful distance. I shooed the girls out and let Duncan in.

Those of you who met Duncan know he comes indoors as if he's late for an appointment, tail lashing, excited and ready for anything. My bouncy boy TIP-TOED into the kitchen and peered with interest into the box. Rowan gave him the 100-yard stare and he quickly retreated, and I put him away. His turn to be a parent will come later.

Now that things had settled down I removed the pups to a laundry basket lined with a towel. Rowan gave me a hurt look and jumped out of the box to stand over her pups while I removed the damp, soiled blanket and clean up the box. Once it was clean I put in a new blanket, securely pinned by the box so the pups cannot get beneath it. While I've been writing this, I've checked on Rowan and the pups a few times. All is quiet and peaceful. Mom & pups are resting, the puppies alternately nursing and sleeping. Rowan is still stained on her legs and back from some of the fluids, but the pups are now dry and spotless. There will be plenty of time to clean Rowan up in a few days if she hasn't already done it herself.

For now, all I need to do is keep an eye on Rowan, feed her and be sure she is recovering smoothly. As for the pups, I that is required is to make sure all the pups are gaining weight and nursing well. It won't be long before I will need to be doing more with them, but for now, they are in good paws!