What Should I Do While My Dog Is Giving Birth?
Most of what you do during whelping is watch, record and keep the puppies warm. The timings that separate a normal delivery from an obstruction.
What to do when your dog is giving birth amounts to far less hands-on work than most owners expect. For a healthy bitch carrying a normal litter, your job is to stay nearby, keep the room quiet and warm, write down the time each puppy arrives, and make sure every newborn is dry, breathing and feeding. You do not pull puppies out. You do not cut cords unless she fails to. Most of the skill lies in knowing the small number of timings and signs that mean help is needed, then getting her to a vet quickly rather than trying to solve the problem at home. This article covers what a normal whelping looks like hour by hour, what you should physically do with your hands, and the exact points at which waiting becomes dangerous.
The commonest misconception is that labour runs continuously once it starts. It does not. A bitch will often deliver two puppies, settle, lick and nurse them, then do nothing at all for an hour or more before the next contraction. That pause frightens owners into prodding, pulling, or driving across the city at the wrong moment. The opposite mistake is just as frequent: sitting through two hours of hard, forceful straining with nothing to show for it, because somebody said whelping takes a long time. One of those gaps is normal. The other is an obstruction, and the puppy inside it has hours at most.
What to Know A bitch's rectal temperature drops below roughly 37.2°C about 12 to 24 hours before active labour, which is the most reliable warning you will get. Once hard straining begins, the first puppy should arrive within 30 minutes. Puppies then come every 20 to 60 minutes, with settled rest periods of up to two hours in between. Thirty minutes of forceful, unproductive straining is an obstruction and needs veterinary attention immediately. Green or black discharge before the first puppy is born means a placenta has separated and the litter is at risk. Never give oxytocin, calcium or any human medicine at home. In an obstructed uterus, oxytocin can rupture the womb and kill the puppies.
What Should I Actually Be Doing While She Whelps?
Your role has four parts: get the environment right, keep a written record, check each newborn, and watch the clock. Nothing on that list involves touching the bitch's rear end.
The environment matters because it is the one thing entirely under your control. She needs a whelping box in a quiet, dim, draught-free room she already knows, with no other dogs, no children and no visitors. A bitch who feels crowded or observed can genuinely stall in first-stage labour. Fear and adrenaline suppress the hormonal cascade that drives contractions, and a nervous first-time bitch who keeps getting up to check the door is a recognised clinical problem rather than a myth. Sit where she can see you if she wants company. Many bitches settle better with their owner on the floor beside the box. Some would rather you were across the room. Follow what she does, not what you think she needs.
The written record is the single most useful thing an owner produces during a whelping. Keep a sheet of paper and a pen on top of the box. Write down the time the temperature dropped, the time she started nesting, and the time hard straining began. Then, for every puppy: time of birth, whether it arrived head first or tail first, sex, birth weight, a short description of its markings, whether it cried and breathed promptly, and whether a placenta followed. Over the phone at two in the morning, a vet can make real decisions from that sheet. Without it, the conversation is guesswork, and the most important number in the whole process is the one nobody remembers: how long ago the last puppy came.
Checking each newborn takes under a minute and happens while the bitch deals with the next contraction. Dry the puppy, confirm it is breathing without noise or effort, weigh it, and put it back to a teat.
Watching the clock sounds trivial and is not. Whelping feels timeless from the inside. Owners routinely report that a puppy came "about half an hour ago" when the record shows two hours and ten minutes. Note the time, every time.
How Do I Know Labour Has Started?
The honest first answer is that the due date itself is unreliable. Canine gestation is around 63 days from ovulation, but if you are counting from a single mating, sperm survival in the reproductive tract means a normal whelping can fall anywhere between day 57 and day 72. That eleven-day window is the reason so many owners panic prematurely or, worse, sit at home past the point of safety. A due date calculated from progesterone testing at the time of breeding, or from an ultrasound measurement in mid-pregnancy, is a far better figure to work from.
The most practical tool at home is a thermometer. From day 57, take her rectal temperature twice daily with a digital thermometer and a little petroleum jelly, at the same times each day, and write the readings down. Normal sits around 38 to 39°C. When progesterone collapses in the 12 to 24 hours before active labour, the temperature falls below roughly 37.2°C, often to 36.7°C or lower. A single low reading can be an artefact, so confirm it. Once it is confirmed, you have a day's notice.
First-stage labour is the quiet stage. The cervix dilates and the uterus begins contracting, but you will not see abdominal straining. What you see instead is behavioural: restlessness, pacing, digging and shredding bedding, repeatedly getting in and out of the box, panting, trembling, looking at her flanks, refusing food, and sometimes vomiting. A small amount of clear or slightly blood-tinged discharge is normal. Most bitches go off their food for the last meal or two before whelping.
| Stage | What you see | Normal duration | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| First stage | Restlessness, nesting, panting, shivering, refusing food, clear discharge | 6–12 hours, up to 24 in a first litter | Leave her alone in the box, note the start time |
| Second stage | Visible abdominal straining, water bag, puppies delivered | 20–60 minutes between puppies; usually all out within 6–12 hours | Record each birth, dry and check each puppy |
| Resting phase between puppies | She settles, licks and nurses, no straining | Up to 2 hours, often much less | Keep the clock, keep the puppies warm and feeding |
| Third stage | Placentas passed, alternating with second stage | Within about 15 minutes of each puppy | Count placentas against puppies |
First stage normally lasts 6 to 12 hours, and can stretch to 24 hours in a bitch having her first litter. Beyond 24 hours of first-stage signs with no progression to real straining, she needs to see a vet. The same applies if the temperature dropped more than 36 hours ago and nothing has happened since.
What Does a Normal Delivery Look Like, Minute by Minute?
Second stage announces itself clearly. The panting and pacing give way to purposeful abdominal straining, with the bitch bearing down hard, often lying on her side with her legs braced or squatting as though passing a stool. You may see the allantoic sac, the so-called water bag, appear at the vulva, and a gush of straw-coloured fluid as it breaks.
From the onset of that hard, productive straining, the first puppy should be out within 30 minutes. Most come faster. The puppy arrives inside its membranes, which the bitch tears open with her teeth before licking the face clear and chewing through the umbilical cord.
Roughly two in five puppies are born tail first, and this is entirely normal in dogs. It is not a breech in the way that word is used in human obstetrics and it does not, by itself, mean trouble. A true breech, where the pup presents rump first with the hind legs tucked forward, is harder to deliver and more often needs help.
After the first puppy, intervals of 20 to 60 minutes are typical. A bitch who has just delivered will frequently stop, settle, clean her puppies and let them nurse for an hour or more before the next one. That nursing is useful: suckling triggers oxytocin release, which drives the next round of contractions. A quiet, comfortable, actively mothering bitch with a two-hour gap is a different situation from a restless, straining bitch with a two-hour gap. Judge the picture, not just the number.
Placentas come either with the puppy or shortly after, usually within about fifteen minutes, and the pattern alternates: puppy, placenta, puppy, placenta. Count them. Some are swallowed before you notice, and a quietly retained placenta is a common cause of illness in the following week.
Bitches commonly eat the placentas. This is normal behaviour, though eating several tends to cause vomiting and loose stools, so remove most of them once she has had one or two. Letting her eat all of a large litter's worth achieves nothing and frequently produces a mess you then have to clean out of the whelping box.
Total second stage is usually complete within 6 to 12 hours. A whelping that is still going at 24 hours is abnormal even if puppies are arriving, because by then the bitch is exhausted and the remaining puppies are at risk.
When Should I Step In and Help a Puppy?
There are four situations where your hands are genuinely useful, and a long list where they cause harm.
The first is membranes left over the face. If the bitch is busy with the previous puppy and a newborn is still inside its sac, tear the membrane away from the head immediately with your fingers and wipe the nose and mouth clear with a clean cloth. A puppy cannot breathe through an intact sac.
The second is a puppy that is out but not breathing. Rub it briskly all over with a dry towel, paying attention to the chest and along the spine. Hold it with the head slightly lower than the body to let fluid drain, and wipe the mouth and nostrils. A soft bulb syringe used gently in the mouth can help. Do not swing the puppy through the air. The old practice of swinging newborns to clear their lungs causes brain haemorrhage and has no place in modern neonatal care.
The third is the cord. If she does not sever it within a few minutes, tie clean cotton thread firmly around the cord about one and a half to two centimetres from the puppy's abdominal wall, then cut on the far side of the tie with clean scissors and dab the stump with dilute antiseptic. Never pull on the cord or cut it flush with the body wall; traction on the cord is a recognised cause of umbilical hernia and bleeding.
The fourth is a puppy visibly stuck at the vulva. If a head or hindquarters is showing and has not advanced after ten to fifteen minutes of straining, you may apply gentle traction, using a clean towel for grip, pulling downwards towards the bitch's hind feet and only in time with a contraction. Give it one or two attempts. If the puppy does not move, stop and go to the clinic. Pulling harder tears the vagina, fractures the puppy's spine or ribs, and buys nothing.
Everything else is off limits. Do not put fingers or any instrument into the vagina to feel for a puppy, which introduces infection and can damage a cervix that is still dilating. Do not give oxytocin, calcium, or any human medicine. Do not bathe her. Do not move the box once labour has started. Do not let a crowd of relatives stand over her.
How Do I Keep the Newborn Puppies Alive in the First Hour?
More puppies are lost to cold and to missed feeds in the first day than to anything that happens during the delivery itself.
Newborn puppies cannot shiver and cannot regulate their own body temperature for the first week or two of life. They rely entirely on their mother, their littermates and the air around them. A puppy's immediate environment should sit around 29 to 32°C for the first week, reducing gradually after that. A cold puppy stops digesting milk, then stops suckling, then becomes hypoglycaemic, and the three problems feed each other. Never try to feed a cold puppy; warm it first, slowly, over twenty to thirty minutes.
Use a heat source the bitch can move away from. A covered heat pad under one half of the box, or a hot water bottle wrapped in several layers of towel, works well and leaves her a cooler side. Do not put a bare hot water bottle or an unattended electric pad against a newborn, which causes burns on skin that cannot move away. Bengaluru makes this a two-sided problem. In a January or monsoon night the floor of a ground-floor room gets genuinely cold and damp, so raise the box off the tiles and line it generously. In April and May the risk reverses, and a heat lamp over a whelping box in a warm room will overheat the litter. Point no fan or air conditioner directly at the box. Power cuts are worth planning for: a hot water bottle and a thick towel need no electricity.
Get every puppy onto a teat within the first couple of hours. Colostrum, the first thick milk, carries the antibodies that the puppy's gut can only absorb for a short window after birth, and that window closes within roughly the first day. A puppy that misses colostrum has very little immune protection, which matters a great deal in a city where parvovirus is common.
Weigh each puppy at birth on a digital kitchen scale and then once daily at the same time. A small dip in the first 24 hours is normal. After that the weight should climb steadily, roughly doubling by about ten days. A puppy that is not gaining, or that is losing, needs to be seen rather than watched.
Two local hazards deserve a mention because they are easy to prevent and genuinely kill puppies here. Ants will find a damp whelping box and attack newborns and the umbilical stumps overnight. Check the floor around the box, keep food away from it, and inspect the litter at night. During the monsoon, flies laying eggs on soiled bedding or on a wet umbilical stump cause maggot wounds within a day. Change bedding often and keep the stumps dry.
Which Signs Mean I Should Call the Vet Now?
This is the part to read before the due date, not during the whelping. Print it and put it on the fridge.
| Sign | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Hard, forceful straining for 30 minutes with no puppy | Obstruction; the puppy in the pelvis is being compressed | Go to the clinic now |
| Weak, intermittent straining for over 2 hours with no puppy | Uterine inertia or partial obstruction | Phone, then go in |
| Over 2 hours between puppies with more still inside | Labour may have stalled | Phone for advice; go in at 3–4 hours |
| Green or black discharge before the first puppy | A placenta has separated; that puppy is losing its oxygen supply | Emergency, go immediately |
| Puppy visible but not advancing after 15 minutes | Stuck puppy, often oversized or malpositioned | Go in; do not keep pulling |
| Foul-smelling discharge, or heavy fresh bleeding | Infection, or haemorrhage | Emergency |
| Collapse, extreme weakness, trembling or seizures | Hypocalcaemia, hypoglycaemia, shock or uterine rupture | Emergency, do not wait for the next puppy |
| No labour 24–36 hours after a confirmed temperature drop | Primary uterine inertia | See a vet the same day |
| Day 65 or later from ovulation with no signs | Overdue; risk to the litter rises | See a vet the same day |
The green discharge deserves its own explanation because it is so commonly misread. The pigment is uteroverdin, released when a placenta separates from the uterine wall. After the first puppy has been born, seeing green is ordinary and expected. Before any puppy has been born, it means a placenta has detached while its puppy is still inside, and that puppy's oxygen supply is already failing. There is no safe waiting period for that sign.
Trembling, stiffness or a wobbly gait in a bitch during or shortly after whelping can be eclampsia, which is a dangerous fall in blood calcium. It is more common in small breeds with large litters and usually appears in the weeks after whelping rather than during it. It is treatable and it is an emergency. Giving calcium by mouth at home is not the answer, partly because a bitch having a seizure cannot swallow safely and partly because the dose and route matter.
Which Dogs Are Most Likely to Need Help?
Difficult births are not distributed evenly, and knowing in advance which category your bitch falls into changes how closely you plan.
Head shape is the biggest single factor. Brachycephalic breeds such as the Pug, French Bulldog, English Bulldog and Boxer combine a wide, round skull and broad shoulders with a narrow maternal pelvis. Many of these bitches cannot deliver their puppies without surgery, and in some lines an elective caesarean planned around an accurate due date is the standard of care rather than a failure. All four of those breeds are popular in Bengaluru, so this is a common conversation in our consulting rooms.
Size at the other extreme causes its own trouble. Toy breeds, including the Chihuahua, Pomeranian, Shih Tzu and Yorkshire Terrier, have small pelvic canals and often carry one or two relatively large puppies. Indian pariah dogs and most of the country's working breeds, such as the Mudhol Hound and Rajapalayam, whelp comparatively easily, which is a useful reminder that difficult birth is largely a consequence of selective breeding for shape.
| Risk factor | Why it raises the chance of a difficult birth |
|---|---|
| Flat-faced conformation | Wide puppy skull and shoulders against a narrow maternal pelvis |
| Toy breed | Small pelvic canal, often with a single large puppy |
| Litter of one or two | Too little foetal signalling to trigger labour; puppies grow oversized |
| Very large litter | Uterine muscle fatigue partway through, and exhausted bitch |
| First litter over five years of age | Weaker contractions, less efficient labour |
| Previous caesarean or previous dystocia | Strong predictor that it happens again |
| Overweight bitch | Fat in the pelvic canal and poor abdominal effort |
| Known pelvic fracture or injury | Permanently narrowed birth canal |
A single-puppy pregnancy is the one most owners have never heard of. Labour in the dog is triggered partly by signals from the puppies themselves, so one puppy may not generate enough of a signal to start the process on time, while having the whole uterus to itself means it grows larger than usual. That combination produces overdue bitches with oversized puppies. If an ultrasound or radiograph shows one or two puppies, plan the delivery with your vet rather than waiting at home.
The practical conclusion is the same for every high-risk bitch. Have a radiograph taken in the last week of pregnancy so you know exactly how many puppies to expect, and agree a plan with your vet before the due date rather than improvising at midnight.
What Should I Prepare Before the Due Date?
Preparation is where owners have the most influence and where it is least often spent.
Set up the whelping box two weeks before the due date and feed her in it, so it becomes her space rather than a strange object she is pushed into during labour. It should be large enough for her to lie fully stretched out, with sides high enough to keep puppies in and a rail or ledge so she cannot crush a puppy against the wall. Line it with newspaper under washable towels or veterinary bedding, which gives the puppies grip. Loose cloth bunches up and traps newborns underneath it.
| Item | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Digital thermometer and petroleum jelly | Twice-daily temperatures from day 57 to predict labour |
| Digital kitchen scale and a notebook | Birth weights, daily weights, the timing record |
| Plenty of clean dry towels | Drying and stimulating each puppy |
| Clean cotton thread and sharp scissors | Tying and cutting a cord she has not severed |
| Dilute povidone-iodine or chlorhexidine | Dabbing umbilical stumps |
| Soft bulb syringe | Gently clearing fluid from a puppy's mouth |
| Covered heat pad or hot water bottle | A warm half to the box, with a cooler half available |
| Newspaper and bin bags | Keeping the box dry through a long whelping |
| Your clinic's number and night route, written down | Nobody can find a phone number during an emergency |
Book a late-pregnancy check. A radiograph after about day 55 counts the skeletons and gives you a target number, which is the only way to know when she has finished. It also warns you if the puppies look large relative to her pelvis.
Settle the logistics in advance. Know which hospital is open at three in the morning, know the route, and know roughly how long it takes at that hour. Bengaluru traffic turns a fifteen-minute journey into an hour at the wrong time of day, and an obstructed whelping does not wait. Arrange a second adult to be present, because driving while holding a box of newborns is not a plan.
Two things to avoid. Do not give calcium supplements through pregnancy unless your vet has specifically advised it; routine supplementation can suppress the hormonal machinery that mobilises calcium during labour and make eclampsia more likely rather than less. Do not plan vaccinations or routine medicines during pregnancy either. Get her vaccination and deworming up to date before she is mated, so that her colostrum carries good antibody levels and the puppies start with real protection.
What Happens in the Days After Whelping?
The whelping is not the end of the clinical risk, and the week afterwards is when quiet problems turn into serious ones.
Arrange a post-whelping examination within 24 to 48 hours. Bring the bitch and the whole litter. The vet checks that the uterus is emptying, compares the placenta count with the puppy count, examines the mammary glands, and weighs and checks every puppy for a cleft palate, an umbilical hernia or a heart murmur. If the numbers do not add up against the radiograph, imaging will find a retained puppy or placenta before it causes a life-threatening infection.
A reddish-brown discharge, called lochia, is normal for up to about three weeks and sometimes longer. It should thin and lessen over time. Discharge that smells foul, turns to pus, becomes bright red and heavy, or increases rather than fading suggests metritis or retained tissue. A bitch with metritis is typically dull, feverish, off her food and neglecting her puppies. That needs same-day veterinary attention, because the puppies lose their milk supply at the same time.
Check the mammary glands daily with the flat of your hand. A gland with mastitis feels hot, hard and painful, and the skin over it may look red or bruised. Milk from it may be discoloured or thickened. Caught early this is usually straightforward to treat. Left alone it can abscess.
Watch for eclampsia for the first month, especially in a small bitch with a large litter. Early signs are restlessness, panting and a stiff or stilted gait, progressing to muscle tremors, rigidity and seizures. It is an emergency and it responds well to prompt treatment.
Feed her generously. A bitch feeding a large litter at peak lactation needs several times her maintenance energy intake, and a good-quality puppy or growth diet, offered free choice with constant access to water, is the simplest way to deliver it. A bitch losing condition while nursing is being underfed in almost every case.
Weigh the puppies daily for the first fortnight and write it down. Steady gain is the best single indicator that the whole litter is doing well. Book the first puppy visit at around two to three weeks for a weight check and the start of worming, which in Bengaluru matters more than owners expect given how common roundworm and hookworm are in the local environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do while my dog is giving birth?
Stay close while she whelps, keep the room quiet, warm and free of visitors, and write down the time of every puppy and placenta. Dry each newborn, check it is breathing, weigh it and return it to a teat. Avoid pulling puppies or interfering with the cord unless she neglects it. Your main job is watching the clock against known safe intervals.
How long is too long between puppies?
Twenty to sixty minutes between puppies is typical, and a settled bitch who is nursing and licking her litter can safely rest for up to two hours. Phone for advice beyond two hours when puppies are known to remain, and attend the clinic by three or four hours. Any forceful straining lasting thirty minutes without a delivery means an obstruction.
Should I help pull a puppy out during birthing?
Pull only when a head or hindquarters is already visible at the vulva and has made no progress for ten to fifteen minutes. Grip with a clean towel, pull gently downwards towards her hind feet, and only in time with a contraction. Give one or two attempts. Harder traction tears tissue and injures the puppy, so stop and travel.
Do I need to cut and tie the umbilical cord?
Most bitches chew through the cord themselves and need no help. When she does not within a few minutes, tie clean cotton thread firmly about one and a half to two centimetres from the puppy's abdomen, cut on the far side of the tie with clean scissors, and dab the stump with dilute antiseptic. Never pull the cord.
What does green or black discharge during whelping mean?
Green pigment comes from a separating placenta. Seen after the first puppy has been born, it is entirely normal and expected for the rest of the delivery. Seen before any puppy has arrived, it means a placenta has detached while its puppy is still inside and losing its oxygen supply. Travel to a clinic immediately.
How warm should newborn puppies be kept?
Newborn puppies need an immediate environment of around 29 to 32°C in the first week, easing down gradually afterwards, because they cannot shiver or regulate their own temperature. Warm only half the box so the bitch can move away. Never place a bare hot water bottle against a puppy, and never attempt to feed a puppy that still feels cold.
When does a dog need a caesarean section?
Surgery is needed when a puppy is physically too large for the pelvis, when the uterus has stopped contracting effectively, when a puppy is stuck or in distress, or when the bitch herself is deteriorating. Flat-faced breeds and bitches carrying only one or two puppies often require it. Earlier decisions give far better survival than late ones.
Next Steps
If your bitch is whelping right now and anything on the warning list applies, stop reading and travel. Hard straining for thirty minutes with no puppy, green discharge before the first puppy, a pup stuck at the vulva, or a collapsed or trembling bitch are all emergencies where the delay itself is the danger. Take the whole litter with her, keep them warm in a towel-lined box on the way, and bring your timing record and the radiograph puppy count if you have one.
If she is in early labour and everything looks ordinary, leave her alone in her box, note the times, and let her work. Check each newborn briefly for breathing, dry it, weigh it and put it back to feed. Keep the room quiet and resist the urge to help, because an undisturbed bitch whelps more efficiently than a supervised one.
If she is still pregnant, this is the right moment to plan. Book a late-pregnancy check so we can count the puppies on radiographs, assess whether her breed and pelvis make a planned caesarean the safer option, and go through the whelping kit and the warning signs with you properly. Our reproductive medicine team also keeps your file flagged for the due-date window, so if you do ring at two in the morning, whoever answers already knows what is in her uterus.
