The gestation period for dogs is 58-63 days.  Mark on your calendar 58 days from the first breeding and 63 days from the last breeding.  Typically, within 24 hours of the delivery, the mother dog will become uneasy and nervous.  She will often pace and may pant more than normal. 

A relatively good indication that delivery is going to happen is that the mothers body temperature will drop approximately 24 hours before delivery.  I suggest that you take the dogs temperature, rectally, starting 2-3 days before the expected earliest date that she is supposed to whelp.  The normal body temperature for a dog is 101.5 – 102.5 degrees F.  We are looking for a drop to 100.0 or less to indicate that delivery is close.  This will tell us that we need to be more attentive should the need arise to assist in deliveries.  After the temperature has dropped, it will usually go back up to normal at the time of delivery.

The mother dog should used to the area that she is going to whelp in.  if it is in an area other than she routinely lives, accustom her to the whelping area a few days before the expected delivery date.  We want her comfortable with her surroundings.  Make sure that the area can be kept clean, dry, and draft-free.  The temperature in the whelping area needs to be warm – approximately 85 degrees F.  Puppies cannot shiver until they are at least 2 weeks old.  They will be at the whim of the outside temperature, and if they become cold they will not be as vigorous, not nurse as well, and have a higher mortality rate. 

The whelping area needs to be ‘safe’ so as to prevent the mother from smothering puppies.  This most often occurs up against the sides of the whelping area.  Fashion a ledge around the inside of the whelping area approximately 4-6 inches off the bottom so any puppy that gets up against the side will be underneath the ledge and not able to be smothered by the mother.

Occasionally it is necessary to help the mother with her puppies.  Inexperience – first time bitches, often don’t know what to do with puppies.  Also, some mothers don’t seem to care about their puppies, and are more interested in getting out of the whelping area than attending to the needs of her pups.  Others are nervous, and may chew incessantly at the umbilical cord area of the puppy and cause injury.  It is helpful to have a forcepts to clamp off a bleeding umbilical cord, and thread to tie a knot approximately one inch away from the puppies body.  Towels should be ready to dry off puppies.  A bulb syringe – an ear syringe that you can get from a local pharmacy – will help to suck fluid out of the puppies mouths immediately after they have been born.

The entire whelping process may last several hours, even extending into the next day.  Puppies can be delivered within 15-20 minutes of each other.  They may also be several hours apart.  We do not want a dog to be in hard uterine contractions for much over 20-30 minutes without delivering a puppy.  This may indicate the need for medical or surgical assistance.  If a female has had a difficult delivery of a pup, their may be a longer interval between the delivery of the next pup.  If she has more pups to deliver, and she does not begin labor contractions within 3-4 hours, this may indicate the need for medical or surgical assistance.

Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a medication that can be given by injection to stimulate the uterus to contract and assist with delivery.  Oxytocin can be given to females that are not generating a strong enough contraction to deliver a pup ot to females that have gone into uterine ineritia (stopped having contractions).   If oxytocin is to be used at home, it should be given under the direction or recommendation of a veterinarian.

Caesarean
Caesarean section is the surgical intervention to assist in the delivery of puppies.  Some indications for C-section are:

• if the female is unable to deliver a large pup
• if the female quits labor and oxytocin does not ‘restart’ her contractions
• if the female goes too long between delivering puppies and there is concern for their viability

Probably the best advise I can give is that if you think the female needs a caesarean, she probably needed it several hours prior. 

Puppy Care
Please read the separate ‘article’ on neonatal care. 
Puppies need warmth and energy.  Remember puppies can’t shiver until they are 2 weeks old.  The immediate area around the pups needs to be in the 85-90 degree F. region.  Puppies need a good belly full of colostrums, the first breast milk, from the mother.  If a delivery is long, some of the earlier delivered puppies may need to nurse before the entire litter is born.