The process of your dog giving birth to puppies is an exciting experience, but it can be stressful if you don't know what to expect or how to help. One of the most common and understandable concerns is knowing whether or not your dog is done giving birth. So, let's answer the question of how to know if your dog is done giving birth.
To know if all puppies have been born, have the vet give the mother an ultrasound before the puppies are born. The vet will determine how many puppies she is pregnant with. To guess how many there are, check if the contractions have stopped and see if the mom is calming down.
There are a variety of ways to check that the last puppy has been born, but it is important to pay attention to and carry out specific instructions to produce the most accurate analysis. This article will dive deeper into understanding your dog's birth process.
How Do You Know if There are Still Puppies Inside?
There is only one way of truly knowing that a dog's labor is completely done, and that is an ultrasound. Prior to birth, an ultrasound can be performed on a dog to determine how many puppies are inside. Knowing this number allows the owner to know exactly how many to expect. (Source)
Knowing the number of puppies by means of ultrasound provides a basis for owners to know when labor is done and their dog can relax. This is helpful because then the owners are able to know for certain that there are no more puppies inside, which reduces health risks for both the puppies and the mother.
This or an active ultrasound is the only true way to know if your dog has more puppies inside.
What Other Ways Can you Conclude There are No More Puppies?
If you haven't gotten around to taking your pregnant dog to the vet for an ultrasound, it's ok, there are other ways to estimate that labor is over. The only issue with these methods is that you can't be certain that all the puppies are born. These methods offer help and are useful but they are not definite.
The first and most clear sign that labor is over is that the contractions have stopped. To check if contractions have stopped the first indicator is that the dog has stopped yelping or whining in pain. You can tell that contractions are happening if her belly feels really firm or tense.
A second sign to look for that indicates completion is that the mother calms down. Labor is a very intense and taxing process, so during the birthing process, it is expected that the mom will be breathing heavily, whimpering, panting, and groaning. As long as the mom is displaying these signs, it can be assumed that labor is not complete. When these signs diminish it is likely that the last puppy was born.
The next step you can take to ensure that your dog is done with delivery is to supervise them for 2 hours after birth. This can be useful if you are unsure that the last puppy has been delivered. It is also beneficial because sometimes dogs just take breaks in the labor process.
If your dog calms down and starts tending to its puppies in these two hours then it is likely that the birthing process is finished.
How Do You Know When a Dog has Delivered Her Last Puppy?
The easiest way to know that your dog has delivered its last puppy is to know how many puppies there are supposed to be and compare that number to how many newborn puppies there are.
Without knowing how many puppies there should be, a person can typically assume that the last puppy has been born when the mother stops acting like she is in active labor.
Behaviors that imply that labor is ending or over can include the mother pushing out the rest of the placenta and then slowly beginning to calm down. For dogs in labor, calming down would look like a decrease in panting, whining, discomfort, or nervousness.
Another behavior that shows that the birthing process might be over is caring for the puppies. Once the mother has calmed down and isn't in the shock of the process anymore, she will start to nurture them.
What Happens After the Last Puppy is Born?
The first sign that the last puppy was born is that the mother will expel the rest of the placenta. This is why it is important to monitor your dog during and after labor because knowing if your dog has pushed out the placenta will tell you if labor is over.
Monitoring for this is also important because oftentimes dogs will very quickly eat the afterbirth which would cause you to miss that information. If the dog does not pass the placenta it could mean that there are still puppies inside, but sometimes it just disintegrates later and comes out in 24 to 48 hours. (Source)
In the case that it just wasn't expelled, your dog can quickly develop an infection, so if you think that your dog did not push out the afterbirth you should take them to the vet. You should also seek veterinary help if your dog starts to produce a bloody and/or smelly vaginal discharge 24-48 hours after birth.
After the mother has birthed all of the puppies and pushed out and eaten the placenta, she will then begin to tend to the puppies, cleaning them up. If she does not sever the puppy's umbilical cords then you must cut and tie it off.
Tying it off means that you are basically clamping the umbilical cord so that it can fall off later. If you are at home you could use dental floss but it is recommended that it is unwaxed. If you happen to have iodine in your home, you should wipe the puppies' bellies with it to prevent infections. (Source)
Cindy is a prolific writer and online researcher who can't imagine life without dogs. There is scarcely a dog topic she has not researched or written about. Her love for dogs and helping dog parents is evident by the thousands of dogtemperament.com visitors who read her articles monthly. Most of all, each topic Cindy writes on helps forge a stronger bond and understanding between her and her happy Catahoula Leopard Dog Jossie.