Between the hours of 3am-3pm today, our Ger. Shep. had 5 puppies. The book says there will be afterbirth which comes out separately. The Vet receptionist said the afterbirth is the mucous sac which the puppies are born in. Which them is right? Should I be waiting for a separate afterbirth?

Thanks, Maggie

-- Maggie (ruby@isp360.net), March 06, 2002

Answers

Each puupy comes in a water filled sac.Each also has a placenta attached to the pups cord.You have to watch closely because mom will often eat it before you see it .I would not worry to much .I usually take them in within 24 hours after birth for a shot of pitacin {sp], ocitocin {sp} forgot which is the people one and which is the animal one LOL !

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

Each puppy is in it's own little sack and the Mother cleans each puppy up as it is born. (eats the sack and nips the cord) At least that is what our lab, cockerspaniel,bassett hound and charpei did when I saw them give birth.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), March 06, 2002.

I am not for 100% sure on this. My cat ate the sacks on all her births and I was told dogs to the same right after each pup is born. Good Luck!! Jennifer

-- Jennifer (jenniferthf@aol.com), March 06, 2002.

I am not for 100% sure on this. My cat ate the sacks on all her births and I was told dogs do the same right after each pup is born. Good Luck!! Jennifer

-- Jennifer (jenniferthf@aol.com), March 06, 2002.

OK - first, the puppies are each in individual sacs to which they are connected by their umbilical cords. The part of the sac that the cord connects to is where it connects inside their mommy. This is the afterbirth. It usually comes out right after each puppy. The mom cleans it up as she is cleaning the puppies. From your posting I gather that you weren't with her during the delivery. If that is the case, then there wouldn't be evidence of the afterbirths left as the mother would have already cleaned up (eaten them). Congratulations on your puppies. We had 8 born on 12-28. They have been a challenging, but fun, experience.

-- Stormy in SC (tstorm@prtcnet.com), March 06, 2002.

Howdy from Texas - The only thing I would add to the previous posts would be that five pups seems to be a rather small litter for a German Shepherd. I dont know anything about shepherds but most large dogs will produce litters of 8 - 10 pups. Make sure she has no more pups to deliver. You can check her yourself by feeling around on her belly, but to be sure, a quick vet check wouldn't hurt. I had a dachshound that didn't deliver a pup, about 3 or 4 days later she was in pain and started to discharge a greenish black goo. We rushed her to a vet but we were to late and she died. I have NEVER forgotten or forgiven myself, she was a real sweet dog. I think of little Daisy often.

-- Ken Donnell, Plantersville, TX (palooza98@ev1.net), March 06, 2002.

The only thing I would add to the above is that sometimes a new mother who is inexperienced or just one that gets overly excited about giving birth sometimes bites off the umbilical cord before she pushes out the placenta. I would agree about getting the pit shot just in case. - Sheryl

-- Sheryl in NJ (all295@aol.com), March 06, 2002.

I once had a dog abort a full term pup, the sack, cord, and placenta all came out intact, she was in complete terror from the pain, [I heard her cry out in pain and came running, and got there just as she pulled away from the mess on the floor] but the pup was alive, I could see that she was not bleeding, so I went and opened the sack, [it looked something like a cloudy grey balloon], and pinched apart the cord, sucked the goo out of his nose and got him breathing,

She would have nothing to do with him, so I set up a hot box for him and got him fed, [she had nothing the express from her nipples at the time] by the time I got back to her she was eating the sack etc, after she was calm I checked her belly, and found that she had two more pups inside. > this in done by feeling from the rib cage, with both hands fingertips spread alittle, up into the soft parts, gently it should feel good to the dog, and pulling slowly to the back and towards the tail, a lightly streching stroke, feeling for lumps that seem to be in a row, about the size of a hens egg or a small potato, it varies with the breed of course, and to finsh, with one hand between the back legs continue the same kind of touch up into the soft parts, back to the vulva <, all of the dogs I've done this way, would lean on me for more tummy rubs.

Any hoo, she deliverd the other two pups, 3 days later and did just fine, while I watched, after she was all calm and let had the new ones nurse, I took the risk and put the 2 new ones with the older pup in the hot box for a short time to mix up the smells on them, then I gave them back to her one pup at a time saving the oldest for last, just in case she would not accept it, well she did, and raised them well, but she always acted a little crazy when she had pups, I saw her jump out of her puppy box and attack a piece of paper as it blew by as if it where alive, she was put down not long after that.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 07, 2002.

Little funny: my city friend stopped over just as our goat was delivering her babies. We watched for a few minutes, and then as mama began to eat the afterbirths, I saw Beth take a few steps back & cover her face with her hands. I leaned closer and heard her mumbling to herself: "thinkaboutsomethingelsethinkaboutsomethingelsethinkaboutsome thingelse..."

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), March 07, 2002.

Shannon, that made me laugh out loud! I enjoy your posts and "take" on things. Also, have you cloned your sweet hubby yet? LOL LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), March 07, 2002.