excessive panting

[sammye]

my bitch had her puppy 3 days  ago, last night we were up all night with excessive panting, she would jst start to drift of to sleep then get up an move again trying to dig, wake up the puppy so it would feed, i think i remember my other bitch doing this but it was a couple of years ago! memory's not wat it was  , shes quite happy now lyin cuddled up to her baby  who is the only one so is getting fatter by the hour,   i did give her some rescue remedy which calmed her down, she was fully checked over by the vet the day after whelping and was fine, anyone had experience of this?

[spanielcrazy]

She's probably very full of milk and it is making her uncomfortable, with only one puppy to relieve the pressure  It is very important that you try to rotate the puppy among all the nipples, and massage her breasts and express a little milk daily to help prevent mastitis 

[merlin]

I've had the same problem, she pants heavily, digs and gets up and moves around disturbing the pups who want to feed, she has been checked by the vet, but not alot of milk, otherwise all ok. It's a relief to find she is behaving normally, even though the vet said all is good.

[amandaC]

Perfectly normal and can vary in duration. Uterus is contracting down, milk production also makes them hot and work hard and hormones will be raging. She will calm down in a few days but it's good you are keeping a close eye on her and have the reassurance of the vet check.

Puppy will choose it's favourite teat or two and the others glands will settle down with the supply and demand. I wouldn't interfer too much with that just keep a close eye for mastitus but if you don't over feed and go steady on the protein she should be fine.

Good luck and enjoy your new baby x