Whelping & Neonates
Whelping Checklist: Supplies, Signs of Labor, and When to Call the Vet
Updated September 6, 2026 · 9 min read · By the BreedBloom team
Whelping goes best when the decisions are made before the first contraction. This checklist covers what to gather, what normal looks like stage by stage, and the specific situations where waiting is the wrong call.
Two weeks before the due date
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Confirm your due-date window from ovulation or progesterone timing, not from the breeding date alone (see the whelping date calculator).
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Book a radiograph after day 55 to count puppies. Knowing the count tells you when whelping is actually finished.
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Clip the dam's belly and rear feathering if she is heavily coated. Bathe her and start the whelping-box introduction.
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Have your vet's after-hours number and the nearest 24-hour emergency clinic saved, with the drive time known.
Supplies to have in the room
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Whelping box with pig rails, lined with washable pads.
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Digital scale in grams, notebook or app for weights and birth times.
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Clean towels (more than you think), unscented wipes, paper towels.
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Bulb syringe, hemostats, blunt scissors, unwaxed dental floss for cords.
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Iodine or chlorhexidine for cord stumps.
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Heat source: heating pad under half the box, or a heat lamp with a thermometer at puppy level. Target 85–90°F (29–32°C) in the pups' zone the first week.
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Puppy milk replacer and feeding tube or bottle in case a pup needs help.
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Coloured collars or nail polish for identification.
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Nutri-Cal or similar for the dam, water, and a light meal for later.
Signs labor is beginning
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Rectal temperature drops below about 99°F (37.2°C) roughly 12–24 hours before stage one. Take it twice daily from day 57.
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Nesting, digging, restlessness, refusing food, panting, shivering.
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Clear mucus discharge as the plug passes.
The three stages
Stage one: 6–12 hours (up to 24 in maidens)
Uterine contractions begin but are not visible. The dam is restless, pants, may vomit, and moves between nesting spots. Keep the room quiet and let her settle in the box.
Stage two: delivery
Visible straining begins. The first puppy usually arrives within 1–2 hours of hard contractions. Subsequent pups are commonly 15–60 minutes apart, though a rest of up to 2 hours between pups with no straining can be normal. Each pup may come in its sac; if the dam does not open it within seconds, tear it, clear the airway, and rub the pup dry.
Stage three: placenta
A placenta follows each puppy, sometimes after the next pup. Count them. A retained placenta is a common cause of post-whelping infection.
Call the vet now if
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Hard, continuous straining for 30 minutes with no puppy.
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More than 2 hours between puppies when you know more are coming.
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More than 24 hours past the temperature drop with no stage two.
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Green or black discharge before the first puppy is born.
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Heavy fresh bleeding.
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A puppy is visibly stuck at the vulva and gentle traction with the contraction does not free it.
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The dam collapses, tremors, or seems disoriented (possible eclampsia).
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The puppy count from the radiograph is not reached and straining has stopped.
Record as you go
Write down the time of each birth, the sex, the birth weight, the collar colour, and whether a placenta was seen. This is the record your vet will ask for and the starting point for every weight curve.
The first 24 hours after
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Check every pup nurses within the first two hours; colostrum absorption falls off quickly.
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Weigh at birth and again at 12 hours.
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Take the dam out briefly to eliminate; expect dark red-brown discharge for several days, tapering off.
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A post-whelping vet check within 24 hours is worthwhile, particularly if placentas were not all accounted for.
Frequently asked questions
How long between puppies is normal?
Typically 15–60 minutes. A rest period of up to two hours without straining can be normal mid-litter, but continuous hard straining for 30 minutes with no puppy, or over two hours when more pups are expected, warrants a vet call.
What temperature drop signals whelping?
A rectal temperature below roughly 99°F (37.2°C), usually 12–24 hours before active labor. Take it twice daily from around day 57.
How warm should the whelping box be?
About 85–90°F (29–32°C) in the puppies' area for the first week, reduced gradually afterwards, with a cooler zone the dam can move to.
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