My pittbull in labour

Question
Hi i came home from a day out to find my female had given birth to one pup so far. I'm not sure if there were more pups as i did not take her for any radio graphs. Her and the male were not separate at the time and it has been about 4 to 5 hours and she still hasn't given birth to another. How do i know if she has had more than one and wether or not she or the male have eaten the other pups. If they haven't eaten them how long does it normally take before the next one is delivered.

Answer
While some bitches have been known to kill their offspring, this is extremely unusual and rarely happens; if they do, it is usually under times of great stress. Most bitches immediately start cleaning the puppies up as they arrive and pretty much bond to them at that time. Other dogs, particularly males, can be a different story and should be kept away from the bitch and her new family... not only for their safety, but to keep the bitch from getting stressed out.

It is impossible to tell now if there had been more puppies, but you do need to know if she is totally done or if there are any more inside. Most bitches deliver the next puppy within 20-30 minutes or so, although some will take a bit of a break between puppies to rest a bit. I once had a bitch who always went two hours between puppies (and she usually whelped eight puppies); my fastest one delivered three puppies in about 45 minutes. Four to five hours is WAY too long is there are still puppies inside, so you need to find out if she has more as soon as possible.

If she is in active labor and pushing hard, a puppy could be hung up and is in danger of dying, if it isn't dead already. Once the placenta detaches, the clock is ticking on that puppy being able to get out and breath.

If she does not appear to be in labor at all and is settled in with her puppy, she is most likely done... although she could have uterine inertia, which means that her labor has quit for some reason, and once again, any remaining puppies are in danger of dying. If anything remains inside of her, it will begin to deteriorate and will cause a massive infection that could endanger both her and the puppy.

Get her into the veterinarian as soon as possible to have her examined!