Bitch in labour

Question
QUESTION: Hi my mums bitch came into labor 2 days early and had just 1 pup (a boxer)she still looks very large she is eating and mobile. is it possible that she might still have more to come on her due date???

ANSWER: Hi Tara

The funny thing about going into labor "early" is that unless you've done progesterone testing, how do you know it's early?

An egg takes 7 days to fertilize so if it was released prior to mating, then she's right on time. If the sperm was released before the egg fertilized...then it is perceived (by the human counting beans) that she is late.

Now that being said... are you saying that she had pups 2 days ago and nothing since? Or just that by your calculations she's 2 days early had one pup so far?

Typically it's 2-3 hours between pups.  Anything more and I would start to become concerned.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi thanks for your response. Im not concerned as she is very well in her self and the stud i used was used 3 times prior within two weeks so this might explain just one puppy ? what do you think??

ANSWER: A male can produce literally MILLIONS of viable semen per ejaculations.  And it's been scientifically tested that a male can be used 12 days straight before his semen becomes weakened (not that I would recommend doing that).

It's the female that produces the eggs and she is born with all the eggs she is ever going to have.






---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sorry about this but you are most helpful, Last litter two years ago she had 9 puppys. My brother used the same stud 3 days after me and his bitch dosent appera pregnant at all and she as always had large litrers, Its strange im just bafulled but glad my bitch seems fine very well infact!!

Answer
Don't be sorry :) that's what we're here for.

Could it be that the male has a low grade infection?  

Sperm although determined and driven... are easily distracted and susceptible to annihilation by almost anything. A increase in temperature in the testes a couple of degrees over normal body temperature lasting only a couple of minutes will kill the sperm in the testes (just the ones that are already there, not the ones that have yet to be produced).  If the male had a bath before performing the "service", that will kill the sperm.  If it's hot outside the body heats up and the testicles will hang lower and lower in an attempt to cool themselves off.  In the winter the main culprit is the heating registers. That will kill the sperm.

Water, water based lubricants, K-Y Jelly, latex, detergents, soaps, and bleach will kill sperm.  

So that's something to keep in mind and to question.