panting after whelping

Question
i have just had my baby girl deliver 6 beautiful puppies yesterday , she is a shih-tzu /poodle cross .
everything seems fine , she is feeding babies and they are strong and well
my question is about her , since she has delivered she has been panting almost all the time that she is with the pups
i thought that she might be a bit hot , i have a heating pad in the box with them , so i turned it off for a while only to find that she continued to do this
is she just maybe a nervous first time mum ?
please give me some input if you can
thankyou in advance
Joanne ( Australia)

Answer
Hi Joanne -- or should I say G'Day!

When she delivered did she expel a placenta for each pup and did she expel the after birth?

It sounds to me like she may have something retained, either another pup or a piece of a placenta.

As your vet for a shot of oxytocin to help eliminate anything that is left over.  It's important that you do it sooner rather than later as this can become toxic and is the number one killer of new mothers.  

Good luck.