Great Dane Whelping

Question
QUESTION: My female great dane went into labor last night around 7:30 and around 10:30 her temp. was 98 degrees.  I sat with her until 4am and still nothing so I went to sleep until 6am....when I woke up there was still nothing : (  Long story short I took her to the vet at 2pm and they said her cervix was open but that they didn't feel anything (and with a false pregnancy her cervix wouldn't open).  I let them do an X-ray on her and they only found small bone fragments in her intestine....so they suggested my poor LuLu had eaten her pups.  This really disturbs me and I can't fathom why she would do that (they stated they were either still-birth or deformed).  After alot of crying and petting her and letting her know it would be ok I put my great dane back outside with her mate.....now I am wondering when to expect her to go into heat again?  I want to skip her next cycle and breed her in a later cycle so she can have time to "heal" and I don't know when to expect her to be in heat.  Any information on my whole experience would be greatly appreciated as this is my first time with a pregnant dog and I don't know if I did something wrong.  

LuLu is 2 yrs and a Great Dane/Mastiff mix and my male is a full blood Great Dane.  This was her first litter so I didn't know if it was common to have some difficulties with it or what.

ANSWER: Hi Janelle

With first breeding, there is always a chance of complications.  Some first time mothers (and even older ones) will eat their young, regardless of if they are healthy or not.  They will start licking and cleaning and get carried away.  

Depending on her cycle (6, 9, 12 months) she will continue that.  So if she came into heat 2 months ago, she will come in again in 4 (if she comes in every 6).

If you are going to breed her again start with making changes now.  She needs the best kibble, supplement with organ meats, vitamins and oils.  Talk to your vet about putting her on a low dose of amoxicillian prior to the heat that you are breeding her on.  If she has an infection or low grade fever it would adversely affect the pups.   A mentally and physically mature and healthy female makes the best breeder.

Good luck

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


LuLu and Harley   QUESTION: Thank you so much for your response....was curious as to what type of dog food you would suggest.  $$ isn't an issue with my dogs, they are just like my children so an expensive food is fine  Currently they are on Diamond Naturals which has no soy, no corn, and no wheat.  My dogs are allergic to corn to anything without that is great.  Also, when you say to supplement with organ meat, do you want me to cook that and just mix it in her food?  I want to make sure and do everything right the next time around.  Thanks again and I will keep you updated.


Answer
It's not about expensive food it's about QUALITY food.  It's important to know the difference and to be able read the ingredients. Corn, corn meal, any "by-product" is suspect.

Personally, I have issues with Diamond because of the number of recalls they have had and the fact that all the food that was recalled is now missing.  That's just my own personal issue.

If your dog has allergies, a fish based food would be good, in Canada I recommend Canadian Natural Large Breed, but Taste of the Wild, Timberwolf, Solid Gold just to name a few.

Organ meats can be done either raw or cooked.  Heart, kidney, liver can be chopped and given with the kibble. Other good meats are fish, beef and chicken all readily available.