Dogs don't leak milk as a sign of giving birth, they simply act differently and will find a small, safe place to give birth. Signs would be panting and change in behavior.
How Long After My Black Lab Begins Leaking Milk Can I Expect Her Pups?
Start taking her temperature if your not yet. Here is the basic run down.
Average gestation is 59 to 63 days from the first tie (calculator in 2nd link below) though can be a little earlier around 57 (earlier may be a bit of concern for puppy development) or up to 68 (time to be concerned and are more likely to need assistance or c-section). Some of the standard prenatal care consists of things like confirmation by ultrasound or blood test earlier around 3 or 4 weeks to confirm and try and be sure she doesn't have something like pyometra and possibly STD if dogs weren't tested before breeding instead. It also helps with distinguishing a false pregnancy which has some of the complications of a real one and indicates the thyroid or hormones may be off and dogs who go through false pregnancy are usually recommended spayed for those reasons and their comfort.
Towards the end of pregnancy you will do an x-ray or ultrasound. This is where we try to evaluate for likelihood of difficulty and c-section based on the pups themselves and things like their size and rate of growth leading to the whelp and how many and if she is likely to run into difficulty from exhaustion and things. Knowing how many if not exact is exciting but also gives you an idea of when she's done or if there is a pup left to decay and cause infection and even helps evaluate distress when she has stopped or seems to tired to continue or there is too long a period in between pups and you know there are more during a free whelp and things like that and actually why it is done so is imperative and invaluable (and standard) when whelping. The 3rd link is a quick run down of danger signs during whelp. Colostrum usually appears a week or so before or not until right at whelp but most often appears a day or two before the temperature drop. Colostrum is where the pups get the bulk of their antibodies from and is less in volume than milk which comes in day 3 or 4 after whelp. It is a good idea to begin taking temperature when the colostrum appears no matter how many days in if you weren’t before that.
During early labor the females temperature will drop to around 98. It is important to know when this occurs since if there are no pups within 24 hours of the temperature drop (active labor) there is likely a problem and the vet should be called (or if c-section that it is time to head in). If the pups are free whelped (non c-section) the dam is examined 24 hours after to be sure there are no complications (rupture, torsion, prolapse hemorrhage ect.) and retained placenta's or pups to cause deadly infection. She may need or benefit from an injection to help clean her out faster at that time (also to try and prevent infection). The veterinarian will usually go over the next steps and more common danger signs and problems (like mastitis and eclampsia) for the nursing stage at that time. Usually around 2 to 5 days the pups go in to the vet for a look over and to have dew claws removed.
www.thelabradorclub.com
www.askabreeder.com
drnelsonsveterinaryblog.com
www.learntobreed.com
www.dogbreedinfo.com
www.terrificpets.com
www.marvistavet.com
www.marvistavet.com
www.lowchensaustralia.com
www.bullmastiffsonline.com
www.wildheirlabradorrescue.org
www.irvinevetservices.com
www.dogfoodanalysis.com
www.bornfreeusa.org
Average gestation is 59 to 63 days from the first tie (calculator in 2nd link below) though can be a little earlier around 57 (earlier may be a bit of concern for puppy development) or up to 68 (time to be concerned and are more likely to need assistance or c-section). Some of the standard prenatal care consists of things like confirmation by ultrasound or blood test earlier around 3 or 4 weeks to confirm and try and be sure she doesn't have something like pyometra and possibly STD if dogs weren't tested before breeding instead. It also helps with distinguishing a false pregnancy which has some of the complications of a real one and indicates the thyroid or hormones may be off and dogs who go through false pregnancy are usually recommended spayed for those reasons and their comfort.
Towards the end of pregnancy you will do an x-ray or ultrasound. This is where we try to evaluate for likelihood of difficulty and c-section based on the pups themselves and things like their size and rate of growth leading to the whelp and how many and if she is likely to run into difficulty from exhaustion and things. Knowing how many if not exact is exciting but also gives you an idea of when she's done or if there is a pup left to decay and cause infection and even helps evaluate distress when she has stopped or seems to tired to continue or there is too long a period in between pups and you know there are more during a free whelp and things like that and actually why it is done so is imperative and invaluable (and standard) when whelping. The 3rd link is a quick run down of danger signs during whelp. Colostrum usually appears a week or so before or not until right at whelp but most often appears a day or two before the temperature drop. Colostrum is where the pups get the bulk of their antibodies from and is less in volume than milk which comes in day 3 or 4 after whelp. It is a good idea to begin taking temperature when the colostrum appears no matter how many days in if you weren’t before that.
During early labor the females temperature will drop to around 98. It is important to know when this occurs since if there are no pups within 24 hours of the temperature drop (active labor) there is likely a problem and the vet should be called (or if c-section that it is time to head in). If the pups are free whelped (non c-section) the dam is examined 24 hours after to be sure there are no complications (rupture, torsion, prolapse hemorrhage ect.) and retained placenta's or pups to cause deadly infection. She may need or benefit from an injection to help clean her out faster at that time (also to try and prevent infection). The veterinarian will usually go over the next steps and more common danger signs and problems (like mastitis and eclampsia) for the nursing stage at that time. Usually around 2 to 5 days the pups go in to the vet for a look over and to have dew claws removed.
www.thelabradorclub.com
www.askabreeder.com
drnelsonsveterinaryblog.com
www.learntobreed.com
www.dogbreedinfo.com
www.terrificpets.com
www.marvistavet.com
www.marvistavet.com
www.lowchensaustralia.com
www.bullmastiffsonline.com
www.wildheirlabradorrescue.org
www.irvinevetservices.com
www.dogfoodanalysis.com
www.bornfreeusa.org