The Birth 18 Dec 2010 @ 18:00hrs

It was fairly obvious that Tia was getting ready to give birth because she displayed all the behaviours that all the literature tells you about. Refusing to eat that morning, complete restlessness, constant digging at her bedding and then suddenly a thick white string of vaginal fluids dangling from her vulva. This happened about 2hrs before the arrival of the first pup. As she was going into labour she started doing a lot of licking of her vulva and would spin around in circles whilst trying to do it! Haha. So I got out a tonne of old curtains and sheets and made her a nest in her corner.  I removed all of her usual bedding and encouraged her to lye down on it.  We actually didn't put any plastic membrane underneath it but would recommend that you do! Trust me it is a very messy process as you may see from the following videos. a black bin liner should do the trick. I then switched the light off and left her alone. About 30mins later I heard her moving around and panting very soon this was the scene...

We were really lucky in that Tia is very trusting of us and so we were able to get in close and really help her from start to finish. However, each dog is different. Apparently some people have told me that their dog became very protective even towards their owners and wouldn't let them anywhere near! Particularly during the birth and for the first couple of weeks. But Tia has been amazing! Although she is very protective of them around people she doesn't know so we have to take her out of the way when anybody comes to look at the pups.