• 30 to 60 minutes of strong contractions occur with no puppy being produced.
• Greater than four hours pass between pups and you know there are more inside.
• She fails to go into labor within 24 hours of her temperature drop.
• She is in obvious extreme pain.
• Greater than 70 days of gestation have passed.

It is normal for the bitch to spike a fever in the 24 to 48 hours following birth. Clinical signs of illness should not accompany this fever.

Normal vaginal discharge after parturition should be odorless and may be green, dark red-brown or bloody and may persist in small amounts for up to 8 weeks.

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References: Portions of this article were taken from these articles:

Freshman, Joni L. Dvm, MS, DACVIM. The Dam's The Thing: Care Of The Pregnant Bitch. Veterinary Information Network, Inc. www.veterinarypartner.com.

Birthing Puppies. VeterinaryPartner.com. Veterinary Information Network, Inc. www.veterinarypartner.com