Ask Dr Claire

My dogs water broke at 5pm and its been an hour and a half but nothing else has happened, is there something wrong?

In general the first puppy would be expected to arrive within 4 hours of mum’s water breaking.

It’s important to monitor mum in terms of the colour of the vaginal discharge, her temperature and whether she’s straining.

You need to call your local Veterinarian immediately if any of the following are happening:

• There’s 30 – 60 minutes of strong contractions occurring, and no puppy is seen

• More than 4 hours have passed in between puppies and you know there are more to come

• Mum fails to go into labour within 24 hours of her temperature drop

• Mum is obviously in extreme pain

If you’d like to chat in person, you can get a vet on a live video call or start a chat to discuss in more detail.

We’re on stand-by to help!

Chat soon,

Dr Claire