Causes of difficult dog labor

Causes of difficult childbirth in dogs:

1. The fetus is in an incorrect position in the birth canal, and the main reason is that the fetus is too large. During delivery, instead of the fetus being born head first as normal, it adopts an incorrect position to move forward in the birth canal. Therefore, if the female dog is experiencing strong contractions, but still cannot deliver the fetus in a timely manner, it should be suspected that the fetus is in an incorrect position. If the fetus is too large, during the pregnancy, the mother dog is given excessive nutrients but lacks exercise, or if she is pregnant with only one or a few fetuses, the excessive growth of the fetus will result in the fetal head being much larger than the mother dog's birth canal, causing difficult childbirth.

2. Some mother dogs do not exert enough force during delivery, or only exert slight force at the beginning of contractions. In addition, if they lack exercise in their daily lives and lack exercise, they may experience weak contractions. Some mother dogs may be afraid of pain, be obese, or be dissatisfied with the birthing environment, which can also easily cause weak contractions. On the other hand, weak contractions may also be due to low calcium content in the mother dog's blood or the inactivity of hormones that trigger contractions.

3. Previous pelvic fractures, or congenital pelvic narrowness (such as Corgis and short-nosed breeds like Shar Peis). In addition, if a dog becomes pregnant too early (such as at 6-7 months old), the pelvic cavity has not fully developed, which can also lead to difficult childbirth. Additionally, obese dogs are also prone to difficult childbirth.

4. Some dogs may have narrow or hypertrophic vaginas, cysts, or even tumors, which can easily lead to narrow birth canals and difficult childbirth.

Symptoms of difficult childbirth in dogs:

1. Based on the number of days since the dog became pregnant, if it is greater than 72 days starting from the day of mating, the possibility of difficult childbirth exists.

2. The dog mother has obvious and strong contractions in the abdomen that last for more than 30 minutes without delivering puppies.

3. The dog mother experiences severe pain and has not given birth to puppies for a long time.

4. The amniotic sac has ruptured and amniotic fluid has leaked out, but there are no puppies born within two hours.

5. The dog mother appears weak and lacks strength for labor.

6. After delivering one or several fetuses, if more than 4 hours pass without continued delivery and there are still fetuses in the birth canal, it is considered difficult childbirth, which is often due to inadequate uterine contractions.