Veterinarians (and human doctors as well) speak of the post partum period when referring to the time after the dam (mother dog) has given birth to her puppies. Most vets would want to see the mother dog soon after she has given birth, especially if the litter size is large (anything over six puppies). Let’s face it, the dam is under severe physiological distress and some nutritional pressure, if she has to nurse a lot of puppies. So much milk has to be produced for the suckling pups. Some dams actually go into a shock situation caused by a deficiency of minerals (especially calcium).
The vet will make an assessment of the breasts and their ability to produce sufficient milk for the puppies. Also the colour and consistency of the milk have to be examined. You don’t want infected milk to get into the puppies’ bodies. The vet will also want to palpate the abdomen of the bitch to ensure that the uterus (womb) is alright and does not contain any retained placentas (afterbirth) or retained puppies. The knowledgeable veterinarian could administer certain hormonal injections which could help to expel any potentially damaging residual tissue mass in the womb. Such injections would also aid in the milk let-down and help the involution of the uterus to its normal state.
As part of the post partum care for the mother dog, I usually advise owners to measure their
