My dog had a stillborn puppy. What are the causes and next steps?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Mocha. If she had x-rays while pregnant and she was only expecting one puppy, then she is probably doing fine. However, if she was expecting more puppies or you don't know the number of puppies, she will need to see her veterinarian. She will need an x-ray to ensure there are not any more puppies that have not been born yet. I hope this information helps!

One important thing to consider is if your dog has any more puppies inside of her. If you are unsure then I would recommend taking her to the vet for an x-ray to see if any puppies are left. If she has not passed all the puppies by now she will need to have surgery to have them removed. If you were sure she has delivered all the puppies then her behavior is probably just due to anxiety and depression from losing her puppy. Give her lots of attention, love, and affection and she should be fine in a little bit. Help her get back to normal routine as this may help her feel better more quickly. I think it should be fine to let her outside with other dogs as long as you supervise them for the first few minutes to make sure everything is going to be OK. i'm sorry about losing the puppy. I hope this helps.

Poor Butters! From your description, I would be very concerned that she may still have another puppy inside her, or may have a severe uterine infection or some other problem. Having a stillborn puppy is a sign that something went very wrong during the birthing process, and it's not normal for her to seem painful and not want to eat or drink. Unfortunately, I'm afraid there is really nothing at all you can do at home to help her - this may be a life-threatening problem, and she needs immediate veterinary care. I would recommend taking her the nearest emergency clinic tonight to be seen, if possible. The veterinarian there can take x-rays to see if there is another puppy still inside her, and may need to do an emergency c-section if so.

I’d keep an eye on Tessa for now. If more than four hours pass between puppies or she pushes for longer than 30 minutes with no sign of puppies, take her into a vet immediately. I’m sorry about the stillborn puppy.

I typically recommend heading to the vet if it has been more than four hours between puppies. While it can be perfectly normal to take long breaks in between puppies it’s best to have a vet check for signs of fetal distress if it has been more than four hours, especially since one puppy was already still born. Good luck to Coffee!

Kalu will need to see a vet for treatment and possibly emergency surgery. There can be many causes for not being able to birth additional puppies, such as small hips in the mother, too large puppies, electrolyte disorders, etc.

I'm very sorry for your loss, what you see is a dead fetus, i can't tell you what happened exactly, obviously there was a serious complication during labor that led to her death, could have been internal bleeding, calcium deficiency and other conditions.