What can you do for a dog having complications with delivering puppies?

You first need to establish if the dog is in fact having difficulty - or whether it is a normal part of the birthing process. If you are in doubt about the health and safety of your dog or her puppies, I would suggest taking her to the vet.

Some signs that the birth may be abnormal are:

- active labour (with contractions) has been occuring for over 4 hours without any puppies being born

- there is green coloured or smelly vaginal discharge

- the interval between pups is more than 30mins (with contractions) or over 2 hours (without contractions)

- there are signs of pain or lots of vaginal bleeding

If any of these signs are present, it is important to take her to a vet.

The vet will assess what needs to be done to help with the delivery.

This can include things like a C-section, calcium or oxytocin - depending on the cause of difficulty.