The bitch goes with young nine weeks. She rarely varies even one day. It is seldom before the fifth week that the belly begins to enlarge, or that the motions of the foetus can be detected. A day or two before the expiration of her time of utero-gestation, she usually gets fidgety and uneasy, and selects her bed; and for some days before that the secretion of milk has commenced. If she has not been petted, and disposed to inflammation, and if the dog was not much larger than herself, there is little or no danger attending the act of parturition.

Petted bitches, however, frequently experience much difficulty in bringing forth their young, and manual assistance is then necessary. The precise time at which the connexion took place should be ascertained, and no attempt made to extract the foetus, until some hours after the full expiration of the usual period of utero-gestation, nor for the first six or eight hours after the labour has commenced should the bitch be worried by any attempts at examination or assistance.

When, however, it is deemed expedient to interfere, the first thing that should be done is to examine whether any part of the foetus has entered the pelvis; if it has not, she must be left undisturbed for a few hours longer. If it appears, after a second examination, that no progress has been made, a stimulant should be given; and the best stimulus to the womb, and that which has saved the lives of hundreds of these animals, is the Secale cornutum, or ergot of rye.

Recipe (No. 36). Ergot Of Rye Pills

Take - Ergot of rye, a scrapie; rub it down to a fine powder, and then add, Powdered ginger, sixteen grains; Simple syrup, a sufficient quantity: Beat into a mass, and divide into five pills

One of these should be given to a bitch of tolerable size every hour, and half a pill to a smaller animal. They will usually rouse the womb to more forcible contraction, and often recall the labour-pains after they had ceased.

As soon as the foetus is in the pelvic cavity, and a little portion of it presents from the external orifice, the finger, previously oiled, should be introduced into the vagina, by the side of the puppy, most especial care being taken that the young one is not forced back. The position of the foetus will now be ascertained. If it is a natural presentation, the muzzle being foremost, the foetus may be a little advanced, by gentle solicitation and working of the finger. The finger must then be carried as far up as possible, and one of the shoulders of the dog felt for, and the elbow being found, that foreleg may be easily brought down. The other must be disposed of in the same manner, and then, by gentle but firm pulling, the whole foetus will be extracted. It will never be prudent to use any force until the fore-legs are thus disposed of, for there will be hazard of breaking the puppy; and, that being done, the life of the. mother is irrecoverably lost.

If the hinder legs present, there will be somewhat more difficulty. The puppy must be partly drawn, but more solicited, forward by the action of the fore-finger, in the manner I have described, until the chest is in the passage. The foetus then being firmly held, a finger must be introduced, and the shoulder, and the elbow, on one side, sought for as recommended before, and that fore-foot brought forward. The other must be managed in the same way, and then the head will give little trouble.

Instruments should never be resorted to until the strength of the bitch is evidently exhausted, and the throes have ceased, and she can no longer assist the surgeon; then a hook resembling a button-hook, but with the extremity not curved round, must be taken, and, the fore-finger of the left hand having been introduced into the vagina, the hook is slid along it, completely guarded by it, and introduced into the, mouth of the foetus, in a case of natural presentation, and into the pelvic cavity if - the presentation is not natural; and being gently, but somewhat firmly, pulled, while the forefinger of the left hand is still urging the foetus forward, it may often be extracted.

Soothing and gentle treatment will avail more here than any force that could be used.

Inversion of the womb sometimes takes place, when too great force has been used. If it is immediately and carefully returned, there will be little danger; but if considerable straining should continue after the womb is returned, a bandage most be contrived to press upon the external orifice, or a stitch must be passed through the lips of the vulva.

After the bitch has pupped, she should be left as much as possible to herself; for she will then be far more likely to do well than when disturbed by the kindest nursing. She may be suffered to eat and drink as usual, for it is rare that, even in petted bitches any fever ensues, except from two causes.

If her young ones, or all except one, are cruelly taken from her, because there may perchance be a stain in their pedigree, nature will continue to secrete milk enough for the whole litter, and this will accumulate in her teats, and cause local swelling and inflammation: it will likewise be a frequent source of general fever, that cannot easily be subdued.

Physic, the cough-balls (Recipe No. 20, p. 187), little food, and frequent fomentations with warm water, wi be most likely to afford relief.

Sometimes, however, a contrary course is pursued. The owner sets great value on the breed, and is anxious to save every puppy; and, instead of finding out a foster-mother for some of them, he suffers the whole litter to suck and exhaust her. A bitch that is used to hardship, and whose constitution has not been impaired by foolish fondness, will not be hurt by this; but a spoiled and petted bitch is rarely capable of suckling with safety more than half of her produce.

If too many remain with her, she, after a while, becomes somewhat stupid, and inattentive to her young ones; she rapidly loses flesh; she will not eat; and she has a wild yet sunken look: then all at once she will lay herself down, and begin to pant dreadfully, as if she was about to die in a few minutes; or strong yelping fits come upon her.

This is the consequence of extreme irritability, produced by exhaustion and debility; and every thing that would tend to weaken the bitch would increase that irritability, and aggravate every symptom. It would, therefore, be bad practice to bleed her. The best a allayer of irritability is a warm bath, into which she should be put, and kept ten minutes or a quarter of an hour; and if, after that, a physic-ball is given her, and half her puppies taken from her, she will do very well.

Sometimes a bilious diarrhoea will come on from the same cause. The same means must be pursued, with this difference, that a dose of the aperient mixture (Recipe No. 29, p. 198), must be given instead of the aloetic ball, and followed by the astringent balls (Recipe No. 23, p. 102).