Hello, Its my girls first litter and her temp dropped 3 days ago and has stayed right around the 98.3 mark this morning it was 97.9 she started nesting yesterday morning and all night long all she did was scratch and nest and dig. She will sit up and pant for a while then lay down and sleep. Still no visible contractions. The vet said its normal and she should have puppies soon. Just wondering if anyone else has a temp drop for so long?

She's totally normal so far. Good Luck with your whelp, she will push when she's ready with a full litter. Hopefully not just a couple??

Did you get an x-ray on her. Maybe the pups are big and she is having a hard time pushing them. Usually rule of thumb is after the temp drops to 99.0 or below labor is withing 24 hours. I would take to her to vet to due an internal exam. If you are willing to you can take your two first fingers and reach up in her and see if she is fully efaced.
Good Luck

x-ray said 5 or 6 possibly more. And thank you! I just took her out to potty again and her stool is very loose and slimy. Maybe today?

Hello ... thank you for your reply. She had her x-ray last monday. Showed 5 - 6 puppies and everything looked fine they said. I also called the vet they said there was no reason to bring her in. She's starting to pant again.

Waiting for the first pup can seem like forever. One sign you would not want to see is color in the discharge and no puppy coming. Clear discharge is a good sign and you have your vet that you are talking to on a regular basis, which is good. Is this vet experienced in delivering ? Do you have someone to call tonite?

Yeah, I had heard that 24 hour time period before too, but nobody told my dogs about it and they have gone many hours past that before they delivered the first pup.

Watch for any discharge that is either green/black or bright red. Any of the above - get to vet ASAP!

Good luck!

Thank you i know about watching the discharge. And my vet is very experienced... he is great and i can call him anytime. And I also have the emergency hospital notified and their number on hand. :)

Hutch's office has always told me to only worry if the temp goes back to normal after the drop and you have no puppies. I had a girl this spring that dropped all the way down to 97.5, made a call up to Hutch's and was told that it was not unusual and to only worry if the temp returns to normal and no pups. Needless to say, my girl had her first pup an hour later.

BUT if you do get colored discharge before the first pup, call your vet immediately.

I wouldn't worry about it unless she starts wanting to push and is straining and produces no pups for a couple of hours, her water has to break too... she may be one that has a low/normal temp so the 98 is not her drop, she could go as low as 96-97 for her real drop, thing is on the drop she has to do the drop and stay that way and not go up in the evening, you might also be getting a stool temperature. When she starts wanting to go out and pee and poop all the time like a crazy lady then she should have them soon. Just relax and don't hover over her, they do pick up our nervousness and that will slow things down so just let her be, keep an eye but don't hover over her.
Aloha,
Jackie