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My dog had puppies, but there was a long gap. Is this normal?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Blue Heeler | Female | unspayed | 6 years and 2 months old | 31 lbs

My 6 year old heeler just had her first liter of pups. She delivered 6; 3 of which were stillborn. There was over a 24-hour gap between delivering #5 and #6. Is this normal? I found the sixth puppy this morning and it was dead. I don't think it was born dead though as it looked different than the other three. Just wondering if Mama dog needs to be checked out or if this is normal. Thank you.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Laura Johnson VMD

Veterinarian

Published on June 8th, 2018

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Sis! No it isn't normal for puppies to be born 24 hours apart or to have so many still born or die after birth. It shouldn't be more than 2 hours between puppies. I would take Sis to the Vet for an exam to be sure she doesn't have an infection and an X-ray to confirm that there are no more puppies. I am sorry you are going through this. I wish you all the best!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Stacey Anstaett, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    It is not normal to have that long between puppies. We would usually expect there to be 4 hours or less between puppies. (Cats and kittens are a very different story.) I would recommend that you take her to a vet and just have them take an X-ray to make sure that there are no more puppies. If there is still a puppy, unfortunately it would not have survived at this point, and if her uterus is not contracting to push it out, she will get extremely sick--this can even be fatal. So while its unlikely there are any pups left, to be on the safe side it would be best to check since there was such a long period between the last 2. I hope that's helpful; this article also has some good information on what is expected as normal. https://www.petcoach.co/article/whelping-giving-birth-in-dogs/ Thanks for asking PetCoach!

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