What to do after a puppy dies? Expert Advice

What To Do With A Dead Puppy

Unfortunately, it is common for one or more puppies to be stillborn or die shortly after birth.

Knowing what to do with them is essential in order to protect the dam and the remaining puppies from any spreading of harmful disease.

Below we describe the various steps to take:

If your dog gave birth to a dead puppy, she needs to know that her puppy had died to avoid anxiety and continued searching for the puppy.

Be aware that the process of decomposition begins immediately after death. Leaving a decaying body with the mother and the live puppies is very dangerous.

Do not allow the other puppies to contact the dead body.

Allow the mother to spend no more than 15 minutes with the body before removing it.

Removing a dead puppy quickly from the mother, especially before she realizes it is dead, can cause distress to the dam. She may become agitated and try to bite you, or she may panic and try to find her puppy.

To avoid distress and panic allow her to see and smell the dead puppy before quietly removing it.

If it has been more than 15 minutes since the puppy has died, and the dam has not yet registered that the puppy is dead; it is advisable to remove the dead puppy quietly while she is busy caring for the live puppies.

Occasionally, the mother should not have contact with her dead baby. If the dog gave birth to a dead puppy whose body is ruptured or severely damaged, it may have harmful bacteria on the surface. It should be removed immediately to avoid contact with the mother or the other puppies.

Some mother dogs, especially inexperienced ones, may have an instinctual drive to eat her dead puppy.

Although this behavior is uncommon, if it is going to happen the dam may show signs of agitation, and start overzealous grooming and licking of the dead puppy. Finally, she will start biting it. If you see any of these signs, remove the dead puppy straight away as the consumption of it, is unsafe for the mother.

Some mother dogs may try to bury their dead puppy in the garden. Other dams may attempt to bury the puppy in her bedding. Or she may try to remove her dead puppy by pushing it to the outside of her bedding area.

If the mother dog is trying to clear the bedding area by burying the dead puppy or pushing it outside the area, It is advisable to let her do it. Once she is no longer paying attention to it, quietly removed the dead puppy with disposable gloves and bag it ready for examination.

The death of a puppy can be caused for many reasons including Infectious diseases.

Therefore avoid touching the dead puppy with bare hands or you may run the risk of infecting yourself, the dam, the other puppies or your extended family.

When removing the dead puppy use disposable gloves, place the dead puppy and the placenta inside of a sealable freezer bag, seal it and place this bag inside another sealable freezer bag.

Turn your gloves inside out as you remove them and discard them in the trash.

All objects used for the dead puppy such as: gloves, bedding, etc should be disposed in the trash. Then remove the bag from the house, to avoid the mother dog from smelling the sense of the dead puppy and attempting to get in the garbage.

Take the body and the placenta to your veterinarian as soon as possible.

If your veterinarian is closed, place the bag inside of your refrigerator, away from food or drinks.

Do not freeze the puppy. While refrigeration helps to preserve the body, freezing the body may make some diagnostics impossible.

Call your veterinarian’s office as soon as they are open to bring in the dead puppy, dam and all live puppies.

After removing the puppy from the refrigerator, be sure to sanitize the area.

The death of a puppy can be caused by many different reasons, including infectious diseases.

This is why taking the body and the placenta, as well as the live puppies and the dam to your veterinarian, is paramount to ensure that whatever killed the puppy or puppies has not spread and no one is at risk.

Your veterinarian may recommend testing the dead puppy to verify what caused the death. He or she will also perform a physical examination of the mother and any live puppies and provide you with recommendations for additional testing or treatment.

The physical examination of the dam will include:

Check for additional puppies: Your veterinarian will need to confirm that there are no additional puppies in the birth canal or uterus. Sometimes this can be done by palpation of the abdomen and vagina. Other times, especially in larger or overweight dogs, a radiograph may be needed for confirmation.

Check for signs of mastitis: mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary tissue and is often associated with an infection. The mammary tissue may appear red, hot, swollen, painful, and have areas that feel hard. This condition is very painful for the mother and requires veterinary attention. While any dog can develop mastitis, a mother that has lost all or most of her puppies is at higher risk because she is producing milk that is not being consumed. Your veterinarian can discuss options to decrease milk production and treatment of mastitis.

While at the veterinarian’s office you will need to discuss options to dispose of the body.

You may choose to have the body of the puppy buried or cremated.

Burial provides a permanent place for you to visit and honor the puppy. Burial may be at a pet cemetery, at your home, or even some human cemeteries have a section for pets. If your desired option is to bury the puppy at home:

• ensure the grave is 4-5 feet (1-1.5 m) deep. This is to ensure that the mother dog is unable to dig up the body, as this is unsafe for her, her live puppies and your family due to the risk of disease transmission, and
• Check with your city before you do so. Certain cities have rules and regulations on home pet burial.

Cremation allows the puppy to return to his or her natural state more quickly. You can spread the ashes at the park or your garden, or you can keep them at home. If spreading the ashes in your garden or in a park be careful, as a large quantity of ashes concentrated in one area can change the soil pH level thus potentially harming some plants.

Our article, Are Pet Ashes Good For Plants, will help you spread the ashes without harming any of the plants that the other live puppies and mother will later enjoy.

When discussing cremation, you may hear the terms communal cremation and private cremation.

Communal cremation means that the puppy will be cremated at the same time as other pets, in the same cremation chamber. This means that you will not be able to have your pet’s ashes back. The cremation service will collect the ashes of all pets in the cremation chamber and dispose of them. Most cremation services will scatter the ashes after each communal cremation. This service costs approximately $40.00 USD.

A private cremation means that the puppy will be cremated individually in a cremation chamber, and the ashes will be returned to you. The ashes may be returned in a standard wooden box urn or a plastic bag. Or you can choose a personalized urn from the cremation parlor. However, this may be more expensive and the selection may be more limited to those you can find on the internet. Private cremation costs between $100 to over $1,000 USD depending on how big the puppy is and the type of urn or memorial you pick out.

Be aware that when testing for diseases, your veterinarian may send the entire body to a diagnostic laboratory; in this circumstance, you will not have the body or cremains returned.

When choosing the urn form the internet consider your budget, the size of the urn, whether you want to bury the ashes on a biodegradable urn or a nonbiodegradable urn, or whether you want to keep the ashes at home:

Budget: Urns can vary in price from as little as $30USD to as much as $300USD+. Personally, I found this one on Amazon for less than $20 that I absolutely love.

What size urn do you need?: The general rule to determining the appropriate size for an urn is, for every pound of the puppy’s total weight you will need 1 cubic inch (2.5cms) of space plus 10 cubic inches (25.4cms) for good measure. For example: If the puppy weighs 3 ounces (85g), you will need an urn that is 5 cubic inches (82cms) or larger.

The urn: The selections are endless. To keep the ashes at home you can choose Pet Figurine Urns, Wooden Pet Urns, Pet Photo Urns, Natural Stone Pet Urns, Metal Pet Urns, etc… to bury the ashes in the garden you can choose either a biodegradable or a nonbiodegradable pet urn.

If considering a biodegradable urn, we have reviewed The Best Biodegradable pet Urns in the market to date. This article has been written with you and your furry friend in mind. To your dog, it will give him/her an urn where they can rest in peace; and to you, it will provide the practicalities you need when choosing an urn: cost, size, and materials used.

If you decided to cremate the puppy, the ashes can be kept in an indoors urn, buried in a biodegradable urn or scattered.

If your children are grieving, consider discussing what happened with a teacher or school counselor to be sure they receive the emotional support they need while away from home.

How to Comfort a Dog Who Lost Her Puppies

Giving the mother enough time to grieve on her own is the best thing you can do in this situation.

Pay a lot of attention to her and when you talk use a calm tone and a lot of praise.

If she feels like snuggling with you then thankfully accept her but if not, don’t try to touch her if she still doesn’t feel like it.

Assess the Situation

Are you sure your dog has passed away? If you have any doubt, its best to take your dog to the nearest open veterinarian for help. Try to feel your dogs heartbeat to find out if he has a pulse, or if a cardiac arrest has occurred. You may wish to try to perform CPR or administer another type of first aid if you think your dog may still be alive.

If you are certain that your dog has passed away, the easiest scenario is typically to take your dogs body to the veterinarian for assistance.

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