Is it safe for my dog to give birth at home?

Absolutely. Where else is she going to have it? Unless there is a veterinary situation such as dystocia, preeclampsia, or another kind of medical condition that would warrant a veterinarian getting involved, then there's no reason for me to get involved. Assuming you have the proper preparations at home—a whelping box, towels, a good dark, and a quiet spot for the dog to go. We covered the preparations in the previous video, so if you didn't, go back and watch it. But if you have those things ready, a dog can have their puppies at home. You're just looking for any abnormalities. If the dog is in active labor, contracting for 30 minutes or more, and no puppy, I need to know about it.

If they're going multiple hours between puppies, I probably ought to know about that too. One of the things that helps is how to know when they’re finished. How do you know if they're finished? Well, that's when x-rays come in, and you can do x-rays after about day 50 of pregnancy and get a good idea of how many puppies that she has to deliver because otherwise, you're just kind of guessing. So maybe she has four, and she stops—are you going to know if that's all she has? If you didn't do x-rays, you are not going to know. That's one of the benefits of checking x-rays before they go into labor.

Yes, in general it is safe. If you are prepared, have a suitable room that is warm in temperature, a clean, spacious whelping box set aside for her, and necessary supplies to assist with the whelping process, home is often the best place for the dog to give birth.