Yes, dogs deliver a placenta after each puppy is born. Every puppy develops with its own individual placenta inside the uterus, so a dog giving birth to six puppies will produce six placentas. Understanding what to expect with placental delivery helps you monitor whelping and spot potential problems early.
One Placenta Per Puppy
Each puppy grows inside its own fluid-filled sac, which is attached to an individual placenta. The canine placenta has a distinctive ring shape that wraps around the puppy’s midsection inside the uterine horn, earning it the classification “zonary” placenta. This band of tissue is where nutrients and oxygen pass from the mother’s blood supply to the developing puppy throughout pregnancy.
The sac surrounding the puppy is part of the placenta. It usually breaks open as the puppy moves through the birth canal, though sometimes a puppy is born still fully enclosed. If that happens, you need to break the sac open quickly so the puppy can breathe.
When the Placenta Comes Out
Dog labor has three stages: cervical dilation, delivery of the puppy, and expulsion of the placenta. Unlike humans, where the placenta is delivered as a distinct final stage, the second and third stages in dogs overlap. The placenta typically passes through the vulva shortly after each puppy, sometimes still attached by the umbilical cord.
The timing isn’t always one-for-one, though. Because dogs have two uterine horns (a Y-shaped uterus), puppies tend to be delivered from alternating sides. It’s common for two puppies to come out in a row, followed by two placentas. This can make counting placentas tricky, but keeping track matters. You want the total number of placentas to match the total number of puppies by the time whelping is finished.
What a Healthy Placenta Looks Like
A dog’s placenta is a dark, greenish-black or reddish mass of tissue, noticeably smaller than the puppy it supported. It has a fleshy, irregular texture and arrives with a significant amount of fluid. The greenish color comes from a pigment produced during normal placental development in dogs and is not a sign of infection.
Because whelping produces a lot of fluid and tissue, layering the whelping box with plenty of newspaper or washable bedding beforehand makes cleanup easier. You can peel away soiled layers between deliveries without disturbing the mother or newborns.
Why Dogs Eat the Placenta
Most dogs will eat the placenta immediately after delivering it, often chewing through the umbilical cord at the same time. You may not see the afterbirth at all because the mother consumes it so quickly. This behavior, called placentophagy, is normal and serves several purposes.
The placenta contains natural opioid-like compounds that appear to enhance the mother’s pain relief during labor. It also contains oxytocin and prostaglandins, hormones that stimulate uterine contractions, helping the mother continue delivering remaining puppies and clearing the uterus afterward. Additionally, hormones in the afterbirth support milk production. In a wild setting, eating the placenta also removes the smell of birth that could attract predators.
Eating one or two placentas is generally fine. Some breeders prefer to limit how many the mother consumes because eating several can cause vomiting or loose stools in the hours after whelping. This is temporary and not dangerous, but it can add mess and stress to an already intense process.
What to Do If a Placenta Doesn’t Come Out
A retained placenta, one that stays inside the uterus after the puppy has been delivered, is one of the more common whelping complications. This is why counting placentas during delivery is so important. If you end up with fewer placentas than puppies, one may still be inside.
In many cases, a retained placenta will break down on its own and pass within 24 to 48 hours, often when the dog has a bowel movement. But if it doesn’t pass, it can become a source of serious infection. Signs to watch for include continued straining as though still in labor, fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, and a foul-smelling or bloody vaginal discharge that develops a day or two after delivery.
If a retained placenta is suspected within the first 24 hours, a veterinarian can administer oxytocin to improve uterine contractions and help the placenta pass naturally. When that window has closed or the medication doesn’t work, other options are available to induce passage. Ultrasound is the most reliable way to confirm whether tissue remains inside the uterus.
Handling the Afterbirth Yourself
If the mother doesn’t bite through the umbilical cord or consume the placenta on her own, you may need to step in. Hold the cord between your finger and thumb, with the puppy resting in your palm, and cut the cord with clean scissors about an inch from the puppy’s body. If the cut end bleeds, pinch it gently for a few seconds or tie it off with clean thread. You can then dispose of the placenta.
If a puppy arrives still fully sealed inside its birth sac, open it immediately, clear any fluid from the puppy’s nose and mouth, and rub the puppy gently with a clean towel to stimulate breathing. The mother will usually take over from there, licking the puppy vigorously to dry it and encourage its first breaths.