A dog’s afterbirth, or placenta, is a dark greenish mass of tissue that passes after each puppy is born. It’s roughly the size of a small, flattened disc, connected to the puppy by the umbilical cord, and surrounded by thin membranes. If you’re watching your dog whelp for the first time, the color alone can be alarming, but that deep green is completely normal for dogs.
Color, Shape, and Size
The most distinctive feature of a dog’s placenta is its color. The side that was attached to the uterine wall has a dark greenish discoloration caused by a pigment called biliverdin, which forms from old blood pooling along the placenta’s edges during pregnancy. This green tint is so pronounced that it’s sometimes mistaken for a sign of fetal distress, but it’s a standard feature of every canine placenta. The opposite side, the fetal surface that faced the puppy, is typically unstained or has a yellowish tinge.
In shape, a dog’s placenta looks like a flattened ring or band rather than the round disc you might picture from human birth. It wraps around the inside of the uterine horn in a belt-like formation. Once it detaches and passes, though, it looks more like an irregular blob of dark, slippery tissue. In a medium-sized dog, a single placenta might measure roughly 21 centimeters long, 4 centimeters wide, and only about half a centimeter thick, though size varies with breed and puppy size. The whole package, including membranes, typically weighs between 30 and 45 grams.
Surrounding the placenta are thin, translucent membranes that made up the fluid-filled sac the puppy developed inside. These membranes are usually broken during delivery and come out looking like wet, slippery tissue trailing from or following the puppy.
When Each Placenta Should Pass
In dogs, the delivery of each puppy and its placenta happens almost as one continuous process. The placenta typically passes within 15 minutes of each puppy’s birth. However, the pattern isn’t always one puppy, one placenta, one puppy, one placenta. Because puppies are delivered from alternating sides of the uterus, it’s common for two or three puppies to arrive in quick succession, followed by a cluster of placentas together.
Up to two hours between puppies is considered normal during an active delivery. The entire whelping process can stretch over many hours depending on litter size.
Why Counting Placentas Matters
Every puppy has its own placenta, so the number of afterbirths should match the number of puppies. A missing placenta could mean it’s still inside the uterus, which raises the risk of serious infection. The challenge is that most mother dogs eat the placentas quickly, sometimes before you even notice them, making an accurate count difficult.
If you lose count or suspect a placenta was retained, watch your dog closely for the next 24 to 48 hours. In many cases, a retained placenta will break down on its own and pass when the dog defecates. But if your dog develops vomiting, fever, loss of appetite, lethargy, or a foul-smelling vaginal discharge during that window, a retained placenta may be causing a uterine infection that needs veterinary treatment.
The Mother Eating the Afterbirth
It’s completely normal, and even beneficial, for a mother dog to eat the placenta and membranes immediately after each puppy arrives. She’ll typically lick the newborn clean, consume the placental tissue, and bite through the umbilical cord in one instinctive sequence. This behavior serves several purposes: it cleans the nest area, stimulates the newborn to breathe, and plays a role in strengthening the bond between mother and puppy. Hormones present in the placental tissue may also support milk production.
You don’t need to prevent your dog from eating the afterbirth. Some breeders limit the number consumed to two or three to avoid stomach upset from the large volume of rich tissue, but the behavior itself is a healthy part of the birthing process. If the mother ignores the afterbirth entirely and shows no interest in cleaning her puppies, that’s more concerning than eating it.
Normal Discharge vs. Signs of Trouble
Some greenish, reddish-brown, or dark discharge from the vulva is normal during and after whelping. This comes from the separation of placentas from the uterine wall and the uterus cleaning itself out over the following days. The volume should gradually decrease.
What isn’t normal is discharge that smells foul, turns thick and pus-like, or appears 24 to 48 hours after delivery and gets worse rather than better. These are signs of metritis, a serious uterine infection that can develop when placental tissue or bacteria remain in the uterus. A dog with metritis will typically show multiple symptoms beyond just the discharge: fever, refusing food, acting depressed or lethargic, and neglecting her puppies. This condition can become life-threatening within the first week postpartum and requires prompt veterinary care.