incapacity of bulldog bitches to free-whelp. However, novice breeders should know that experienced breeders almost always choose to have their puppies delivered by cesarean section and that this decision is not necessarily or exclusively guided by a physical condition of the bulldog bitch, namely their small hips and birth canals as compared to the large heads of the pups.
The high pain tolerance of bulldogs make that the typical signs of a completed pregnancy are not always as pronounced as in other breeds. This may or may not be accompanied by a "failure to initiate labor" (technically, Primary uterine inertia), which may inhibit normal uterine contraction, preventing fetal expulsion. For all those reasons, and because they are often faced with smaller litters than breeders of other dogs, bulldog breeders may elect for cesarean delivery to prevent loss of very valuable pups.
To be able to effectively plan a C-section the due date should be carefully predicted BEFORE breeding. Accurate prediction of whelping date can be done by measuring the Serial blood progesterone or blood lutenizing hormone (LH). This means that the breeding should be coordinated with hormone and cytologic evaluation. Whelping usually occurs 65 days after the LH peak, with a variability of 1 day. 'Planning' a C-section at the first signs of labor often equals to an emergency C-section, especially as bulldogs often produce early. For that reason breeders often book their bitches on the sixty-first day. However, opponents of elective C-section approach say this can cause problems, as most bitches are mated more than once during their seasons and the breeder has to be sure of exactly which mating the bitch conceived.
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