my  bitch is day 39 after the first tie,this was unplanned, she could have tied many times over the 4 day period, therefore if in whelp could be between 35 and 39 days pregnant. I am reluctant to scan as last time it was a phantom, she is starting to swell and all nipples are hard and very prominant. her behaviour and temprament has changed, very chilled and gentle, eating habits, no change. have read that it can take up to a week for a bitch to conceive after mating, this bitch quite long and tall compared to average, last bitch who mated was short and compact and could easily see form about 5 weeks she was in pup. advice on what to do, dog can get stressed so am reluctant to take her for a scan unless i have to. any key things by this stage in whelp that are almost a sure sign either way?? how late over the 9 weeks can they look in pup or can they go all the way through without any REAL physical visibilities?

I think you are just within the time limit to have an injection to stop the pregnancy.
You need to remove the breed from your post as Admin may regard this a possibly advertising.

Welcome Fallon.   Firstly, please edit your post to remove the breed of your bitch - it is against TOS to advertise potential puppies here on CD.

Advice on what to do?   If this pregnancy is unplanned, if the bitch has not undergone all the health tests required for the breed, if she or the stud are not KC registered - then get the antimate injection which can be used up to 6 weeks after a mating.

I expect this is not the advice you are looking for - but especially in the current economic climate, is it really the time to have unplanned puppies?   Especially after the bad publicity that your breed had in the Jemima Harrison film shown recently on BBC tv.

You can type faster than me, Isabel :)

both dogs are heart scored clear and have no health problems, both dogs are pedigree KC registered and do quite well in the show ring, the reason I say it was unplanned was that the bitch was not due to come into season until may 09, relatives came to stay at my home whilst me and my family were in florida for 17 days. It was not until we returned that I was informed that they may have tied a few times. Anytime is not a good time for unplanned, however this was planned but it has happened a bit earlier than expected. as I say my bitch does get stressed easily so I want to try and avoid the scan, hence why I asked for any shared experiences after all as I no every bitch and all peoples experiences are not the same thats all. thankyou.

You ask an internet forum who do not know your bitch "is she pregnant?".   How do you expect us to know?    If she suffers from stress then again I would be asking how will she react to a pregnancy?   We don't know.

Looks like you have chosen to wait and see.

yes a forum, not solely you, is there any need to be so rude, i appreciate your comments, im just asking all in general has anyone had similar experiences as this, as I have had other bitches in pup over the years including this one, yet this experience is the first time it has been very different for me. yes she does get stressed AT THE VETS, SHE DOES NOT LIKE IT.

Im not asking you if my dog is in pup literally, no matter who you are and what you think you know there are always different experiences, expectations and outcomes, hence why the use of internet forums can be very positive and useful for some. Thanks Lokis Mum for your take but no thanks, ill wait for somebody elses advice rather than yours.

If she gets stressed by going to the vet, then all you can really do is wait and see. By 7 weeks I've found that I can start feeling the whelps moving, so then I'm certain.

I'm sorry if I have offended you :  over the years we have seen so many people coming here and all they are doing is cynically ignoring the terms of service of Champdogs and advertising potential puppies.     If I have misjudged you, I apologise.   Otherwise, my comments stand as my opinion.

yes I think thats the best thing to do, ive switched her to puppy food also a few weeks ago just in case after all her health is the most important thing, thanks jeangenie, ive just never had this where its not visable at this stage with a bitch that detests the vet, waiting game it is i suppose.

hi lokis mum, i did feel quite offended, my dogs are my life and soul and yes I think that you have misjudged me, she hates the vets with a passion hence why I am reluctant to take her unless i really have to, I have bred occasionally over the years and have never had this experience before, I have found this site most helpful in the past, would also not like to think that my persona is portrayed wrongly. I fully understand the use of this site (soz for leaving the breed in earlier but i did correct it lol, dont come on very often) so thanks for pointing that out to me. Apology accepted. :-)

:)

i take it that that post referring to commercial via moon maiden was the type of people you were on about who ignore the terms of the site, now that I disagree with lokis mum, please believe me i'm not in that category. lol. i wanted to read it where has it gone?

The post has been deleted as it's not relevant to this thread and relates to your first post on this forum where you said "hello I wonder if anyone can help me out. I am what you would call a commercial breeder, and have only had 1 litter due to me wanting to keep a dog for myself.". To me this looks like a typing error where you missed out the word "not" (as in "I am not what you would call a commercial breeder") but others have interpreted this as a statement of fact that you are indeed a commercial breeder and probably accounts for the somewhat hostile tone of some replies on this thread.

i would like to ensure you all that "NOT" was most definitely supposed to be on there, apologies to all if offended, and it was a genuine typing error. :-(

There are mobile scanners who will come to your home if she hates the vet so much !!

Fallon - glad we have cleared that point up - that you are NOT a commercial breeder :) !

Sedona' suggestion about a mobile scanner is a good one, if you can find one in your locality.

Just a thought - you do only have the one male?   There could be no doubt about who sired the puppies?   I'm thinking about the KC registration form, where the stud owner has to sign the form saying that the mating has been witnessed.

yes only one male so no doubts there lol, i think i will leave it for another few days and see how she goes, my vet is pretty good and will come out so I think thats the answer.  she will not let the other dogs anywhere near her today, I have a huge pen in the garden where I can securely put them if its a nice day and she won't let any of the others in there this morning. as the days go on I think its more likely. thanks for the advice guys. :-)

Hi Fallon09,

I can understand your problem in having a bitch that is terrified of going to the vets, however in breeding such a bitch the vet is part of that breeding process, it is something that you are going to have to get around, she may well need vet interference throughout the possible pregnancy, throught the whelping process or even afterwards, the fact that she dislikes going to the vets will need to be put aside, it's a must that the vet may well need to be involved, and should be involved for the welfare of this bitch.

The truth is phantoms give all the real symptoms of a bitch in whelp, in most bitches you can see the whelps, you can see movement througout the latter couple of weeks, however some bitches carry whelps under the ribs and they can not be seen, with no other signs of pregnancy, if you are not used to palpitating or have equipment to listen to heart beats and know what you are listening to and looking for (which can only be taught hands on) then you must take her to the vet, why wait until the last couple of weeks for confirmation, if at all  possible? To me that is madness, I like to get the whelping room ready and know exactly what is going on, I personally couldn't contemplate guessing and waiting to see is she, isn't she, how far along, are the whelps lying correctly, is there likely to be a problem etc, I would need to know, if you are to continue with this mating then please take her to the vet for a scan, it takes two minutes she can stand and you can ask for her not to be shaved, at least you will know, the number most probably wouldn't be correct, (it hardly ever is) but you will know whether you need to get ready or not! You can also have a blood test done for confirmation.

A vet or someone there with the bitch with hands on expereince are the only people who can tell for sure, my advice is to take her to the vet for her sake. :-)

thankyou carrington, I appreciate the advice and will take her asap, best to know for sure, she seems to be displaying the strange behaviour this morning towards the others and she has not been like that until today, she normally does not like to be a loner but today it seems that confined spaces she wants to herself, my vets only scan on a wednesday and friday as the vet who does scan works part time but will most def be sorting that out today or tomorrow (bank holiday today not sure if they are open). I agree with the numbers comment relating to the scan also, a few years ago my other bitch was scanned and I was told 6, she had 11 lol. thanks again guys, her health and wellbeing is the most important thing after all, if she has to go to the vet then she has to, i won't put it off any longer. will let you know how it goes. :-)

I've been reading this thread with interest, as my bitch is expecting her first litter. I agree with the others that the only way to know for sure is to get the scan done. Good luck for that!! Like others have said, the vet can be your best friend at times like this, planned pregnancy or not, if she needs to go, then so be it!

On a side note, have been told by so many people after my bitch was scanned for 6 at 28 days to expect more... they did say they could only see one side clearly! So does that mean she may double up on that number. Am getting worried now, its her first litter!

Where exactly are you?  Maybe somebody could give you details of a scanner that comes to your home?

put it this way, my first litter a few years ago i was told there would be 6, she had 11. lol. anyways I had my bitch scanned, vet came to the house and she is in pup, the vet has said at least 4 but again as last experience shows that doesnt mean a thing. she is due in just under 3 weeks maybe sooner if my calculations are right. thanks for all the advice guys, been really helpful.

:) good luck xx