We mated our dog 12 days ago and then another 2 times after that and are now just playing the waiting game to see if she has taken, she has become alot calmer and lazy so to speak and is also eager to eat everything in sight,is this a good sign? also should i still make her eat her uausl amount of food at the moment or should i allow her more, she looks so hungry all the time and has taken to stealing food if given half the chance.

Hi, she might well be pregnant. My girl was very calm and lazy about 2/3 wks after.  she was also very hungry until about 4 weeks and then we had a terrible job to get her to eat. For my own piece of mind I would let her eat as and when she wants and as much as she wants. My girl went on to have 3 beautiful pups 12 days ago.

awe... congrats on your new additions, thanks for that, i wasnt sure about the food thing as she normally is quite set on what she wants to eat and now follows the kids everywhere incase they offer anything tasty..lol

I would keep her on her usual ration till 6 weeks then swap to puppy food and slowly start to increase each week. I don't know what breed you have, but some breeds can have some difficulties whelping anyway without the added stress of large pups. (this is just my opinion, others may have a different opinion :-) ) do you have a mentor in your breed that you can ask as they would prob know best.

I certainly wouldn't increase the amount of food you give her just yet.  I always scan to confirm whether in whelp and then increase food accordingly.  Remember an overweight bitch may experience problems whelping - you can always feed more when pups are here.

Hi, thanks for the replys, i havent got a mentor in my breed, i have breeding experiance from years back however this is my first litter off my working dog and in the past my other bitch seemed more likely to go off her food rather than try and eat everything. we will keep her on her usual amount and try and ignore the feel sorry for me faces..lol  on day 14 now if she has taken so still a while to go until scan, cant wait!!

My girl calmed right down and became very loving. The one thing that I did notice was that her vulva stayed swollen long after I would have expected it to go down, which can be a good sign, but then they can have phantoms. I remember waiting for the scan, it was agony!LOL Fingers crossed for you that she has taken.

Our dog should be on her 20th/18th day today hopefully if she took, the last few days she is refusing to eat her own dry comlpete food but will steal anything left within her reach? she has also had a few drops of what looks like old blood, is this something i should be worrying about? it dosent smell at all and has only been a few patches. she also looks fed up/sleepy and is just sitting around my feet all the time sleeping, would it be worth a trip to the vets to get her checked over or am i just worrying over nothing? seems strange having a lazy dog around the house as she is normally trying to steal a place on the couch everytime you stand up and now shes happy to sit where ever she stops..lol
contacted fit and fertile about a scan and they say any time from 28 days onwards, whats peoples opinion on this?should i try and wait a little longer to get a better result. thanks

The later the scan the clearer the results (even though they do make mistakes!) My bitchs vulva has stayed swollen now for 35 days and has been havin discharge for the past week, (slighty showing) we're gunna have her scanned around 7 weeks. Shes also stealing food! Last night I caught her on the worktop eating the remains of my Madras! (Luckily I had eaten the rice!) Fingers crossed x :-) 

My vet actually said that he prefers to scan at between 25-28 days to check if they took, and get a better idea of numbers, as often at that stage the two horns are lined up nicely and he can get a better count. I suppose it depends what you want, I had 2 scans done one just to check if she took (unfortunately different vet that wouldnt even attempt a count) and one at 42 days as a viability scan to make sure that she hadnt reabsorbed them ( and because I just wanted to see them!)
As I said previously I also noticed that my bitches vulva stayed swollen afterwards so that could be a pretty strong indicator.

just another quick question, she should now be day 31/29 tried calling to book her for a scan but there busy at the moment so sometime next week hopefully, its driving me mad not knowing..lol can just imagin what ill be like waiting for them to arrive. She seems to be panting more than usual and is very sleepy to the point when sat in the living room she will fall asleep sat up while you stroke her, shes not drinking any more than usual which isnt really a lot compared to other dogs i have owned and she sometimes dribbles out the sides of her mouth when asleep(she is deffo not a breed that should) so my question is am i just been a worrier or is this a sign that maybe somethings wrong? its the sleepyness thats seems to worry me as in the past my other bitch never got like that with her two litters but thats years ago so my memory may just be failing me..lol
thanks

This is what happened to our dog. She is now on day 54/52. The second week of her pregnancy she appeared to be really sad and very sleepy. Week three totally went off her food this went on for 10 days. She was sick on day 21 this happened only once. After this she will eat almost anything she can get to. A scan at 4 weeks confirmed she is indeed having puppies and they are due next weekend. Feeling and seeing them move around is magical and my heart melts every time. We are keeping a close eye on her every move, probably a bit early I know but its our first time and just want it to go well. Everything you have mentioned appears to be good signs that she is so fingers crossed for you.

Just had a scan done.... got told theres deffo 5 live pups and sadly one which apears to be reabsorbing, all 5 looked a good size and i was quite amazed as ive never seen a dog scan before, silly things amuse a small mind...lol
now at least i know to be prepared as the not knowing was driving me mad.
just a quick question... if one is reabsorbed is there a chance that the others could? keith thought the others all looks a great size but now its just making me wonder.