I'm a bit worried. I have a toybreed bitch who was confirmed pregnant by our vet via palpitation at 3 ½ weeks of pregnancy. She has shown all the usual pregnancy signs and is absolutely fine in herself. She is 8 weeks 2 days from first mating, 7 weeks 6 days from last mating. The vet said he could feel two pups and he bragged about being able to accurately predict numbers. True or not I've no idea -new vet to me and I've always had scans done before, plus this is my first litter from this breed, I am used to much bigger bitches and large litters. What I am worried about is the fact that I cannot feel any puppy movements at all, I've sat for ages every day with my hands on her stomach and I feel nothing. (Stomach is hard though, teats red and hard and large.) I have a cheap stethoscope and I have to say I have never listened for puppy heartbeats before but I can hear nothing when I try. It is NOT a good stethoscope though. I'm starting to worry that there isn't anything LIVE in there, yet as I say the bitch is fine in herself. I see no point in going to the vet as without a scanner he won't be able to tell either. I have managed to get an appointment elsewhere for a scan but not until Saturday. (All sorts of reasons for why it cannot be until then. Had the bitch been unwell or anything I'd have moved heaven and earth to get it done sooner, but she is normal in every way so therefore it has to wait.)

Please, any toybreeders out there -does this sound abnormal or could there be a live pup or two despite me not being able to feel it move or hear it? The bitch is large for her breed so if there is just one pup I'd imagine it has lots of space.

Well I had a pekingese girl mated and a week before her due date my mentor came over.Bearing in mind they had bred pekes for twenty years, he told me that she wasnt in whelp. So later that day I decided to bath her and accept the news. I still carried on watching her until her due date as you do. Well she started scratching up and then stopped. Well she had inertia and had a caesarian and had four pups. You could not tell that this girl was carrying one pup let alone four.

If your girl is so obviously well in herself, I wouldn't worry too much.  I'm used to whelping toy size bitches and, for all the worry warts who scare you about only one puppy (fingers x'd here), I've never had a problem.

You are used to dogs - you would know if it was a dead puppy - they feel totally different.  One of my girls worried me 2 or 3 years ago when I could feel (what I thought) was one huge puppy.  I couldn't feel it moving though, and assumed that it was packed too tight to have enough room.

The day before she whelped, I actually felt it moving down - to leave enough room for the one under the ribcage to slot into place!  I won't have my toy breeds scanned, they get too stressed, and I'm worried that they will go into labour too early.  By the way, I bought a stethoscope, and the vet asked how I got on with it.  I told him that I may just as well have used a tube of smarties for all I could make out!

You know your own bitch, and I feel sure that you would know if anything was not right.  Good Luck  :-)

Thanks you so much both! I feel so much better now. I feel like a total novice due to it being the first litter of this breed -had it been my usual breed I'd have known what to expect! Fingers crossed then and I shall let you know what happens of course.

Marianne I have had a couple of litters in my breed with singletons.  One I could feel the pup move and another when I couldn't.  As long as your bitch is fine in herself and showing no distress just keep your eye on her.  I have a friends dog coming here to whelp next weekend and she has been scanned for two pups.  Quite looking forward to it.

Let us know how she gets on.

Joan

yes toy breeds are rather precious little things........I only ever had 3 litters and never once did it without my mentor!  He was like Dr Doolittle with all the kit that he brought with him. Hope you get the pup that you long for!

Just to add that one of my girls had two litters and they were both born 6 days early, only having had one mating.

Thanks again. :) She's really fine in herself and she's never far from my side now -well I'm not leaving the house at all now of course! I bet with my luck if she has just one it will be a mismarked dog pup LOL but I am so hoping for a girl to show. The stud dog is just to die for, this has been years in the making. I knew I wanted to use that dog before I even had a suitable bitch for him so I've been very lucky in not only acquiring the bitch whose lines go nicely with his, but also being allowed to use the dog I admire so.

hi my girl is a toy breed she had two babies 11 weeks ago she went to the day and had them by herself with no problems

What a dream dog he must be for you to speak so highly of him! :-)  I really hope you get your girl.

Best wishes for an easy delivery.

Hi Marianne,

Can you by chance hear gurgling?

Gurgling -where? My husband tried the stethoscope earlier today after me and he said "Well I can hear lots of gurgling in her stomach". I didn't myself.

It is hard to describe but if you listen to one tummy that is not in whelp and one that is you will be able to know what I mean.

The best way to hear is to get them to relax and lie down. ( often lying on the bed with you on their back if possible , the whelps kind of fall to the side and you can listen side on then.

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers Blue, I shall have a go -have another bitch to compare with. :)

Marianne,

you are listening for something like little watches - you'll know when you find them ;)

I found it helpful at first just to have a general listen - the bitches heart and breathing, her tummy gurgling, the femoral artery in the inner thigh,  then it was easier to find the pup's heartbeats, sometimes tho it depends on how they are lying and where ;) 

An update. She was scanned Saturday, scanner found one live puppy, wasn't sure if there was a second one or not but only saw one heartbeat. Yesterday I felt puppy movement at long last. Today she gave birth to two pups. One that had been dead for probably two weeks or so, and one that had recently died. I did all I could to bring it back but it was impossible. :( So here's the downside of breeding. One very distraught bitch searching for her pups , one inconsolable 14 year old daughter, and me myself heartbroken. So sad.

Oh i am so sorry

rip little ones

I am so very sorry to hear your news.  After all your planning and waiting, you must be inconsolable.  I had a girl several years ago that only had one pup, that lived 24 hours, so I do know what your girl must be like.

So heartbreaking.  {{{{  HUGS  }}}}

sorry to hear this marianne :(

Very sorry to hear this :-(

I am so sorry to read about this , how absolutely devastating for you all.

im so sorry to hear this

all my love and hugs sent to you and your family xx and of caurse mum  xxx

Sorry to hear the news...I was wondering what the news would be. You could have done nothing to change the course of events, it was no-ones fault. Sweetdreams at the Bridge puppies. Im sure with your dedication and love that you have for your girl that she will get through this. It ia just so sad for her and all of you to go through this.

Warm thoughts to you all x

Oh, after all this time waiting, so sorry xx

So sorry Marianne to read about the pups. 

Joan

So sorry to hear this Marianne

Breeding can be heartbreaking at times

{{{{HUGS}}}}  to you all

I'm so sorry Marianne :(

So sorry to hear this sad news. The downsides to this breeding can be heartbreaking.
Aileen. XXXXXXXXX

> So sad

I do feel for you. Our very first litter years ago now consisted of just one pup born dead by C section. Our poor bitch, although a maiden, was very unsettled for a few days. It's heartbreaking to see them, let alone the way we feel ourselves. So sorry for you all, the bad times do pass though eventually.

I am so sorry to hear your news

So sorry to hear that.  Awful experience for you all..

im so sorry to hear about this ...its heart breaking ,sending hugs to you all ,its hard enough for you but your daughter must be going though hell bless her ....i hope and pray your bitch starts to calm down soon ,
take care all of you (((((hugs)))))
joanne xx

Thanks all. Poor Ginny is still quite upset, still searching etc :(  -staying close to me at all times.