My girl was scanned and I was told she was carrying at least 10 puppies.  She is now 7 weeks pregnant. She has put weight on and is definitely pregnant but does not look as big as I was expecting she would. Her normal weight is a slim 22kg. (I don't know how much she has put on as I am reluctant to lift her up to weigh her now in case I drop her). I know we are not supposed to mention the breed but she is about the size of a small GSD/large slim lab?
but looking at photos of other pregnant dogs she is nothing like as big. even ones that are supposed to be 7 weeks. I can feel some puppy movements and she seems well in herself. I just have a hard time believing that she is big enough to have 10 puppies in there.
She is still running round like a greyhound and jumping the baby gate so has not appreciably slowed down although I now take her on shorter walks

I had ten pups last year from a bitch whose normal weight is 20 kgs. The vet saw 1 or 2 pups on the scan but I was convinced it would be 4 or 5 by the look of her -yet she had ten. Clearly there was plenty of space for them to hide. :)

Hi. Scans are only as accurate as the operator regarding numbers - lots of people have tales of operator saying 2 but 10 being born and vice versa! Plus, there may have been 10 when she was scanned, but some may have been reabsorbed by the bitch for various reasons. I wouldn't worry too much as she still has 2 weeks to go and the pups will be fully developed now, they just have to grow and put on weight. If she's a very fit, athletic bitch her muscles could well be strong enough to 'hide' a large litter. I'd discourage her from jumping stairgates and the like at this stage though as she may be more clumsy than usually and could hurt herself. Have you switched her onto puppy food yet? Let us know how many she has, good luck.

it is possible that she is carrying them under her ribs, if you get what i mean, some bitches dont show at all and then suddenly drop a day before whelping

The scanner I used has a good reputation for being accurate but as you say I suppose some could have reabsorbed. She is very fit and athletic. she doesn't actually jump the stair gate very often now but  have ordered one of the large dog ones so hopefully that will stop that problem.
She is fed a raw diet and I am now feeding her about an extra two thirds on top of her normal diet. Does this sound OK?

Thanks

Hi Marianne,
your site was one of the ones I was looking at. My girl seems to be quite a lot smaller than your girl who had the 10 puppies that was why I was wondering if mine was big enough. when my girl lies flat on her side she is more or less level from rib cage to pelvis whereas your girl in the photos seems to bulge upwards. Mine has lost her tuck up but doesn't seem to have much of a bulge underneath either. How big were your puppies, Were they very big?

> it is possible that she is carrying them under her ribs, if you get what i mean, some bitches dont show at all and then suddenly drop a day before whelping

I've had bitches that didn't show much at all, then pups dropped the day before whelping, so agree with hayley123.

is this her first litter?? I shouldn't worry too much as the last 2 weeks my bitch got progressively massive, there seemed to be the most change in shape the last 2 weeks. As long as she is healthy and eating well etc I shouldn't worry as to how many she is having.

> I just have a hard time believing that she is big enough to have 10 puppies in there

It's hard to tell just by looking at them, bitches vary so much and often carry pups up under the ribs until very near whelping day. I wouldn't risk picking her up either. Just be aware that scans are notoriously wrong and be prepared for anything!