Just had our bitch scanned on day 28 apparently not in whelp.  Are scan always right? as we were sure she was!!!

WEll my vet is always very guarded at 4 weeks. I had the reply...

Well I can see something that certainly looks like early pregnancy but I want her back in a week LOL

At 5 weeks, it was a definate yes because we could see actual pups.
I think there should be little black circles visible at 4 weeks but not a lot more.

i think it does sometimes depend on the scanner , i normally take mine  about day 30 but saying that a friend of  mine has another  giant breed scanned with nothing and produced 1 pup nearly 10 days over the date from 1st mating !

I can always pick pups up on scan on day 21, but obviously my girls are more relaxed with me.

i go to a sheep scanner and she wont5 scan untill 35 days or after

Usually scan at around 22 days.

hi had ours scanned at 21 days showed nothing had to go bk at 28 days and showed black circles .

i take ours around 30-35 days from 1st mateing

'I can always pick pups up on scan on day 21, but obviously my girls are more relaxed with me. '

Hi Sharron can you explain please.  My first scanner said might be able to see them.

Does this make a difference then?  how does it hide the pups/embryos.

I have my own scanner, so my girls just lie on their backs on the settee, really calm and relaxed so I can take my time looking for them.

The last two bitches my friend mated were taken to the vet for scanning at 4 weeks, both times she was told there were no pups. Both were taken back for a free scan the following week and lo and behold, pups!!  So, are scans always right? No is the answer.  I'm taking my girl in this afternoon for her 4 week scan, and obviously I'm hopeful that we'll see pups!!

I posted a similar question summer of last year, when we didn't have pups :-( and it was very surprising to get the responses ... there were a number of people who'd been told there weren't pups only to go on and have litters!

My vets tend to offer a free scan the following week if nothing found on the 4 week scan, just to be absolutely sure. Have you asked your vet if they'll do the same? I do know from research that they're not that obvious at 4 weeks, though you might have thought they ought to be. 

I took my bitch for a scan yesterday - day 28 - I go to a ladies home and very relaxed atmosphere - she takes her time and we are delighted that she can see at least 4 pups and probably another with possibly another one hiding behind.  Time will tell of course what she does actually have, but at least we have some idea.

Just had my bitch scanned on day 27 and she has 7 puppies, very easy to see they look like walnuts :-)

we had our giant breed scanned at day 28 and no pups were seen even though she show all the signs we went back a week later and still no pups she is due in season again in 6 weeks so fingers crossed!

thanks for all the stories of scans ........ The stud dog owner says we should get another one done next week as our girl was mated over a 7 day period and i took her 28 days from 1st mating, if she took on last mating I might be a week out date wise!

yes we always take ours day 30 from last mating , good luck x

I thought I would update you all ....... we took our bitch back to the vets on day 35 and negative, we were really fed up!! she is day 56 today and when grooming her today commented on what an excellent phantom she is having ...... anyway something told me things were not right so i managed to get a scan arranged for this afternoon and guess what ..... she is in whelp  !!!!!

Panic now as we have treated her as non pregnant and now she is 8 weeks.  Heart beats were seen so pups are OK I guess they may just be small?

So the moral of this tale ... science can be wrong and we should trust our gut instincts.

Crikey.... hope you are prepared! Could happen any day now. Good luck, keep us posted!

No nothing ready frantic shopping planned for tomorrow!

This is where the internet is your best friend :-)

> So the moral of this tale ... science can be wrong and we should trust our gut instincts.

Chuffed for you.  :-)

might be a bit of running around last minute, but bet you're thrilled to bits!

i had a scan done at 28 days, showed 4 to 5 pups,  the black circles are the pups but can also be bladder etc, black circles that have a white circle inside are the heart beat of the pup.
it is suggested in scans to expect up to 20% more pups than can be seen in the scan due to pups hiding in ribs, behind others etc.

so if you have a scan done and it shows no pups its not to say that its only a small litter and the pups were hiding in the ribs.

At 28 days the bladder is a lot bigger than pups, so any person experienced with scanning really shouldn't mix the two up,  but admittedly pups can be missed, I scanned my girl a few times before she whelped and each time only counted 5 pups....she went on to have 8

How exciting but you have made me very nervous now!

We went for a scan at 28&35 days as well. Nothing...
She would be 6 weeks and few days gone now.
I was doing grooming at the weekend and something made me think I should measure her and the measuring tape I used before does not go around her!!
Her boobies are also getting a different feel to them.
She is getting a smooth line in the middle and squichy development on the sides when she lays on her back, if that makes sense.
She has been totally different to her normal phantoms so we really thought she had taken until the scans said nothing there.

I'm off to the world show in few days but I think re-scan will be needed after I return!!!She would be 8 weeks gone then.
When you have been told there is nothing there you kind of feel you are kidding yourself even thinking maybe there is something there...

It does depend on the scanner used, my vet likes to see bitch at 4 weeks as after that more difficult to see.  By eye a good tip is that when standing, if the fur curls out at the bottom of the ribs (obviously not in smooth coated dogs!) then they are pregnant.  It certainly worked on Rosie as that was all the clue we had, although after she seemed to balloon very quickly and had 7 very healthy pups.  First pregnancy for Lexie the scan showed 4 or 5 pups and she had 8, this time the scan showed 6 so hopefully she wont have more!  She doesn't seem as big this pregnancy but I guess that's not always a good indicator.