This is my first litter, my bitch is on day 30 now and there are no signs of pregnancy. She was mated on day 10 and 11 and had a few slip matings before a 5 minute tie. My scan is scheduled for Sunday 11th, but all this waiting is killing me, I wish I knew now! She hasnt gone off her food, gained weight and there are no changes in her nipple size. I know I cannot mention her breed but she is of the smallest toy breed, she is however an excellent size and candidate for breeding. I have many friends in the show and breeding world who are happy to offer assistance, she has been vet checked and has had the first of the two canine herpes vaccinations.

Is it still too early to tell? My friends bitch was 4 weeks and had quite a big tummy.

I've never seen weight gain as early as 30 days, in either my large breed or my toybreed, nor any enlargement in the teats. (And with the toydogs it's so easy to check as they sit on your lap.) Often the first signs are sickness etc but you don't always see it. I took a large bitch to the vet at 5 weeks for a scan once expecting her NOT to be pregnant -she had nine pups.

Hi Goldmali, thanks for your reply, my bitch was actually sick 3 days in a row last week but it was only frothy bile stuff that came up.  I meant to say that in my previous post, I assume this could be morning sickness?

Yes that could very well be it.

Has anyone noticed early pregnancy signs? My bitch was only mated ten days ago but her lower nipples have grown ever so slightly larger and pinker, and her mammary glands larger. Is this possibly sign of a phantom?

Depends on the breed, but certainly in mine they do start to get a bit pinker and stand up a bit (sit around lunch in a coffee shop talking about 'standy uppy nipples' and see the looks you get LOL.  But it's one of those signs that could mean pregnancy, or could be typical of that bitch post season either way.  It's not typical of my bitch, so when I saw that a couple of weeks after mating I took it as a positive sign, and she was.

That sounds promising then; it's not normal for her, she's never phantomed before and she's a small breed (not toy though). I'm glad it's not too early to check for signs, I feel like I'm looking for them too much though.
Yes, lol, no one wants to hear about my discharge excitement or nipples! ...Maisy's, that is, not mine!

my girl is the same but no sickness, she's gained weight, nipples look a little bigger, she is starving all the time and clingy, she is only 4 weeks , her last litter she was big at 5 weeks and went on to have 10 large breed beautiful pups,

Hi everyone, sorry for not updating you all! It turned out that she wasn't pregnant. She's in season again now though so fingers crossed this time! She was mated day 9 & 10 last time, this time we're going to try 11 & 13.

Why don't you progesterone test to absolutely sure.

Totally agree with Alisongold - as this is your first litter it would be wise to pay for the blood tests so she doesn't miss again.  If you keep an eye on her behaviour and colour of her loss etc it may help you if you have further litters.  Bitches can ovulate way outside what was considered the 'usual' days 10/12/14, as yours is a small breed, it may be earlier than you're planning.
You may only need one blood test and the cost is neglible when you consider travelling to stud dog, scan to tell you there's no puppies etc, not to mention the disappointment...

Thanks guys, I'll phone the vet tonight. I dont mind the added expense if it helps thing along :) I'll keep you all posted this time!

Don't do the inhouse test.  You want idex.  There are two can't remember the name of the other one

What did the vet advise?

>as yours is a small breed,

The OP says that the bitch had 10 large breed beautiful pups last time.

I had my bitch tested and she was mated last night. They tied for 25 minutes. We're going back on Tuesday.

hi gemz did you use the strips after or have her blood tested,

Brilliant news - you must be thrilled.  Hopefully you'll get another good mating today.

Both tests :)

what did you ovulation strips turn out if you dont mind me asking friend of friend its her first time using them , wiped first then used strip but blood coming around tip of stick no change just blood on tip part
any info on this please

I have used them successfully, it was them that told me a bitch who I had never managed to get pregnant was ready on day 8 instead rather than day 12 onwards. I had one more go with her last year, pregnancy confirm on day 39,at least 3 pups seen and went into labour on day 61, short and easy whelping for a first timer but delivered one stillborn and 2 partly decomposed pups.

I had picked up puppy heart beats with my dopler and movement the night before so worked really hard to resuscitate this beautiful 9oz cream brindle pup, identical to her sire who I had seen at a few hours old, I didn't get her back.

If you wipe away any secretions from the vulva you are removing what activates the strip, the blood on the tip is from where the wipe didn't reach. 

ok thanks so best not to wipe then, is the blood right on tip then, i know she will get blood but never used before so unsure thanks in advance

The blood is mixed in with what ever activates the strip, some on here say they are the same strips used for monitoring glucose/sugar levels so that may be what they are picking up on that when ovulation takes place there is glocose in the secretions.

When using them on a bitch for the first time I started on day one and wrote down her pattern for future reference when I was planning a mating.

ok thankyou shes used them last 2 days and same pattern with blood, so will tell her to keep trying

where do you get the strips from please

ebay she got hers from 10 in a pack

I've used them and got mine here - http://www.ovulationpads.info/.  I found the breeder was very supportive.  Under normal circumstances I'd have used progesterone testing, but in our case we travelled to Sweden for the breeding, the sire's owner has never used it on her bitches (just goes by days) so had no idea who to go to or if it's even done (probably is).  We had plenty of time there, but I was watching my bitch's general signs and used the pads in conjunction with that.  Both her normal signs and the change of colour on the pad (in our case it was just a corner) coincided and we bred her within 2 days of the colour change, and 2 days after that (I can't remember now which days they were but I think 12 and 14.  We had 7 puppies.  I didn't use them again after the first time they changed colour as the edges are really sharp and I knew my girl was uncomfortable with them.  I probably wouldn't use them as a regular thing, but as a backup for our situation then they were helpful and spot on.

Hi Donna, the tip of the strip was blue, after I inserted it about 30 seconds later it turned brown. There was a clear difference between the blood and the change in colour :) not sure if I would bother with the blood test text time because the strips were just as accurate...

The ovulation pads I have are bright pink and go wine coloured when they react. To make them less sharp for my small breed I snip off the corners with human nail clippers, this makes them more rounded, just don't be too heavy handed and snip off too much.

hi gemz the tip is blue and colour is supposed to go brown, did think she said purple but it is brown, thats what shes worried about because getting blood and not seeing any difference
thanks

My ones went brown as they were meant to. I suppose it is a purplish brown but there is a definate difference between the colour of the stick and blood x