After reading a good many post on breeding and the births etc I would like to ask do any folk get their bitches scanned to see just how many pups they are having and if not why ?

Margaret

Hi
I've only ever had one female scanned and that was because I couldn't feel any pups moving and just wanted to confirm that she'd missed.She had.Otherwise I don't bother..my females aren't too keen on being shaved , having jelly rubbed in to their bald spot and laying quietly on a table :)
If I can feel puppy movement and my female is ok then I leave well alone..I just wait and see.
As I'm led to believe the scan can't accurately say how many pups there are anyway in a medium sized litter.
Tracey

I get mine scanned, but have never found the scans of any use regarding the number of Pups. Have been told 3 and got 7, and told 5 or 6 and ended up with 9! I use scanning to confirm pregnancy and to hopeully rule out a singleton litter, as I know that one pup can sometimes mean labour is slow to start, and that a single pup can sometimes be too large.

Hi Margaret i have my dogs scanned each time i dont go to the vets but have a lady call you dont shave them and they just stand and let her scan if you do it at 4 weeks you will get best results see more sacks i had one of my bulldogs scanned 3 weeks ago and she was nearly 6 weeks gone but we still got to see 6 sacks with pups in i would say have a scan done hope this helps.

I had exray's to let me know if she could free whelp or not due to big heads.
ttfn :)

I notice that z-rays are quite often used in the USA for later pregnancy detection. I have never heard of it being used her in the UK and know that most breeders would not want to expose unborn puppies to the radiation for fear of increasing the risj of cancer. I just wondered about the diffference in attitude in US and UK breeders and vets??

Hi I only scan after 42 days ( when the risk of re absorbtion has passed) if I think the bitch is pregnant but has a small/no "bump" for dates. This is so I can know how to feed her,so if it is a very small litter ( 1 or 2) we can try to avoid over size pups and will also know that she has finished whelping. Later scans are much more accurate for litter numbers. Although it may well have been co-incidence I started scanning at 4 weeks a couple of years ago, ( thinking it was "better manangement") and three litters on the trot were re absorbed. Now I just wait and see, usually I can tell by 4 1/2 weeks by tummy size if its a big litter and by 5 weeks - 5 1/2 weeks for a normal size litter. If I am still not sure by 6 weeks then I would scan. With most bitches there are other signs of pregnancy - but they could be misleading and be a phantom rather than a real pregnancy.