My gundog breed bitch is pregnant with her second litter.  She is not large and a scan at 7 weeks showed only one puppy.  She is now day 64 (going by 1st mating or day 62 by second mating).  Just wondering if any breeders have experience of small litters and what the duration may be.  Books say up to 72 days but I would not want to leave it this long.  She is alert, happy and healthy and has no milk yet.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

I have a retriever,the vet told his breeder that her girl wasnt in pup,so i was more than surprised when i had a phone call saying she had delivered 3 puppys,the mother was mated the 1 and 2nd of march and my boy was born on the 30 april

Thank you :-)

If you start to get worried ask the vet to do an x-ray, just to see exactly how many pups there are.

Puppy is likely to be large so an x-ray would be ideal - give you definite numbers and whether she will cope with a normal delivery.  Good luck - I certainly would get her seen today - in case of trouble over the weekend.

You can also get bloods tested for hormone levels to see if they have reached the level for whelping to start, if she has then a c/section may be needed, an Xray will show numbers and maturity of puppy/s by how calcified the bones are, clear enough to be seen without looking too hard means she is ready, it will also show what position the pup is lying and head size to pelvic outlet.

With a single pup you can sometimes get inertia and it could be that your bitch doesn't go into labour no matter how long you leave her.

Thank you all for your replies ... all interesting and helpful.  I took my girl to the vets on Friday ... they checked over her and felt it was ok to leave til Monday and if nothing has happened by then, I've to take her back then.  As of Saturday tea time, temp still normal and she's just eaten her tea.  Hoping she'll decide to go tomorrow but will need to wait and see. Thanks again, will keep you posted

Bitches reliably whelp 63 days from ovulation or 61 days from mating, if mated two days after ovulation, (fertility expert and seminar today).

So if your bitch has been progesterone tested she should not be allowed to go more than one day over this.

Of course if she was not progesterone tested then there is a larger window as to when she may have conceived, normally about a week from when a bitch might first conveyable stand, as she might not have conceived for a week.

The ELISA in house progesterone testing kits (eg Premate) are sufficient to determine low progesterone (showing whelping should have started), as you only need the lwo reading, not the numbers.

Any news?

hate to say I had the exact same thing and my girl didn't go into labour, she was happy and well in herself, then Saturday night she suddenly started with green discharge, emergency c section immediately, 1 dead puppy......horrible out come and unfortunately the only outcome I have had with a singleton pup on 3 separate occasions, different bitches!!!
Hope you have a better outcome than mine were.

Well, what a day yesterday ... was so worried about the possibility of my poor girl having a C-section ... but was spared this when the pre C-sect X-ray was done and revealed NO PUPPIES!!!  Was very surprised at this as an 8 week scan showed one heartbeat!! Apparently a pulsating artery can be mistaken for a puppy heartbeat on a scan!!  Anyway, on the upside, my darling girl was spared a C-section and I can always try again in the future.  She is now on a diet as I'd changed her food at the 6 week stage!!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply. I have certainly learned a lot from this experience and all the more knowledgable now if ever I do have a bitch struggling to labour or with a singleton puppy.  Really appreciate your responses xx

well that's a far better outcome than it could of been. x

You can put all the worry behind you. Better luck next time.

oh sorry to hear no puppy - but good news that no C Section was needed