I have a question for you all. I am reaching out in this forum because my vet is useless at this point. He keeps telling me everything is fine and the pups will come when they are suppose too. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. In the health field we are taught to evaluate the patient then the symtoms.

This is what my day has consisted of. My bitch is 54 days today by my witnessing what I think was the first breeding. Which worries me because it's to early for her to be in labor. This is her second pregnancy and she is 4 years old. First delivery was perfect with no complications. She is a great mother. This cycle I noticed she started bleeding bright red June 11th. Just trying to give you all the info I can so you can help me. Well this morning she was shivering like she was froze to death so I got the thermometer and checked her temp it was 99.8 two hours later 99.6 again I checked it two hours later and it had went down to 99.5. She is not panting, not restless, or in any distress other than shivering. Her appetite is diminished to almost nothing. I did get her to lick up a couple spoons of plain yogurt. She is drinking a little here and there. A few times today her stomach was hard as a rock but didn't seem to bother her to much other than make her walk funny. She is stuck to me like glue and will not let me out of her sight. I canceled all my plans for the day just to stay with her. We are in a quiet room with low lighting so she can rest. I have just sit here and read while she sleeps and on occasion licks herself. Which she has done all day except for bathroom breaks. I stopped taking her temp over and over and just thought I would take it again later this evening since she had almost stopped shivering. She started again with the shivering so I got the temp and it is 99.3. It is warm in here and I have no fans on so as not to get her chilled and on occasion I have been hot. Just want to mention that she usually pre-pregnancy runs on the warm side of the thermometer.

So what do you guys think. On examination from the vet he isn't worried. Glad that's one of us.

What do you guys make of this?

1.   Can you see the puppies moving around?
2.   Conception may not have taken place immediately so if you think she's 54 days from the first mating, she may not even be that far along, and for sure, the longer she can hold onto these puppies, the better.
3.   If you can't trust your vet, go for a second opinion, or even switch.  Has he actually examined your bitch?
4.   I'd not be happy about seeing any bright red bleeding, beyond her normal season length.   Most of mine, after being mated, just went through the days beyond the matings to around day 21 when it was all over, with minimal discharge, but I did have one who went into a more blood coloured discharge, not copious however, in her final week of season.  At the time although she was fine, I'd decided she'd not taken.  She had an uneventful pregnancy and 9 fabulous puppies.

Bottom line - if you are worried, and clearly you are, get her examined by a vet - another one if you can't trust the one you normally see.

ps   I'm big on 'the apple won't drop until it's ripe' - but within reason (ie the bitch is otherwise fine) and not eating anything would be a concern ....... she may need small protein rich meals because she's stuffed with puppies however.

Shivering unless cold, is a sure sign of pain or distress.........

Great believer in going by your instincts, yours are saying something is wrong, if you are the type of person who is often panicked then maybe you're reading more into things, but if you are level headed and not usually...... trust in that, and get her in for a scan, if you're wrong, nothing lost, if you're right..... you could be saving a life.

Fingers crossed. x

Carrington is right shivering is pain even at the onset of labour when the temp drops by a couple of degrees, it's the internal ( unseen) contractions which induce this shivering.

I agree, set your mind at rest but bear in mind all my bitches go through a small "faux labour" around that time...settling again before going into real labour at a safer time.
Easy to say when you have the confidence of experience so in your position I'd ask vet to allay your fears.

My bitch is 54 days today by my witnessing what I think was the first breeding.

You don't KNOW for sure when the first mating was? Sounds like the dog and bitch were just left together? In that case you may well find you had an earlier mating, and the bitch could be 56 days or more and be in perfectly normally timed labour. The vet sounds useless but it is VITAL to supervise every mating and know for certain what dates they were, and not let the dog and bitch meet at other times.

My bitch is 54 days today by my witnessing what I think was the first breeding

it is VITAL to supervise every mating and know for certain what dates they were, and not let the dog and bitch meet at other times

My thoughts exactly!  

Why on earth anyone would allow an unsupervised mating is beyond me.   

There is now no way of knowing if this is  highly likely to be full labour at the right time,  false labour, or early labour with possible problems.   Of course,  that's assuming the bitch is pregnant and this isn't a pyometra :-(

All you can be sure of, is that the bitch is showing signs of being in pain or unwell.

As far as the vet is concerned,  as he hasn't been given vital information on the exact date/dates of any mating,  he can't really make a firm diagnosis of anything.    But that's hardly his fault.

Stay with the bitch and keep a close eye on her.    If you are at all worried about her,  get her back to the vets.

How is your bitch today?