My sons girl was mated 28 days ago.She had a slip mating and what i belive is called an outside tie where the stud owner had to hold the stud in place.She wasnt blood tested,im not sure why he didnt blood test her this time,anyway she is showing absolutely no signs whatsoever and my son is sure she has missed because at this stage with her last litter she was showing signs,this will be her 3rd and final litter and he has planned to keep a pup for the ring from this litter if possible.Her teats have no changed colour at all but difficult to tell about size because having had pups before they are big anyway but her tummy still feels very soft and empty not at all firm,im just repeating what he has told me so looking for advice,is it maby a bit too early and could she still be? I think the fact she only had slips is making him think she has missed too  He is getting her scanned next week,vet wouldnt do it before 28 days but just thought id ask what everyones experiences are of signs their girls were pregnant.Many thanks in advance.

One of my boys never achieved a tie - he didn't have that many bitches (on purpose!) and he was always held in but he only missed to one - she came back to my other proven stud dog (tie) a year later but again missed.   She was taken to another stud dog, proven, but missed again.   Clearly all this was not the fault of the stud dogs.   I know most breeders prefer to see a tie, but my dog suggests that it's not totally necessary.

I didn't do scans, preferring to wait and planning for a litter.   If mine went over by more than 2 days, they were seen by my vet, and if it was obvious they were in whelp, given a shot to get them started.  If it was not certain they were pregnant, x-ray was done to confirm what was going on before they were given a shot.   Scans are not accurate, and only confirm, or not, a pregnancy at the time of the scan.   Even if a scan said no, I'd still be waiting until the due date