How long is the average shetland sheepdogs pregnancy?? I am planning on getting a puppy and I was just wondering.:)
Thanks,
Jesse

All dogs are the same, approximately 63 days

Regards, John

Ha ha ha ha ha ha he he ha - that was what I thought!! As you might have seen from previous postings I have just had a bitch go 68 days!! Don't hold your breath......

Oh yes, they can go longer or could arrive sooner but that is the right time and anything else is a cause for alarm. A friend had a puppy stay in rather longer and although the vet seemed unconcerned it later transpired that it was a singleton and having taken all the goodness going was too large to be born alive! Had there been more puppies in the litter then it would have been quite likely that everything would have been ok. The moral is that you have to take every litter on it's own merit. Take nothing for granted.

John

J/j - was that hysterical laughter I heard??!!!:D :D

Hiya

The book of the bitch says a normal pregnancy can last as little as 54 days or as long as 72 days.

However 63 is about right.....though its not always the case :D

Lisa

Thanks everyone,, now I will know by when I absolutly have to find a sheltie breeder by...
Thanks,
Jesse

Yes Jeangenie, just a little hysterical! I was so naieve last week thinking that 63 days then puppies! 63 days + should be cause for serious observation and monitoring although doesn't necessarily mean that things are going wrong. It just means "watch closely". We could just say dogs carry for "less than 75 days" then we can all relax! The vet did warn us that it is 63 days from conception and that the sperm can take up to 6 days to travel to the egg. It does depend on where the bitch is in her cycle when she is mated. If you mate her two or three times, when do you count the 63 days from? The first mating, the second (perhaps two days later) or the third (perhaps 4 days later)? It is not an exact science.